Category Archive: “Uncategorized”
Kickstands and Racks
You can use a scrap of rubber from an old bike tire inner tube to improvise a no-slip/no-scuff tip for your kick stand.
I folded a wad of inner tube over the end of my kickstand and zip-tied it in place. This makes it safe to park on surfaces such as your bedroom’s beautiful hardwood floor.
I was partly inspired by an Instructable article that describes many uses for old inner tubes. Since I recently decommissioned a tube, I’ve got some material to play with.
In other news, I recently completed installation and reinforcement of a set of front racks, thus greatly increasing my expeditionary cargo capacity.
The side racks are Delta Shock Treatment racks – contrary to the description, they do work with disc brakes. The kit comes with two kinds of mounting hardware – I used the hose clamp approach, which affords enough flexibility in positioning to avoid conflict with other components. (Note the Nashbar version of the kit does not include the “optional cross brace”.)
The front rack is Nashbar’s aptly-named Front Rack. It requires additional reinforcement, in part because it pivots at the brake boss mounts. The default support is intended to connect to the center of the fork, but it wasn’t compatible with my fork, so I ended up adding struts to the side racks. This configuration is sturdy and stable.
These front racks are compatible with my detachable baskets. I haven’t ridden around with the baskets on front, as I suspect they might interfere with steering more than other loads, but it’s nice to know I’ve got four hardpoints if I need them!
Posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009. Tags: bike.
Map Layout with QGIS
I haven’t tried using Quantum GIS in a few years, but Frank Donnelly has posted a thorough review of a thematic map he created with the current version of QGIS (1.02). By all indications, the program has progressed considerably since the last time I tried it. This is good news because it means free software is becoming a viable alternative for many thematic mapping tasks:
Despite a few quirks (what software doesn’t have them), I was really happy with the end result and find myself using QGIS more and more for making basic to intermediate maps at work. Not only was the print composer good, but I was also able to complete all of the pre-processing steps using QGIS or another open source tool.
Frank’s review of map elements reminds me of my own introductory cartography course. Incidentally, my TA had a petulant fetish for grotesque north arrows. Anyway, it’s nice to see New York dressed up in some fancy duds (compared to the county boundaries with which I’m most familiar, of course).
Posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009. Tags: geography.
Logging in to the BU VPN
BU offers a virtual private network that allows users to connect to the campus network (and to the internet through the campus network) from at home or around the world. Reasons to do this include accessing files on the office computer or retrieving articles from journal sites that restrict access to subscribing institutions.
Here’s how to set up this sort of connection on your Mac. (I understand the procedure is very similar in Windows.) Go to ssl.binghamton.edu and log in using your standard username and password. Select the PODS domain unless you’re certain another option is appropriate for your account.
Signing in to ssl.binghamton.edu. Select the PODS domain.
You can access a variety of accounts and services directly through this web page, but to channel all of your computer’s network traffic through the campus network, click the Network Connect Start button.
Signed in. Click the Start button next to Network Connect.
The Network Connect utility is installed automatically. You may be prompted to allow this bit of black magic.
Allow Java to get up in your stuff.
It may take a moment for the program to download.
Wait for the connection utility to download and install.
Soon the Network Connect utility will run. Now you are connected to the campus network! You can access shared folders or servers hosted on individual machines invisible to the outside world.
Connected!
Logging in to ssl.binghamton.edu is necessary only to install the Network Connect utility. From now on, you can connect to the VPN by running the utility directly. (It will prompt you for the same login credentials.)
From now on, connect just by launching Network Connect.
Questions? Corrections? Related ideas?
Posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009. Tags: mac.
Doing It Right
Inspired by a post on Beany’s blog (one of many neat bicycle sites I’ve discovered recently), I spent some time this evening cleaning my chain:
Freshly cleaned chain. Before cleaning it was black with grime!
A few days ago I tried cleaning the chain while it was on the bike, but it wasn’t very effective. So, tonight I took the chain off the bike, put it in a tub (which may or may not have been my bath tub) with a strong mix of water and degreaser, and scrubbed it thoroughly with an old toothbrush. Rinsed, dried, and lightly lubricated; now it’s back on the bike and ready for action!
General principle: if you rely on it regularly, it’s worth maintaining properly.
Posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009. Tags: bike.
Neighborhood Quality
Although I will be unable to participate in the presentation I alluded to last week, I am happy to report it proved quite feasible to prepare a package of example data in Google Earth format. I have provided a single self-contained KMZ file to my colleagues. It contains a variety of map overlays organized in folders, including labels and some descriptive annotations.
Neighborhood quality as perceived by resident students.
The interpolated surface in the screenshot above depicts the results of a survey assessing middle and high school student perceptions of neighborhood quality. My house lies just inside a hot spot. I look forward to plotting the results of the most recent edition of this survey. We’ll test the landlady’s opinion about neighborhood decline!
Posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009. Tags: geography.
FastScripts 2.4
Daniel Jalkut has updated FastScripts, my utility of choice for running scripts or opening favorite files with a keystroke or a trip to the menu bar.
My FastScripts menu, as it appears in the Finder.
Notably, there is now just one version of FastScripts, which may be used for free or upgraded to allow more than ten keyboard shortcuts.
Posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009. Tags: applescript, fastscripts, mac.
Rudimentary Legends
In yesterday’s experiment with choropleth maps in Google Earth, I acknowledged the lack of classification legend. I used the Layer to KML conversion tool in that example, but today I tried the Map to KML tool. It includes certain map layout objects like legends.
Rudimentary legend generated by Map to KML conversion tool.
I don’t care for the way it looks, and it certainly needs clearer labels, but it’s a legend. The legend won’t appear in Google Earth if it was converted to graphics in ArcMap, so keep in mind that Map to KML will only preserve some elements.
Posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009. Tags: geography.
Fixing FileMaker Server Web Start
I recently installed the Java for Mac OS X v10.5 Update 4 on my computer at work. Today I had trouble logging in to the administrative interface for our new FileMaker Server, which is launched as a Java Web Start application. After fiddling with it for a minute, I found a recent post by John May confirming the problem is related to the Java update and offering a solution.
Choosing to open a .jnlp file with the Java Web Start application.
In the “Get Info” window for the web start file, select “Other…” from the “Open With” menu and choose the Java Web Start application found in /System/Library/CoreServices. Problem resolved.
Posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009. Tags: filemaker, mac.
Detachable Baskets
I rolled this old step-through bike pretty frequently over the past year. With the addition of a simple Nashbar rack and some cheap baskets, it made a great grocery-getter.
Baskets on the old blue bike.
I attached the baskets to the rack with a battery of zip ties. Many ties along the top distributed the weight of the load. One or two ties at the bottom of the baskets kept their frames held snugly against the rack supports.
Baskets attached to bike rack with zip ties.
I gave the blue bike to my sister, but I kept the baskets. They’re handy, but admittedly a bit cumbersome to ride around with all the time (although at the rate I accessorize my bike, you wouldn’t think it’d matter). So, inspired by an Instructable about backpack panniers, I devised a simple 24″ bungee cord detachable basket mounting system.
Basket adapted to attach with bungee cord. Detachable!
The basket’s weight is supported by the base of the hooks. The bungee cord is kept taut by looping it under the tabs found at the base of most racks, and the basket is again stabilized by strategically placed zip ties. Hot swappable bicycle luggage!
Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009. Tags: bike.
Popular Reference
Yesterday I was thinking about how to make maps more accessible by adding reference features to the display. Today I realized that since Google Earth is such an excellent reference tool – replete with imagery, street maps, and the captivating advantage of seamless navigation – the problem of anchoring the data might be resolved by presenting it in that context. As a trial, I used the ArcToolbox Layer to KML conversion tool to save some maps in a compatible format.
Sample choropleth map viewed in Google Earth.
I think this is a useful way to lead a discussion about a place. We can present our data, yet easily and actively explore other aspects of the environment. A playful approach is engaging, and can have serious benefits: it is important to ask questions like “is this the right data?” or “what else is going on here?”. I feel this exploratory attitude is appropriate in my situation; when I present our data, I want to inspire the group to think about possible applications and variations.
The sample map pictured above is faulty in that no legend is displayed. I think it is possible to include a legend, among other things, in the KML file. I look forward to getting up to speed on Google Earth & Maps technology. I expect that in the future more Binghamton Neighborhood Project data will be made available online in this way; Google even encourages projects like ours through Outreach.
Here I advocate using Google Earth as a venue for presenting conventional choropleth maps because of the ease with which other reference layers can be explored, providing context for the data. I agree with Mark Harrower that three dimensional thematic maps (porcupine globes) are generally unsuccessful, but the debate is interesting, so check out the relevant posts by Bjørn, Leszek, and Rich.
Rich concludes with some points that reflect my own reasons for enthusiasm about this approach. In particular, he gives this example:
Draping a thematic map over topography can be a useful visualisation e.g. polygons showing erosion rate draped over a range of mountains, by eye you could then relate erosion to slope.
The sample map shown above happens to be “Percent Tree Cover” by census block. With Google Earth’s Terrain layer enabled, it soon becomes evident that the hilltops are the most heavily forested areas around the city. I am curious what other neighborhood relationships the group will uncover when we explore our demographic data!
Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009. Tags: geography.