Bosunsmate.org is Back Online

After going dark for 12h participating in the global #SOPAstrike

On January 18th at 8am PST we intentionally replaced the BosunsMate.org website with a redirect to the #SOPAstrike site effectively disabling our web site for the first time since 1992. This extraordinary action was taken to show support for the thousands of web sites and millions of people who spent the day rallying against this flawed proposed legislation.

Why are all us geeks so focused on these SOPA/PIPA bills in the USA?

In short because they would most likely cripple the foundation of the Internet you have grown to know and use every day. As is so frequently the case, at best, the legislation was written by people that don´t really understand technology or at worst it was intentionally deceptive to provide unprecedented control to censor and manipulate the Internet (the conspiracy theorists can hash that one out)

The undeniable fact is that the modern Internet is bringing our world closer together. It has allowed people across the globe to become friends and gain a better understanding of foreign cultures. In our opinion it is the best hope we currently have to come closer to a peaceful coexistence on this planet - why? because through unfettered communication we understand each other better - the ignorance that breeds hate starts to disappear. For this to continue it MUST not be censored.

These bills pose a direct threat to our ability to communicate, innovate, and grow as a species. PLEASE support the effort to stop them. Because, it´s About more then just the Internet. It´s not just About the geeks (we just happen to understand the technology behind it) It´s About the world we live in and all our futures.

For more information watch this video from http://www.fightforthefuture.org/pipa

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Mapping Enhancements

The vessel tracker mapping system has been updated again

The vessel tracking system has been updated to include several enhancements that make it both easier to use and faster.As always, we have more in store but finding the time to fit it in around the ´day job´ can be a real challenge!

In this more recent update the maps themselves have been switched over to the Google map data. This looks a bit better even if it´s a bit less accurate then the marine charts. This has the added benefit that the maps will load faster thanks to Google´s world-wide content delivery network. In addition to this we added a series of back-end updates that further optimize the code allowing the maps to be generated faster as well.

A less visible change is our new Adobe Air app that is being used on the boats themselves to make reporting positions easier for the crew. The new app replaces a manual email system that was previously in use. We have plans to create a iOS and Android app soon as well but for the time being this is making things a lot easier and eliminating a lot of little glitches along the way.

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Colregs Lights & Shapes

using HTML Canvas to dynamically visualize lights

For some time now I have wanted to improve the lights and shapes section of bosunsmate.org to include a more interactive experience with more light configurations. The HTML Canvas element that allows direct drawing in a web page should finally allow this...

The image shown is a screen-shot of our test area where all four of the light diagrams are generated by the web browser. There are no uploaded graphics involved. This means we can store instructions to tell the browser how to draw each configuration and change things like size, time of day, eventually even distance from the target to create a very dynamic experience. Adding new configurations for different regions and/or conditions will not pose a problem either.

Granted it is going to take some time to polish the code and create a comprehensive database of different configurations, but the possibilities are extensive and we should see the first implementation coming online soon.

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SV Concordia Lost - All Hand Safe

The West Island College Class Afloat´s tall ship sinks off the coast of Brazil

Just Starting to get news articles About the loss of a vessel I can best describe as one on which I always wanted to Sail but never did. It is always sad to hear of the loss of any vessel, tall ships make that loss feel closer to home. All initial reports indicate that all hands are safe and accounted for - that is the silver lining.

According to the Class Afloat web site, which at the time of writing this article has no mention of the incident; The Concordia, was specifically designed and built in 1992 for their programs.

Currently there seems to be no information About the factors leading up to the incident or what exactly happened although on news source states the vessel "capsized and sank" and suggests sea conditions may have been a factor.

Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to be on the SV Concordia can contact Foreign Affairs´ Emergency Operations Centre in Ottawa by calling either 1-800-387-3124 or 1-613-996-8885.

our thoughts and best wishes go out to the crew, family, and friends during what must be a very trying time.

UPDATE: best news source seems to be the CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/02/19/ns-brazil-ship-sinks-students.html

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Killing a Virus on a Friend´s Machine

killing the dswave32.dll and it´s associated garbage

I spent the last 2 days working on a friend´s computer to remove a nasty little virus that the anti-virus software didn´t seem to do much About apart from detecting it. To help, I reported my findings over on my technical blog - but I thought it might be good to cross post that here for your reference.

My Technical blog entry is here: Killing the dswave32.dll

Basically the procedure involved a lot of scans from various programs while the computer was off the internet. Then some manual deleting of files, more scans, and some reinstalling of key components.

In the end the virus was eradicated and we can all smile again. But if you´re interested the technical blog post has some good detail on how I nabbed it.

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Inhibeo Egrotatio

Calling in sick for work? Throw a good latin name at them...

For those times when you really need to call in sick from work - you might as well have a good illness to use for the big "phone call" Seeing as Latin is frequently the language of choice for things medical... here is a good one "Inhibeo Egrotatio"

Translated directly (and word for word so it´s probably wrong) it should mean "Employee Sickness" but it sure sounds good doesn´t it?

Ok, why am I going on About this - well it´s one of those goofy moods you get into after a friend tells you they are overworked and you suggest they call in sick and then your brain goes out of control...

So, what better then to share silly thoughts with others - in the feeble hope that perhaps it will generate a small chuckle for them too.

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