After Mass this past Sunday, one of my fellow parishioners asked a question about this blog. I thought I’d share the answer for anyone else who’s curious.
His question was about how I collect the raw data that goes into the traces I’ve published. The answer is an iOS app called GPS Tracks, written and published by David Morneault. I think it’s the perfect app for this purpose. It allows precise collection and editing of trackpoints and waypoints, and it allows you to export them in a variety of different formats. I primarily use the GPX format, which is how I stage the traces for processing into the blog. However, it can also export PNG images, among other formats. The PNG format saved me in 2023, when I wanted to show a visual of where I’d been but hadn’t finished the GPX processing functions in time for the trail.
While I’m giving credit, I’ll also mention the plugin that displays the processed traces on map images. It’s called Leaflet, created by Volodymyr Agafonkin. It’s best in class, in my opinion.
The map images themselves are published as part of a collaborative project known as OpenStreetMap. For the parts of the world where I travel, OpenStreetMap does an almost incredible job with its database of features. Recently, I worked on a relatively primitive algorithm to reprocess my traces and detect places I may have stopped. At one such place, the OpenStreetMap database had the park bench where I sat. If you find a feature that’s not in the database, you can add it.
Without any one of these three pieces, there would be no traces on this blog. My software just glues the pieces together.
