Talk:Vancouver, British Columbia

This is for talk about upcoming meet dates, and anything else of interest to the graticule. Helpful hint: Use four consecutive tildes (~) to sign your post!

2009 Meetups

Cowichan

If I were in Vancouver today I'd think about trying to bag the first geohash in the Lake Cowichan graticule.

(cries) in a car that's a 3.5hr trip one way to the water's edge. Not counting waiting for the ferry. -- Rhonda 17:51, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

2009-06-03

Whoa, it's in the city.

After work, anyone? -- Rhonda 15:17, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Geohashing Day

So what shall we do for Geohashing Day? How will we as a graticule go above and beyond our usual zaniness to commemorate this special occasion? Ideas on the day's talk page.

2009-05-20

Hey, I thought I already edited this. It's doable today, via Horseshoe Bay-Bowen ferry, bike to the spit nearest Gambier, kayak to point. But I don't really really want to do it. I don't want a wet kayak for Geohashing Day. Am I a lazy-assed whiner who should go do it? -Robyn 16:20, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Personally I'm doing chores today, and preparing for tomorrow. I don't think wet kayak is a huge issue; it doesn't have to be dry before using it again, only before storing it. Besides, we just did a hash point close to there, but from the other direction. -- Rhonda 16:53, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, we did. It's the first time I've left a point unpursued when I knew I could get it. It calls to me. But I have earplugs. -Robyn 17:12, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

2009-05-12

It's a boat hash, transit accessible if you have a portable boat.

2009-05-02

Saturday in Garibaldi needs to wait for more snow to melt, so I'm going to Bellingham. -Robyn 17:31, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

2009-04-25

It's on Gambier Island, right where I went to summer camp, and I still know someone who could give us permission to go ashore there. I have a social event I have to be back in Vancouver for at 7 p.m. Anyone interested in renting a motor boat? -Robyn 22:25, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

As long as it doesn't involve riding a bike uphill. -- Rhonda 00:28, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

2009-04-08

Anvil Island - Robyn will be arriving at Porteau Cove about 1:30 pm to launch her kayak for this expedition. Other boats welcome.

Damn! I'm in class today! Booo! Have extra fun for me! And be safe! Thepiguy 17:25, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Once again, I was the first to meet a cool new Vancouver geohasher. She is even crazier than me, and she has one success now, but no land geohash ribbon! Five and a half hours in an inflatable kayak. Booyah! -Robyn

2009-03-09

King Ed and Knight! MylSh and Thepiguy will be arriving via transit at approximately 6:00 +/- error in transit with snow. Putting that extra hour to good use!

06:00 or 18:00? -Robyn 17:42, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Now, if I were living in Vancouver I could qualify for a deja vu hash. My husband and I drove by there several times last summer :( --Meghan 18:09, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

But do you have proof? We'll dedicate the geohash to you, Meghan. What song shall we sing in your honour? -Robyn 18:19, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

You make me smile. No song necessary. Looking at the weather report you should have some excellent snow for sculpting :D --Meghan 18:40, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Now that I think of it, you can build a snowman named Meghan. That'll probably be the only way I can hash until I get lucky. --Meghan 19:56, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

We shall all build snowmeghans! Thepiguy 23:44, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

2009-01-31

hey...the vancouver and surrey ones are pretty bleh, but i'm gonna attempt the bellingham hash today with a few people. be there or be trapezoidal ;) Twilightcity 18:10, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

2009-01-24

Bowen Island! Be there or be square! Thepiguy 04:07, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Oh man, we were going to go to Hope. Now I can't decide. -Robyn 04:25, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

I don't think I'm going to be able to even make Bowen tomorrow, something came up. Take lot's of pictures in hope! Thepiguy 06:03, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure which one I'm getting to yet. -Robyn 06:14, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Ha! First-time hashers...and we did it the old fashioned way...by asking folks where to go! Who'd have thunk it would be in the middle of a freakin' LLAMA PASTURE??? --Twilightcity 03:34, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Ha ha ha, anyone who didn't go missed out! This was a good one! -Robyn 04:55, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

2009-01-17

I'll be there at 4:00 (probably earlier), will you? Thepiguy 03:07, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

When we have 100 geohashers in the graticule

When we have 100 geohashers in the graticule, we are so doing this. Party and games all the way to the geohash and all the way back. And no riding uphill! I'm sure we could get the captain to sail to and circle around a random set of coordinates. -Robyn 01:28, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

2008 Talk

Talk about 2008 expeditions moved to its own page to reduce clutter.

Notable Dates

I propose moving all information pertaining to where to meet up if it has not been decided to the discussion page to keep the main page clean looking. --Nigma 15:37, 24 May 2008

I somewhat agree there. The problem is that not everybody checks the discussion page, so they won't necessarily see that. I'm thinking maybe just leaving the upcoming and most recent event or two on the main page and the discussion of them here? I'm going to try a few changes to aim towards something like that. --Srs0 23:20, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Our Record

Has there ever been a non-attended road-accessible geohash in this graticule? -Robyn 16:26, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Nanaimo

We need a Nanaimo geohasher to get the low hanging fruit on the Vancouver Island side without having a two hour ferry ride. Anyone know anyone in Nanaimo they can recruit? -Robyn 19:13, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Hiking, anybody?

Would anybody like to join me for 2009-06-07 49 -122? I'm planning to bike to the dam, and then hike from there. It looks like a 2km hike. - Elbie 22:26, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

UDLS Talk, June 12, 2009

Hey all! I've been invited to give a one-hour talk at the Computer Science Un-Distinguished Lecture Series, and I've decided to do it on geohashing. Does anybody have any ideas for what I should include? Fun stories? Favourite expeditions? Favourite photos? Favourite achievements? Let me know! - Elbie 00:25, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

I think the big question to ask is 'Why?' Why would a group of people do such a crazy thing? If you don't focus on that question it'll rattle in people's heads anyway. - Wmcduff 02:53, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

On <Date> seven people left their houses to converge on a tree in metro Vancouver. That sounds more impressive than it is, because about fifty people have converged on this room today. But this tree was chosen, psuedo-randomly by the internet.

Robyn's ideas for this

This is very oool. We'll have to nominate you for a special gratuitous ribbon for publicizing the sport!

My favourite part about geohashing is that the people you meet are a guaranteed to be adventurous enough to just go somewhere, friendly enough to want to do it to meet people, and geeky enough to see the appeal. It's a self-selected group of the most amazing people I could find anywhere.

Get across the feeling of utter triumph you feel having reached a totally anonymous spot in the middle of nowhere, just because the internet told you to.

Definitely show photos. Here are some of my favourites:

• 

  capturing an airplane

• 

  on top of a cliff

Sorry, hotel internet is so excruciatingly slow that I can't look at any more photos. How about a kayak photo, a one person in the middle of nowhere photo, some big urban group photos, an amazing scenic vista, a field or two, the most boring building you can find, some snow photos, a formal, a picnic, some Florida swamp photos, and maybe a boring GPS shot or two. Make sure there's a trademarked stupid grin taken by someone with a camera held at arm's length. You could get all of that from Vancouver alone, but get one from every continent if you can.

In addition to the Geohashing Dat 2008 xkcd comic, show the one where the two geeks flaming at their keyboards are forced to come face to face, and the "lets put our birthdays in the GPS and go there and make out" one.

Make sure you get across the credo that it's the adventure, not coordinates at any cost, and that we don't trample crops or go onto "posted" private property without permission. Srs0's recent accident is on my mind. If the talk is covered in the campus press, make sure to bring us a copy for your Media Attention ribbon.

I'm not sure exactly what Robyn meant by "on my mind", but about srs0 and piguy -- they upped and moved from Canada to a European country which has a different language and within hours were enjoying cycling around the countryside, seeing new places and meeting people. Because of geohashing. I'm sure they could have done it without, but I'm also sure it helped. It's a good way to get out, explore and meet people, and I think that's an important point. Many people may think about going on one geohashing expedition because it's something new, but to convince them to continue hashing it's important to stress other aspects. I'll shut up now. -- Benjw 21:17, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

This is all written in the imperative mood, but isn't meant to be ordering you around. It just came out that way Pretend it's in the subjunctive. -Robyn 03:21, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the input! This is what I have so far (rough first draft, incomplete): http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~patitsas/geohashing/udls_geohashing.pdf (I use Linux, and Google Docs wouldn't cooperate with that. The transportation slide is set up so a picture of each of those listed methods is shown.) Seeing your input now, I'll definitely go find some nice stunning British Columbian vistas to add, and the one of you guys on Gambier. I'm trying to focus the presentation on local, recent geohashes, to show that the sport is active in the area. And because I like to stick to the 'write what you know' advice.

I can't get the PDF to load. I'm sure it's good. -Robyn 07:39, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

The CS webservers were apparently down last night; they're up again. Anyway, here's basically what I have in there:

• the comic, followed by an explanation of how and when coordinates are generated, why you'd go to them
• maps of the Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria graticules with info about them, and then the map of Seattle for comparison
• some stats
• most common forms of transportation in our graticule, with pictures (e.g. Rhonda with kayak waiting for bus, the two kayaks on thepiguy's car, a photo from a plane you were flying)
• the meetup graph and some group shots in our area
• a slide on activities we do at hashes, and photos (playing board games, twister, picnics, etc)
• a slide on achievements with examples and accompanying photos
• what you do after a hash: reports on the wiki, with links to some recent ones in the area that I would go over during the talk
• instructions on how to become a Vancouver geohasher

It's currently lacking a good sort of ending. Anyway, I'll work on it more today and put up a newer draft when available. - Elbie 15:52, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

It would be great if that day's geohash were someplace accessible such that you pick up your knapsack and go there, inviting anyone who is curious to come with you. Too bad we can't somehow bribe the algorithm. I might end with grand overblown predictions for the future of geohashing: when we have 100 people and rent a party boat for a formal attire water geohash, when we have 800 people and charter a cruise ship across the Pacific to get as many geohashes as we can on the way to Hawaii, when people charter a helicopter to get that coveted "first" ribbon. :-) -Robyn 17:44, 6 June 2009 (UTC)