New Podcast From Backpackinglight.co.uk

Posted on | March 3, 2010 | No Comments

Just a little more frequent at the moment than my stove talk videos are the podcasts from Backpackinglight.co.uk. Ok there isn’t much in it. But Podcast Bob is getting them out more often than me at the moment. Anyway he now has a new podcast out that folks might want to pick up and listen to.

I know this seems lazy, and in a way it is but you want to know what this podcast is all about and well do I rewrite Bob’s words or just use all that hard work he has already done to tell you? Well I’ve taken the path of least resistance, which is also the lazy option, and using the miracle of cut and paste here are the words of Bob telling you all about his latest podcast.

“Hey we’re back! Full of apologies mind you, but at least we’re back! In this podcast we join in with a Haiti fund raising marathon hill climb relay, right here in our home town of Malvern. We chat to organizer Steve Ollis and then join our small group as we puff our way up the hill and down again. Later in the show I revisit our roots with a lightweight overnight wild camp using some of the new 2010 products and a rucksack weighing in at less than 5kg all in. The main purpose is to look at the new Vaude Power Lizard in the wild, and test the Golite 3+ season top bag in sub zero temperatures.”

Anyway you can get the Podcast No 287 – Haiti Hill Climb and Lightweight Overnightby right clicking that link and saving it locally. There is no player at the moment.

Category: Podcasts, blogs, tv, and columns

Alpkit Skip The Outdoors Show

Posted on | March 3, 2010 | 12 Comments

yep you read that right. In the March email newsletter that Alpkit sent out today. This is how they broke the news:

“We have decided not to go to this year’s Outdoors Show. It takes a lot of energy and quite a bit of cash, and to be honest we thought we could make better use of both. We have a really cool event planned for later on in the year and we plan to come along to few smaller events, any suggestions anybody?”

Thinking Aloud

Posted on | March 3, 2010 | 3 Comments

Decided that today I would not take the camera with me. I still have stuff to edit from yesterday so I didn’t want to add to my pile of photos to work through.

Anyway from time to time I catch this program on BBC during the day called Natures Calendar. Which despite my personal opinion on Chris Packham is not a bad program. It has given me a couple of ideas for stuff to do, especially with a good camera in hand (well it is going to be a loooong time before I get a DSLR that is for sure). Anyway back to the point. We know that I love photographing swans, and not just taking pictures I like seeing them. They are very majestic and magnificent birds, despite their size. So when I saw an episode a while back that featured the only swan herd in the world, and it was in the UK I was intrigued and thought that this place has to go on my list of places to visit.

The place I’m talking about is Fleet Lagoon at Abbotsbury, Dorset. According to the program this eight mile lagoon has been home to this herd of swans for over 650 years. Which sounds pretty impressive piece of living natural history. What is great about the place is not just the vast number of swans there. But also that they are used to people being around and don’t get in a huff when they are hatching. So by going at the right time it should be possible to get some great shots of cygnets hatching. Now that would be some amazing photos to get.

The other idea for a place to visit was in today’s show that I saw. It’s no secret that I come from and grew up in the Fens. I’m rather proud of the fact actually. However today’s show had them visiting Abbey Farm, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, not that far from where I grew up. Well each Autumn Abbey Farm actively encourages the Pink Footed Geese that migrate to the Norfolk Coastline to feed on the left behind tops of sugar beet in their fields. The footage of these thousands of geese feeding in the fields was impressive but not nearly as impressive as the shots they had of them in flight. Time it right it should be possible with a lucky break get some pretty stunning sunset shots of these geese in flight. Or if you get up early enough and with another lucky break, and a DSLR and the right lenses get some amazing dawn sunrise shots as the geese wake up and take off to head off and feed on fields of sugar beet tops.

As you can see these two programs have inspired and got me thinking about what I would like to do (lack of ability allowing). Whether this ever happens I don’t know. That all depends on how life works out in the future doesn’t it? I mean if you had spoken to me about life and where I would be a couple of years ago there is no way I would of guessed at my current situation. But it is nice to have ideas for projects kicking around.

As a parting thought for this post I do hope you enjoyed the photos taken on the iPhone today. They are part of me being arty and pretentious again about my photographic ability.

Category: Blog

Just Another Day At The Pond

Posted on | March 1, 2010 | No Comments

I have to admit I am starting to stalk the swan at Oakenshaw Nature Reserve. But then who doesn’t think that a swan is a magnificent bird? Ok Bud, Barney and Strider seem to think that swans are something to bark at and getting food that they should have. Yes I have been feeding the wild fowl recently. So there may be a bit of jealousy there with them. They do look at me rather hopefully when the bag of crackers comes out to give to the swan and ducks.
Yesterday we had a new visitor to the pond in the form of a Tufted Duck. Looking at the pictures of the Tufted Duck I’m reminded of Daffy Duck. The Goosander is no longer alone, and now has a buddy with it. But still they remain aloof, even to the extent that they do not even take part in the feeding frenzy that occurs when food is being given to the other inhabitants of the pond. While the swan and other ducks will actively head towards anyone standing at the waters edge in hope of food, these two Goosanders don’t even show an interest.

I’ve also been playing with a couple of iPhone apps that use OS Map data but you’ll hear more about that in the near future. Plus working on a related post that actually involved me have to check some facts. I almost felt like a real reporter!

In the meantime I have turned the photos into another slide show, it’s sooo easy to do in iPhoto. I have to say that sometimes some of my photos seem stale and cliched to me. Take for instance some of my fungi photos. There is only so many ways that you can take a picture of them. So I did ask Chase Jarvis (he of the Best Camera school of thought I like) about an original approach to photographing fungi. However his suggestion although it would make a refreshing change does go against the leave no impact school of thought that I like to follow. His suggestion was to pull them up and hold them dirt and all in some dirty hands.

I feel I have reached that point now with some of the photos I am now taking with the swan and of trees. I need to find some new angle, or point of view that makes the photos more fresh to me. In the meantime I hope you enjoy these and find some of the action shots that capture the ducks squabbling over food of slight interest.

Category: Blog

MSP Wants You To Stop Camping In His Backyard

Posted on | February 28, 2010 | 8 Comments

Remember some of my previous posts such as “Is Scotland Such A Good Example?“, “They Are Not Wild Camping!!” and “Loch Lomond and Trossachs NP Informal Camping Bylaw Consultation Period Starts” ?

Well a story has been bought to my attention that is a couple of weeks old now, but still better late than never and just as important as the posts above. In fact it is related to those stories, especially the Loch Lomond one.

Here is the story I am talking about “Call for Local By-Laws to Stop Wild Camping“. Basically Highland Perthshire MSP Murdo Fraser wants the same bylaws as those being considered for Loch Lomond for Lochs Tay,Rannoch and Tummel. But the thing is they don’t have the same problems as Loch Lomond. In fact from the story it sounds like they have hardly any problem at all.

Basically they have unfounded fears that with the new bylaws if introduced at Loch Lomond they will get the problem moved to their shores (so to speak). Yet there is no evidence to say this will happen.

What we have is a politician that wants to curb our right to wild camp. Another example of the creep to remove or circumvent the current legislation.

As I and others have said in the past what these people are doing is not wild camping for starters. So it is once again disappointing to see a politician jump on a band wagon and use incorrect terminology and smear our pasttime. It is also sad to see that he wants new powers, when he should be asking why if the problem does occur that they are not enforcing the current laws that are there already to deal with this. If it is a problem of funding and manpower then what makes him think this will change that much with new bylaws?

This politician strikes me as the sort that is happy to see us spend our money there and then get the hell out of dodge as quick as possible. Well if he wants the area to get a reputation for being backpacker/hiker unfriendly then I’ll be glad to help him promote that idea.

Category: Outdoors News

Swans,Herons And A New Addition

Posted on | February 27, 2010 | No Comments

Well today I took the good camera with me as well. So we know what my best camera was today. The main reason I had done that was because yesterday I had spotted a new member to the community of fowl living on the main pond at the nature reserve. Which I was hoping to capture on camera today.

Just as we were going to go over the small dip and round the main pond, I saw a heron land. So the camera came out and I got a snap of it standing on the edge of the pond. The dogs and I were out of sight and hadn’t moved before it decided to fly off, but as it flew across the pond another heron appeared. There were two here. Sadly I wasn’t able to capture a picture of them both together as they disappeared off into the woodlands nearby.

So it was on to taking some photos of the swan that was currently using the pond as his home. Luckily I had taken some crackers with me so I could get him near enough (along with the ducks) to get some pretty good shots of it up close. I specifically wanted to get some good head shots of the swan. Which I think I have achieved, I was even trying to pay attention to the background behind the swans head. God doesn’t that sound pretentious and as if I know what I am talking about? Which it would make a difference if I actually did know what I was talking about. But as I have admitted in the past I don’t when it comes to cameras.

For some reason the new guest was keeping it’s distance. Maybe it has not become as reliant as the others on food from humans or is just distrustful of the other ducks. I did identify the new addition as a Goosander.

So it seems that with the thawing of the ponds is attracting more bird life. Which is nice to see a bit more variety on our walks.

What you have below is a slide show of the pictures I took. Well the ones I liked from the ones taken anyway. I hope you enjoy them.

Category: Blog

A Bud Update

Posted on | February 27, 2010 | No Comments

It has recently been pointed out to me by a good friend that I hadn’t given a Bud update recently.Well Bud is doing well. Being down by one leg doesn’t seem to bother him that much. I think it effects me more than it does him. I’m always keeping an eye out for him when he has to jump into the car or go up stairs. He’s adjusted well to getting in the car, he knows he needs a little run up. But sometimes he forgets or doesn’t take it and ends up on his bum (if I can’t catch him quick enough). When he goes up stairs I do support his stump which does make it easier for him. But he can get on the bed no problem.My three legged buddy does struggle with slippery floors like the laminated flooring that Kate has at her home.

It’s the failures that do worry me. After misjudging his leg for so long before he had it amputated and having him in so much pain for those three months or so, the guilt still sits heavy with me. The thought is also there that if he does get another injury then it is basically a death sentence for him. That is something I will do everything in my power to stop happening. These fur balls have such a way of working their way into your heart and being such good companions.

But let’s lighten this up, you don’t need to know about my guilt and neurosis over Bud. Bud is doing fine and enjoying life. I think he even fancies his chances against the swan that we see at the nature reserve at the moment. As a word of warning you do now have to watch out if Bud is standing right next to you. There is now no way to tell if he is cocking his leg against you if he dislikes you. He also still manages to hog most of the bed at night as well.

Category: Blog

iPhone Memory Map App Free Version

Posted on | February 25, 2010 | 8 Comments

Well the post title gives the game away. The release of the Memory Map iPhone app was covered a few posts back, when I also discussed the elephant in the room as well of the impending free OS maps.

However in the email that Memory Map sent out today announcing the release of the iPhone they also dropped a bombshell. There is a FREE version as well! This is how Memory Map describe the difference between the paid £19.99 version and the FREE version:

“has all the same features as the PAID App except the ability to load existing Memory-Map v5 maps via WiFi. Instead you can purchase or use your existing credits from Memory-Map’s Digital Map Shop.”

So for those that already have Memory Map sitting on their PC and want to use Memory Map on their iPhone, plus use the maps you have already paid for on the PC on the iPhone. You have to buy the £19.99 app to do that. I suppose the easy way to look at is you are paying a £20 fee for the pleasure of not having to rebuy all your maps for the iPhone. Not unreasonable or a big dent in the pocket to have the chance to do that.

But for those users who do not have Memory Map on a PC then they are now giving them a chance to use the app. Let’s face it before it was less of an attractive offer. But now you can use the app and just buy the maps you are interested in. It does appear that they have also given this some thought as well. There is a dual tier pricing model. You can either purchase maps that can be used on the PC and iPhone or at a cheaper rate (they say 50% off) just for use with the iPhone.So what are the prices we are looking at? Well this is the example they give in the announcement:

“Typically these are priced at 50% off the PC & Mobile license, so for example, just £12.50 for 25,000km2 of OS Landranger or 750km2 of OS Explorer mapping.”

This puts them right there competing for iPhone only customers against Route Buddy. Who also give the app away and then charge for the OS Map data.

But what good is a FREE app if you have to pay some money out just to try it, ie buy some map data? Memory Map have also given that some thought by providing sample topo data.

“Included with the App is over 3,500km2 of sample mapping to download straight to your iPhone using Digital Map Shop so you can ‘try before you buy’. This includes sample OS Landranger and OS Explorer maps as well as a range of European map credits and a wide variety of other free and demo maps from around the world. Just download the free world ‘Basemap’ and scroll to Europe, US or Australia, then tap more maps, Digital Map Shop to see what you can find”

The above sounds impressive and generous. But I’d have to look at the sample OS landranger and Explorer maps to see if they were any use for me. At the very least they should allow me to play around with some of the features.

Anyway it does look on paper that Memory Map have put some thought into their iPhone presence. It will be interesting to see how they stack up against the already out there Route Buddy, and the Anquet iPhone app that is meant to be coming out pretty soon.

Category: Outdoors News

It’s All About Power

Posted on | February 25, 2010 | 7 Comments

Well we know where I think the GPS and OS Map apps should be going on our mobile phones. I more or less spelled it out in my previous post.

I do realise that one area I haven’t covered yet really on this blog has been using your mobile as a GPS. I’ve covered using it for blogging and photography, I’ve recommended how to save power and to keep it powered. There has also been a post on suggestions on how to chose your ideal phone for the outdoors. So yes there is a post in the works about using your phone as a GPS.

Todays mobile phones are convergent devices, they have been for a few years now. So it’s nothing new. So what do I mean by it being a convergent device? Well the mobile phone has been combining more and more devices into it. It started off with having an FM radio built in and playing music, then they added a camera, and so on. So as more got added to the phone the less you had to carry around with you in your pockets.

Yes the the mobile camera wasn’t as good as a dedicated camera, or didn’t hold as much music as an MP3 player (ok iPod). But that wasn’t the point, they were good enough for most “average” users needs. Over the years these have improved considerably, camera lens and image quality has improved, memory capacity has increased etc etc. Still not matching the dedicated device but getting a lot closer.

It almost seems these days especially with the iPhone and other smartphones that the fact you can use it as a phone as well almost seems a minor bit of functionality, an after thought compared to everything else that the phone can do.

But as we know using our mobile out on the hill to act as a GPS, play music, take photos etc etc uses battery power. And it uses it very very quickly. If we are lucky we may get a days use of it out on the hill (depending on the phone) without having to recharge it in some fashion (see my previous post on that subject).

It’s a fact that these days if you use your smartphone to run apps and use the GPS etc that the phone manufacturers are expecting you to be near to a convenient way of recharging it or keeping it charged. It doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone, an HTC phone (Android or Windows Mobile based) or any other smartphone the battery life to varying degrees is not great.

The next major technology leap that we in the outdoors world want to see is dramatically improved battery life. I think that the phone manufacturers are also trying to solve this as well. They know even for the average urban user that the current battery life for a smartphone is a major source of annoyance. If it wasn’t then I don’t think there would be as much pressure to get the battery life improved. What would the driving factor be for these companies? Our usage and market place is too small for them to be really concerned with. But as the majority out there see it as an issue we too can benefit from any improvements that come along.

Couple improved batteries with components that draw less and less power then we can only be in a win win situation. And there I have touched on the other part of the battery usage equation. But that is less of an issue as this seems to be something that is improving all the time. New processors, screens that require less power etc etc. This side of the equation is making bigger leaps a lot faster than the improved battery technology. Without the better batteries though this is little more than putting sand bags out to try and stop a flood.

It’s why I truly do believe that the next major technology improvement to have an impact on the outdoors will be better batteries. Plus it will have a nice knock on effect on our dedicated hardware like GPS units for instance.

I hope that folks have found these posts I have been writing recently of interest and got you thinking. They are after all just my opinion. If you agree or disagree, or think I have missed the point please leave a comment telling. I’d love to hear what others think.

Category: Blog

Not so social outdoors

Posted on | February 23, 2010 | 3 Comments

In my previous post on the new Memory Map iPhone app I touched on the question where were the social/sharing elements to the app. But I’m not going to single Memory Map here because the competition are also missing the social/sharing elements as well.

The iPhone and it’s competitors like the Google Android based phones are not just phones they run apps also (which itself is not new, and the reasons etc why this has taken off is beyond the scope of this post). These apps have enabled users to access social networks and share stuff while out and about so much more easily than in the post. It’s why we have not just seen an explosion in the use of social networks but also in content being shared on them coming from mobile devices.

Using apps on these phones is not just about using the app but also sharing with your friends. So whether it is a game and you are sharing an achievement or high score, a link to an interesting story, or your latest photo these apps all have some sort of social sharing or the most successful ones do.

So where is the innovation with the mapping apps appearing on these phones that allow us to share?

Yes I can hear you saying “but there is no signal out on the hills, so why do we need all this stuff?”, and yes that may be true. However there are an awful lot of places out there that people walk that do get a signal. I would even dare to say a lot more than there are where we can’t get a signal.

So should we be denying innovation because a small section of the community can’t use those features? I don’t think so, it should be they just can’t use those features.

I’d also like to argue that the PC software that we have sitting on our computers from these mapping companies should also be looking at innovating and including this social sharing also within these desk top packages as well.

But it is not just the mapping software companies that don’t get the social sharing. Our magazines also seem to be stuck back in the early days of the web. They have their communities on their websites based mostly around their forums and that’s it. Where is the iPhone/Android app for these publications? An app that allows me to see the latest content from the website and to also participate in the community/forum, and to also share stuff I find interesting with my friends. Yes TGO has kind of dipped it’s toes in distributing the magazine electronically. Which you could only read on a laptop/PC and not on a PDA/phone.The attitude seems to be that they can access the website using the browser on the phone. Which isn’t the best experience, do able, but not optimum. At the very least there should be a mobile version of the site.

People are reading more and more using mobile devices like their iPhones,Kindles and the up and coming iPad. Yet these devices are being ignored by the magazines.But these are devices that you can’t read the latest electronic copy of TGO on. Why?

TGO,Trail and all the rest should be looking at The Guardian app to get an idea of how they should be on the not so new platforms. Although The Guardian app needs to improve it’s sharing options.

Even our online communities like Outdoors Magic don’t have apps that allow easier access and help build community on these mobile platforms. I don’t even think they do a mobile version of the site.

Our outdoor companies are begrudgingly using social media. But some of those efforts are disjointed, ineffective and show that they just don’t get it or are doing it half hearted. It’s not all bad on this front one or two companies are doing rather well. But they are the rare cases.

Whether we like it or not we live in a world now where it is all about sharing and enabling that sharing. Sadly it seems that this message has passed by our section of the universe. Although it seems this post has been negative and asking why, there are glimmers of hope out there. There are folks that get it, it just seems they are fighting an up hill battle at the moment.

I know one of my friends will tell me off for this post. He will say that I should be getting paid for this, that companies should be paying me. But I also believe in sharing, if I didn’t then this blog wouldn’t exist. It’s my way of giving back to the community. May be one day what I have done here will pay me back by getting me some income (much needed). But that isn’t the driving factor for this blog. It has made me some pretty amazing friends already, so as far as I’m concerned it’s paid me back already.

But if a company out there wants to discuss some of these points in more detail they can reach me through the contact page to arrange some consultancy. Good grief that pimping myself out seems so dirty. I may have to go and have a good wash to try and clean myself.

The Photos: These were taken today at Oakenshaw NR. The swan was back today. Both taken on the iPhone, edited on the iPhone and also shared on the iPhone.

Category: Blog

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