I’m constantly confused as to why entertainment of the grid is limited to farmers taking land that does not work and trying to make these popup farms that ask for stupid entry prices.

i get that your hurting but you could offer so much more. not just soul less interactive elements that while they offer so much information about the environment they simply do not pull the children in to explore the narrative and are instead just blown away by the movement, excitement or colours of the display rather than the context of the content. you might as well set them up in front of a monitor on the internet and get them playing CheekyBingo of some kind. linear, consuming and one way.

the lack of some level of connectivity in the middle of the national forest is staggering at times that because the numbers of people are not demanding it that in some way they don’t need it. you see figures of connectivity across the country that are going up yet you don’t really hear about things in the middle of the countryside and how bad they are. the lack of education as to what kind of service they are actually getting.

how centres and locations could actively promote each other and help each other to be a more rounded experience for the remote tourist coming into the area to be given a plan for the day(s) that they are around taking time out. a plan of events. people like to have a routine or plan of things they can go and do that require the user to make the plan. if they have locations and actions to do at each of those plans those make the experience much more interactive.

layered on top with a social agenda to make those people take part in ‘challenges’ that are shared with the social grid then enable people to not only tell friends what they are up too but help promote the area they are, and when. what they did, why others should help. what they enjoyed, what they saved on consumption wise by walking and how many calories/co2 were saved in their adventure.

where is the interactive social media countryside?

it’s been a while.

i kinda lost my mind there for a while. my world changed rapidly and i had trouble dealing with it. long story short i came into some money which helped put some things into place. not completely in terms of location but in terms of transport and upgraded kit.

should be in full flow using the new stuff — but i’m not. i’m a bit lost between all of a sudden having access to these things that i lost my target, what i was heading towards. i got myself into grinding away towards a target like we most do chipping away, building up to it. not expecting it too just drop into my lap like it did.

it was two years in the making in some ways. in terms of effort and putting out to the universe what i was looking to do and now it’s here it’s all been a bit overwhelming. i’m slowly surfacing again but i’m still very cloudy in the brain department.

so, dot dot was running at full tilt until i got a flat in the back tyre. just after getting the new transport — a smart car, petrol mind i simply cannot afford/rely on an electric one. i got some cash. but not that much!

so, kinda luckily i took the bike in collapsed down format (it folds up and fits in the back of the smart) all the way out to buxton to the guys i bought it from for a full service and repair. i even had the bike seat changed for what i was hoping for a more comfy one.

i picked it up a few days later and it feels better than ever. having the tyres completely full has effected the pull/range and i’m always concerned about the tyres going again because it looks a bit of a challenge to take off the electronics in the rain to get it sorted if i was to use it around a local village to wherever i end up next.

the plan was to fill the tyres with that gunk stuff you get that fills the tyre with foam instead of air thus if you get anything into the tyre you simple pump a bit more in and ‘turn’ the wheel until the foam is filled. they tyres run hard in effect but i think it’s a safe option for the tyres when i’m in more challenging conditions. it’s a transport, not luxury.

so, yeah. that’s where i’m at. i’m torn between what blogs to type too and really i should just have one blog that makes things a lot easier to manage but i’m just not built that way, each blog has a different audience and interest. i was only talking to two ladies yesterday about public/private social media and the audiences that goes out too.

i have a feeling that the battery will not be up to the job in the long term so i need to be looking at a backup battery solution and for certain considering a slow trickle charger solar solution at each end of my expected regular journeys. i’m not saying the battery is a problem right now but it certainly does not feel as good as it did when i first had it. maybe it’s just me and i have gotten used to the speed, pull and drive of the bike.

so then, let’s break apart some areas of the bike that have really stood out to me while i’ve had it and some of the improvements and equipment i have bought over the standard bike that was delivered to me some months back.

general speed
when i first got the bike i felt like it was more speedy than i would ever need, but that was because most of the time i was using it on the flat, on anything of an incline the speed drops massively and in some regards makes it a bit of a chore as the motor sounds like it’s really labouring. you have to remember the hub is the power drive and so is limited in some regards at the amount of power that unit has.

i’d like to upgrade that power hub at some stage when new ones, new batteries become available — if that is ever the case. without power the bike can be difficult to use and i think the gearing is all outta whack, it’s a bike with gears but really it’s meant to run as an assistive electric motor helping you do the heavy lifting.

bike build quality
from the very beginning i have felt that the bike was super solid and so far it has proven me right, it’s quite heavy to lift about (which is actually helping me with a little workout each time i pull it about, up things) and all the components that have been upgraded are really showing to show how solid they are.

i have had to tighten a few things up here and there but that is naturally with any bike. for instance the light on the front can get loose regularly. i need to just get a locking nut on the back of that. so far, the bike is super solid.

upgrades
since having the bike i have only put on the rear triple pocket panniers but they are already proving to be super useful for the cover and the bike lock which was actually starting to be a bit of a drag when you have to have that on your backpack or locked around the bike. not sensible.

i’ve also bought a satellite tracker unit that will work with social hiking but i have not really set that up set because the package is for a year of access and i really do not want to start that until i’m going back and forth regularly between nottingham and the national forest. soon people, soon!

wet weather reminders
i have only been caught out a few times to know that i need to consider wet weather wear for the bike, the problem is with that is normally the additional weight and thought to pack the stuff, the panniers make that a slight bit more agreeable but the unit is not really an easy lift of variety so they would have to stay inside under the cover and that’s just too much of a risk really.

so, i’ve been looking at US issue ripstop ponchos, the sort of kind you get for snipers and walking through rainforests in. great for the bike because it can completely cover me and the bike pretty much. i’m still looking for a decent pair of wet weather gloves thou.

planned equipment
right now i’m looking for a seat upgrade, additional chrome bar getting built to create a faux topbar on the bike for an additional seat for bella (currently she stands on the frame, ugh) front carrybox and maybe some kind of water clip. oh, and maybe a place for a nexus7 7″ tablet to be able to quick release on the handlebars.

i looked at the format and if i can find a protective cover for it (waterproof) then it could be useful for some kind of notification system when i’m streaming. i’m not sure what that looks like, it might end up being some kind of interfacing system like we built for the first version of cellbee but for dotdot. we will take what we learnt from that first experiment and build something faster (read neater)

conclusion
i’m really happy with the purchase. we got a bargain from juicy bikes and while i’ve not really heard from them at all (they did me a deal on the bike in return for some social media elements) i guess once we start doing regular stories of the bike on it’s travels it will all start to make sense to people tuning in as they connect the journey together with the two different sites.

i’m really pumped to tell you about some amazing news i just had back about something but until the deal is completed and put in stone i’m nervous to tell too many people about it. it’s a big deal for me in terms of social media storytelling and life in general. the timing is actually perfect.

in fact, without it, i’m not sure how much longer i could deal with just ‘picking’ away at things. it would have been hard because i had a time limit dictated by the age that ella is at. we have so much to do together yet and i’m definitely determined to make sure that little lady has everything she needs to be able to adapt with the outside world behind the dolls and makeup kits.

right, back to eating up 100mb internet.

sorry it’s been a while since i updated on dotdot, i’ve been kinda busy with a lot of my advocacy work for this month over on fibrecamp but i’ve also been waiting on a few meetings and money bits and pieces to come in before i could make the next bunch of moves regarding getting a license for the caravan and camping club, refilling the caravan fund and getting additional bike parts that make the journey all that more agreeable in this wonderful british weather we experience regularly (i.e – rain!)

but finally i have acquired the spot device.

just over a hundred quid (without the subscription for service i might add, that’s next month) the device will do the heavy lifting to report the beacons/locations into social hiking (shareyouradventure.com) and generally the battery should last a hell of a lot longer than my mobile phone would if i was running that social hiking application.

i am considering other options thou at the moment for a backup ‘device’ apart from my current iphone4 and this ipad i’m currently typing into from a wireless keyboard (i’ll need to get a backup keyboard at this rate too — or get my other one fixed) from the sofa of the studio it’s been quite a road and wake up call at all the components i needed for a proper delivery of this next transition of living life.

in some ways, it feels (i’m sure for others) that i’m moving away from nottingham. but really i feel this as a collective journal of a journey between points with dotdot being the middle conduit to tell that social story of locations, data and updates. putting the media made between points of presence as the ambience content of the story that keeps the viewer interested in the learning between the locations.

being able to communicate that story normally would have take a lot of manpower, effort and money to be able to put together in a reliable way but now we have the tools, connectivity and ability to broadcast all of these elements in a very organised way without massive broadcast trucks and able to have multiple tasks done by one person with the web and it’s heavy lifting taking our simple updates and media making, digital hobbyist expressions to be weaved into viewable stories in the digital realm.

connecting the analog with the digital, making presence, locality and becoming a public internet of things sensor by the actions of what we do in our everyday life‘s, relearning from a far in some degrees the areas where we can create change and learn to live more effectively, more efficiently and be more mindful through our digital actions to the everyday around us.

i’m really happy that i took another look at social hiking. the term ‘hiking’ first put me off because i’m not a hiker and always feel you have to become part of a digital community to really tap into the passion and relevancy of why to use it. meeting up with the guy behind it and learning his ethos and ethics to the way he wants to work was really cool, i even managed to grab an interview with him at the local keans head here in the lace market (see below)

i’m all for getting behind people who love to work in this digital realm to see where it can take us. working in the 21st century is changing rapidly everyday with resources, expectations and money which can only be accessed by those that fit into credit scored footprint, everything is getting tighter to access and only available to the few rather than the many.

i feel the next stage after social media becomes accepted and commonplace by everyone in the next few years will be then looking inwards at ourselves and how we are looked at from the outside wall, those that want to have a voice in the digital space will have to be able to understand all areas of being digital when we live in public so much.

it’s quite amazing to think that when i started in technology i was always amazed by the idea of satellite systems in space hurtling around the globe feeding back signals to different areas of earth and fast forward to today when you can have a device that can update to satellites from a small device on the handlebars of your bike.

bonding together my social efforts in the digital space around the countryside, at the start, in the middle and at the end of the journey and detailing thoughts as i traverse between the hectic and the chilled — the city and the countrysid. i think it will slowly make me understand the relevancy of my need for technology whilst exploring the survival instinct of getting the most out of being human and communicate what we need to pass forward and not leave behind.

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waiting on a replacement paypal card. my only means of getting access to money currently and something that i’m aware i must change quickly. having thought i had lost it i rang up paypal and cancelled my card only to find it in the side of my bag the next day. frustrating. annoying. now entering fifth day of no replacement card.

yesterday ordered pizza online because i had no way of getting access to any food, left house earlier today having had some shreddies at 7am and had nothing to eat since. had coffee. then parcels arrived with some goodies in that i had ordered last week to keep me reminded of my quest and thought processes coming around.

i bought a 750ml aluminium water bottle in prep for when my juicer arrives so that i can prep things each morning, get in the routine of having emergency water or drinkable substance fluids on me between journeys, locations and time frames. also got a keep cup replacement (bought cj one as well actually as a present) instead of having coffee in mugs and creating waste – trying to change my mindset once more about it. last keepcup lasted twenty four hours before i lost it. will aim to do better this time.

lay on sofa currently in studio after three hour css push this morning to get a client site a little bit more progresses. made a new menu with css and broke it on the iphone mobile site code display, no patience to learn vulcan mind tricks to make mobile browser do what i want it to do just to have it fucking break in another browser.

dislike being a master of hacks that will ultimately change at some point. coding is a an self serving ego mugs game where the only winner is a pompous exchange of code vanity over a table like waving rubber swords in someones general direction. i play not, this game.

hungry yet aware of my desire to consume, plagued by the way it is determined in nature and wants to take over my day with it’s constant quest for comfort and need. it interrupts my day with it’s call. i can feel it eating away at my stomach with it’s constant call for food like a needy child asking for games and activity. my stomach has a mission all it’s own.

i remember looking at the clock at 1:30am.

next minute it was 4:30am and then next minute i’m out of bed trying to be quiet around the house at 5:30am this morning and travelling along in the lovely morning air on dotdot towards the train station, it only took eight minutes to get to the station. i was early. i sat for a while and then the 6:37am bournemouth train rolled into view and i got into the borg like bike areas which really don’t work so well for the bike because they are really designed for racing bikes that can hang from their wheels like big pieces of meat. swaying. annoyed that they would be treated in such a poor way.

i spaced out. i came around in derby. temperature increasing as i leaned out of the carriage at commuters jumping on. few moments passed and we were off again and before you know it i’m in the lift, on the road and buzzing towards burton. i’m early.

a quick and dirty mcdonalds (yes, i know) later i was heading towards the school to meet up with sam and ella to give her some birthday presents. she’s five today and she was happy to see me, she loved her little book of photos and she was a very happy girl. very happy. excited and growing up.

the mission is still very much on to be closer. it was a lovely moment.

busted walking through lace market house the other day i was told very sternly that i needed to put the bike outside instead, locked up.  i’ve not really got a problem with this but i do freak out a little bit because it’s so brand new.  we have a perfect space thou for it and i’m on the case with insurance documents and such like.

getting hold of the lock and the cover however was meant to be ‘web bundle purchase’ simple.  turned out not to be.

long story long i got an email confirming that the web order was fine at 10am in the morning to then only get an email at 6pm later that evening to say that certain verifications needed to be done before the order would be arranged for the next day.  i called the phone number on the email – closed.  fab, now i’m chasing them about what should be a fast way of going about getting items and reduced as part of the special web bundle offer.  i went to the store expecting problems.

straight away it was obvious that the parts had not made the cut and i was soon standing in front of two gents (who were actually very awesome at sorting everything out) and got me sorted replacing the lock i wanted with a cheaper one but more secure (go figure) and that gave me £1200 of insurance.  awesome.

no explanation was given to why my card has been ‘caught up’ in the system or why the order was confirmed at 10am in the morning but then i receive an email at past 6pm at night saying that before the order could be picked up the next day that my details needed to be verified — the phone line btw shuts at 5pm every evening so automatically you have to deal with additional problems losing on the benefit of ordering via the web and the bundle in the first place.

feel better that i can move around now thou.  onwards!

seriously.

having cellbee was awesome but this feels more solid, even thou i’m obviously getting ahead of myself and spending time in front of this old laptop typing this out like it all feels like it has a point at the moment.  little bit jaded today, was going to get a bike lock and cover today but i decided to go with the web only offer which basically got me the lock and cover for the price i was going to pay just for the lock.  i was well chuffed that i had snagged a bargain and saw the money leave my paypal card only for me to get an email early afternoon that as part of a security check i needed to ring a number.

i really hate interacting these days with the system.  it feels like the systems are out of date and everyone is a criminal.  heck, i’m even going into the shop tomorrow to pick the darn things up so it’s not like i’m having it sent out to an address is it.  dislike it when things go out of sync or cause me more problems.  not really sure how i’m going to pick up the lock if i have to leave my bike outside.  fudge.

anywho.

moving swiftly along i’ve been thinking a lot about areas on the bike i really will be concentrating on when i get back from blogworld as i’ll need a ready to go media making, heavy lifting and reliable machine to get me back and forth between the site.

batteries
so after completly ignoring the fact that i’m in the middle of the countryside with my headphones on and not a care in the world while i’m jetting about on my little bike by the time i got back into burton on trent the battery went completely flat.  i did’nt care, it did the job and i gave it a hell test from the second time the battery was charged.  probably not wise but it felt solid.  got me thinking thou that i need to be getting another battery as a backup waiting on charge maybe at the other end.  one in the caravan on charge would be useful and that got me thinking..

solar charging
after the brief chat with the guy that gave me my bike it reckons that the draw from the charger is not that great so slow charging the bike via solar might be possible.  of course i need to speak to an electrician sparky kind of chap that can help with this to make sure i get the charge rate, amps, watts and volts and all that malarky sorted but once i get the logic i’m sure i can lock that stuff down.

photos and media library
the hardest bit really in some respects, having the web doing all the heavy lifting while your out in the sticks.  building in redudancy to adapt to your environment, low packet speeds and dark areas with no connectivity will be a god send for taking time out and crafting my thoughts in audio, video and text but then how am i going to keep people informed and what about my connect with the outside world that i have gotten used too.  lots of areas to cover and i know that i have to optimize the web hosted cloud side for the mobility side to have a chance.  this is the stuff that i would have had to pick up on the ground daily while putting the ark together.  kinda fast forward that now – i have made a start with a dropmark picture folder thou.

live streaming
connectivity to start with in the heart of the national forest will be a problem.  i can have conversations once i get settled with a variety of people about bringing in a pipe but the idea of google hangouts from the caravan are a long way off yet i think.  being able to use something like bambuser offline and then pushing that online later or at the local public house might be the order of the day.  of course i have tried this whole streaming from the bike thing already on my mountain bike before i got dotdot and it works pretty well.

the above was done from inside the case that was fixed onto the bike — i have now put that on dotdot and i’ll be doing a live stream test again sometime in the next few days.  i’d like the streaming part which most days will take thirty minutes to be a major part of the experience ideally having a live audio stream, video stream, tracking for gps and speed details all getting logged.  i really like the way that nikeplus was giving me updates the other day and i would love to get that process nailed down.

insurance
as the bike was purchased through a local busiess as part of the ‘bike to work’ scheme it will be something that i’m paying back bit by bit – as part of that deal thou the current insurance they have can be extended over the bike.  this fills me with some kind of hope that if it ever did get stolen that in some way we would be covered.  would not be the same dotdot of course — heavily thinking about tagging, gps and tracking anyway as part of the project so maybe i can tie all of that in.

not just a straight forward jump and go just yet.

but the ideas are bubbling away in there.

it was the first real trip out on dotdot to test out the battery range and just how long it would actually take for me to get back to the heart of the countryside.  i started from burton upon trent train station after dropping my daughter back with mum.  putting my headphones on and firing up nike+ to track the route (it’s the only one that will post into path at the moment) i set off towards moira and the YHA.

with the bike having a supposed twenty four mile range i had high hopes that i would at least be able to easily make it there and back knowing that the route is about fourteen miles there and back from the location i was heading for.  as it turned out, i was not really watching my mileage but i’ll get on to that a little later on.

the first thing to note about the bike is that the power assistance is really quite smooth and after a half a second lag the motor kicks in and seems to lay down power additional to your pedalling, it’s natural to be pedalling on a bike so you tend to still go through the motions even thou you are being pushed forward by the motor in the wheel.  i found myself just pulling the throttle in places thou taking in the sights around me.

i did find myself sometimes pedalling faster and hitting the highest gearing i could and realising that motor would always be more powerful than me but i guess that is because i left it on high quite a lot, i’m sure i would have gotten more power and range out of it if left on low or medium settings.  the bike seemed incredibly solid throughout the ride however.

taking the usual route i would if i was driving (about six and half miles) the inclines and the hill areas that would normally put me off doing this on a normal bike seemed to just vanish by with my music playing.  admittedly the bike does slow down quite a bit when going on anything that’s not flat but it’s better than sweating.  in the straights i was buzzing along and the ability to take breaks and not pedal do bring a big smile to your face.

thirty minutes later i was onsite at the YHA speaking to someone from the caravan and camping club and taking in the familiar surroundings.  the site is situated behind the YHA – a hostel for families wanting to stay in the heart of the national forest and go walking.  literally right next door is waterside of conkers and the proposed site of the ark project.  i’m currently not holding on to the illusion that funding will happen anytime soon – so i’ve had to pivot my thinking about at least being in the national forest to give me more time with ella in general and clarity about my blogging.

on the way back i decided to take a different route back just basically forgetting all about the bike being electric and assisted – you start to take it for granted that power will be there so i totally forgot about the additional power helping me around the roads and bringing me up to linton lake.  i have never been around it before so that was a nice treat and it really was a great place to get away from it all to clear out the mind.

on the way back i cut down mushroom lane from linton and saw a site with wooden lodges on the right hand side and a track to a national forest park trail that i have never seen before.  i never took it but it looks like it might cut out a lot of the road route that i had been taken.  i was constantly surprised on the way home of things that i would not have seen if i was rushing by in a car.  it felt good to be in the open air singing away to my songs.

the trip back in places seemed like it was taking ages and listening to the nike+ gps lady telling me the length of time i was stopping in more places for longer bits of time and looking down it was showing that all my running around was totalling up to about nine miles on the trip back.  i had no idea and just as i was getting into burton the power died completely – turning the unit on and off and adjusting the power output down to low gave me some juice but it was pretty much gone as i was heading over the burton viaduct.

this was the first real test and charge of the battery and the manual says you have to charge it a few times and in a certain way to get the optimal out of the battery.  the only real concern for me at this moment is the battery unit and how long that will last.  i was really pleased because i’m guessing we probably did about 17 miles on a full charge which is not bad for a four hour charge of the unit.

sticking to the fast route i’m certain i could get there and back and to my friends in nottingham easily and i’m going to start looking at solar units for charging up an additional battery.  i’m quite interested in the idea of an additional battery that is on a slow trickle charge from the sun at the caravan location that i can swap out when i get there for buzzing around the local area.

in my mind i already feel like i have started down this route and need to maintain the target regardless if it’s not the original target i had.  having some relatively eco transport sorted out is a plus and considering some static accommodation nearby to the actual spot should help massively to keep my forward motion going.  next phase is to get my caravan and camping membership sorted out after my quick discussion with the super friendly staff yesterday.  it was a lovely day to take a ride out.

more soon.

first post on the blog and i’m actually a little nervous about the start. the start of anything for me right now seems to be marred by other great things feeding into each other.

i’m also allowing myself to turn off the self analysing element when i’m writing or talking thinking about how i actually feel about what i’m saying rather than just saying it and being done with it.

blah. can you tell?

so, yes. exciting, i have more transportation options tomorrow than i currently have and it allows me to get between places better than other transportation methods i have tried and best of all i can charge it up between trips.

pretty sure it can be fully charged in about four hours which is pretty awesome all around. so, yes. feels like a step in the right direction, moving forward. i’ll be picking it up tomorrow lunchtime and heading back into nottingham city centre towards fibrecamp and probably shooting a bunch of pictures along the way for blog posts throughout my usage.

i’ll be using it daily to get between the two fibrecamps and at weekend to whizz me and my daughter between the swimming baths and train station and then heading over to moira and the national forest – roughly seven miles from burton train station.

ultimate aim over time is to get all weather gear, some waterproof goPRO cameras with the wifi backpac units, gps and similar add ons like the meetcellbee project.

but ultimately, i have breathing room to roam and getting setup and established at another based of fibrecamp two is most important a task to be done when i get back from stateside. super awesome. check in with you tomorrow then!