Creating a live-tracking SPOT map with IFTTT and Google Drive

My wife is doing an endurance cycling event in the near future, and so I was inspired to create a public live-tracking map to relay her progress to others.  It wasn’t too hard to set up; if you have a SPOT tracker, follow the instructions below.  These instructions can be modified to take an SMS text as well, as long as the formatting remains constant.

0.  Make sure your SPOT device is sending emails to the gmail address you have set up for IFTTT.

1.  Set up an IFTTT action like this:

– Trigger: new email from ________ (in my case, the source of the SPOT email)

– Action: add row to spreadsheet.

– Formatted row: {{ReceivedAt}} ||| {{BodyPlain}} ||| =(split((TO_TEXT(INDIRECT( ADDRESS( ROW( ) ; COLUMN( ) -1)))),” :”))

This format takes the received time and the body and then splits the body according on two characters, ‘ ‘ (space) and ‘:’ (colon).  This is due to the way the email is formatted.  The neat “take the column before this one” function I borrowed from another IFTTT action.

2.  Run the action once and open up your new Google Drive spreadsheet.

– Add a header row and fill it in.  Call the first column “title” and then find which columns contain the latitude and longitude and label them respectively.  You will have a bunch of columns because of the length of the email body.  I would tell you which column numbers to name, but it depends on the number of words in your SPOT device name.

– Fill in the rest of the header row with something for each column that has a value in it (this is so Google Maps can process the spreadsheet).  I chose to call all the non-vital columns “ignore”.  As long as you leave the header row, you can clear this spreadsheet as often as you like, and IFTTT will just add new data to the first empty row.

3.  Head to the Spreadsheets Map Wizard at http://gmaps-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/spreadsheetsmapwizard/makecustommap.htm and follow the instructions.  This is where you actually build the map.  (I am not responsible for that site.)

4.  Copy the output from the Spreadsheets Map Wizard into a new .html file and upload it to a server somewhere.  I suppose you could theoretically even share it online via Dropbox.

5.  Success (I hope)!

Obviously, there are a lot of places this workflow can go wrong, so take your time and double-check each step before moving on.  Note that the spreadsheet wizard may stop working soon because Google is dropping v2 of the Google Maps API sometime “in early 2013.”  I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to update my map to v3 of the API because I’m not the greatest with javascript.  

My finished product (with some extra KML layers) is here: http://mattbk.com/~matthewbk/warrior.html

 

ArcGIS Tricks

Since I now use ArcGIS for my job (instead of QGIS, which I used for everything else, except for Drupal, where I use OpenLayers), I have to re-learn everything I once knew.  Part of this involves the nitpicky issues that span both ESRI’s programming choices and their documentation.  I will continue to update this post as I learn more.

ArcGIS 10.1:

  • When using the Contour tool, there cannot be any spaces in the output path.  Not just the filename, but the whole path to that file.  The full list of characters you can’t use (just to be safe) is here (even though the output is a vector).
    • Errors you may get: 010328 : Syntax error, 010267 : Syntax error in parsing grid expression.
  • When exporting a shapefile that has a joined table (i.e., to create a new shapefile so you can query the joined data), the filename of the table that is being joined needs to be pretty short.  Otherwise, the shapefile is not exported completely and there are no errors–Arc actually “finishes” and lets you add the new shapefile.  Taking spaces out of the filename probably can’t hurt either.

Saying No

I recently got back comments on a version of my dissertation draft, so I will again have little time to do much.  Things I’ve said ‘no’ to recently: setting up a general Grand Forks online forum and hosting a local nordic ski race (because we don’t have any in town).  If anyone is interested in doing either of these things, go ahead, because I can’t invest the time in them right now.

Got #Results?

I’ve dabbled in hosting results before, but it became a big mess very quickly, so I set it aside.  I’d still like to incorporate a regional athlete ranking system someday, akin to that on crossresults.com, but that won’t happen until there’s a little more user interaction.

Results are important, however, so I’d love to at least link to them on the site.  There being a lot of races, this becomes difficult unless you (the race director!) send them in.  Skinnyski has a great writeup on results and Google Docs/Drive and how to get things in the right format.  Ship your results to me in any format (even including snapshots of the results sheets) and I’ll get them up under the right event.

Results will be accepted in the following manner:
– in an email to matt@northernplainsathletics.com
– in a comment on the event page (this will get them out there the most quickly)
– in a tweet to @nplainsathletes, with the hashtag #results
– in a post on the Northern Plains Athletics Facebook page

Thanks for the help!
– Matt

Baby, You Can Drive My Bus

On the list of things not to worry about in Grand Forks (unless Google buys the city as an experiment) is the idea of driverless vehicles.  I think one comment really nailed it:

The allure of a driverless car is that you can travel nearly door to door without having the burden of operating the vehicle or needing to pay attention to the road. However, that reality already exists. Its called a bus. When its below ground its called a train. An added bonus, you don’t even need to find parking for it. Why is this news to people? Mass Transit is here and its real. And if we seriously commit to it, we can make it way more useful than any driverless vehicle ever will be. (dave “paco” abraham) 

Star Power

LeBron James rides his bike to work.  Why can’t you?  http://streetsblog.net/2012/12/20/lebron-james-bike-commuter/

I know a lot of rock stars who commute year-round, and for fear of forgetting someone I won’t mention them by name.  You probably know at least one of them, but might not realize it–because it’s not just those weird people who ride, it’s some of the people you see every day.

Sometimes, however, you need a little bigger push.  A decade ago, Lance Armstrong got people out on road rides again, but he turned out to be a bigger celebrity than most (and cyclists are still waiting for the full backlash of his doping scandal).  Some of the famous people you watch or listen to enjoy the heck out of cycling [fill in links]—

“But,” you interrupt to say, “they’re famous and can make their own schedules.  I have a real job and kids, and don’t forget that I live in Grand Forks!”

This is true.  Maybe we need someone with a little less star power to rely on for inspiration.  Someone who also has a job, who may have kids, and who makes bicycle commuting look easy.  Famous, yes, but locally so.  Most importantly, we don’t need another advocate (like myself) who is defined by the fact that they commute by bicycle.

The world is looking for everyday people who can be looked up to, without asking for anything in return.  It could be you they are looking for.

Uniting the Climbing Community

Attention climbing gym managers!  Let’s collaborate and schedule next year.  I’d like to see two regional series, one each in the spring and the fall.  This doesn’t have to be formal, but the fewer date conflicts there are, the more climbing everyone gets to do.

This plan is focused on the North Dakota-South Dakota-Minnesota-Manitoba region, but obviously if there are competitions that are outside the edges of this region that will pull climbers away, we need to take that into account as well.

What you need to do:
1.  Look over this list.  If you see a comp I missed, mention it in the comments (and provide a link if you know it).
2.  Grab a weekend in the comments.  Make sure to include your email address so we can all contact each other.  If there is another kind of event near you that might draw away your climbers, keep that in mind.
3.  Comment about what you think will work and won’t.
3.  Send other managers to this page to do the same thing.

Obviously, none of this is binding, but again it seems silly to have comps within weekend travel distance that fall on the same day.  I’m posting this to get the momentum going before next year rolls around, but if someone wants to jump in and be “in charge,” feel free.  I’ll keep this page updated as I find out more, or you can check the official list of future comps here at NPA.

– Matt

Comps that happened in 2012:
February 11 – SDSU (Brookings) (toprope)
February 17-19 – Festiglace (Winnipeg) (ice)
April 14 – NHRG (Grand Forks) (toprope)
April 21 – Vertical Endeavors (Minneapolis) (toprope)
April 28 – UND (Grand Forks) (toprope)

October 20 – NDSU (Fargo) (toprope)
October 20 – Boulders (Madison) (boulder)
October 27 – Vertical Endeavors (St. Paul) (boulder)
November 10 – NHRG (Grand Forks) (toprope)
November 10 – Vertical Adventures (Winnipeg) (toprope)
November 10 – MN Climbing Coop (Minneapolis) (boulder)

Comps scheduled for 2013 (when other things are happening):
Jan 5 Sat
Jan 12 Sat
Jan 19 Sat
Jan 26 Sat
Feb 2 Sat
Feb 9 Sat
Feb 16 Sat – Vertical Endeavors Passion for Flashin’ (St. Paul) #toprope
– Festiglace (Winnipeg) #ice
Feb 23 Sat
Mar 2 Sat
Mar 9 Sat
Mar 16 Sat
Mar 23 Sat – SDSU Spring Cling (Brookings) #toprope #boulder
Mar 30 Sat
Apr 6 Sat –
Apr 13 Sat – NHRG Escape the Horizontal XIII (Grand Forks) #toprope
– Vertical Adventures Brass Monkey (Winnipeg) #boulder
Apr 20 Sat – Vertical Endeavors Spring SCS Comp (Minneapolis) #toprope (comment)
– NDSU Rocky Balboulder (Fargo) #boulder (email 2012-12-12)
– UND Dirty 30 (Grand Forks) #boulder
Apr 21 Sun – UMD’s 22nd annual Concrete Smorgasbord (Duluth) #toprope (comment)
Apr 27 Sat – Boulders (Madison) #boulder
May 4 Sat
May 11 Sat
May 18 Sat
May 25 Sat
Jun 1 Sat
Jun 8 Sat
Jun 15 Sat
Jun 22 Sat
Jun 23 Sun
Jun 29 Sat
Jul 6 Sat
Jul 13 Sat
Jul 20 Sat
Jul 27 Sat
Aug 3 Sat
Aug 10 Sat
Aug 17 Sat
Aug 24 Sat
Aug 31 Sat
Sep 7 Sat
Sep 14 Sat
Sep 21 Sat
Sep 28 Sat
Oct 5 Sat
Oct 12 Sat
Oct 19 Sat
Oct 26 Sat
Nov 2 Sat
Nov 9 Sat
Nov 16 Sat
Nov 23 Sat
Nov 30 Sat
Dec 7 Sat
Dec 14 Sat
Dec 21 Sat
Dec 28 Sat

November 29th: Public input meetings to improve traffic on University Avenue

“The Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will hold a public input meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, Nov. 29, at the River Valley Room in the University of North Dakota Memorial Union, 2901 University Ave., to provide draft recommendations to improve traffic on University Avenue.”

http://und.edu/news/2012/11/university-avenue-meeting.cfm

Previous discussions about University Avenue on this blog can be found here.

The main Area Voices discussion (Grand Forks Herald website comments) I have found is here.