Where’s Kes

Now that I’ve upgraded to an iPhone 3G I have re-written the OS Openspace map page that I had for my windows mobile phone. This time I’ve added functionality to allow you to display your own location on the map. The page is fed by Instamapper - you’ll need the application installed on a compatible mobile phone (an iPhone or Blackberry), then;

1. Login to the Instamapper website and Enable API Access Note this will share your tracked locations with anybody who has your API Key
2. Start Instamapper on your iPhone/Blackberry/Compatible Mobile and start tracking
3. Visit whereskes.com/geo/iphone-tracking and enter your API key to view your location on an OS Map. Tick autorefresh if you would like the location map to refresh every 30 seconds.

At the moment the page doesn’t check your tracked location is in the UK, so if you aren’t it won’t work - just use the maps on the Instamapper website. Read the rest of this entry »

Spurned on by the fear of losing all my data I’ve had a good look round at the various online backup providers.  Backing up data online in ‘the cloud’ can be attractive compared to burning a CD or copying to an external hard drive, the data will be accessible from anywhere and you don’t need to worry about where to store the backup medium.

After a good bit of looking round here’s who I’ve settled on, and so far it seems to be going well;

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I’ve never really been that enthusiastic about contributing to OpenStreetmap, yes I get the point but opendata alone hasn’t been enough motivation to get me out there logging my tracks - until I found the cycle specific OSM maps rendered by Andy Allan.

His map renders the Openstreetmap data in a way that makes features for cyclists, such as cycle routes, cycle parking, bike shops and pubs much more prominent - whilst blending car parking, petrol stations and other car-centric features discretley into the background.

So over the past couple of weeks I’ve been uploading my GPS tracks into OSM, tagging the routes I’ve cycled along, locating cycle parking and marking up bike shops. The end result is great as some of the information such as local commuter routes isn’t shown on any Ordnance Survey or Google Map - and now there is a way to see promoted routes around Perth on a map, click through to see it. Read the rest of this entry »

Off-road alternative to the Pass of Drumochter

After the success of my cycle up NCN7 to Kingussie I was keen to try an off-road route through the Gaick Pass that I’ve been eyeing up for a while now. The May bank holiday weekend proved to be a great opportunity to try it out with a few friends setting off on the Sunday and staying overnight in Kingussie before returning back down Glen Feshie/Glen Geldie and the infamous Glen Tilt. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I’m going to try and cycle from Perth up to Inverness.
This won’t be the first attempt - last time I managed as far as Pitlochry before I hopped on a train (poor show indeed - I blamed it on technical difficulties!). This time round I should be fitter so hope to to make it, you can track my progress through the live map below… until my batteries run out.

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Sayq Plateau (Thursday 3rd April)

With summer approaching it was getting hotter, so for a day trip we headed up to the cooler mountains and the Sayq Plateau.

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After arriving in Oman and exchanging our cold weather British clothes to something a bit more suitable we loaded our tent in the car with a few days supply of food (and ice!) and set off in search of adventure. Driving in Oman was OK - better than Italy and although there was the odd nutter driving wrecklessly (as everywhere) most drivers were courteous and patient of the lost foreigner. It was very difficult to find places though, many destinations weren’t sign posted so we often drove a good distance past somewhere before doubling back and finding it - to help others I’ve included GPS co-ordinates in lat/lon decimal degrees & UTM where I had the satnav on. You can also download a google earth file from the resources section at the bottom of the post, which shows the track we followed and locations mentioned.  Read the rest of this entry »