In September, a few friends and I spent a few days in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park. It’s a wonderfully remote area, and if you like Desert solitude it’s really worth a visit.

I’ve started using animoto to build slideshows, and here’s the result of the high-quality version, uploaded to Vimeo.

A while ago I bought a Drobo, the 2nd edition with Firewire 800 as I thought it’d be a nice way to get a could of TB of storage attached to the Mac Pro. A lot of people rave about the Drobo, but I’ve found it to be a disappointment. It seems like a great idea, but I’ve had problems with it.

Firstly, I had a few hundred GB of ISOs that I needed to off-load from some external drives (for temporary storage, I use and recommend the 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F DT HD103UJ, a nippy and (so far) reliable drive with a 3-platter array. Maximum PC has a good review. I combine it with with good looking and performant Icy Dock MB559UEB-1S-B, with USB2 and Firewire 800 interfaces. I moved the ISOs over to the Drobo, after some testing, and of course, after I’d deleted the ISOs from the external drive, the Drobo started playing up.

It would restart a few times a day, and then it would hang occasionally. After leaving it for a while, I’d always have to cycle the power by pulling the PSU lead out from the back. I’d opened a support ticket with Drobo when the thing stopped mounting.

Something clearly had become corrupt, as when I tried to mount the Drobo volume my Mac (both my Mac Pro and my Macbook Pro), would crash with the black screen. Not good. I used a combination of tools, including Data Rescue II, Techtool Pro, and Disk Warrior 4 - they couldn’t help. At this point I knew Drobo couldn’t help, and as the data was recoverable (albeit in a time-consuming way), I blatted the hardware and drives and put them in a factory default condition. I’ve upgraded the Firmware to v1.3.0, the dashboard to v1.2.4. and guess what, the damn thing is still restarting.

I’ve had it with consumer grade crap. I’m building a ZFS server.

After I saw Michael Arringtons post on ”Animoto On the iPhone”, I had a little play with both the iPhone app and their website. I’m impressed. It solves a problem I’ve had for a while - how do I make quick and dirty slideshows from my photos? Well, with it’s flickr/Facebook/SmigMig/Picasa/photobucket integration, as well as the ability to upload photos and music from your computer, it took me <1minute to get my first 30s video working. Take a look here: 

I’m liking it, in fact I’ve just bought an “all-access-pass” which will let me create and download longer videos. 

So far, recommended.

I’ve had a few LaCie drives in my time, and all but two have given up the ghost. The remaining two were on light-duties, but both recently refused to spin-up after a reboot.

I found that it’s not a rare problem, and after reading this article, I stuck my multimeter on the power cable and found they were both barely putting out 11V, 1V less than the specified 12V. The 5V line looked a little low too.

So anyway, I logged a support ticket with LaCie, who said as my drives are out of warranty I’d have to buy a new PSU for $20. I followed-up by reminding them that it’s a well-documented problem on the interwebs. They promptly responded with a offer of 2 free PSUs!

Bravo LaCie, but you should have offered them up straight away if you know there’s a problem with this batch of PSUs. Still, I’m happy you handled this case as well as you did - many thanks.

Still, I’ve moved on. I’m not a fan of the RAID0 stripes LaCie use in their products, I’ve lost data because of it (and spent $2k to get it back). My Drobo isn’t behaving well either. The Netgear/Infrant ReadyNAS NV is still going strong though - if I wasn’t building my own NAS I’d buy the ReadyNAS Pro.

I can’t wait until my 12TB ZFS, RAIDZ2 server is up and running…

As the D90s are not used every day, it’s wise that we look after the on-board batteries. I recommend the CTEK maintenance chargers, which are easy to mount on-board (I have the US800 model installed under the seat in the Defenders). 

However, connecting an extension cord currently involves crawling under the truck, removing a waterproof cap and plugging in the extension - not ideal, you get grubby and it is a little vulnerable to rock damage. 

I discovered that Marinco/Guest make some great electrical accessories designed for marine use as part of the “ConnectCharge” system. It does what it says on the can, it connects your internal charger to the shore supply. I picked up a couple of ConnectCharge Inlets (P/N 150CCI) and some ConnectCharge cords (P/N 157200) which clip together to make a robust system (BTW, I ordered them from http://www.stayonline.com). 

Now the inlet requires a 1-7/8” hole. I’ll be mounting mine on the wing vents, which means I can easily replace the vent cover and I won’t damage the wing. Coupled with two retractable power extension cords, which will plug into the ConnectCharge inlets I think I’ll have a much better system. 

Of course, the ultimate solution is to have an automatic ejection system, like the Kussmaul Super Auto Eject, as found in emergency vehicles.

SANS SCORE is a good effort in promoting minimum security standards and best practices. Amongst the various checklists, I came across a good one for OSX, with Eric Conrad being the team lead. 

Along with Apples “Mac OS X Security Configuration for Version 10.5 Leopard” [PDF link], it provides a good background into securing your Mac. 

I’ve a mirrored version of the SAN document here.

I spend a lot of time in the desert, including the Sahara, Rub’ al Khali and less exotically the Colorado Plateau (ok, not a desert, but semi-arid (Köppen BSk) and mostly empty of people so it’s close enough for me), and the people and the places fascinate me. As a traveler, I have an interest in navigation, in fact I used to teach Navigation a long time ago…

I came across an article via Tristan Gooley’s blog (Tristan runs the Natural Navigation school in the UK) , which mentioned the 1974 article by Clinton Bailey, ”Bedouin Star-Lore in Sinai and the Negev” (PDF link). 

It’s a wonderful article, clearly a precursor to his book ”A Culture of Desert Survival”, and full of navigation and climatic information in the poetry of the Bedouin.

My favorite is

In tila’ Suhayl-Id tdmin is-sarjl—law kdn ‘aqdb il-layl

Or in English

If Canopus rises, don’t trust the flood

And finally the practical application:

Don’t camp in the wadi!

Canopus was frequently used as a Southern Pole Star by those in the Northern Hemisphere until it fell out of usage when the magnetic compass became popular. The Bedouin also saw Canopus as a coward, as it would dip seasonally below the horizon - unlike Polaris, the steadfast. 

It’s particularly moving to remember that these traditions have persisted until the 21st century through an oral history that pre-dates Islam.

For years I’ve used the Garmin GPSMAP 478, it’s got me across the Rub ‘al Khali, seen service in the Sahara and been all over the USA. It’s a fantastic piece of equipment, rugged, robust and reliable. I’ve not had a single problem with it in the last 3 or 4 years. It’ll do turn-by-turn navigation and chart-plotting - an essential feature not just for mariners, but also for those of us who explore the more remote parts of the world. The 478 has served me well and I have no hesitation in recommending it highly. I only had two minor criticisms - it’s be nice to have a slightly larger screen and let’s stop using the proprietary Garmin Data Cards. 

Well, there’s a new kid in town. The Garmin GPSMAP 640 looks like it’s going to be the new favorite of overlanders. It addresses both of my issues with the 478. It takes SD cards, and the display is a 13.2 cm (diagonal) with a resolution of 800x480 WVGA (the 478 is 9.4cm on the diagonal and has a resolution of 480x320). It’ll calculate faster than the GPSMAP 478, with SD cards it can support more memory, but it is a bit bulkier (15.0 x 10.2 x 4.8 cm vs the 478 at 14.5 x 8.1 x 4.8 cm). 

There is also a GPSMAP 620, which is physically the same as the 640, but doesn’t support the XM Radio and XM Weather (which I use frequently, very handy having radar overlays when you’re in the mountains in the summer), and doesn’t come with any maps preloaded. It also costs $200 less at MSRP. 

For XM Radio and XM Weather, you’ll need an XM antenna. It seems the old GXM30 won’t work with the 640, and you’ll have to transfer your existing XM subscription to the new antenna. 

The GPSMAP 640 isn’t available until Q1 2009, with an MRSP of $1199 (but already available for pre-order from around $950).

As soon as Ram Mounts have their brackets ready, I’ll get one ordered.

UPDATE: So, the big issue with the GPSMAP 640 is the same as a lot of other consumer products and other GPS devices in the Garmin range - they’ve been completely dumbed down. While it’s in automotive mode, it’s impossible to access the experienced user settings, like decent weather and chart-plotting. I even logged a feature request with Garmin, who said they’d had a lot of comments regarding this but even after a couple of years haven’t implemented it. So, I cannot recommend this device as a suitable GPS for an overland vehicle. Stick with the 478 and similar.

Na’in, Iran. A wonderful small town in central Iran, on the edge of the Dasht-e Kavir (The Kavir desert).

I visited here as part of my Persia Overland trip, in April and May 2008. 

As well as walking the perimeter of the Narin Ghaleh (the large castle in the center of town), I also got to meet and spend a little time with the weavers of Na’in, in their underground chambers.

It was a wonderful place to visit, and very much off the beaten track. Recently, I read an article, written by Ryszard Antolak and published on the Persian Journal website. The article, ”The Hollow Hills of Na’in” is a well written piece on the fate of the weavers in their underground workshops. It captures the sadness that I felt when I visited, clearly the men weaving that day were the last of a very long line (in fact, my original quote dating the hills to CE1000, is a thousand years out - they are 1,000 years older than that). 

Even though the article is a little sad, it ends with a delightful thought:

I stand and listen, carried away by the tide of his tales. In the music and cadences of his voice, I recognize a serenity and dignity that has all but passed away from the world: a dignity not bestowed by wealth or privilege or birth.

My friends Mark, Mike and myself thought that the Land Rovers and ourselves should get one last camping trip in this summer. We’d camped near Water Crossing 3 on Halfmoon Creek earlier in the year, and decided to camp a bit further up the trail. Given the weather forecast of 15F/10C and snow, the wives declined, so it was just a boys camp. 

Anyway, it was cold, wet and overcast when we arrived in Leadville, much the same as it was in Denver. Still, we had bourbon, brats, sushi and Snow Peak Chopsticks, so we were happy.

After out sushi lunch and setting up camp, we drove further up the trail to Champion Mill where we took some photos of the mill in it’s decaying state. It’s a shame to see such a wonderful place making its last stand against the elements. 

 As the elements were making an appearance, we had a quick look inside (be careful - don’t fall through the floor), before heading back down to our 11,110 ft campsite. 

Back at camp, we had some brats and bourbon and given the sleet and cold we turned in early.

The next morning dawned crisp and blue, and made the drive back to Leadville wonderful. 

Next camping, err, June!