User:Thetuxone

Yay! I joined :D I got dragged in by xkcd: Geohashing :P Actually I heard of geohashing from another friend, but I haven't really done any geohashing. My graticule is 1,103. The page seems inactive now... D:

I'm a Singaporean student (hi Bicko!) and I have a relatively busy schedule so I might not be able to geohash most of the time. However, if you're really interested, drop me an email at (thetuxone at gmail dot com).

The geohash for 1,103 today is [here]. I wait until 10.30 pm for the next day's coordinates...

I like penguins (as my username shows), reading, computer programming, reading xkcd, science, astronomy, maths, goegraphy and French (yes, French, partly because it's so unpopular). It may come as a surprise that I joined, since I like indoor activities and all, but then again, I really should go out more. And I'm a scout, so of course I have to go out.

One of my favourite xkcd comics is Spirit. Randall makes the rover so cute! :D

I'm really quite into programming, astronomy and maths combined. For example, I'm writing a program with loads of astronomy functions, grouped by planet and then categorized. One of my shorter functions extracted directly from source code:

      case 4:
      printf("Enter month number and the day of the month.\n");
      scanf("%d %f", &m, &day);
      fprintf(output, "Month %d, Day %f\n", m, day);
      printf("Enter 1 for a leap year or 2 for a common year.\n");
      scanf("%d", &k);
      fprintf(output, "1 for leap year, 2 for common year: %d\n", k);
      n = floor(275*m/9) - k*floor((m+9)/12) + day -30;
      printf("Day number %d\n", n);
      fprintf(output, "Day number %d\n", n);
      break;

The code tells you which day of the year it is from the month and day number.

I wrote another program for calculating direct distance and bearings from 2 MRNs (assuming 1:50000 scale). But I probably won't include it here. I'm thinking of writing another program next time that converts Map Reference Numbers (for Singapore Topographical Maps) into geographical coordinates.

I downloaded the iPhone Geohash app :D Now I can find out tomorrows coordinates at a touch :D

I think I should put a list of all my geohashing adventures below (if I actually do find the time to go for them). In fact, I already have.

Geohashing adventures I've been on

This list accurate as of 2010 December 16 (I prefer the astronomical format).

• None so far.

Geohashing equipment

List of everything I have that are needed for going geohashing, NOT what I'm going to bring every time (who brings a survival kit when hiking in the city?)

• Computer (duh)
• iPhone
  • GeoHash app
  • Maps app
  • Camera
• Survival kit (from scouts)
  • Whistle
  • Comms cord (mainly for pitching bashas - something like a mini-tent, but useless without sticks)
  • Fishing line and hook
  • Mirror
  • Surgical blade
  • Waterproof matches
  • Needle and thread
  • Candles
  • Cotton
  • Solid fuel
  • Safety pins
  • Water purification tablets
  • Flexi-saw
  • Baseplate Compass (very important when Google Maps goes wrong)
  • Jack knife
  • Plasters
• Groundsheet
• Poncho

After some smashing, I found that the MD5 hash I need to get the Couch Potato Achievement is 5C3E13C0776BCE7FDE01BABB6A2D667F. Sadly, there's no MD5 to string converter, if not, I would have known when I could get it.