iNavX™ - Marine Navigation for iPhone (3G with GPS)

This software will be available soon, it is already submitted to the Apple Store. 

The cost is anticipated to be about $50.00 which together with iPhone $199.00 beats any decent handheld GPS offering (Colorado costs $600.00).

There will be no additional cost for charts as NOAA US waters coverage is included.

I cannot wait!

http://www.inavx.net/

Links: GPS + Apple Mac + iPhone

http://www.macgpspro.com/?id=0

 

 

http://www.inavx.net/

 

 

http://www.thegpsstore.com/US-GlobalSat-BU-353-USB-port-GPS-Receiver-P869C270.aspx

 

 

http://www.gpsnavx.com/MacENC/

 

 

http://www.gpsnavx.com/

façade pattern

Hiding the complex code behind a simple interface.

Think of using an electric toothbrush that has a simple on/off button on the plastic case and a complex motor/battery/charger functionality inside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facade_pattern

Java: Date manipulation

The method below that gets current date, returns the next exact hour (i.e. 12:00:00:00).

Notice ".add" method.

public static Date getNextHour(Date date)

   

{

Calendar cal = new GregorianCalendar();

  cal.setTime(date);

  cal.add(Calendar.HOUR, 1);

  cal.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);

  cal.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);

  cal.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);

  Date time = cal.getTime();

 

  return time;

    }

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Single Purpose Principle

This is one of the most important principles in clean programming.

It applies to:

• Interfaces
  
• Classes
  
• Methods
  
• Whole Modules

The piece of code should be named to precisely reflect the functionality in contains and it should be developed,  and subsequently extended, to preform ONLY the functionality intended.

If there is a need to add different functionality, a new piece of code should be refactored out.

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Electric Motor Conversion

http://www.solidnav.com/explorer.htm

http://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/sailboatkit.htm







http://www.electricvehicleswa.com/boats.php

Thunderstruck Motors ~ Electric Sailboat motor Kit. Mars Brusless motor with Sevcon PMAC millipak regen controller

http://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/sailboatkit.htm

Our Electric Sailboat | Electric Sailboat Conversion

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/electricsailboat/

Exploded views / schematics and spare parts for Volvo Penta MB10A - MarinePartsEurope.com

http://www.marinepartseurope.com/fi/e-volvo-penta-586-MB10A.aspx

1987 - 1993 Parts Catalogs - Volvo Penta

http://www.volvopentastore.com/1987_1993_Parts_Catalogs/dm/category_id.366381--store_id.366--view_id.366319

The three Cal 27's, all different designs

http://pages.sssnet.com/go2erie/cal27all.htm

Charmed Life - Double Handed Women's Transpac

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLqI-RIkHRA

radio controlled sailing boat in Paris (1.2.3.4.5.6)

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05gu0m8dGqc

Kudos to me

Kudos to me

Contract for the boat sale

BILL OF SALE OF BOAT / VESSEL (Sold "As-Is" without Warranty)
STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF ________________

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS:

THAT I, ________________________________________________ [seller's name], ("Seller"), 

of ____________________________________________________ [seller's address], 

County of ________________, Illinois, in consideration of 

payment of $ ____________________________________________ dollars
($_________________), do hereby sell and transfer 

to  __________________________________________           ______ [buyer's name], ("Buyer"), 

of ____________________________________________________ [buyer's address], 

County of ____________, Illinois, his/her successors and assigns, the following boat ("Boat"), 

which is located ___________________________________________[yard/marina]
in the County of ________________, Illinois:

Make: 
Model:
Year:
Length:
Previous Title (# and owner name on title):

Registration #: IL 

Serial or Hull ID (HID) #:
General Boat Type:
Engine Number:
Engine/drivetrain description:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

INVENTORY OF EQUIPMENT. The Seller represents that the Boat contains the following equipment:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
[In the lines above, include a description of the Boat's equipment, such as any deck equipment, electronics, navigation equipment, safety equipment, sails and rigging.]

To have and to hold the same unto Buyer and Buyer's executors, administrators, and assigns, forever. 

WARRANTY OF OWNERSHIP. The Seller warrants that the Seller is the true and lawful owner of the Boat, and that the Boat is free of any and all legal claims, encumbrances, and offsets by others. Further, the Seller warrants that the Seller will defend the Buyer against any and all lawful claims and demands
whatsoever in relation to this bill of sale.
DISCLAIMER OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES. OTHER THAN THE SELLER'S WARRANTY OF OWNERSHIP STATED ABOVE, THE BUYER TAKES THE BOAT, ENGINE(S), AND EQUIPMENT "AS-IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THEIR CONDITION. THE BUYER HAS PERSONALLY INSPECTED THE BOAT, ENGINE(S), AND EQUIPMENT AND ACCEPTS THEM "AS-IS".
ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE. 

The Seller and Buyer agree to the following additional terms in conjunction with this bill of sale:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________


Seller:
Driving license number:

________________________
Signature

Printed Name: _______________________
Buyer:



________________________
Signature

Printed Name: _______________________

STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF ________________

SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED BEFORE ME, this the ____ day of ________________, 20____.



____________________________
NOTARY PUBLIC

My Commission Expires: ________________

learning Sailing: jib & genoa

roller-furling system overview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzg0Z6_tAuI&NR=1

Learning Sailing: mainsail

raising the main sail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5byPfsCmd8M&NR=1


adjusting the sail shape:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ7tmosvPTI&feature=related


boom vang:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9cmwySbS2g&NR=1

Learning Sailing: hiking out

This short video mentions that even on the keel boats like Irwin 28 (3,000 lb. ballast) it may be beneficial to "hike out" and sit on the "high" or "windward side".
It shows the idea of cross-sheeting and a nice combination of the winch and the cleat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf8ihMZEAGc&feature=related

Lake St. Clair, Michigan

can you say: a boating party?
http://www.aerialpics.com/J/jobbienooner07.html

Lake Superior pictures

http://www.aerialpics.com/H/greatlakesshoreline.html

Another great picture and place:
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=729

Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, Canada picture

I found this picture by Rolf Hicker on this site, I thought it is beautiful and worth visiting place.





another:

front hatch replacement

West Marine sells these hatches that I might use as replacement to the old leaking wooden one.

sealing the deck of the sail boat

Sealing the hull-deck join, toe rail:

- 3M 4000UV adhesive sealant around the screw hole perimeters
- 5200 caulking

keep in mind that caulking does not adhere to stainless steel


Bibliography:

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/DeckLeaks.htm

Learning Sailing: Coming About or Tacking

Coming about: turning thru the wind, about 90 degree.
The main sail changes sides on it's own, don't touch it, watch your head. The boat hast to have momentum (be moving) to execute this maneuver.

1) say "Ready about?!"
2) the crew answers "Ready!"
3) move the tiller and say "Hard to lee!" (opposite of the wind)
4) release the leeward Jib sheet (line)
5) straighten the tiller, once past the direction of the wind
6) tighten the leeward jib sheet (wind switched sides)

watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTZw2mPm5FU&NR=1

Learning Sailing: Heave to

Learning Sailing: Stopping the boat upwind.

This video demonstrates how you can stop the boat by steering upwind:

Portable GPS

I am looking for a GPS unit that would serve me both for marine and mountain trips.

Listings:

Garmin® Colorado 400 BlueChart GPS

Please provide recommendations or reasonably priced units.

Also, is anybody working on marine software for iPhone 3G?

Unix: how to check time and date

Date command:

$ date

Wed Jul 23 09:33:29 CDT 2008

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Irwin 28. Electric Motor

This topic is being updated, visit soon.

Bibliography links:

Elco Electric Launch

Etek Electric Outboard Motor Project

Electric Drive Systems

Parts links:

E-Tek electric motor from Briggs and Stratton 50 VDC, 12 HP peak, 2.7 HP sustained, $680

Perm Motor PMG 132, 15 HP peak, 6 HP sustained, $925

Irwin 28: Lil Walkabout: Converting to outboard?

My transmission needs to be rebuilt; the engine is the original gasoline Volvo from 1974.

I found a couple of pictures of Irwin 28 with the outboard motors.
This admittedly does not make the sailboat any prettier, but it helps with:

- no oil in the bilge,
- no fumes inside,
- no noise inside,
- lots of extra room for additional batteries, sails even future electric motor



I found these articles:
http://www.onlineoutboards.com/article_choosing_outboard_hp.html

http://www.stewartfam.net/arlyn/outboards.html

Seems like 9.9 hp  should be plenty with these features:
- 4 stroke
- 2 cylinder
- 12-volt charging

- high thrust prop 
- deep (long) prop 

Parts:

Outboard bracket from West Marine

Do you have experience with outboards on the Great Lakes? 

I would really appreciate constructive comments... 

UPDATE (August 13, 2008):

1) I have delivered the boat with a loaned 9.9HP 2 cycle up Chicago River, Chicago Harbor, to Belmont Harbor.

2) We sailed and motored in hefty winds with the same 9.9 HP, which was sufficient.

3) I hate to lean over the transom in heavy seas and cord-start the motor. I rather have the battery starter in the cockpit.

Our Electric Sailboat Project

http://www.electric-sailboat.com/Our_Project.html

What are your sailing dreams?

Click on the image to enlarge:







Explore on Google Maps

28' Irwin 1974

Here are a few details on this model.
This info is for people like myself who spend a lot of time researching the web and finding very little on this particular sailboat.

L.O.A 28.5 feet
L.W.L 22.6 feet

Hull Speed = square root ( LWL ) * 1.34 = 6.35 knots

Draft with keel 4.5 feet (my boat)
Draft with keel/centerboard 3' to 7'3"
Sail area 394 sq. ft.
Hull fiberglass
Displacement 7,900 lbs.
Ballast with keel 3,000 lbs lead (my boat)
Ballast with keel/centerboard 3,200 lbs lead
Headroom 6'2"
Number of berths 5
Engine Universal Atomic 4 - 30hp
Engine Volvo Penta 2 cylinder (my boat)


Please post any corrections. I will be happy to hear for all the owners, I will be very happy to post any stories realted to the Irwin 28, Great Lakes, or sailing in general.

Chicago yachting life

This picture is for all these folks from East, or West Coasts that don't believe Chicago is THE place for sailing.

Book: "The Long Way" by Bernard Moitessier

I have read two books about this man, but this one is by far the most interesting.
I highly recommend it.

Here is the book's review:

The Long Way recounts the incredible story of Bernard Moitessier's participation in the first Golden Globe Race a solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the three great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn. For seven months, the veteran seafarer battled storms, doldrums, gear failures, and knock-downs, as well as overwhelming fatigue and loneliness. Then, nearing the finish with victory in hand, Moitessier suddenly pulled out of the race and sailed on. His 37,455-mile journey continued for another three months, finally ending in Tahiti. Never once in all that time had he touched land.




Support this site: click on the image an buy this book via Amazon.com

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

North Lake Michigan

I am not sure if this is even possible, but after delivering the boat to Winthrop Harbor, IL and testing it in several day-sails in August 2008, maybe this season, or in the spring of the next I would like to explore to North Lake Michigan.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.456278,-86.077881&spn=1.539328,3.482666&t=h&z=9

100th race Chicago to Mackinac Island

Today is also a start of the Chicago - Mackinac race.

Official site:
http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac/

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080719.wsp-mackinacrace0719/GSStory/GlobeSports/home

Please leave comments with good links and any news.

Fastest time was Stripes 48 hours 17 minutes and 10 seconds

28' Irwin

Today, I have put the down payment for 1974 28 foot Irwin.
See the pictures:



The rear of the boat:



The forward V-berth:


The galley (alcohol burner, ice box in the background):


The starboard side settee:


The port side settee with the folding table on the wall:



The main power switch and the rear berth:


The autopilot unit:

Cruising The Great Lakes - Planning

http://ca.geocities.com/buttimore@rogers.com/GreatLakes/tgl_planning.html

LDBSA Lake Michigan Crossing 2007

http://www.saildubay.org/Pages/Lake%20Michigan%20Crossing%202007.html

Cape Dory 30

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzdLMM0Wep8

Ambiguous Method Result

/**  @deprecated  TODO: this bad code, do not use it */ public TeamGame fetch(Game game) { Query query = getSession().createQuery("select gameSummary from TeamGame gameSummary where teamGame.game.id = " + game.getId()); List list = query.list(); if (list != null && list.size() > 0) { return (TeamGame) list.get(0);  } return null; } Did you find this post useful? Sponsor my marathon for cancer.

Use static methods whenever possible

Avoid over-using class variables, they are appropriate for log, DAO, service and other classes that are used in most methods.

Before (we are not sure where winnerTeamGame is coming from):

private String getDayPlaceList()

{

Game game = winnerTeamGame.getGame();

String isDayOrNight = ((getHour(game)) > 17) ? " night at " : " at ";

return (getDayOfWeek(game.getStartDate()) + isDayOrNight + game.getLocation());

}

After:

 private static String getDayPlaceList(TeamGame teamGame)

{

Game game = teamGame.getGame();

String isDayOrNight = ((getHour(game)) > 17) ? " night at " : " at ";

return (getDayOfWeek(game.getStartDate()) + isDayOrNight + game.getLocation());

}

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Plans for August 2008 vacation...

If Buddha had a clock...

... he would live his life 15 minutes at the time.

I re-wrote my older article, I think it is worth re-posting it:

http://uki.blogspot.com/2007/07/is-it-mindful-or-wasteful-15-minutes.html

SQL: CONCAT(), GROUP BY and DATE formatting

SELECT
(CONCAT( MONTH(date_time), "/", DAYOFMONTH(date_time) ,"/", YEAR(date_time))) as date,
COUNT(*) as visits
FROM metrics_session m 

GROUP BY YEAR(date_time), MONTH(date_time), DAYOFMONTH(date_time);

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Programming visualization exercise

Imagine that you could walk inside the code as if it was a city street...

The "if()" statements would be the corners where you make decisions on where to turn.

The classes would be the buildings and the method interfaces the doors you would enter.

The bags you carry into these doors would contain the objects you need.

Oh, and the "Windows" would be the "exceptions" you would use to jump out off when everything goes bad.

~ Sorry, I had to put it in, I am a Mac guy.

iPhone and Android

The iPhone 2.0 has been out for a second day and so is the new set of the 3rd party applications. 
I tested a few of them, but I will mention about that later...

First, I want to thank Google for creating Android. 

Because of Android we have iPhone SDK, even if this is not 100% true, at least the prospect of thousands of Android developers made it easier for Apple to release it.  
We also now have iPhones that are half the original price ($199) - probably to win the public before public learns that there is a real competition out there. 
Most of all the intense competition will force both sides to strive for better solutions, and both of the sides win (sorry Winblows Mobile, Palm OS, CrackBerry you don't count anymore).

Why Android?

1) Java API - that fact alone wins Android for me, and thousands others, Apple really mess me up with Objective-C. Hear me out Apple: Java API, and if you want a clean, modern, dynamic language, use Groovy for JVM.
2) Linux core for stability and ability to run on multiple platforms (personally I love OS X UNIX core)
3) great user interface; mostly rip off from iPhone, but I cannot blame them -- there is nothing better out there.

I have a feeling that in some unexpected way there will be a bridge between the two, most likely Android Java apps running on top of iPhone (Java VM coming to the phone near you very soon).

Now, back to iPhone 2.0.

Steve Jobs is a very smart guy (OK, that is a severe understatement). He wanted to control three things, of which he mentioned only two: the quality of hardware and software.
Since Android will not control the hardware quality (open source), I expect that it will be hit-or-miss, some good, some bad. Just like Linux. I hope the big handset manufacturers (Nokia) offset the bad ones.
This brings me to the second control point, the software. The software from Apple is amazing, I had Treo before (Palm OS yuck!). 
As I said before I downloaded a 3rd party AIM chat application, one of the most downloaded today and it crashes for most users!!! 
This is precisely why Steve Jobs wanted iPhone to have Apple apps only, for the initial launch, smart guy. Android will have no control on quality of the apps, but hopefully they will get the market share.

Then there is the 3rd thing that Steve Jobs wants to control. Money. Almost every piece of good software written for iPhone (except for jailbreak.app) makes money for Apple directly (30% of the cost) or indirectly (iTunes traffic). Google may make more advertising money, but there is no money for them in Android, it is open source, so people can write and install their apps without asking Google, or anybody else.

I think it is worthwhile for us Java developers to learn Android, meanwhile I hope this article is formatted well on your iPhone.

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Book "ProBlogger" by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett

Even if this is not strictly a technology book, since most of us "geeks" are bloggers, I highly recommend it.

 
Although I've been blogging for most of the last seven years, this book provided many useful tips that helped me give my blog direction.




Buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JnkAqh

My iPhone Diary

Ok, so this video about iPhone release is not any news, but it is so funny..

iPhone and Java...

This is a hack way to run Java on the iPhone, but I would not even bother until the normal Java 1.5 is supported and iPhone features are available.

>http://weblogs.java.net/blog/brunogh/archive/2008/05/java_on_iphone.html

Hello World, Android!

This article is a good starting point to learn the Android:

http://code.google.com/android/intro/hello-android.html

Tying Caddis Fly

Gone fishing

Fly fishing Illinois lakes

You can see the yellow line among the Lilies.

New roof on the left

MYISAM vs. InnoDB

Recently, I have to investigate differences between MYISAM and INNODB:

MYISAM: 

does not support transactions rollback and row level locking. 

INNO DB: 

supports above features as well as ACID (Atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability).

To convert from MyISAM to InnoDB use script:

SET NAMES utf8; SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0; ALTER TABLE table_name1 TYPE = innodb; ALTER TABLE table_name2 TYPE = innodb; SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 1;

Java: generic replace all method

public static String replaceAll(String phrase, String token, String replacement)

    {

if (phrase == null || phrase.length() == 0)

    return phrase;

if (token == null || token.length() == 0)

    throw new IllegalArgumentException("The token you are looking for cannot be empty.");

if (replacement == null)

   replacement = "";

int start = phrase.indexOf(token);

if (start == -1)

    return phrase;

log.warn("Phrase: \"" + phrase + "\" token found at: " + start);

int end = start + token.length();

phrase = phrase.substring(0, start) + replacement + phrase.substring(end, phrase.length());

phrase = replaceAll(phrase, token, replacement);

return phrase;

    }

Crawfish

Best Fly Fishing teacher

Hibernate: disjunction

Junction junction = Expression.disjunction();

    junction.add(Expression.or(Expression.eq("plurality", phrase.getPlurality()), Expression.eq("plurality", Constants.PHRASE_NEUTRAL)));

    dcPhrase.add(junction);

Hibernate: detached criteria

DetachedCriteria dcSport = DetachedCriteria.forClass(PhraseSport.class);

    dcSport.add(Expression.eq("sport.id", phrase.getSportId()));

    List sports = hibernateList(dcSport);

SQL: update statment

To update a column in an sql table:

update  team set is_plural = true;

JUnit class not found (not loading) in Eclipse

I get below error when I run jUnit test class n Eclipse:

Class not found com.ucc.csd.server.PhraseGeneratorTest

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.ucc.csd.server.PhraseGeneratorTest

at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:200)

at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)

at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:188)

at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:316)

at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:280)

at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:251)

at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.loadClass(RemoteTestRunner.java:683)

at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.loadClasses(RemoteTestRunner.java:425)

at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:445)

at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:673)

at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:386)

at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:196)

Solution:

1. Right-click on the test class, go to "run as" option

2. Select "classpath" tab 

3. Select "user entries" option.

4. Click advanced.

5. Select "add folder" and click "Ok"

Sometimes you may have to right-click on project -> properties -> uncheck the default output directory. Then clean your project and run your jUnit tests.

Running a single test class with Maven2

workspace/csd $ mvn test -Dtest=com.ucc.csd.server.PhraseGeneratorTest

Fly Angler's OnLine "Knots - Index"

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/knots/

The feast

Guide In Your Pocket fly line set up 3/5

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmrcYD0blrs

STS Bugger - Woolly Bugger Fly Pattern

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ28-bT9JnQ

Provider - catch of the day

Fly Fishing Trout in Montana Lakes

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHyilMgHl3c

Belmont harbor at sunset

I love the fleet of these small canoe shaped sailboats.

GWT + iPhone == Pretty Tasty - Google Web Toolkit | Google Groups

http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Web-Toolkit/web/gwt-iphone-pretty-tasty?hl=en

http://googlewebtoolkit.blogspot.com/2007/09/gwt-application-development-for-iphone.html

http://www.pathf.com/blogs/2008/05/6-gwt-resources/

Mysql installation on Mac

To properly install mysql on your Mac computer:

- Remove /usr/local/mysql directory (if you have attempted to install mysql previously).

 

- Remove /Library/receipts/mysql directory.

- Download mysql in e. g. /opt/mysql directory. Navigate to and install  mysql-5.0.51b-osx10.4.

Hibernate equals(); hashCode(); toString() methods

Implementing the interface below in all model classes.

http://www.hibernate.org/109.html

package com.ucc.csd.server.model;

public interface HibernateModel

{

    public int hashCode();

    public boolean equals(Object otherObject);

    public String toString();

}

SVN: commands

To check out a project from a given svn remote repository:

svn checkout svn://**.***.*.**:port# projectName

workspace/$ svn checkout svn://x.240.1.10:3692/CSD csd

A    csd/pom.xml

...