User talk:Robyn

Make a new category at the bottom and add your comments, or add them into an existing category that makes sense. I'd really appreciate a good summary, too, as I might not get to the wiki for a week, but I'll get the notification e-mail. Feel free to move a section back here if you want to talk about it more.

I moved all the old comments to User talk:Robyn/OldTalk because I was having trouble finding the new ones.

Birthday Party

Geohashers are invited to my birthday party.

Thanks!

Thanks for the well-wishes, and I will definitely keep the Formal attire acheivement in mind. I also wanted to thank you for all the great work on the Help and How-to pages... they are a HUGE help! Meghan 22:41, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Move

Thanks for that! I really am not particularly good at this stuff! Ah well, have to go, am meeting CJ for a consecutive meet up! Kate 06:56, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Hi

I'm no good at how to use a wiki. I'm way confused right now. I just wanted to thank you for welcoming me.... THANKS *waves and runs off into the distance* --Avarice 00:19, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Re: Ninja hunting

I just saw your comment on Talk:2009-02-22_32_-90. I just wanted to point out that there is also a handy E-mail this user function on the left of every user page. This one should work even if the user disabled monitoring of his user talk page (but not if she disabled emailing altogether). I don't know if you knew, but I hope to increase your ninja uncovering odds this way. :) -- relet 09:56, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Re: Last Man Standing Ribbon

Yeah, I was just using it to figure out how the ribbon templates work. I was working on implementing the Back from the Grave honorary achievement and wanted to make sure I didn't break the existing functionality before I edited the real last man standing template.

Ugh. I dislike that one because it fractures the possibilities for any given day, and there's no chance of meeting someone there. But it's not always about me, is it? -Robyn 04:32, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Not always about you, Robyn, no. Just most of the time ;). In reality, no-one is going to go for a retro hash if the actual hash is even the barest possibility, so it probably doesn't have such an effect as you might think. -- UnwiseOwl 04:35, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I'll allow the warm fuzziness of that rationalization to protect me from the retro hash. -Robyn 04:44, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

This weekend in Surrey

Wow, what great wilderness hashes for Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately I have little free time this weekend, and they don't look like quick trips. In these locations, would you expect shallow compacted snow, deep snow, a mud pit, or just a little damp? Also, do you think they're fenced off from the closest road? Be my guide! Juventas 00:51, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I don't have knowledge of that specific area, but I see that Saturday is in a park, so you should have access. I suspect that the "Private Road" is parksboard access and will be gated with one of those swing bar gates that stops cars and trucks but not bikes and pedestrians. I also suspect there may be trails leading close to the geohash from 128th.

The terrain I predict is steep, heavily treed, with wet debris underfoot, maybe a little bit of snow but not much. Bear in mind that I have been out of town for a month, so I'm a little out of touch with what the weather has been up to.

Sunday: oh my, that's quite the spot. I expect it to be treacherously steep, heavily treed, with no artificial barriers to access, but very difficult going. Were I to try it, I might try to go up along the bank of the creek.

Both spots are at about 300-400 m elevation, so some snow, but I think the forest canopy is sufficient that there will not be much depth on the ground. I await your report to find out how wrong I am! -Robyn 02:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Turns out I won't have transportation today, and tomorrow is too far when you combine the driving and the hike. Alas. Juventas 19:02, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Canada grat name

Hi Robyn, your opinion is wanted at Talk:Lloydminster‎. --joannac 00:44, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

etrex tracklogs

Just saw your note...

Do I understand right that the point you fail at is splicing the long tracklog into several parts? If they are saved as GPX, and everything else fails, you could edit them manually in any kind of text editor. GPX actually is a XML variant, i.e. a pure text format which is more or less human-readable. That's what I'm currently doing myself (I have no idea what the software supplied by garmin does - it's windows software, after all, so it probably won't work here anyway - and haven't taken the time to search for decent track processing software yet). Also mind that if you save a track internally in the etrex (as opposed to downloading it from the freshly recorded data), timestamps are removed, which will confuse some programs and make the log less interesting. --Ekorren 01:30, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

The Garmin software is called MapSource, and I have heard it works with Wine. With some extra tricks you can even transfer data from and to the GPS with Linux.

When you download the data from the GPS, you get all data. My GPS starts a new tracklog every time I turn it on, or after it lost reception. What I do is save that as "all20090307.gdb" and then I delete everything except the tracklog I want, usually the most recent one. Same for the waypoints. I save that again as "geohash20090307.gdb" and *that* is the file I put in gpsvisualizer. You can delete the tracks individually.

Oh well, I also rightclick on the track and go to the properties of it, where I can see all logged points. I delete the very first and last bit, so it isn't very obvious where this man lives that leaves his house every saturday.--Arvid 07:06, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Mine is mapsource, too. It came with either the GPS or a heart rate monitor I bought from Garmin. I tried to save the tracks for just the expeditions, but yes, the device contains every track for every time I've ever turned it on. I'll experiment with deleting parts of it. -Robyn 07:17, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

I don't know. I saved what I thought was the track from my February 25th expedition as the default, a gdb file and then uploaded it using this website but the result had tracks from everywhere I'd ever been since I bought the GPS. Can you talk me through it? Can I mail it to you? Is there another way I can take the data off the GPS?-Robyn 01:34, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

The etrex records everything into an internal memory of 10.000 points (1.500 on very old models, probably more on better models - I own the low end etrex H). When the memory is full, it starts to overwrite the oldest parts. So, unless you manually delete the tracks in the GPS unit from time to time, you will always get a full 10.000 points worth of past logs. Depending on what you were doing, and what recording accuracy you set, that may be a few hours or a few weeks. For an example, on highest compressed accuracy, the 1000 km/19 hours trip to 2009-02-22_51_10 yielded about 8.000 points. The default setting seems to range around 40-50% of that.

I fear I can't "talk you through it" because you probably have to use totally different software I don't know at all. You may send me the file, though, and I'm quite sure I'll be able to cut out the interesting parts (give time range in UTC, please). However, I'm sure there is some good solution for your problem out there, and I hope someone will come up with it. (And now I'm off to bed, anyway - past 3 am here). --Ekorren 02:06, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

This is the website I used. If the files work (they display temporarily) just send them to me by email and I'll put them up for you!

http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map_input?form=googleearth

Thepiguy 20:32, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Australia

Hi Robyn, CJ and I were wondering, when you come to Australia (Whoo Hoo!), Could you please bring your airplane with you? Thanks, -- Kate 13:23, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

I'd need to a) convine my boss he didn't need it that week and b) fill all the baggage holds with fuel to get it that far. How about I bring my licence and hire one there? -Robyn 17:26, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Yay! We'll planepool (as in carpool?) and go on an Airtrip (as in roadtrip?) ! -- Kate 21:34, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Yeah! Drop by your local flying school and find out what the rules are for a rental by someone who holds a Transport Canada and FAA licence. -Robyn 21:36, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Hi Robyn, guess what? While at a dance performance I was chatting to another performer, who is the secretary for an organisation that rents planes in Canberra (yeah, I know, yay for random coincidences)! So... what kind of license do you have again? Her preliminary advice was you can probably get a temporary flying permit thing. --joannac 04:14, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I have a Transport Canada Airline Transport Licence, and an FAA Private licence. The trick seems to be that you have to do a flying checkout with a school (no problem) but then Australia takes weeks to process the temp permit. -Robyn 04:58, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

2009-03-09

King Ed and Knight:6:00! Check Vancouver talk page...

Okay, I guess that means 18:00. :-)

Latitude 49

Thanks for leaving the hard ones for me ;). Fortunately I am honing my dormant French skills and visiting Québec government websites for better maps. -- Meghan 21:17, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I knew you liked a challenge. And then I went off and started naming bits of Antarctica. The one where I stopped in Québec is obviously really industrialized, with that poor Abitibi park sticking out like a sore thumb in the satellite view. I assume it's pulp and paper, maybe just Mategami, but perhaps there's a local name you can find somewhere. -Robyn 21:23, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm becoming more amused by the potential names in Newfoundland, especially in -55. Like Seldom-Little-Seldom :). It'll likely just end up being Fogo Island or something. -- Meghan 22:06, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree, so sad not to have Conception and Dildo as graticules, I know. I'm fine with naming after a river if there is truly not one populated centre in the graticule, and if the river is both clearly in that graticule and not substatially in any other. I think the Gulf of St Lawrence one is poor, because there are many graticules that have significant portions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence -- unless that name is on a graticule that has no land at all, just the gulf, like the Atlantic Ocean ones. -Robyn 22:59, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, both of those graticules have no land in them whatsoever. -- Meghan 02:53, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Ah, then they have the absolutely correct name. I may have linked to the Atlantic Ocean when I should have linked to the Gulf. I'll go back and check. -Robyn 02:59, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Qov?

There's a Qov on kli.org who's Canadian, and one on deviant art who's Canadian and male, and one on Flickr that's into quilts. Are any of these you? -- Jevanyn 21:45, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Heh. Cyber-stalker ;) --joannac 22:10, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

I had no idea there was more than one Qov. They are like Wiki categories. -Robyn 23:00, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the assist!

I was trying to figure out how to put categories on my expedition page from today when all of a sudden they just appeared!

Now I'll know how to do them myself. Thanks for being such a great caretaker of the wiki! FunkyTuba 22:57, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

You're welcome. It's my way of showing up on that lawn to be part of your expedition. -Robyn 23:00, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm New!

Just thought I should put that out there, perhaps to stem the flood of "What did you DO!?"'s that may spring up from me trying to understand my first wiki. Sorry guys, my learning curve tends to take out a few trees while accelerating to high, dangerous, speeds. Anyway, I'm excited to be here, and thanks Robyn for welcoming me. Yes, I did mean 'barter' in the classic sense of the word, knowing the equestrian club on campus may help. :) - Sprica 2009/03/13

People will just come up behind you and fix anything they don't like. You can also start projects and abandon them and when you come back someone else has finished them. -Robyn 02:10, 14 March 2009 (UTC) 1 Ah, well in that case I won't be so afraid to poke around. Not too much though! -Sprica 10:42, 13 March 2009

Cycling Gear

I bought clippy pedals! And clippy shoes! They're so awesome! Once you get over the initial "OMG my bike has my feet and it won't let go!" feeling that is. I'm biking to UBC tomorrow to test them out.

On a different note, I'm wanting to get some sort of bike bag that will let me access things while riding. Just small things like my gps or camera. I don't like biking with backpacks, I'm not sure how I feel about hanging things off my handle bars and I've heard the bags that attach to the frame can get in the way. Any ideas or suggestions? Thepiguy 06:23, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

I have a small front handlebar bag. (You can see it in pictures of the March 5th geohash). It's great for pulling out a camera or an energy bar during a quick stop, but I wouldn't recommend it for getting at things while riding, because I find it awkward to pull sideways on the zipper while riding in a straight line. You can leave it open, but stuff can bounce out. Another problem is that it has a frame, to hold the bag's shape, and the frame interferes with my light, so at night I have to pull off the bag and stow it elsewhere. Honestly the only thing I know of that is really suited to grabbing things while rolling is a proper bicycle jersey, like they wear in the Tour de France. It has a series of pockets across the back and it's easy to grab things out of them. You can also mount things in the bottle cages, or holster them around your ankles. You can definitely get a handlebar mount for your GPS. - Robyn

Canadian globalhash!

The crowd goes wild. It's even almost on land (albeit not Canadian land). Heck, it's even in British Columbia! --starbird 00:50, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

What? The 18th? It's in the Dixon Entrance to the Hecate Strait in Canadian waters north of the Queen Charlotte Islands. It would be a daunting expedition. The only way I'd have a chance is an airhash, and that would be at least a $4000 proposition from here. -Robyn 01:04, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

On the plus side, you have a whole day to prepare! :-) --starbird 01:11, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

Ah, I misread the "almost on land" as "on land" and was confused. If I get a globalhash, I want to GO there, anyway, not just fly over. -Robyn 01:15, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

Upon the occasion of the anniversary of her birth.

I meant to get this out faster Robyn but had a rewarding day of bloody geohashing with Liberian and the Powertool. They are a bad influence on me and I think my mom is going to make me stop playing with them. I see it's already tomorrow here but it's still yesterday where you are so maybe this is not too late. I wish you an exceptionally nice birthday and look forward to reading a comprehensive report of this day's party activities replete with photo documentation. Sorry I did not make it today. Maybe next year. --Bos 05:23, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Speed Racer achievement

Robyn, I added a 'speed' section to Template:Speed_Racer_geohash, so people can start documenting "maximum legal speed". Any thoughts? David Souther 03:36, 23 March 2009 (UTC) ps. Why didn't you join me for 2009-03-04_global? :)

pps Happy Birthday!

The speed section sounds good. Make sure the board encourages documenting low as well as high legal speeds. It's funny when the speed racer occurs on a bike path with a 15 km/h limit. I didn't join you because it was more than 15 hours driving, especially considering the weather, and I really try to avoid driving to geohashes unless I'm going there anywhere. It was much too far for me to go by bike in the winter. - Robyn

Whaddya mean, you won't bike 100 miles in a day to go globalhashing? ;) Actually, the reason I though of it was because the speed racer for 2009-03-21_45_-108 was at a stop sign, so 0 mph was the legal speed. Maybe if this gets going a bit more there might be a way to collate this info into a list or chart. Could be interesting to see. David Souther 03:52, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

I would definitely bike 100 miles in a day for a globalhash. I'm not sure why you thought I was so close. I could bike 250 km a day for two or three days running for a globalhash. However the March 4th global hash was 1,623 km away, over several mountain ranges and along roads that I suspected were blocked with snow and inhospitable to cycling even in summer. -Robyn 04:02, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

That was supposed to be 1500. Which means my guess was still short. :( David Souther 04:05, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Probably close to 1500 straight line. I used the Google Maps driving distance figure. -Robyn 04:07, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

March 29

Right now me MylSh and srs0 are sitting in class desperately trying to find a kayak rental that's open on Sunday so we can do the Comox hash. If we can find a boat I'm driving up with a van full of friends for the day. There's one more seat left, if you're interested!

Yes, I'm there.

OMG Yay! We're meeting at UBC at 6:00, and probably getting back around 22:00. I'll get you the exact meeting location soon. Thepiguy 20:43, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Sorry I couldn't make it to your birthday bash last weekend. Happy Birthday to you too!

I forgive you, but I reserve the right to complain about it my expedition report for Sunday. - Robyn 20:27, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Many fond memories of Comox. Sorry I can't meet you there. Please check on Old House restaurant and see if Portuguese Joe is still smoking salmon. And take LOTS of pictures. --Bos 19:37, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Someone told me the Old House restaurant is gone. If we don't get arrested by the military police we'l see what food options are available. -Robyn 02:20, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Main Page redlinks

Maybe we should make it a rule that you have to write a page before you link your pic in the expedition gallery? Or at least, create the expedition page and put the map in... --joannac 02:03, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

I totally think that should be the rule. I consider that it IS the rule, but that the people who don't do it don't know the rule. But it's okay, because there are expeditions we wouldn't even know about if people hadn't uploaded a picture and thought they were done. Like Cid, who may not have great English, or probably has great English but didn't want to write a report in imperfect English. So people who know better shouldn't do it, but if that's someone's entry point into reporting on an expedition, then I don't want to stop them. -Robyn 02:07, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Guilty as charged. Being both a procrastinator and a perfectionist, I'm not sure I've ever completed an expedition page within the 5-day window. Juventas 02:32, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Ah yes, YOU Juventas, should know better. Redlinks make Joanna cry. Next time make a quickie expedition report along the lines of "I'll write this up soon, please don't cry, Joanna" before linking a picture to the Main Page. And then we'll drop the charges. -Robyn 02:35, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Red Ninjas

I think that's feasible.. I'm going to look into that later today. :) -- relet 07:58, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

I probably found most of them already. I figured out that I could look at a month at a time instead of a day at a time, so I got everything but May and June 2008 (where there were so many I got tired). -24.83.1.77 08:04, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

You may also look at Special:Wanted pages.. which is sorted by "redlinks". The expedition pages turn up first, that is currently roughly at #4670. Bot wasn't very helpful there. -- 195.37.79.63 09:53, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I work in there from time to time. This was a specific task, for a particular kind of redlink, not in general. -Robyn 15:19, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Mountain climbing near Squamish

I take back the "turned tail and fled" comment, I didn't realize you actually scaled as much of that terrain as you did! -- Jevanyn 05:23, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Heh, I think I was at almost the elevation of the geohash, just on the wrong mountain. More planning next time. -Robyn 06:27, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

A kingdom for a boat

Check out Mabel Lake today, looks like an all-day trek with a spectacular destination. I wish it were this weekend, I might actually give it a go. Although even an inflatable kayak/boat would be a lot to pack for such an expedition. If it were Fall I would swim out, but at this time of year it's probably thin ice. Has anyone swam to a hash before? Juventas 20:32, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Nice. I'm getting ready to go away for the weekend to attend to some family obligations, so no geohashing for me today. For the sake of 70 m on thin ice, I would say that was a job for an air mattress on top of a toboggan. It is pretty fine. Vancouver's is crazy today. -Robyn 21:49, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Re swimming to a geohash, I haven't seen one, but I may try one soon. There's a retrohash from last Christmas Day off the beach from Wildwood, NJ. If I get a chance to do it, I'll get a boat ride to the geohash and consider swimming to shore depending on how far it is (hard to tell from satellite shots). -- Jevanyn 15:22, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

2009-04-18

You sound determined... I'm in. I've got access to snow shoes, camping equipment, my usual geohashing gear and a shipping container full of first aid equipment we hopefully wont need. Thepiguy 00:41, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Ooh, I'd better get all my chores done. Do you have extra snowshoes? -Robyn 02:45, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes I do! There are two pairs, both used only once! Thepiguy 04:36, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm interested but I can't say I'm in unconditionally, because I'm signed up for the Sun Run the 19th. -- Rhonda 03:48, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, it wouldn't be a good pre-race workout. -Robyn 04:25, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm planning to register for the Sun Run on Friday morning, when it turns out the co-ordinates are located on the race route. What? It could happen! Thepiguy 04:36, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Ha ha! I typed "maybe Sunday's coords will be on the race route" but deleted it. It would be awesome. -Robyn 04:41, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Aperantly crazy people think alike... Thepiguy 05:10, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

I did buy my GPS for running... -- Rhonda 05:30, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

~~I could have in theory bought my GPS for~~ Nope. Who am I kidding. It was entierly a geohashing purchase. Thepiguy 05:33, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

More accurately, I bought it so I wouldn't get lost in the Mexican desert while travelling for work and attempting to continue my running schedule. I did actually use the "go back to start" feature when I ended up not knowing which way to go to get back to the house... (It was fun. A few Mexicans getting ready for work at 5AM staring at the crazy white chick running around, otherwise empty streets.) -- Rhonda 05:42, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

the official geohashing kayak

While not often, I do get some lake coordinates, and some that could be easier crossing a lake to get to. I thought I remember reading about your purchasing of the kayak, but I couldn't find it again. All the other reviews I could find were positive (within expectations). I understand it's at Canadian Tire for $299, that it comes with the skirt (when most do not). Does it come with a paddle? A pump? You already had a PFD? What else will I need? Help. :) Juventas 06:09, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

The link is on my user page under Future Plans. It comes with a spray skirt. Rhonda got her paddle for $30. Yes, I already had a PFD and a pump, to go with the $15 inflatable boat I used for the sunrise hash. I would recommend adding some rope for a painter, a waterproof container to keep your stuff in and a drinking water bottle. A paddle float is optional. (Of course I know what it's for!) -Robyn 06:17, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

I also linked it on the expedition report, down at the bottom where we declared it official. I bought the paddle for $30, the PFD for $60 or so, and the pump for $15, and that's all I brought (well, and food and water and rainjacket). There were cheaper PFDs and pumps but I liked the fit and mobility of the PFD I bought and the double-action of the pump. Ok, it's bulky and I might end up buying a second pump that fits inside the kayak bag, but it's so fast! -- Rhonda 06:55, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

2009-04-16

Want to go to Bellingham? I'm scared of the border! Please come with me! 24.85.9.142 15:53, 16 April 2009 (UTC)