OK, so I've been spending sometime recently trying to work out the easiest way to turn my basic blog into a geoblog...So what's the difference?  Each post should contain a latitude and longditude tag.  There are a number of diffrent methods you can use to get into geobloging:
1. Create a public map on Google Maps, put in a pin for every post.  This is great if you just want to keep notes on locations but doesn't allow timelines
2. Use a service like Flikr to post photos and link them to locations on google maps.  This is an extension to above and as Flikr allows you to browse by date you get the timeline.  It is hard however if you want to post articles without photos or for people to find your articles.
3. Use a standard bloging tool and create manual links to a google map, this works well, but doesn't actually geo tag your articles
4. Use Google Maps to generate links to your articles and thus generate the geo tags
5. Find some bloging software that has all this built in

As I use Blogware I didn't go down option 5, however it looks like wordpress is working on implementing geo tags.  Blogware, like many comercial bloging platforms doesn't give you the facility to insert your own tags into posts and so I had to find another method to get the geo data linked to my posts.  I also had the issue of trying to find the location with ease as I don't carry a GPS around with me.  The solution I decided to try and implement was to harness Google Maps to create the location information and create my basic post.  I then wanted the post to link back to the Google Map.

At the moment I haven't quite managed all of this, however I am able to generate rss feeds from a Google Map which can be read by my bloging software, this then creates links to my blog articles.  I then create a manual link back to the Google Map pin.  Here's how it's done...

1. Get yourself a Google account and create a map and put some pins on it
2. In the top right of your My Map there is a link to View in Google Earth, copy this link
3. Go to http://pipes.yahoo.com/ouseful/mymapsblog and paste in your link and run the pipe, your pins will be displayed (on a Yahoo map)
4. Hit more options and choose RSS and copy the feed link
5. Go to your bloging software and create a RSS import feed and paste the link you just obtained - this will now bring all of your map pins into your blog
6. In your map pins by using url:myblog.com/articleid this will turn the import feed article titles into links, by using date:1 April 2008 you can encode a date
7. To get your articles linking back to each map pin, on your Google My Map, click the pin you want to link to and create the view you want of the map, then hit the Link to this page button and copy the link, insert this link somewhere in your article.
8. Hurrah, people can now find your blog articles by location or when reading your article find it's location.  Magic!

The yahoo pipe which I am using is provided by http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/012936.html and http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/012866.html

The UeMC have just returned from a fun weekend in the peaks.  I have many photos that will be posted in due course, but here's one just to wet your appetite.

 map

Here is a rough cut of some sailing video clips demonstrating the following skills:

Launching in an onshore wind
Laser sailing upwind with roll tacks
Laser sailing downwind with gybes
Recovering in an onshore wind

Laser 2000 sailing upwind
Laser 2000 sailing off-wind with spinnaker

The video does not show perfect sailing, instead it is good sailing which advanced coaching points can be brought out.  When the final cut is published I will also provide a commentary.

If you are interested in using Sailing as one of your GCSE PE sports here is a document that has the 2005 EDEXCEL specification and some questions for the students to answer.  This can be adapted for any board.  In the next few days I will post an AQA 2006/7 version based on the same document

If you are into sailing, or perhaps you want to get into sailing here is some stuff that I no longer need:

Ullmans Spinnaker for Lark, used in about 20 races, almost new £100

Europe sails made by Greens.  2 available, suitable for training/club racing.  Good condition £50 each.

Mirror Spinnaker, great condition, £50 ono.

Take a look at http://www.thelistings.co.uk/photos/forsale/ for some pics.

For more information e-mail forsale@thelistings.co.uk

Well after 2 long weeks here is the first of many photos to prove that the team conquered the Ecran!  Left to right we have Emma, Andy, Helen, Toby, Rob, Steve, James, Matt, Jerry, Tor, Rag, James and in front Ninja.

The full details and many photos will be posted in about 1 weeks time as I am now off sailing for the rest of the week.

So you've just pitched up and fancy a bit of gentle climbing to get used to the rock with a good mix of routes, one of the crags to try with an easy drive and no walk-in is Les collets.  It is at an altitude of 1050m above the town of L'Argentiere-La-Bessee.  Grades range from 3+ to 6c with a good selection of routes on vertical walls and slabs.

  From memory the climbs in view are as follows; 1st rope 5c - Le mystere de la grande pyramide, 2nd rope 5b - L'epervier, climbers in the distance 5b - La pierre d'Henry.

Basic directions to the crag from Vallouise enter L'Argentiere-La-Bessee and turn right at the main cross roads, possible signed Fournel, (turning left takes you towards the RN94).  Cross the railway line and head up the hill, after a big hairpin and as the road becomes straight take a small road/track down left to the parking and crag.

Also accessible from the crag is a Via-Ferrata L'Horloge, this is an easy route with a summit of 1000m and an opportunity to visit the chapel.  There is 50m of Via-Ferrata which can take between 20-35minutes and then there is about 1hour of walking.  During the decent there is a 10m section which is equipped with cables.

Ailefroide is the bouldering area for the Ecran, it lies at the head of the Vallouise valley, 18km from Vallouise and about a 30 minute drive.  The main areas are within a tumble out of your car or a short walk from the campsite.  Grades range from 4 through to 8c, the bouldering is mainly on blocks which have toppled down from above rather than eroded from the ground, however each winter the area is covered in snow so the freeze-thaw process will have an effect over time on the routes.

This is the mushroom block during the annual bouldering comp in 2004, the climber is just finishing rocco's dino 6b+***

 

Over the next few days before flying out to the Ecran to meet up with the UeMC I will be posting some useful stuff about the area.  Between 1st and 15th July I hope to post more information about the area and crags whilst out in the Alps.

The Ecran national park is located in the southern french alps, the main town is Briancon.  We will be based near the village of Vallouise which is in the centre of the park at an altitude of 1,100m

.  We rent chalets from Jerry and Jackie Gore who run www.alpbase.com providing self-catered accommodation, bespoke mountain courses and guided days throughout the year.
UeMC will be staying about 10 minutes walk South-East in Vallouise-la-Casse in a chalet similar to Chalet Choucas

So what do I need to bring for a summer trip climbing?
June, July, September and October offer the best climbing weather as you are likely to get great weather every day with temperatures exceeding 25C without the afternoon storms of August.  This means lots of cool clothes, hats and suntan lotion. If you do get rain or storms the whilst the temperature dips significantly it is never cold so a light waterproof is fine.  If you plan on going above 2500m/3000m then you will need extra clothing, especially if you head for the Glaciers.
If you are climbing then you will need a basic sport rack for most locations including a 60m rope, 8 quick-draws, a couple of screw gates and slings, belay device and possibly a helmet.  If you intend on doing longer multi-pitch routes then a handful of nuts is useful if you don't like the long run-outs that you find in alpine routes.  Typically if the climbing is not as hard as the pitch/overall route grade then don't expect a bolt until you have either reached or just completed a hard section.
If you are intending on bouldering at Ailefroide then a mat is needed for most problems.

For more information take a look at www.alpbase.com
For photos take a look at http://www.thelistings.co.uk/photos/climbing/vallouiseaug04/ and http://www.thelistings.co.uk/photos/climbing/vallouiseJun05/

Having returned from Cornwall, the collection of photos can be found at http://www.thelistings.co.uk/photos/250606/ .

They would have been on-line earlier but between my hosting company Fasthosts, Telewest and some muppet with a digger there was quite a large outage on Sunday.

Thursday was a bit of a lazy day where we bumbled around Newkey watching people getting wet on the beach as the tide came in.  Newkey airport is no where near Newkey or even signed unless you approach it on the A30; it was here we picked up a friend from Cork who was then forced into climbing 30 minutes after landing.  The venue was just outside the small village of Roche where there is a small crag topped with an old chapel and contains a number of interesting routes.
Friday we visited St. Loy which is a great crag easily accessed from the coast path and high above the sea.  This makes it great for anyone who doesn't like the sea cliff exposure.  There are about 15 worthwhile routes on the main crag from VDiff - E4.  Nick lead the tick of the day a E1 5b,5c aptly named The Hairiest.
Saturday saw the chaos of Penzance and the Maisey Day parade.  I first saw it 2 years ago and enjoyed it, however returning this year nothing has changed and I'm sure that there were fewer large beasts being carried by the parade.  The late afternoon was spent bouldering on the edges of Porthcurno beach.  The problems are what you make of them, but nothing really would exceed V4.
The aim is to post photos of all the weeks climbing tomorrow night as I can't do it without a real PC.

Today we headed for Bosigran.  The weather was fine, but the breeze a little cool. Orca Slab 1 has some tough moves on both pitches - especially if wearing a sack when attempting the chimney.  The VDiff's of Andrew and Ledge wall were enjoyed by others whilst I sat and shot photos.

Day 1 - Carn Barra
Tip - Check the tides before arriving or like us you will probably find yourself on the north side of Fox Promontory.  The decent to Fox is slightly exposed and interesting to find.  The routes on the North side aren't’t anything special however many Diff and VDiff lines can be made.  Carn Barra however once down on the Northern Platform after abseiling down Peel crack buttress has good solid routes.  The routes of Socket Arête (VS 4b) and Sock It to Me (E1 5b - TR) were enjoyable.
Tomorrow maybe Bosigran and some photos if the weather improves.

The object is to improve the use and understanding of the rules.

Set out a box using 4 buoys, the size of the box is determined on the sailors skill level and types of boats being used.  The object is for each sailor to force the other boats out of the box.  Every time they manage this they gain 1 point.  They are not allowed to keep 'hunting' the same boat repeatedly.  For an extra challenge anchor the coach boat in the centre of the square thus creating an obstruction, it also gives you the ability to act as a judge and get the sailors to come alongside for a debrief.

This is a variation on the team race exercise 'Piggy'.

The object is for a leeward boat to get ahead or into a controlling position of the windward boat.
The easiest way is to run this upwind towards a mark.  The boats lie to with masts level and as close together as possible, on the shout of 'GO' they both harden up and the competition begins.  The leeward boat can use any known tactics to get ahead which can include rules, gybing, creating space between the boats to enable a tack or even slowing down to enable a tack.
As soon as the leeward boat gains the advantage or the windward boat sails away reset the boats and start again.
This can be done with different types of boats if the sailors are of a lower skill but both helms need to be evenly matched in terms of boat speed and upwind sailing skills.
If the sailors are more advanced then this can also be tried sailing downwind between 2 marks but more knowledge about match racing rules and mark rounding needs to be known.

The photos from the first race on Sunday 11th June can be found at http://www.thelistings.co.uk/photos/130606/ including pictures of the Jubilee Lunch.  If anyone wants full resolution copies then drop me an e-mail.  Many thanks to those who helped to make it a successful weekend.  This Saturday (17th June) there is a Match Racing event at the club including training for all members Under 18.  The training starts at 11am and racing at 1.30pm, lunch is provided around 12.30pm.  Entrance costs £5.

Today The Register (www.theregister.co.uk) have published an interesting article all about why Phishing works which can be read at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/07/why_phishing_works/

It is a synopsis of a research paper which asked the question 'What makes a bogus website credible' Which can be read in full at http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~rachna/papers/why_phishing_works.pdf

 

Well if you ever wanted to find out what it is like sailing single-handed across the Atlantic or perhaps around the world without getting we then perhaps this might be the option for you.  Lia Ditton can be watched on her webcam 'sailing' single-handed at www.1woman1boat.com

New to www.thelistings.co.uk are a set of photos from last nights Under 18's club at Black Swan Sailing Club.

One of the sessions that we ran was Efficient Upwind Tacking, the key points to an efficient tack are:
1. Ensure that you are sailing close-hauled sitting as far forwards in the boat as possible
2. Initiate the tack with some rudder and hike out to start the boat rolling to windward
3. As the windward deck touches the water and the sail crosses the centre line, stand up, keeping the windward deck in the water and release an arm's length of main-sheet
4. Once the boat is pointing in the new direction hike out hard on the new side, sitting well forwards, sheet in and steer the boat straight
5. Swap hands and check you are sailing on a close hauled course

Now go and practise.

Well, we attempted the race in a Hurley 30.  Unfortunately we were in the day glow green fleet that started last which already put us to a disadvantage with tides and then our start was delayed a further 40 minutes due to 2 ships.  Needless to say we did not make it round along with the other 850 boats that didn't finish.  Our gripe is the same as many other of the cruiser racers that we should get the starts that give us the tide advantage, the bigger faster boats should wait.
Here ends the grip.  Here however are some photos that were taken pre-start and on our way towards Hurst Castle.  The pic of the windex looks odd because we were invaded by a swarm of bees that decided to take a rest at the top of our mast. http://www.thelistings.co.uk/photos/040606/

If you need any weather synoptic charts then this German site has a number of different formats, all you need to know is a little German!

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsfaxbra.html

This saves you having to trawl through the noaa ftp site (htpp://weather.noaa.gov/fax)

If you want to find out about weather in Wokingham past and present then take a look at http://www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html this site also has a huge number of weather related links

Live weather from the stations around the solent can be found at:
http://www.sotonmet.co.uk/default.shtm and http://www.bramblemet.co.uk/default.shtm

Then the site which is used by sailing enthusiats of all sports www.winguru.cz

Give this link a try and watch the pink dots first turn green then disappear!

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/cool/cool_illusion.html