iPhone/OS X Park Map App

Little off-topic here, but as I try to plan our trip to the Smokies this weekend, I find that planning for a hike of a specific type (short, flat) is a bit arduous- especially having to go back and forth between the park map, brown book and computer (to find out trail closings/bear warnings). I think it would be very handy to have one place that could aggregate all of that information into one easy place.

Hurdles/Issues:

• The National Park System map is free, and since it is a government document, is public domain so copyright issues would not apply to that. The National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map, or TOPO map would be ideal, but there would be legal channels I’d have to navigate.
• The Brown Book IS copyrighted, but judging by the communal nature of how the book was compiled, I don’t forsee a tough battle to get rights to use the text.

Benefits:

• An added benefit would be the ability to mark off trails and campsites that you have already been to.
• Could integrate with Google Maps/Flickr when internet is available to provide contextual photos and information.
• The GPS and compass functionality of the iPhone 3GS would make way finding very easy.
• Could integrate a trail journal, as well as geo-tagged photos.

Comp 1

Behold! Something to feast your eyes upon!

Here is a very initial pass at what the new face of my website will be:

Please note both the left and right columns- it is how I shall be dividing up my post categories- Red for portfolio/design/art, Green for thoughts/written content (blog), and blue for my interactions with the rest of the web. The blue is the part that will be the most restricted, with some sort of authentication needed to actually view the posts. I think, at least for now that I’ll keep the posts visible for everyone, but the details hidden…

enjoy!

Privacy

What has been potentially the biggest obstacle in my development of the new site is the same issue that has been plaguing the internet since its conception. Privacy. I realize it is foolish to think that anything I do on the tubes is really and truly private, but when you get down to it, you just don’t want everyone knowing everything about you.

What then to do with a site which by its nature should tell the world everything that I do on the web… I think I have come to a decision. Instead of allowing full access to everyone and everything in the world to see everything about me, I’ll have a public AND private timeline. I haven’t quite decided on what type of authentication system I’m going to deploy, and how hard it will be to view my private timeline, but I think this solution will provide me with the privacy and publicity I am looking for.