Best.com specific
I had to hack the stock MySQL scripts so that they will work at best.com. The file names have been changed to txt files so they can be downloaded.
I recently acquired two laptops. One Macintosh Powerbook G3 Series and one Dell Inspiron 7000. Then I started to install software that actually might work, so I can get something done. Here's my list so far:
I also have Tera Term, which is not as good as CRT, but is free.
Someone once asked me in a job interview the following question: "If we were to lock you in your office for six months, with no other demands on your time, what you come out with?" I didn't have an answer at the time. I'm much older now, and I have just a few things on my list. Here's a place to keep them from slipping through the cracks.
On my boat, I have an Adler-Barbour Cold Machine, which is a very nice DC powered evaporator system. Unfortunately, it only works if you leave it turned on! On occasion, while doing one repair or another, I've had to turn off the refrigerator at the breaker panel. Once, I forgot to turn it back on again. Oops. Well, there went about $100 worth of groceries. And there was a big puddle at the bottom of the cold box to clean, too. So I want to have a finely tunable temperature sensor / alarm. It also has to fail safe - meaning when the battery starts to die, the alarm will start to chirp. One of the behaviors of a cold box system like mine is that the temperatures in the box vary a great deal. The freezer section is somewhere around 20F (much higher than the usual 0F in domestic household freezers. The cost also has to be around $100 or so - it should earn its cost by saving one load of groceries.
If you go look at the YOTREPS web page, you'll see that I have already have a process for translating vessel positions into a chart (the common name for this is GIS). The site is pretty popular and helps people on land track their friends and relatives progress across the ocean. I'd like to expand on the idea. All the positions should be recorded into a database. Then users can query against the database for historical data, or a particular boat or a specific geographic region. I'd also like to expand the ways data can enter the system so other 'nets' can submit data, too. Individual boats with e-mail would be able to submit data. One of the things I collect now, but don't do much about, is weather data, mostly from places where there are no weather sensors. It would be really cool to plot the weather information, too.
Resource challenges: My current ISP limits me to 25MB of disk space for the web site. It is insufficient to support a growing database, it is also impossible to build some of the GIS software in that space, so I can't add features. More disk space costs money, which I don't have much of at the moment. The ideal situation would be a either a co-located server or sharing space and sys admin on another server. I would like to use the ArsDigita Community System (ACS) as the database infrastructure. It has features such as user management, permission models and discussion forums that would be much easier to simply use than try to build from scratch. The webserver, AOLserver and ACS are free (GNU GPL), but the database, Oracle, is not. If I could buy database and server space on some site somewhere, that would be a good solution. Unfortunately, the only reliable site to provide this service, PrimeHost, was sold to Verio, and Verio will no longer sell this type of service.
I did a few races this year, and it was fun! A lot of clubs and organizations post race results on the web, but usually as static html. I'd like to take the data and store it in a database. That way, racers, clubs and other interested parties could do some "data mining" of the race results. For example, I'd like to know how all similarly rated boats faired during particular races. My boat is kind of a mystery boat when it comes to ratings, (okay, it is also a heavy cruiser), so it would be useful to me to know whether my boat is misrated, or I'm just not sailing it well enough (probably the latter, but I'd like to check). Racers could also view the data over time: what were the standings over the course of a season. Did the team get any better? Which races were harder than others. Are there any patterns to the results.
Race managers would have a standard interface for posting race results. They would set up a race, divisions and entries. The local San Francisco PHRF database is available, so once an entrant was registered, there would be no need to look up the PHRF rating again. As results come in, all the race manager would have to do is enter the finish time. The software would then handle corrected time, standings, etc. There would also be an interface for adjustments (protests).
Suzy has written a cookbook, with a lot of tested cruising recipes. I want to put the recipes in a database so that they are searchable. It would also create an index file automatically. Another feature I want to do is a "I've got these raw materials, what can I make with them" type queries. So if you have peppers, ground beef and onions, you might get the stuffed green peppers recipe. You might also get a tips article on keeping vegetables fresh on board the boat.
Create a dictionary of sailing terms and the equivalents in other languages. Include pointers to antonyms and synonyms. The page could be used for self-study or reference.
Imagine you're a chandlery or a boat yard and you offer this service: You use an online system to create a parts list for every component on your boat. You don't have to do it all at once or right away, but the more you add the more the system knows about you. Now, you're off cruising and you need new oil filters. Who are you gonna call? Some BrandX store and then hope that they have what you need in stock, or the store that knows exactly what kind of oil filter you need, and in fact knows all of the equivalencies, too (since that's been programmed in as well). Suppose, since we know what kind of oil filters the boat uses, we send out an e-mail once a year to remind said boater that regular oil changes will vastly extend the life of the engine, and oh, by the way, here's a 10% off coupon for an oil-change kit. How much is that worth? For the local, on-line folks, people could add comments about individual brands of filters. Perhaps the more expensive ones are worth it.
I'd like to create a database of everything stored on board, when it was acquired, vendor part numbers, and where it is stored on board (try finding a spare lift pump gasket when you really need it and you know what I mean). The database should information like how many spares should be on board, create re-order lists when low, or ready to reprovision, sorted by vendor. Some chandleries will take radio or e-mail orders (they have your credit card on file), using the list would simplify restocking tasks, especially when far away from regular supply lines.
This database should integrate with a ships maintenance log, so when I punch up an oil change, I get a list of everything I need to replace. The maintenance log can also generate a schedule.
Most yachtclubs have very similar content when it comes to their web sites: calendar of events, membership information, races, contact info, local interest, pictures, etc. Most of them would also like not to deal with the hassle of maintaining a web site, or a server. Create a database backed web site with virtual hosting. Content is driven and updated via web, but layout and style is driven by central system (with options for selecting different styles). Then farm out the content to people and leave the db/web server to a "core" team of experts.
Filing a floatplan should be like filing a flight plan, but without the bureaucratic overhead. Registered users have a page with emergency contact information (EPIRB notification stuff, for example). Then, they go back to the web site to enter a floatplan. On this page, you enter departure dates (so you can enter many float plans at once), an estimated arrival date and a description of where you are going. Finally, you enter a list of email addresses who will be notified if you are "late" in arriving. (It would be nice if a VRU or fax system could be attached to it too.) Since many people go to the same place time after time, keep a record of past float plans so the returning user can select one from a pop-up, and save typing.
| Copyright © 1999 | Ken Mayer |