Why Do We Put Up With It?

Look at this link: fuel bottles.

Gas canisters are circular in section and fit nicely inside a cooking mug.

Why, when you switch to meths/"alcohol" stoves do you suddenly get something offered that looks like it fell off a Panzer in Rommel's DAK? For the sake of the 21st century, will someone not look at this glaring gap in the market and sell me the solution!

Why should I put up with jamming wee plastic bottles in the side, when the shape is determined by the size of the cookset (see yesterday). No doubt some people out there will be knitting their own fuel bottles, or are happy to carry lots of wee bottles, but not me. I'm too fashionable for that malarky.

So, come on, someone (Alpkit??) make my day.

This Podcast Will Save Your Life

Catching up with some podcasts, I got to this one from the "This Week in Tech" stable: "This Week in Law 14", with Denise Howell.

Although subtitled as "Managing the legal risks related for blogging and podcasting", it covers lots of ground, as much of the Web2.0 gamut that they can. If you write a blog, podcast, use photo-hosting, post comments, write on forums, then listen to this podcast ASAP:

http://twit.tv/twil14: Blogger and Podcaster Liability

What's That, Mr D?

Not that I'm going stir crazy or anything, but it is my Snow*Peak Titanium Trek 900 cooking pot with the MBD Blackfly3 stove (in component parts for ease of packing) and a 300ml bottle currently being used to hold Palmolive antibacterial handwash. I replaced the squirty lid with one from a platy waterbottle. The next stage will be to see if it holds meths. It could be a short and messy experiment, but reckon it's worth it as this bottle holds 300ml, that's a usage of 30ml a meal, so 10 meals. 5 days. Approximately, as there may be some spare meths left after cooking.

For shorter trips, using the smaller Alpkit Mytimug, I have a semi-circular bottle which came in a set from Next. 100ml, so 3 hot meals. If it stretched to 4, that'd be ideal (Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning).

I don't like the idea of changing my cookset to suit the fuel container, so I'll need to think some more. That's if the bottles don't get melted by meths.

Rationale:  quite simply, I like having the cookset, stove, fuel and spork all together. Utilitarian.

Please Sir, Can We Have Some More?

I tried emailing O2. Once I had logged in, I had to enter my address again and DoB before I could contact them. They're happy to give me my bill with merely a login, but asking them something requires a higher level of security check. I felt in my place before emailing them. Like standing outside the headmaster's door. Cor gov'n'r, thank e for allowing me an audience...

I use my mobile phone when out hiking (e.g. in the Cairngorms). Whilst I appreciate there are blind spots in your coverage, and there are hidden glens, etc, what I fail to comprehend is the occasions that I have received a text (eg when on a hill), and try to send a reply. On many an occasion I have watched the signal strength drop through the bars until I can only send "for emergency use only".

Please, simply tell me why this happens? I hadn't moved. Presumably the transmitter mast hadn't moved either. But your service fails me.

I don't care that you knock the socks off other company's coverage. I just want to know why something that should be constant seems to be variable. From 5 bars to 0 bars. That's 100% drop in service.

It just gets frustrating. As you may gather.

I think that it will put your new gps-featured iPhone in doubt for use by the outdoors community.

I look forward to your technical explanation of the service fluctuation.

Duncan MacLeod
http://aktoman.blogspot.com

But when I tried posting it, I was told that the message was too long. No hints as to what I need to shorten it by.

I use my mobile phone when out hiking (e.g. in the Cairngorms). I notice that there are occasions that I have received a text (eg when on a hill), and try to send a reply. On many an occasion I have watched the signal strength drop through the bars until I can only send "for emergency use only".
Please, simply tell me why this happens? I hadn't moved. Presumably the transmitter mast hadn't moved either. But your service fails me.
I'd like to know why something that should be constant seems to be variable. From 5 bars to 0 bars. That's 100% drop in service.
I think that it will put your new gps-featured iPhone in doubt for use by the outdoors community.
Duncan MacLeod
http://aktoman.blogspot.com

We need as much coverage in the UK as possible. I think some form of sharing of networks may be in order. And then some private company to get better coverage out there. It'll never get to 100% coverage, but there has to be some technical breakthrough due. I mean, Marconi was working with radio outdoors after 1895. 113 years of development and this is where we are at.

There has to be a better way.

Of course, if you are designing a cash-cow, then, moooo

Cartophiles of the world, arise!

I love maps. Maps hold information, and information is power. When in the outdoors, it can be the power of life and death. Or simply finding a decent, comfortable wild camp hours before arriving in the area. It is almost magical.

The new iPhone also worked its magic on me when I was off ill. I found out about the launch accidentally when looking at my O2 phone bill. It launches on the 11th of July this year. Shiny. By the time I had finished watching the keynote speech, I was hooked. Heck, Jobs had be hooked about 25% in.  (link)

The big draw? Assisted GPS (dfn). This will allow so many new applications to be developed as to be unimaginable.

For me, I want to be able to link a live trail-log to blog posts. In English: I post a blog entry from the trail, and the system updates a map with a flag to allow users to click and read the blog post. An old-school version of something similar exists on this blog: My Munros map. It is clunky and requires 2 apps to get it updated. Not very WebGeo.

So, what I want to be able to do is:

1. Write post in a decent editor. Add photos to it. Be able to send post direct to my blog.

2. I want to be able to add my current location from the GPS system to the post and have this used by the software (i.e. I don't want to have to type in long old-school lat/long numbers).

3. I want that data to be added to a map on my blog (I'll accept some initialisation if required).

The details of the map (probably Google Maps), won't be as good as the Ordnance Survey, but it will be good enough to allow people to read that I'm okay/moaning/singing/sleeping in/changing plans (delete as applicable) and see where abouts on the trail that I am.

Of course, for this to work out in the real world (i.e. not within the proportion of the country that the telephone companies can be bothered to give cellular access to). I think that OffConn needs to step in - but they'd have to climb out of the pockets of the companies and start standing up for the citizens that pay their wages.

--

Some GeoBlogging links (old-school definition on Wikipedia)

• Google Geo Developers Blog
• Lat Long Blog (official Google Earth & Maps blog)
• Google Maps Mania (unofficial)
• Where2.0 Conference
• Adam Burt's 2006 post:  Overview of Geo-Blogging
• Geobloggers.com
• How to insert a map in your blog
• Geoblogging using Google AJAX API
• Rob O'Daniel's post: How to Geotag Your Blog

Friends Reunited

Tiso's just called, and Akto inner is back from repair n ready for collection. Woohoo.

Not cool at all

No, Darren, it isn't cool. 1000mg of different antibiotic tablets 4 times daily. I'll be rattling by the end of the week. Plus it is agony to walk on. And there's my new trail shoes gathering dust. Och michtie me. And I've not been on a computer since this all started on Sunday night.

Blackfly 3 arrives

Hobbling to the door i collect a couple of parcels. One was the order from Tinny at minibulldesign. For the first time in ordering from the States, i wasn't hit with import duty. I hope he was able to reclaim for the one that went missing in transit. I may try using it to boil water for a lemsip later. Also in the parcel was 2 fuel bottles, extra spare wicks and metal roll for a windshield. 

And the other package? Two FT-17s and a Charron a/c from the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company. If i didn't have to keep my feet up and rest,

There was also an envelope, which turned out to contain OL 28 Dartmoor. It reminds me of the moors back home - but without the firing ranges.

New Trail Shoes

Decided to buy a pair of trail shoes. Went for The North Face's Hedgehog GTX XCR. 15% discount in Tiso's on all TNF products. I'll try them out on Bennachie later in the week. Wowser.

Hiking the Guilt Trip

Robin went hiking recently in the Cairngorms National Park. he felt that he hadn't spent enough money in the local community, and wondered if he was a "parasite". I followed a link up to Andy Howell's posting, which links in to a podcast that I have not yet listened to, Mark Richards talking about "The Outdoor Environment".

For me, it was all one push too many. I've come across the sign in the local corner shop: "due to government pressure, we are now charging 5 pence per carrier bag". Then in my local Asda I was forced to 'beg' for a carrier bag to put my shopping in. This from a place that uses a warehouse where the roof void is being heated but not used. I see it all as companies hitting the punter. Me - if you treat me like that, I just walk away. It is called bullying. My reaction is fight or flight. We can only fight against companies ripping us off by hitting them where it hurts.

Here's what I left on Andy's blog:

“Pick on someone else, sunshine.” - that’s my first non-censored thought.

If communities want to sponge off of hikers, provide something in return else get off my case.

People drive through regions and I don’t see stop-search brigades going through glove compartments and picnic hampers.

Local communities “stick the knife” in their local shops by going to their nearest mega-super-store instead. Opening hours of remaining shops reflect the local desires and not those of the occasional passing hiker.

I’m tired of people forcing their guilt trips on to me. Maybe we could all do what Dave Gorman did in the USA - and only support Mom-and-Pop operations when hiking. But that would include getting to/from the trailheads too.

For what it is worth, I recycle what I can, walk where I can, and spend money in the local communities. Not because I am forced to, but because I want to, and the option is there for me to do so. And I'm watching "Primeval" on tv instead of a high-carbon-footprint imported show.

Musings on Today

I did not go to a gear shop.

I did not stop at a chippy.

I did not write a gear review.

I did get a lot of work done.

I did start on my next batch of barbed wire defences.

Bennachie 050608

Left car at 7.15, the entity that is i as a ball of sweat arrived at summit at 8.05. A dog barks from a farm somewhere below me. The steady roar of the traffic miles away. The approaching bank of sea fog. An aircraft flies out from Dyce, as my right far tries to locate the warble of a moorhen. The woods below me are full of birdsong. A ghostly whisp of cloud is carried on the air just below eye level. Someone puffs and pants on the rocks behind me as his Irish-accented pal is presented with the view. Time for me to head back as people talk about flirtatious emails.

36 minutes to get from Summit to car park.

Why did I suddenly feel the urge to head for my local hill for the first time this year? After a long day at work, I thought of a nice cool shower, or a cold drink, or a large pack of crisps and veg out. Then I thought of all three together. A straw in the can, and did anyone make waterproof crisps?

At which point I thought that I needed to break the vicious cycle and fight through the numpty drivers (speeding on all roads, driving along 2' away from the read of vehicles at speed: I just find it all so tiring). Quick tea, and out.

Kit: Montrail Namche, Mountain Hardwear Trek trousers, Airforce X-socks (they don't work for me on long treks), "life is good" non-wicking statement t-shirt, Montane windshirt (with plastic water bottle, camera, mobile phone, Tikka plus headtorch - just in case).

Last visit: good grief, it was in August last year!

Bucking Horse Day

Yippee, it is Bucking Horse day across on the Vacana. See if you can't recognise your students in this tale from the Buddha. Link

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sky

Spurred on by George's video postings, I wheeched together the few video clips I'd taken last weekend, and hoyed them into a clip on YouTube. As noted from London, you can select to view the videos in "high quality". It obviously takes longer to download, and is still at 320 x 240 pixels, but should be less "blocky". Of course, the GIGO principle still applies.

Updated My Munros map list.

--update--

Higher quality version now available (640x480 pixels, click the link that says "Watch in High Quality", just below the video) . There's no way to select the HQ version without going to the website, or changing your YouTube settings (see link).

On Your Marks

Between getting up early to do some marking, Darren phoning about cameras, downloading a new podcast channel that George found, and watching some lightweight backpacking on dvd (the 1970's show "Kung Fu"), oh, and getting some WW1 French figures prepped for varnishing ... I don't seem to have started my marking yet.

And now, catching up with the videos that Cameron posted about the TGO Challenge (pt 1, pt 2) - there's Darren, there's the unsurpassable John Manning, Chris Townsend (I think, is in shot at the Montrose dinner scene). As one chap said "you have to be strange to do this".

As the commentary for part 2 ends with "are you up for it?" - Yes, I am, but just can't afford to take 2+ weeks of unpaid leave off work.

I look forward to seeing the "Adventure Show" coverage, but have a suspicion that it is just going to be snippets during their 1 hour long show rather than the main section of the programme. They tend to focus on mountain bike races, ice climbing championships, and the like. High-adrenaline races. But I'm happy to be proven wrong.

Right ... about that overwork ...

Postal Blues (reprise)

I dropped an email to Tinny asking if he'd ever got my order. Yup, shipped 3 days after receipt, he wrote.

I wonder if there's a thief in the Royal Mail, as that is two deliveries of ordered goods that have never been delivered. Maybe a bag of parcels that was stolen, or fell down the back of a machine. Of course, all a bureaucratic 'organisation' will want is a pile of forms filled out with impossible to recall details.

If you missed the previous shenanigans, here's a link.

Tescos 4 FBC

After only getting a few items off of Sarah's "Freezer Bag Cooking" list from the local Asda, i went up to Tescos. Much more choice. Bought soya for the first time ever, as well as powdered coconut milk, powdered eggs and ghee.
I noticed they had a Polish section. Included in it was the Polish labeled Knorr packet of Italian sauce. A strange world. I wasn't sad enough to see if folk were being charged extra for the Polish wording.

Recycling Brands Lands Tinny in Trouble

Despite every news item talking about alternative energy, recycling and how plastic bags are evil, an American engineer who recycles empty Heineken® beer containers into a useable lightweight cooking pots has been told to stop, and to pay "reasonable" damages in the sum of $4,750. According to the letter posted on the site, the owner was sent a "cease and desist" letter prior to this, and he did not. Link

Now, many, many cans and bottles are designed to be easily identifiable from a distance. Just look at the shape of branded cola bottles, or soft drinks bottles. No doubt the designs are covered by intellectual property laws. Will H® be happy with merely the removal of their registered trademarked name, or will the want all photos that allow the cans to be identified as there IP removed from the site and videos too.

I tried to read the Heineken® terms and conditions on their web site, but I have to verify that I am over 18 to visit the site (they state that is the legal drinking age: in fact, in the UK, it is 18 and over).  Link to the mean green machine.

Me, haven't drunk that lager since I was an 18+ year old kid.

Oh, and if you want to do the maths (that's "math" if you are from the USA), I found a shop selling the 24oz beer cans at $2.29. Thus, H® reckon that Tinny's recycling of their named product (in his wind-powered workshop) has damaged them to the tune of 2,074 cans of lager, or 2,489 pints.

I drunk from here at the weekend:

It is better for you.

 

ps: there's a discussion as to whether the legal email is a scam or genuine in Tinny's post.

pps; I hope it hasn't delayed him completing my order cos I'm dying to try the stove.

pps: will they extradite people for this?

Thunderclap, ho!

Three of us were in the office when a large clap of thunder exploded outside. The polite lady resisted the childish urge to run to the nearest window. I am not *that* refined.

Inner Thoughts

The hole is off for repairs. I had to send the whole inner, and not just the hole in the inner. Tiso's as handling it through their tent repairer as a chargeable job. Meant that I could handle it in my lunchbreak, and not traipse around to the post office after emailing the original vendor.

And whilst there, bought a 'holster' for the Aquagear water filter. It is the 1 litre Nalgene bottle carrier with a zipped top. There's a velcro-secured side strap to allow it to be secured to a belt. the plan is to use the Aquagear filter in journeys that follow water courses instead of carrying more water in the Camelback.

As to the Akto's inner. Well, if I do get out before the repair is completed (perhaps the sidhe that damaged it could fix it?), then I'll use the outer as a tarp, and sleep in bivvy bag. Midge netting over head if needed.