Idea for Geek

[Sneeky]

I have a great idea but I am not a geek and can't do it. If someone can put it together a whole lot of people would benefit and it would be awesome.
Go to a map of the AT and show a graphic bubble of the the thru-hikers, how big is the bubble on what date and location. So we can watch the bubble move up the trail as the the weeks go on and the size of the bubble change, getting smaller I suppose. It would be so cool to follow and watch.

[TNhiker]

that's alot of data to collect........

[Slo-go'en]

It would be neat, but it would require tracking large numbers of people in real time and there could be some issues with that. Tracking by using social media postings would be the only non-invasive with implied consent way of doing the tracking but that is only a small sample.

[rafe]

mapman has some good stats on the movement of thru-hikers from Georgia to Maine. Scrounge for it in the site's reference section (not the threads.)

[CamelMan]

The amount of people isn't an issue, unless you wanted to save the entire history of all GPS readings like a remote Garmin. But forget about monitoring--I think a good idea would be to have people "check in" to shelters, towns, hostels, landmarks, etc and other places mentioned in the guidebooks or collected thru the site. The list could be stored locally so as not to rely on cell signal, and just sync the list of landmarks and check ins when the phone got signal. There could just be a simple confirmation. "Are you checking in at Hawk Mtn shelter?" Confirm, or Deny and pick another near one, or enter a new one. (If coordinates were unavailable, it wouldn't have to know where each landmark was but could learn as people checked in.) Each check in would be a database row, so 10000 people (section hikers might want to use it) checking in to something each mile (unlikely) is "only" 22M rows. You could have a delay setting for data display, and the ability to remain anonymous, so that people are unable to track others in real time for nefarious reasons.

So, you need someone to build a mobile site or app that lets users register, alter personal settings, check in to a curated list of places, submit new places, generate some Google maps, and probably integrate with other social media sites. Now, how are we going to monetize this fun idea? ;)

[ChrisJackson]

The amount of people isn't an issue, unless you wanted to save the entire history of all GPS readings like a remote Garmin. But forget about monitoring--I think a good idea would be to have people "check in" to shelters, towns, hostels, landmarks, etc and other places mentioned in the guidebooks or collected thru the site. The list could be stored locally so as not to rely on cell signal, and just sync the list of landmarks and check ins when the phone got signal. There could just be a simple confirmation. "Are you checking in at Hawk Mtn shelter?" Confirm, or Deny and pick another near one, or enter a new one. (If coordinates were unavailable, it wouldn't have to know where each landmark was but could learn as people checked in.) Each check in would be a database row, so 10000 people (section hikers might want to use it) checking in to something each mile (unlikely) is "only" 22M rows. You could have a delay setting for data display, and the ability to remain anonymous, so that people are unable to track others in real time for nefarious reasons.

So, you need someone to build a mobile site or app that lets users register, alter personal settings, check in to a curated list of places, submit new places, generate some Google maps, and probably integrate with other social media sites. Now, how are we going to monetize this fun idea? ;) i like your idea, made me think of foursquare with hashtags. if we had a set of "official" hashtags to use...maybe synced to the at passport locations.

[Miel]

NORAD does it with Santa, so why not?

[Sandy of PA]

I go to the woods to not be tracked. What purpose would be fulfilled by such a thing? If you want to know what is going on, on the trail, get out and hike!

[AlyontheAT2016]

I go to the woods to not be tracked. What purpose would be fulfilled by such a thing? If you want to know what is going on, on the trail, get out and hike!

+1

My first thought upon reading this thread was "umm no"

Thanks to the invention of smartphones, any of us who use them are tracked very often throughout out daily "normal" lives. Where this information is stored and how it is used is questionable to say the least.

I would hope that this constant connection to tracking technology would take a back seat on a thru hike, not become front and center.

[Smithwick]

I am a programmer. When my wife thru-hiked in 2011, I tracked her using an app on her phone. Created this web site showing her location and info everyday. A lot of work, but worth it.

http://smithwick.biz/Scribbles.html

[rafe]

I am a programmer. When my wife thru-hiked in 2011, I tracked her using an app on her phone. Created this web site showing her location and info everyday. A lot of work, but worth it.

http://smithwick.biz/Scribbles.html

Very cool. I used to scoff at this geo-location technology, but it's cool to see it in use. Be nice if my lifetime's collection of photos was all geo-tagged.

[Odd Man Out]

Here is a graphic based on the Map Man data for the median date the bubble historically reaches certain mileages. YMMV ;-)

34365

[Uncle Joe]

Trackleaders.com can do this and does for those they track. If more people carried Spots it would provide more data, of course.

http://trackleaders.com/at

[rafe]

Thanks to the invention of smartphones, any of us who use them are tracked very often throughout out daily "normal" lives. Where this information is stored and how it is used is questionable to say the least.

When I returned to work after a long section hike, I was pleased to see that one of my co-workers had logged the location and dates of all of my calls from the trail on the AT wall map on my cubicle. OK, so that was totally manual tracking, but I liked how it all looked on the map.

[CamelMan]

i like your idea, made me think of foursquare with hashtags. if we had a set of "official" hashtags to use...maybe synced to the at passport locations.

Yeah, I was thinking of foursquare too. Voluntary check ins are less intrusive and more meaningful. Maybe people could use it to build a time-line of their hike instead of using a paper journal, if they could store text and images to go with each check in. This is the point where you start looking for venture capital and office space in a trendy area. ;-) Or at least a designer/CSS person to split the work.

Seriously though, a couple of years ago I would have devoted a lot of spare time to an idea like this to see what happened. It sounds like a good one, and potentially earning enough on the side for some ultra-light gear or another trip is not unappealing. Unfortunately, right now I don't have the time or energy, preparing for several things that are about to happen, including a thru-hike attempt in May.

+1 Smithwick

[CamelMan]

Where this information is stored and how it is used is questionable to say the least.


It's used to offload work previously done by corporations, onto people who are using the service, to increase profits. You are providing free labor. Imagine if all the data that social media convinces you to provide for free, had to be collected the old fashioned way, through the work of paid employees. I suppose another way to look at it that they are buying your information by providing the service for free. Then it's all your fault for agreeing to this devil's bargain. ;)

IMO the most ethical way to monetize a service is just to charge a small fee for it. I don't like looking at (intrusive) ads, or ads that know too much about me, but I'll buy a guidebook or map or donate to a site like this or trailjournals.