I’m proud to announce Tiled Maps has been accepted into the iTunes app store and now available for purchase. Tiled Maps lets you take your maps with you where ever you go. The maps are stored on your iOS device so you’ll have access to them when you’re offline, which is great if you’re keen on taking long walks beyond cellphone coverage like I am. Tiled Maps is based on the TMS specification just like Google Maps and OpenLayers. Further information on how to prepare maps and load them into the app is available on the guide page.

Tiled Maps takes full advantage of what ever device it is on, meaning a specialized interface for iPhones and iPads, not just a stretched screen like some older map apps. The map can follow your location and even rotate the maps to match the way the device is facing if you prefer to be “in the map”.

Hey there uncles, aunts and cousins,
I’m happy to now be able to tell you about a new project I am managing. As you know I partnered with a developer (Tania McBeth) late last year and we’ve just passed the alpha stage with Version 2. Now that we’re in beta I can announce it publicly and start sharing screen shots (attached). It’s a self-funded start-up venture with an expected ROI of approximately 30 years. The central processing unit is up and running with basic motor control established. If everything goes to plan we’ll have a release candidate in autumn and will be going gold master on April 20th 2012.

~Craig, and Tania, and version 2.0

P.S. Right now I’m under sedation from a wisdom teeth operation so I’m explicitly forbidden from driving and “making important decisions” so the talk about product branding will have to wait a few days.

Apple has just released iPhoto 9.1.5 and has continued its trend towards dull grey icons, which I really don’t like. So I’ve bundled up the coloured icons from 9.1.4 and simple instructions for their installation. Someday I might automate the installation, but for now it’s just a manual copy (and authenticate).

Download iPhoto9ColuredIcons

Update 2012-01-22: I’ve tested this in iPhoto 9.2.1 and it seems to be working fine.

For a little while now I’ve been manipulating the excellent USGS geotiffs to fed my PCT mapping fetish. Since I’ve worked out a good enough system I thought I might share it with the world.

First off you’ll need a bunch of stuff installed on your computer.

• Photoshop or other TIFF editing program
• gdal utilities
• gdalcopyproj

With those installed you’re ready to follow my process.

1. Remove the collar

The USGS maps that I’ve been using come with a ‘collar’, that bit around the outside of the actual map data that you’d have to cut off if you were printing them out and sticking them together.

Before cutting the collar off make sure to keep a copy of the original tiff because most image editing programs will lose the geo data when you press Save. In Photoshop I had to convert the image to RGB mode so that I could make the outside part transparent. It’s important not to change the size of the image. The embedded coordinates are for the corner of the tiff even though the map doesn’t reach there. Save the image and get back to the command line for step 2.

2. Restore the geospatial data

The new tiff you have just saved does not have the embedded coordinates that it started with. So long as you kept a copy of the original file you can reinstate the data using the following command and the gdalcopyproj program.

> gdalcopyproj.py original_file.tif new_file.tif

3. Create a Virtual Tile Set

If you’re combining multiple maps you’ll either need to merge them into one large file or create a virtual tile set like this

>gdalbuildvrt -srcnodata b4 -hidenodata merged.vrt *.tif

The “b4″ tells GDAL that band four of your images is the transparency layer, and the “hidenodata” tells it that when two maps overlap, hide the one that has no data (is transparent). Without that the transparent collars of the geotifs erase useful content from geotifs they join up with.

You can merge the files like this

> gdalwarp -co COMPRESS=LZW *.tif merged.tif

But it won’t do the compression until the end, so with USGS maps you’ll be generating files over 1GB even if you only have a few source maps. The virtual tile set method is definitely quicker and takes less disk space.

4. Cutting the tiles

The following command will take either your merged geotif file, or the virtual tile set as the first parameter and an output directory as the second (which will be created if it doesn’t exist).

>gdal2tiles.py merged.vrt tiles

The process can take quite a while, but it starts with the most detailed layer and each one after that is about 4 times faster than the previous one. When it’s complete you’ll have a full TMS tile stack ready for use on web map systems such as Google Maps and OpenLayers and my iOS app Tiled Maps. Next time I’ll post the scripts I use to optimise a tile set down from ~1.7Gb to 700Mb.

A week ago Tania and I rode the Otago Central Rail Trail, and since it was a first proper holiday since our wedding 3+ months ago I think it counts as a honeymoon. The rail trail is 150km of old railway track that has been converted for use by bicycles and pedestrians. Because it was built for trains it never gets steeper than 1:50 and that’s quite achievable on a bike. We opted to work together on the long inclines and thus on Monday morning my aunt Janice drove us to Clyde and Altitude Adventures dropped off our rented tandem.

We’ve rented a tandem before and found it was a lot of fun. That time we were riding around a beach suburb in San Diego having to deal with pedestrians, “side walks” and occasionally traffic. This time was lot simpler. Most of the people we saw were heading our way and only one was on foot. Much like the PCT when everyone is on a trail with the same goal and similar traveling style there’s an easy camaraderie between strangers. We all have to deal with the same hills and are all getting sore bottoms (though some to a greater degree, do hardly riding a bike more than 5km for the last 15 years).

We were very lucky with the weather in what has been an unusually wet season. The fields were much greener than normal but we were late enough that the trees has started to change and it wasn’t the still dry air that can sit over the Canterbury plains. I’ve put a selection of photos in a MobileMe gallery page, but you really have to experience in person. I’ll gladly do it again and definitely encourage more people to go by tandem. It’s just so nice to have your other half within arms reach the entire time, a very sweet way to spend a few days in New Zealand.

• Get back into running
• Build a set of outdoor furniture
• Publish my iPhone app
• Sort my photos from Japan
• Clear the land beside the driveway
• Handstand pushups
• Write on this blog more
  • Lego Moasic
  • DIY furniture, composter
  • Scrolling Javascript
• Write up the PCT for The NZ Herald

Just a quick note for people who use Elgato’s EyeTV on their Macs in New Zealand. I’ve got an Automator script here that will fetch a TV schedule and load it into EyeTV. It takes care of deleting the file it downloads but you might need to open it (use the Automator program) to change where it downloads to.

EyeTV nz epg downloader

As noted below by Darren you need to change the channels in your guide to xmltv.

Today is International Ayumi Meegan Appreciation Day. I’m not quite sure which year it started on, but it’s been going for almost 30 years and always falls on April 20th.

Ayumi, Paul, Tania and Craig atop My Fuji

Why? Well she’s cool that’s why. I first met Ayumi in 2007 in San Francisco but I’d been reading her blog for a long time before that. Every other day she shares a little bit of her perspective on the world and it makes great reading. She’s also a published author and very talented vocal musician as you can see in as she sings Ella Fitzgerald’s “How High the Moon”.

So go check out and AyumiMeegan.com and drop her a line, she’s one of the nicest bloggers I know with an amazing imagination and it’ll add a bit more sparkle into your life.

Back in January Google announced that the trikes, which shoot footage for Google Street View where the cars can’t go, were about to start roaming the outback in search of interesting off-road places. They started at Taronga Zoo and held a public vote to choose the rest. Well that’s all fantastic if you’re interested in seeing Australia. And thousands millions of people are. But I happen to think that New Zealand has some pretty awesome things to show off too so I’m starting a list of places that the trikes should visit when they come here.

1: Otago Rail Trail

The most obvious starting point. 150kms of trail graded gently enough for the trains of yesteryear. The trail might be a bit rutted and bumpy so I hope they’ve given those trikes some good suspension to protect the equipment as well as the rider.

2: Wai-o-tapu

It’s an amazing “thermal wonderland” not far south of Rotorua and though it looks really good from the sky you really need to get in amongst it to show off some of New Zealand’s famous geothermal features.

3: The Luge

Whilst they’re down in Rotorua they should definitely pay a visit to The Luge. It’s a set of paved downhill tracks each as wide as a single lane road over looking the city. But don’t spend anytime looking down there because you need to pay attention to the corners and other riders as you hurtle down the hill on your three wheeled carts. This is my favourite man-made tourist attraction in NZ by far, and features in any good road trip. There’s one in Auckland too but you can see most of it from the motorway and it doesn’t look half as exciting as the Rotorua one.

4: Rangitoto Island

The jewel of the Hauraki Gulf is a volcano with a few unsealed roads. Right now they are only used by the D.O.C. workers and the pull-along tourist tractor that takes those that can’t walk to the summit. The last 100m or so is on wooden steps that the trike couldn’t traverse so they’ll need to carry it. Which should get them in good practice for…

5: The Tongariro Crossing

One of the world’s best day hikes, and there in lies the problem. If Google can get the Street View equipment down to a size where two people can carry it I’d gladly be one of the sherpas.

6: Viaduct Harbour

Often touted as ‘party’ central for things like The America’s Cup, the Rugby World Cup and really any event that Auckland hosts. I made a Real Place for it a while ago but I think it could do with the Street View treatment, ideally on a day when some really interesting big yachts are in.

7: Rainbow’s End

New Zealand’s biggest theme park may not stack up against the some of the ones in the recent UK update but that doesn’t stop it being the best one we’ve got. As you can see on the map there’s enough space to be worth exploring and I reckon putting the trikes on the race track would be fun too. If only they could make a splash-proof version for the log flume .

Any other suggestions?

Update
GEarthBlog.com has some speculation that StreetView might be heading indoors. If this is true then I’d add Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum to the list of places to document. I think GEarthBlog’s idea is more of documenting the collections in proper posed photo shoots rather than riding a trike down the halls, but I like the idea of riding around the museum late at night when all the other visitors have gone home.

In a little over 10 days I, along with 3 guys I hardly know (one of which I haven’t even met yet) will start the Oxfam Trailwalker. We’ll have 36 hours to complete the 100km course on foot but we’re hoping to do it in less than 30. The track itself is not particularly grueling, consisting mostly of rolling farmland and a few forest roads, its the time on the feet that causes the most problems. The last time I was in 2008 after training 12 hours per day every day for nearly three months whilst walking across Japan. I’ve not done much on that scale since getting back to New Zealand but I did try to do the Round The Mountain in one day, and only managed 60 of the 74km. Still, not bad for what is pitched as a “4-6 day hike”.

Simon, Kirk, mystery man and I are the last of what has been a constantly shifting team landscape. Just last week our last remaining female member had to withdraw after serious warnings from her doctor about the need for toe surgery if she continued. Hence the last minute ring-in. Still, everyone’s heart is in the right place. The whole reason for the hike is to raise money for the good people at Oxfam. We’ve already stumped up the entrance fee so every cent we raise via sponsorship goes straight towards Oxfam’s fight against poverty around the world. If you’re not away of what Oxfam do then check out their website and if you are aware, or are just prepared to take my word for it, head over to our sponsorship page and make a donation. During the event I’ll be keep you up to date via dedicated site which will feature photos and tweets as well as a little figure tracking our progress along the course profile. I’ll try to get some form of comment system attached to the website, because you can be sure by 4am on day 2 we’re really going to need some encouragement, but if you’re a Twitter user the easiest way to get through to us is by following us @teamhappyfeet.