OpenCycleMap uses

Recently I've been updating the wiki map OpenStreetMap. It is an open source map of the earth, with large contributions and imports of gevernment data, but also built by over 100K individual contributors using free mapping tools such as JOSM and Potlatch. There are several major "renderers" of the data, the one I frequently use is OpenCycleMap, which is primarily aimed at showing information useful to cyclists.

The layer can also be seen on the main OSM page by selecting the "cycle map" layer

My interest in OSM was only a mild curiosity. I read about the project, tried a few edits, and wished for the opensource mapping project to do well. Then one day I was attempting to find a bike route from Wards Island in Manhattan to Queens. I intended to cut across to Wards Island from Manhattan, circle the island exploring paths and then leave the island on the Queens side via the Triboro/RFK bridge. I knew there was a ramp up to the Triboro since I had once crossed it as part of an organized ride. I didn't know if there would be sings on the island or i would just be lost. Google maps and others mostly show Wards island a green blob, as if it were just one big forest. There were no maps anywhere showing the location of this ramp from the island to the bridge. I called the MTA Bridge authority and they gave me directions over the phone. Hilarious!

Finally I decided using OpenStreetMap I would just map it myself. I brought my GPS and took photos, but I did not have a great deal of success using JOSM on my own. Luckily I found out about a mapping party in NYC hosted by a CloudMade ambassador Russ Neslon. He showed me how to import my photos and display them in the JOSM mapping software, and how to draw and label routes.

I've documented a few bike paths and entrances to the Island from the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. Now I need understand renderers so I can make a really accurate view of Ward's island, unlike the view on major mapping websites. There are ball fields and picnic grounds, but also a lot of private and semi public 'authorities' that occupy the big green blob, such as the Dept of Water and Sewerage treatment, the Fire Dept of NYC, the Triboro Bridge Authority, and a private tennis center.

OpenCycleMap has been used extensively in the UK and Europe to document long distance bike routes. In cities mappers have been documenting the roads with cycle lanes and cycle tracks not on the road.

iwave cube microwave oven review

I went shopping online for the smallest possible microwave overn. I would use it for breakfast at my girlfriend's apartment, for defrosting a frozen bagel or reheating coffee. She did not need a microwave for herself and wanted me to buy something that did not take up much space and looked good. The iwavecube is by far the smallest and best looking microwave I could find. The question was, for 139 dollars, would it do anything?

I'm pleased to report that although the 350 watt microwave takes about 3 times as long to do anything as my 1100 Sharp home microwave, it peforms as it should. I did side by side tests reheating coffee, brewing tea, popping popcorn and defrosting bagels and everything came out great. It just takes a little longer. And you might find the handle of your cup is hotter or the bottom of the popcorn bag a little burned, but you need some excitement don't you?


According to the box, Recommended for personal applications of microwave power.


There seemed to be no other very small microwave still available online. Sharp used to make a small dorm size microwave that's cute and blueberry imac-like and can be found on ebay. The iwave is nearly a cube in shape, weighing only 12 lbs, and is less than 11 inches in width. I purchased it from by SkyMall, but the microwave came from the Sharper Image for 130 dollars plus 12 dollars tax and 18 dollars shipping. http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__IW400BLK/nickname__0/childitemflag__false . I created my order at Skymall.com, registered with the site and then did not complete the purchase. In a few days they sent me an email with a 20% off code, so for a total of 139 including shipping, I caved.



I ordered the black model, no other colors were offered, however the photos of the box it claims to come in many fun colors. It's purported to be a quiet, very small microwave you can use at work or in a close quarters like a dorm room or Manhattan shared apartment. It's quieter than a normal microwave, but it's louder than say a desktop computer. A fan comes on a few seconds into cooking and you can hear that. In addition to the 5 beeps that indicate the cycle is finished.

The power is listed as In and out, In 600 watts, Output Power 350 watts. So I am guessing you could compare this to a 350 watt microwave. The 600 is probably misleading. I will compare it to my 1100 watt sharp microwave. The power cord is only a bit longer than 3 feet, similar to my sharp cord.



Sharp dimensions: 20 w x 12 h x 17 d
iwavecube dimensions: 10.5w x 12 h x 10 d
Sharp capacity: 1 cubic foot
iwavecube: .3 cubic feet
Sharp weight 32 lbs
iwavecube 12 lbs



The manual states that the iwavecube is recoomended for single serving microwavable foods and snacks and up to 3 serving size microwave popcorn.

It comes with a metal rack. I guess you can use certain metals in micowaves. There is no carousel or plate inside. There are buttons for automatic settings, one button for coffe, hit it once for an 8 oz cup, twice for a 12 ounce cup. There is a hot sandwich button and a popcorn button.

The recommended cooking time for a 12 oz cup of coffe is 6 minutes! My
Sharp makes a room temperature cup into a steaming hot cup in 1.5 minutes. I did the coffee test and the tea test. See below for the results.

For tea I used room temperature water out of my counter top water filter pitcher. I used about 10 oz of water in a glass mug. To make tea the water does not have to boil but should be very close. At 6 minutes I thought it might boil when I put in the tea bag, but it did not. The water was sufficiently hot for tea, since my My thermometer only goes up to 190 I cannot say how hot, hotter than that. Even after a minute, the water temp was still 185 degrees. It was plenty hot. So was the handle to the coffe cup! With the long cooking times of this microwave, I think the heat has time to affect every part and you should use some protection when removing food.

Tea:
Sharp: 2 minutes. Water began to boil
iwavecube: 6 minutes. not boiling but hot enough.

Bagel defrost:
Sharp: 30 seconds
iwavecube: 1 to 1.5 minutes.

The bagel was still cold after one minute but I was able to cut it. I perfored a second test at 1.5 minutes, and the bagel was all thawed out and easy to slice for the toaster.

reheat coffee:
Sharp: 1 minute
iwavecube: 3 minutes (to 150 degrees f)

heat cold chai from fridge
Sharp: 2.5 minutes
iwavecube: 5 minutes ( to 160f)

room temp water rack test

iwavecube on metal rack room temp 12 oz of water

with rack: 3 minutes (130f)
without rack: 3 minutes (139f)

That rack I think reduces the power of the microwave.

Microwave Popcorn Newmans




Popcorn: 4.5 minutes to pop a 3.5 ounce bag (3 servings) of Newman's Own. The popcorn came out perfect. It could have poopped a little longer to pop all the kernels, but since the bag was already a little burned at the bottom I'm glad I took it out when I did.





I didn't expect this microwave to work. So I am pleasently surprised that it's going to serve my needs just fine. I mainly use the microwave for thawing out frozen bagels and reheating coffee and making tea.

Getting off The Tiger Direct Mailing list

I already called these folks the last time I received a catalog.

Tiger Direct sucks, as you probably already know. My sucky experience was a large order with 5 rebates and not all of them were accepted. The rebate system was a big hassle and not worth the discounted price. Trust me.

Today Tiger Direct has a broken automated phone system to remove you from their catalog mailing. Just call 800-888-4437 and in the menu hit 2 then 1 then 3. It will ask you to speak, after the tone, your "customer number" from the back of the catalog. There is no tone, but in a second or so it tells you that your recorded message was too brief. Try Again. I tried from my cell phone, work phone and Gizmo, but it would not hear my voice and register the digits.

Claws Mail on Nokia N800

Latest OS for Nokia N800 much better

I've flashed the lastest OS2008 to my Nokia N800. Now Skype is working as well as Gizmo, Claws, xterm, and x11vnc server. Before you run out and flash you should probably check that your favorite apps are working on OS2008 or chinook.

To start you will need the WLAN MAC ID number found on your battery.

Here is a link to the .bin file to download. It will ask for that number above and you have to agree to the terms. The download is about 135 MB.

http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N800.php

the file is named RX-34_2008SE_2.2007.50-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin. It is described as "Software Edition 2008 version 2.2007.50-2 for Nokia N800"

I use Linux to flash and the directions found here

My first flash failed, so I downloaded a new copy which worked.

After it flashed, it rebooted and asked if I wanted to restore from a backup on my SD card. I said yes to that and selected my recent backup. It then opened Application Manager and selected all the applications to reinstall. It did not get my python2.5dev package, because prior to flashing I had disabled the extras-devel repository. Oh well. It did install openSSh-server (asking for the root password again) and the GPE applications, python 2.5 runtime.

I did not have a backup of my Claws mail settings so I had to enter the account settings all over again. Otherwise Claws installed find and works great. Skype also finally works, for me for the first time on OS2008!

Cannot install latest Skype on N800 OS2008?

I tried to install Skype Version: 1.7.62.49.1 on my Nokia N800 with OS2008. The error I received was missing libraries libhildonfm2 as above. However, a post I came across indicated that I am using the old OS2008 beta and that an update came out two weeks ago:

http://www.internettablettalk.com/2007/12/18/nokia-releases-first-official-os2008-update/

The post on ITT indicates that this fixes the problem installing the latest Skype.

I've been unable to use Skype much on OS2008 however Gizmo is working just fine for calls.

Skype-out not working on N800 with OS2008

The bugzilla link(you will need an account to view it)

Skype worked for me on the test call, but only because it's so short. My other Skype IT to PC failed after about 30 seconds, with Skype exiting. When I call land-lines and mobile phones it connects, rings twice and then reports the error above, "misc error".