Difference between revisions of "Israel"

Revision as of 19:23, 21 March 2009

Israel is a small country, divided between nine graticules from (29,34) to (33,35). In order to unite the few Israeli xkcd fans, a different algorithm was at one point used, but is now defunct. This page was previously used to chronicle points that came up under that alternative algorithm.

Each graticule in Israel has its own problems: some are almost entirely in the Mediterranean Sea, others include much of the disputed territories, and still others contain a truly staggering amount of desert. Some even contain all three. Almost all of them include some area in neighboring countries of varying degrees of unfriendliness. Therefore, in the absence and/or lack of desire for an alternative algorithm, this page should be used to chronicle, for each day, those points that may actually be reachable by Israeli geohashers.

Current Hashes

March 21: The Jerusalem graticule is about 100 meters off of Route 1, near Tzomet Almog. The safety level of the area is unknown; you might feel more comfortable with the Haifa East graticule's location in a field north of Lavi.
March 22: The only reachable hash point is in the Beersheba graticule, near the Gal-On reservoir outside of Gat.
March 23: The Haifa East graticule falls out in an inhabited area southwest of Yakir, but whether it's Israeli or Palestinian Google Maps doesn't say.

Past expeditions in Israel

May 28, 2008: Haifa East graticule point unsuccessfully reached by Ynor
July 28, 2008: Alternative location cheat in Jerusalem by Lady Pennywhistle.
March 17, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife successfully reached the Beersheba graticule's hash point in Kfar Truman.

Graticules and Participants

Those are the geohash graticules in Israel, plus current users:

Jerusalem, Israel
- Lady Pennywhistle lives in French Hill, Jerusalem
- Yerushalmi and his wife
Tel-Aviv (Goosh Dan), Israel
- Dor
- Vyath
- Improbable
- Eyal
- Bryan A (Moving to this graticule in July)
- Avish
- pseudoDust
Haifa East, Israel
- Ynor
- Pr0nto
Beersheba, Israel

Any other users: Don't just lurk! Add yourselves to the wiki pages, so we can know who's participating and try to arrange meetups!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:israelmap.jpg|thumb|301 px|The current map as of 24/06/2008. The implementation can be found [http://www.solstice.co.il/geohashing here] ]]
+Israel is a small country, divided between nine [[graticule|graticules]] from (29,34) to (33,35). In order to unite the few Israeli xkcd fans, a different algorithm was at one point used, but is now defunct. This page was previously used to chronicle points that came up under that alternative algorithm.
-Israel is a small country, divided between nine [[graticule|graticules]] from (29,34) to (33,35). In order to unite the few Israeli xkcd fans, a different algorithm is used. Instead of the regular [[graticule]] system, the entire state of Israel is defined by a polygon so that all Israelis share the same meeting point. In addition, red zones define areas that are deemed too dangerous to access.  In order to calculate safe points that fall within the green zone, but outside of the red zones, the new algorithm uses the previous day's exchange rates, as issued by the Bank of Israel.
+Each graticule in Israel has its own problems: some are [[Tel-Aviv (Goosh Dan), Israel|almost entirely in the Mediterranean Sea]], others include much of the [[Haifa East, Israel|disputed territories]], and still others contain [[Jerusalem, Israel|a truly staggering amount of desert]]. Some even contain [[Beersheba, Israel|all three]]. Almost all of them include some area in neighboring countries of varying degrees of unfriendliness. Therefore, in the absence and/or lack of desire for an alternative algorithm, this page should be used to chronicle, for each day, those points that may actually be reachable by Israeli geohashers.
-An implementation of the algorithm can be found [http://www.solstice.co.il/geohashing here]
-Israeli Geohashers are encouraged to edit the red zones to help other geohashers avoid IDF fire zones, hostile settlements, etc.
+== Current Hashes ==
+* March 21: The [[Jerusalem, Israel|Jerusalem]] graticule is about 100 meters off of Route 1, near Tzomet Almog. The safety level of the area is unknown; you might feel more comfortable with the [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule's location in a field north of Lavi.
+* March 22: The only reachable hash point is in the [[Beersheba, Israel|Beersheba]] graticule, near the Gal-On reservoir outside of Gat.
+* March 23: The [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule falls out in an inhabited area southwest of Yakir, but whether it's Israeli or Palestinian Google Maps doesn't say.
-Since Google Maps does not show any map details inside Israel, it is recommended to also work with [http://maps.walla.co.il/ Walla Maps] or [http://www.mapa.co.il/ Mapa], when both maps are on the 'hybrid' setting, until the geohash point can be positively identified. This step can be finalized by using the website [http://amudanan.co.il/ Amud Anan], which has topographical maps of Israel.
-A better option might be just looking up the exact coordinates on a map, but where's the fun in that?
+== Past expeditions in Israel ==
+* [[2008-05-28 32 35|May 28, 2008]]: [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East graticule point]] unsuccessfully reached by [[User:Ynor|Ynor]]
+* [[2008-07-28 31 35|July 28, 2008]]: Alternative location cheat in [[Jerusalem, Israel|Jerusalem]] by [[User:Lady Pennywhistle|Lady Pennywhistle]].
+* [[2009-03-17 31 34|March 17, 2009]]: [[User:Yerushalmi|Yerushalmi]] and his wife successfully reached the [[Beersheba, Israel|Beersheba graticule's]] hash point in Kfar Truman.
-Another possibility (and a pretty good one so far, it seems) is using Google Earth - it's pretty convenient with coordinates, unlike Israeli maps, and has more details than Google Maps. But it is still recommended to use it with the other sites mentioned when pinpointing of the spot is needed.
+== Graticules and Participants ==
-== Upcoming Geohashes ==
+Those are the geohash graticules in Israel, plus current users:
-* June 7th 2008 - Appears to be, while not inaccessible, pretty much out of the question for anyone who is not a seasoned hiker. A cross-check of the above-mentioned sites resulted in identifying this Saturday's point in a small wadi off the nameless summit 569, near Mitzpe HaMeshar in the Arabah ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Paran Paran] area). If anyone actually makes it there, take pictures.
-* June 8th 2008 - Somewhere west of Amman.
-* June 12th 2008 - Once again, not inaccessible but also not very practical; the spot appears to be somewhere along the Nahal Og bike trail, halfway between Mishor Adumim and Almog. Seems like a nice area to hike in, but not very easy as a meetup spot. Other geohash spots today are in the Mishor Adumim industrial zone (for the [[Jerusalem, Israel|Jerusalem]] graticule), and near a dirt road between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beit_Rimon/ Beit Rimon] and Uzayr (for the [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule), which also seem quite impractical. Better luck next time?
-* June 13th 2008 - The all-Israel geohash spot is up in Lebanon, so that looks like a no-go... Other geohash spots for today: The Jerusalem graticule's spot is near Nahal Tze'elim, in the Judaean Desert. One again, nice hike, but not much chance of anyone actually getting there. Tel Aviv graticule's spot is in the sea, Haifa East graticule's is outside the Green Line (somewhere near Sebastye), and so is Be'er Sheva's - it's somewhere in the southern part of the Gaza strip, so really it's best to just stay the hell away from there...
-* June 19th 2008 - In the fields near [http://www.sdotnegev.org.il/%5CHtml%20Files%5CHebrew%5CMos_zimrat.html/ Moshav Zimrat], not far from the Gaza Strip but at least within the Green Line this time. Other geohash spots today: Jerusalem's and Haifa's spots are both in Jordan, Tel Aviv's is about 2KM off the Netanya coast (so a beach meet-up might be possible, if people can make it), and Be'er Sheva's is not far north from Be'er Sheva, near Lehavim (which might have been neat if we've known any BGU geohashers, but none have signed up here yet).
-* June 27th, 2008 - Appears to be proximate to Moshav HaZor'im, in Bik'at Yavniel, very near to Tiberias.
-* July 3rd, 2008 - No good again. Same for the 4th, it seems. :(
-:Listen, everyone (is anybody still reading this?) - It seems Israel geohashes aren't working all that great, so far. How about we use the vote mechanism, and decide on a fun place to meet sometime... er, like after the end of this university semester? I'd even be willing to travel to Tel Aviv, if I know there's a real meet-up happening. -- [[User:Lady_Pennywhistle|Lady Pennywhistle]]
-* July 28th, 2008 - Apparently, nobody reads this anymore. :( Is Israeli geohashing dead?Anyway, looking at today's spots, the only relevant one appears to be for the Be'er Sheva graticule, and it's somewhere in some fields near Yavne. The Solstice all-Israel algorithm currently gives me an error message, so I can't find the spot there, but I doubt it's more accessible.
-== Sub-graticules and Participants ==
-Those are the original geohash graticules, plus current users:
 * [[Jerusalem, Israel]]
 ** [[User:Lady Pennywhistle|Lady Pennywhistle]] lives in French Hill, Jerusalem
+** [[User:Yerushalmi|Yerushalmi and his wife]]
 * [[Tel-Aviv (Goosh Dan), Israel]]
 ** [http://dorshemer.com/blog/ Dor]
@@ Line 40: / Line 32: @@
 ** [[User:Ynor|Ynor]]
 ** [[User:Pr0nto|Pr0nto]]
+* [[Beersheba, Israel]]
 Any other users: Don't just lurk! Add yourselves to the wiki pages, so we can know who's participating and try to arrange meetups!
@@ Line 46: / Line 39: @@
 ----
-* [http://www.solstice.co.il/geohashing/ An implementation of the algorithm]
+* [http://www.solstice.co.il/geohashing/ Where the alternative algorithm used to be]
-* [http://dorshemer.com/blog/2008/05/22/geohashing-israel/ Hebrew explanation of an older algorithm]
+* [http://dorshemer.com/blog/2008/05/22/geohashing-israel/ Hebrew explanation of an older, still working, alternative algorithm]
 [[Category:Middle East]]
-[[Category:Alternate algorithm]]
+[[Category:Israel]]