Melbourne 2018 lunar eclipse, blue moon, blood moon tonight 10:48 pm.

For the stargazers amongst us, the sky looks clear. Unusual for Melbourne. Tonight's the night for the lunar eclipse, blue moon, blood moon. It all starts at 10:48 pm.

The following is the times according to the abc.net.au site.

Melbourne
Partial Eclipse starts at 10:48 PM
Total Eclipse starts at 11:52 PM
Maximum eclipse 12:30 AM (February 1)
Total Eclipse ends 1:08 AM (February 1)
Partial Eclipse ends at 2:11 AM (February 1)

Let me know if you get any good pictures. I never do as I don't seem to have the right equipment.

Kelvin Eldridge

Strava heat map shows fitness activities highlighting areas of interest.

The accumulated data from fitness devices released by Strava hit the press as it showed the location of secret army bases in remote locations. Fit people tracking their activities.

However I thought it might be interesting to checkout some of the locations in around me. Perhaps you may find it interesting as well.

Wilsons Promontory National Park
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12.00/146.32009/-39.06405/hot/all

Criterium Cycling Track - Cranbourne
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#15.00/145.30618/-38.12607/hot/all

Westolds Park - Templestowe
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#15.00/145.12099/-37.74517/hot/all

1,000 Steps - Tremont
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#15.00/145.31152/-37.88263/hot/run

Waverley Park
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#16.00/145.18689/-37.92516/hot/run


If these heat maps don't quite make sense to you, visit the Strava blog which shows some examples of heat maps and activities (https://blog.strava.com/galleries/heatmap/).

Why I thought this information may be interesting is the heat maps may show activity areas near you which might give you something interesting to check out. Perhaps you'll find a hidden gem.

If you find interesting locations and wish to share them, you're welcome to let me know using my contact details which can be found on my www.OnlineConnections.com.au site.

Kelvin Eldridge

TIP: If you'd like to see the location on a Google Map you can copy and paste the latitude and longitude values from the Strava address in the address bar into Google Maps. For example for the Wilson's Prom website address above use the numbers and enter them as -39.06405,146.32009. Notice the two numbers are reversed and a comma is inserted in between.

If time permits, I may write a quick web app to take the Strava website address, extract the GPS coordinates and open Google Maps at the location. I'll post the link here.

Update: 30 Jan 2017
Copy and paste the Strava website address for a location on the Strava map into www.justlocal.com.au/clients/stravatogooglemaps/ and click Submit to go to the location in Google Maps.

As I or others find popular activity locations I'll post the links here.

Albert Park Lake
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#14.50/144.96064/-37.84732/hot/run

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#14.50/144.97646/-37.82892/hot/run

Edwards Park Lake Reservoir
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#17.00/144.99098/-37.71420/hot/run

Ruffey Lake Park - Templestowe
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#16.00/145.13950/-37.77489/hot/run

Barrak Bushlands & Wingrove Park - Eltham
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#16.00/145.14512/-37.72768/hot/run

Testing a TrackR device. Will the crowd find the TrackR device attached to a set of car keys?

OK. Decided to test another TrackR device. This time with some help we attached a TrackR to a person's car keys. The aim, to see if the crowd provides the location and the TrackR device.

As the car keys go about their normal activity, the test is to see if the TrackR is located. This includes activities such as travelling on public transport, attending sporting events and travelling in and out of the city which in theory should pass by thousands of people. Perhaps one or more will have the TrackR software running.

The first test tonight, is Olympic park and travelling by train to and from the soccer.

Let's see how it goes. Will TrackR locate the car keys using the crowd?

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
IT support.

Update: 29 Jan 2018
TrackR not detected at Olympic Park or over the weekend. Not detected train from Eastern suburbs to city and around the Docklands.

21 May 2018
Feb 11 - Crowd locate - Eastland food court
Mar 6 - Crowd locate - Brunton Avenue, Near Melbourne Cricket Ground, possibly on train line.
Mar 13 - Crowd locate - Corner Williams and Collins Street.

Overall, in roughly four months the TrackR was located four times. In all cases the TrackR was located in an area where there is likely to be a large number of people. Four times in four months and never in a suburban area would indicate if an item a TrackR is attached to ends up in someone's place in the suburbs there's almost no chance the item would be found.

Cheers - Three Blood Alcohol Content calculators I've created.

If you've been drinking and want to check your blood alcohol content, the most accurate way is to use a device which measures blood alcohol content. Short of having a device, you can use a BAC calculator to estimate your blood alcohol content (BAC).

I've now created three blood alcohol calculators.

1. Standard Drink Calculator - when drinking the one type of drink.
2. Blood Alcohol Calculator - when drinking different types of drinks.
3. BAC Calculator - by entering the standard drinks, weight and sex.

When I created the Standard Drink Calculator I was only considering the situation where people drank a single type of drink to help determine the number of standard drinks and their BAC.

When I created the Blood Alcohol Calculator it was obvious there's times such as functions when people change their drink and the second calculator allows for different types of drinks.

From the feedback I received I'd been asked if it was possible to enter a person's weight. As it turns out there's a formula I could use that would enable people to enter their weight, sex, and number of standard drinks. which I used to create the BAC Calculator. You can use either the Standard Drinks Calculator or the Blood Alcohol Calculator to determine the number of standard drinks you've consumed.

I'm not a person that drinks that much, so it really is great to be able to estimate my BAC. The calculators certainly provides peace of mind.

Kelvin Eldridge

Aldi 4K action camera. There may be better prices on eBay.

I saw the upcoming promotion of the Aldi 4K action camera. I have no doubt the GoPro devices would be of much better quality and/or performance, but at $69.99, I thought I'd pass the information on to some family members. At the much lower price it may just do what they require.

I then started to wonder whether or not eBay had similar products listed. As it turned out a search on eBay for "sports camera 4K" turned up sports cameras at much lower prices. Products with similar specifications to the Aldi action camera can be bought for around $38 with Wi-Fi, and down to around $20, if you go without the Wi-Fi. It's important that you compare the specifications carefully and not get tricked into a lower resolution action camera on eBay.

You can find more information on the specification for the Aldi 4K action camera is you search for "Bauhn" where you'll find the current products on sale at Aldi and their specifications (http://www.bauhn.com.au/product-listing/action-camera). With eBay, change the search order to "best price including postage", and then check the information provided for each action camera. Keep in mind the eBay advertisers often bait with a lower price item to get you to their listing. You need to select the actual item to see the price.

A few specifications did catch my attention. The Aldi 4K action camera according to their ad has the wide angle lens as 125 degrees. That's quite narrow. From what I've read sports cameras often have wide angle lenses of 140-170 degrees. Perhaps it's a typo. Most on eBay appear to be 170 degrees. Whether you want the wider angle or not however is a personal preference. The Aldi 4K action camera includes Wi-Fi and a remote control. Also mentioned is slow motion mode and the specification does indicate 1280x720 @ 120 fps. The ability to handle 64GB generally indicates the higher resolution.

The Aldi action camera mentioned 4K interpolated and had an image sensor "SONY 179, 8M pixel COMS". I'd be fairly sure "COMS" is a typo and should probably be CMOS. Interpolated to me suggests the resolution is not really 4K.

A bit of reading reveals there appears to be a lot of fake specifications from suppliers of the action cameras (https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/the-list-of-shame-fake-4k-cameras-and-cmos-size.16490/).  This does mean you could easily get tricked so make sure you read the specifications and do the necessary research. Even then you may not end up getting what you think you're getting.

Even though with Aldi's 4K action camera does appear there may be better priced units, the advantages are: Aldi give you what they advertise, they're local, if they have sufficient stock you get the action camera quickly.

Kelvin Eldridge

Scam - Pensioner to call Centrelink on 02 9099 1773.

Today I received a call which I let go to the answering machine. I've set my telephone so that calls from people we know ring with a happy tune. All other calls are mostly telemarketers, or scammers, so we let them go to the answering machine.

I decided to share this call as it is a scam that is trying to scam pensioners. Some pensioners get tricked by these scammers. By making the call available to others, hopefully this reinforces this is a scam.

I received the call. I'm not a pensioner. The number 02 9099 1773 to call and the same application number 080456 has been reported by quite a few people on the internet.

You can listen to a recording of the call on my Youtube channel. The link to the recording is https://youtu.be/1VMbvGXcaD8.

Hopefully this information assists others.

Kelvin Eldridge
IT support.

Update: 17 Jan 2017
I've read of a number of people being scammed. Basically people are being asked to pay for certain costs to get their money back paid. Some people have been asked to pay for this using iTunes gift cards.

Melbourne Car Parks and Drinking Fountains Melbourne maps added to Mapz.

When I find data that I feel may be useful to me, I think it may be useful to others as well. Recently I found The City of Melbourne have made available some of their data for others to use. There's a number of datasets that I feel may help me, so I decided to map the data for easier use.

When riding a bike to the city, or simply walking around the city you can get thirsty. The Drinking Fountains Melbourne map provides an easy way to find the closest drinking fountains. Honestly I'd never noticed them around the city and there's a lot. I may use them more often. Melbourne's water is pretty good and much better than buying a fizzy drink.

The other day I was in the city and needed to find some parking. My knowledge of the city car parks is about 30 years old so I was pretty lost as to which car parks were good, or even where they now were. They can get pretty expensive. Whilst on the first occasion I parked outside the city and took the tram in using my free weekend travel for seniors, I know not everyone has that opportunity. The next was to use the on street parking. At $5.50 an hour it is pretty expensive. The Melbourne Car Parks map will hopefully help me find suitable parking close to where I need to be.

A tip for the Melbourne Car Parks map is to use the link to Google maps and zoom in. There's you may get a link to the actual business which may provide more information.

Kelvin Eldridge

Petrol prices around Melbourne may be on the increase to 149.9.

I expected the next price increase for petrol would occur towards the end of this week, but some petrol stations have already started to put their unleaded price up to 149.9 today.

Now is a good time to watch the petrol prices and fill up if necessary. If you're using the 7 Eleven fuel app, keep an eye on 7 Eleven prices and fill up to lock in the current price for another week.

With the Petrol Prices Melbourne web app I'm only currently entering the local Woolworths Petrol station. This is sufficient for me to watch the price. I then compare the average gate price and when the prices get close to each other, that's a sure sign prices will increase in the near future. Most days I update the average gate price (similar to the wholesale price) on the Petrol Prices Melbourne web app.

Kelvin Eldridge
Petrol Prices Melbourne

Bike stolen at Docklands. Goodbye old friend. - TrackR attached.

For those who have been following my Free Bike Share posts you'll know I've been testing leaving a bike in the city for future sharing with family and friends.

Part of this testing was to see if the bike would get damaged or stolen. Somewhere between the 26th of December and the 2nd of January the bike was stolen. If anyone knows or sees the bike please let me know.

The bike does have a Trackr module on it, so it may still turn up. Last time I put in a crowd locate request with the Trackr software it took 21 days. We can only wait and see.

The outcome for this testing has been quite good so even though it cost a bike, it's probably been worth it. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts in case it helps others.

1. The software I wrote (https://www.freebikesharemelbourne.com.au) for sharing bikes does a reasonable job for my needs and potentially the needs of a few small groups.

2. Personally a bike in the city for a couple of people isn't much use.

3. The free trams in the city means there's little need for a bike around the city.

4. If you've taken public transport to get to and from the city, you've probably paid the maximum for the day on Myki, so all other travel would effectively be free. This meaning a bike in the city won't save anything.

5. Having a bike close to the city so you can ride to and from the free tram zone was one unexpected good use of a bike. In this case I shared a car ride to and from near the city and use a bike for last section to the city. There was thus no public transport cost.

6. The tyres did go flat, so maintenance of the bike is required to ensure it is usable.

7. The bike lasted around three months in the city before being stolen.

8. One thought is that perhaps because of the huge crowd in the city around New Year that perhaps this wasn't the best time to have the bike in the city. However, given public transport can be difficult and taxis/Uber expensive at that time, it also makes it the best time to have the lower free bike option available.

Losing the bike is a bit of a disappointment, but it should be remembered this was part of the test. The bike lived at three places around the Docklands for around three months without a problem. The cost to repair the bike, lock, etc. was probably less than $20, so it didn't cost much to have the bike available in the city.

This is perhaps not the end of the Free Bike Sharing Melbourne project trial as I've already potentially been offered another old bike to use. Once this bike is ready for use I'll write another post.

Kelvin Eldridge
Free Bike Share Melbourne

Update: 12 January 2018
One person asked me where the bike was parked. The bike was locked up on the centre hoop. The location was the Docklands on the corner of Harbour Esplanade and Bourke Street, Melbourne. The bike is not in the picture as the picture was taken after the bike was stolen.

Update: 21 May 2018
This bike has never been located again by another TrackR user. TrackR has failed to assist in recovering the bike.

Christmas cards from Northern Ireland arrive in the New Year.

Christmas cards arriving after Christmas just don't seem to have the same impact as those that arrive before Christmas. It's still a lovely thought but somehow it just isn't the same.

This year, relatives in Northern Ireland posted Christmas cards on the 6th and 7th of December 2017. Both of the cards arrived on the 2nd of January 2018. Perhaps even more strange, is a family member in Reservoir received their cards around a week earlier than we did in Templestowe.

Last year I sent a Christmas card to my wife on Monday the 12th of December 2016 and it arrived on Friday the 23rd of December 2016. The card had to travel from Doncaster East to Templestowe which is about 4 km. That's incredibly bad postal service from Australia Post.

The main purpose of this post is as a reminder that if we wish to send or receive cards for Christmas from family and friends overseas, it's best to post them before December. Even cards posted locally are best posted two weeks before Christmas. Keeping these cut off dates in mind may make that Christmas greeting a little more special.

Kelvin Eldridge

BAC Calculator for males, females and differing weight.

I'd already produced two different blood alcohol calculators to take into account whether people were drinking the one type of drink or multiple types of drinks. A question that frequently came up is can I enter my weight.

By chance recently I found the Widmark formula which is used to estimate the blood alcohol content, also allowed a person to use their weight and sex. I decided to write a web app that used the Widmark formula for people to determine their BAC.

The BAC Calculator can be found at www.BACCalculator.com.au. Please keep in mind the BAC Calculator can only ever provide an estimate and that each person's body handles alcohol differently.

Kelvin Eldridge
BAC Calculator