Autopsis » Sci / Tech

Polywogs No More

Doug — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:36:42 +0000

300 years ago in the Royal Navy, we would have been dragged through the ocean from a yardarm and nearly drowned.

Even today, in the United States Navy, we would have been obliged to drink and eat unspeakable concoctions in the service of Lord Neptune.

But we were not compelled to any of those fates.

Click here for the rest of the story: www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/polywogsnomore.pdf

The Missing 12 Days of September

Doug — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:21:25 +0000

On the night of Wednesday, September 2^nd, 1752, John Hackney closed his eyes and went to sleep. When he awoke to the dawn, it was Thursday, September 14^th, 1752.

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/12days.pdf

Fuso Units at Work

Doug — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:12:33 +0000

We visited the world’s largest open pit copper mine at Chuquicamata, Chile today.

While we were there we had the chance to see the trucks referenced in the post “Fuso Units” at work.

The mine uses 94 of these trucks. 60 are Komatsu and 34 are Liebherr.

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/chile/docs/fusounitsatwork.pdf

Fuso Units

Doug — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:12:40 +0000

Those of you who remember the post “How Big is Big” will remember that we try to express size in units other than arbitrary measures such as meters or feet.

Today’s example uses units of Fuso.

Yesterday we found something that was at least two Fuso units high. It made the Fuso look not so big.

The rest of the story is here: www.hackneys.com/travel/chile/docs/fusounits.pdf

The Shrine

Doug — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:10:52 +0000

You approach as any new pilgrim would after a long, long journey across the dry, dusty desert.

You approach with trepidation.

You approach with wonder.

You approach with reverence.

Click here for the rest of the story: www.hackneys.com/travel/chile/docs/theshrine.pdf
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Digital Photography Meta Data Overview

Doug — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:38:11 +0000

Introduction

Winston Churchill’s immortal description of 1939 Russia as “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” is equally true of the current state of digital photography meta data.

Most casual digital photographers never come face to face with meta data. They take their photos, they upload them to a web photo sharing or social networking web site, they may even print a photo occasionally, and at no time are they even aware that digital photography meta data exists. In many respects, they are the lucky ones.

Serious amateur and professional photographers wrestle with meta data as part and parcel of their daily workflow. Meta data problems, flaws, corruptions and disasters are a regular part of photography forums and discussion groups. Challenges can be as simple as one tool displaying a photo’s caption/description while another will not. Or, they can be as catastrophic as the loss of thousands of photos’ meta data, often painstakingly entered over weeks, months or years.

Meta data, defined as “data about data,” can be a very technical, daunting subject. In practice and application in digital photography, it has often been an unmitigated disaster.

Even at its young age, digital photography has experienced multiple meta data standards. Each of these standards has been ignored, corrupted or “enhanced” by digital photography software vendors. There has been no backwards compatibility or standardized mapping established to bridge from one standard to the next. The lack of standards regarding the labeling of meta data information has led to a plethora of conflicting terms used to label the very same piece of meta data, spawning mass frustration and confusion among users.

Unfortunately, there is no immediate relief in sight for serious amateur and professional photographers. If anything, the meta data anarchy and chaos created by the software vendors promises to increase.

The only hope for those tasked with unwrapping the meta data riddle lies in better understanding digital photography meta data. Only by understanding meta data can we accurately diagnose the challenges and build workarounds.

*****

Full document is here: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/docs/…taoverview.pdf

Propane Systems for Expedition Vehicles

Doug — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:43:30 +0000

Perhaps no other system on an expedition vehicle is as wrapped in mystery or inspires as much outright fear as the propane system.

With its inherently explosive nature and its bewildering variety of connectors, it is easy to understand why the typical overlander avoids the design and implementation of a propane system if at all possible.

Once the propane system is designed and installed the challenges do not evaporate. Instead, the overlander who ventures overseas is faced with the daunting task of refilling their propane tank(s) or bottle(s). To refill, they must decipher a highly regulated supply chain and communicate complex concepts and schedules in the local language.

And, if the refilling quest fails, they must do the task on their own, using materials at hand.

All of this adds up to a lot of motivation to avoid a propane system in your expedition vehicle if at all possible. Unfortunately, the alternatives all present significant challenges and/or downsides of their own, so most of us end up with a propane system in our expedition vehicles.

However, all is not lost. Propane need not be a mystery, propane systems need not be arcane, and refilling overseas need not be daunting.

This document attempts to:

Explain the basics of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG / LP), commonly known in the U.S.A. as propane
Define the elements of a typical expedition vehicle propane system
Document the types of materials and connectors used in a typical expedition vehicle propane system
De-mystify the utilization and refilling of a propane system while overseas

See the entire document here: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/docs/…4xvehicles.pdf

I welcome feedback, improvements and corrections, especially from propane/LPG/LP professionals.

Field Fix: Garmin MapSource Registry Error

Doug — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:36:51 +0000

Background:

Garmin MapSource (GMS) is software provided by Garmin with some of its map products. GMS is used to create, edit and manipulate waypoints, routes and tracks. GMS is also used to upload and download GPS data to and from Garmin GPS receivers.

Problem Description:

Garmin MapSource (GMS) will not load/start if its registry is corrupted.

Click here for the rest of the story: www.hackneys.com/travel/docs/gmsregistryerrorfix.pdf

Scope: Garmin MapSource (GMS), all known versions; Windows OS

How To Create Route Maps

Doug — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:32:54 +0000

Garmin GPS to Google Earth

For this task I use GPSBabel, a great little donateware utility, to generate the Google Earth KML files from GPX files created by Garmin Mapsource. The procedure for creating the GPX files from Mapsource is detailed in the next section.

GPS waypoints and associated photos to Google Maps

Let me begin by saying there have got to be better, more automated and more professional ways to go about getting waypoints from your GPS and associated photos into Google Maps than my method.

Second disclaimer: The days of my putting food on the table by writing code are long past. These days I teach myself as much as I need to get something to work and stop right there. Consequently, my method for this process grew, bit by ugly bit, out of necessity, and was never intended for anything but internal use. My process is, unfortunately, a world class kludge and requires some manual steps.

If you do a search on “gpx to google maps conversion” you will get a lot of hits. There are also lots of things that put up geocoded photos into Google Maps, so I would guess someone has built a decent solution for this by now.

If you still want to try it this way, click the "Read the rest of this entry" link below.

(more…)

Follow Our Travels

Doug — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:29:48 +0000

Route Map

I added a route map of our travels to the web site. Click here for the route map: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/index-routemap.htm

Use the zoom control on the upper left corner of the map to zoom in on a specific location. You can click and drag the map or use the pan control to move the map around.

I updated the data located below the map to reflect our current status.

Data Files

I also added Google Earth format files for our tracks, waypoints, etc. Click here for the Google Earth files: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/index-gpssawaypoints.htm

For those using Garmin software, the native Garmin files are here: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/index-gpssawaypoints.htm

Frequency of Update

I will update these files as we travel whenever I have access to the internet. That could be weekly in developed areas and monthly elsewhere.