Difference between revisions of "Israel"

Revision as of 07:30, 5 April 2009

The current map as of 04/04/2009. The implementation can be found here

Israel is a small country, divided between nine graticules from (29,34) to (33,35). The graticules that encompass its major population centers each have their 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.

As a result, some Israelis may prefer to use an alternative algorithm, which defines a polygon including the entire state of Israel so that all Israelis share the same meeting point. An implementation of the algorithm can be found here; red zones define areas that are deemed too dangerous to access. (Geohashers are encouraged to edit the red zones to help other geohashers avoid IDF fire zones, hostile settlements, etc.) In order to calculate safe points that fall within the green zone, but outside of the red zones, the algorithm uses the previous day's exchange rates, as issued by the Bank of Israel.

Important:

You cannot claim achievements for reaching the alternative algorithm's point. It is solely used for the purpose of arranging meetups.
If you are planning an expedition, make sure you announce it well in advance so that other geohashers will know where you are going. It's not very helpful if one geohasher is attending a standard graticule point while another is attending the alternate graticule point, especially if both are reachable on a given day!

Most recent hashes from the standard graticules

April 1: The Jerusalem graticule point is about 300 meters off of route 90 north of the Dead Sea. Word has it that this is at least 300m below sea level, making it an extremely difficult to beat Low Geohash if someone were to go. Alternatively, the Haifa East graticule lands in a field outside of Arbel, Israel.
April 2: Unless you're in the mood to go traipsing through the desert, the only reachable hash point is just outside of Nazareth in the Haifa East graticule.
April 3: Again with the desert! The Haifa East graticule point is near Imanuel, but closer to the Palestinian village of Jinsafut and probably unsafe.

Most recent hashes from the alternative graticule

Past expeditions in Israel

May 28, 2008: Haifa East graticule point was 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 04/04/2009. 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 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.
+Israel is a small country, divided between nine [[graticule|graticules]] from (29,34) to (33,35). The graticules that encompass its major population centers each have their 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.
-An implementation of the algorithm can be found [http://www.solstice.co.il/geohashing here]
+As a result, some Israelis may prefer to use an alternative algorithm, which defines a polygon including the entire state of Israel so that all Israelis share the same meeting point. An implementation of the algorithm can be found [http://www.solstice.co.il/geohashing here]; red zones define areas that are deemed too dangerous to access.  (Geohashers are encouraged to edit the red zones to help other geohashers avoid IDF fire zones, hostile settlements, etc.) In order to calculate safe points that fall within the green zone, but outside of the red zones, the algorithm uses the previous day's exchange rates, as issued by the Bank of Israel.
-Israeli Geohashers are encouraged to edit the red zones to help other geohashers avoid IDF fire zones, hostile settlements, etc.
+'''Important:'''
+* You cannot claim achievements for reaching the alternative algorithm's point. It is solely used for the purpose of arranging meetups.
+* If you are planning an expedition, make sure you announce it well in advance so that other geohashers will know where you are going. It's not very helpful if one geohasher is attending a standard graticule point while another is attending the alternate graticule point, especially if both are reachable on a given day!
-==Problems with the "normal" algorithm==
-Using the previous algorithm, 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.
+== Most recent hashes from the standard graticules ==
-== Most Recent Hashes ==
-* March 28: The [[Beersheba, Israel|Beersheba]] point is about half a kilometer outside of Ze'elim. The [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] point is just a couple of meters off of route 90, but possibly in an unsafe area.
-* March 29: The [[Beersheba, Israel|Beersheba]] point is in the middle of some agricultural land east of route 6 south of Kfar Menachem.
-* March 30: The only reachable hashpoint is in the [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule, southwest of Jat, but the safety level of the area is unknown.
-* March 31: The [[Tel-Aviv (Goosh Dan), Israel|Tel Aviv]] hashpoint is in a small wooded area in the town of Bnei Tsiyon. The [[Beersheba, Israel|Beersheba]] hashpoint may be more difficult: it's in the desert just outside Abu Quwaydar al'Afawi, east of Beersheba.
 * April 1: The [[Jerusalem, Israel|Jerusalem]] graticule point is about 300 meters off of route 90 north of the Dead Sea. Word has it that this is at least 300m below sea level, making it an extremely difficult to beat [[Low Geohash]] if someone were to go. Alternatively, the [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule lands in a field outside of Arbel, Israel.
 * April 2: Unless you're in the mood to go [[Jerusalem, Israel|traipsing through the desert]], the only reachable hash point is just outside of Nazareth in the [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule.
 * April 3: [[Jerusalem, Israel|Again with the desert!]] The [[Haifa East, Israel|Haifa East]] graticule point is near Imanuel, but closer to the Palestinian village of Jinsafut and probably unsafe.
+== Most recent hashes from the alternative graticule ==
 == Past expeditions in Israel ==