Geophotopodcasting my way across the USA

July 13, 2005 11:39 AM

At the end of next week, I will be embarking on a move from the New York City area to San Jose, California. I have this brilliant (or slightly overzealous) idea to "geophotopodcast" my way across the country using a combination of different technologies, so my friends back home can keep up with my adventures. What suggestions can you offer me for making my high-tech travelog cooler / easier to execute?

I'm totally open to any technologies I haven't considered, so don't worry about cost or practicality when making suggestions.

Here's what I'm envisioning so far:

My travel companion will take (tons of) photographs with my dSLR (a Nikon D70) as we travel along. At the same time, I will be tracking our route with my USB Earthmate GPS. I plan to figure out a way to tie the photo timestamps back to the GPS log to geotag the photos on flickr (and Google Earth).

During the day, I also plan to co-host a podcast with my companion by hooking up two USB headsets to my laptop. Perhaps we will interview truckers or diner workers, tollbooth workers, or a random vagrant here and there. I will edit these and make them available 1-per-day the following week.

I also will write a textual blog entry at least once every day so that I have a written log of the trip also.

I know it sounds tedious, but I think it could be a really fun project -- especially the podcasts. If anyone can provide me with any tips for making the project even cooler (or easier) I would be eternally grateful.

Oh, and assuming I actually get it done, it will be posted at www.squeakytoy.net. Thanks in advance. :)

posted by superboy422 to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Well, you can do like my friend striatic just did:

-Set up a group on Flickr to coordinate logistics for your trip

-have people you meet who take photos along the way, add their photos to that group and or tag them with a special tag

- Use your photostream to document your side of it, including:
--Using your photos to post snapshots of videos you took and links to those videos
--Geotag your photos

Anyways, I think the only thing he didnt do is podcast, although he did do a radio interview while he was here in SF staying with me.

You might get some ideas from him on what worked and what didnt. In any case, good luck!
posted by vacapinta at 1:17 PM on July 13, 2005

My buddy did a photo tour of all 48 continental states last year, and used a verizon 1xrtt wireless modem for updating from random spots w/o wired or WiFi internet access. It seemed to work pretty well as long as he was somewhere reasonably populated. Most carriers sell something similar - i have a SonyEricsson Z500a w/ EDGE service from cingular that works quite well to my laptop - only a $20 USB cable needed (and data service from Cingular). It might be a neat way to update from the road. Good luck.
posted by jba at 8:25 PM on July 13, 2005