Money Is Fungible

[Posted on FB September 07/2019.]

Money Is Fungible

A post Dorian thought for the powers that be.

(It may sound crazy but consider it for a second.)

Money is fungible.

If some people, local or international, want to direct their giving towards a particular person, group, community, island, etc., let them and make it as easy as possible for them.

Money is fungible.

If those people give too much to one settlement and nothing to another you can balance things out with the general giving and funds that you control.

Money is fungible.

If A gets all the outside money, you can cut down (or eliminate) what you had planned to give to A and give more to B.

Money is fungible.

Thanks you for your service in these trying times.

Traffic Mapping Fun

Traffic Mapping Fun

I am working on a little, crude, traffic mapping system for Nassau. (Anywhere really, but I am doing it for Nassau.)

It started out this way...

I developed a little android app that used its location, speed, time, etc. to build a fake URL that contains this information and then requests this fake URL from a web server that I have access to the logs for. Since this is a fake URL, it never gets back what it asks for but this is intended. The information I need is now in the logs.

I can then scan web server logs and look for lines that the app created. I have a script that puts these lines into a format that I want to parse for the web map.

I am making the web map using openlayers and openstreetmap stuff. Oh, javascript, jquery, and bootstrap too.

Not that I really know how to use this stuff fit a kick. My ignorance is vast.

So. This is the html page: wblogger.html

<pre  style="font-family:arial;font-size:12px;border:1px dashed #CCCCCC;width:99%;height:auto;overflow:auto;background:#f0f0f0;;background-image:URL(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZbQrgON51ozgHamH6U62pP4MEB2zPxKNd_-VVsztA2Gt3v37erG_1WWh_UxDN3e5lH6H19E88ji2CRQJfh4sB6yfmvvWHVko2N3z-oHlnqXq9-78TAGFJhiiLac_0dJSsPc6rQj8_Ceg/s320/codebg.gif);padding:0px;color:#000000;text-align:left;line-height:20px;"><code style="color:#000000;word-wrap:normal;"> &lt;!doctype html&gt;  
 &lt;html lang="en"&gt;  
  &lt;head&gt;  
   &lt;link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.rawgit.com/openlayers/openlayers.github.io/master/en/v5.3.0/css/ol.css" type="text/css"&gt;  
   &lt;style&gt;  
    .map {  
     height: 400px;  
     width: 100%;  
    }  
    #map {  
      position: relative;  
    }  
    #popup {  
      padding-bottom: 45px;  
    }  
   &lt;/style&gt;  
   &lt;script src="https://cdn.rawgit.com/openlayers/openlayers.github.io/master/en/v5.3.0/build/ol.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;  
   &lt;script type = "text/javascript" src = "https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.3/jquery.min.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;  
   &lt;script src="//maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.4/js/bootstrap.min.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;  
   &lt;link href="//maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.4/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"&gt;  
   &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;  
        //  
      $( document ).ready(function() {  
        console.log( "ready!" );  
      });  
   &lt;/script&gt;  
   &lt;title&gt;OpenLayers example&lt;/title&gt;  
  &lt;/head&gt;  
  &lt;body&gt;  
   &lt;h2&gt;zotzBrothers Traffic Map&lt;/h2&gt;  
   &lt;div id="map" style="width:1200px;height:800px" class="map"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  
        &lt;div id="popup"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  
   &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;  
   window.carLocs = new Array();  
        $.get('systemlines.txt', function(data){  
       window.carLocs = data.split('\n');  
       //console.log(window.carLocs);  
        mymap();  
   });  
 function mymap(){  
   var vectorSource = new ol.source.Vector({  
    //create empty vector  
   });  
   //create the style  
   var iconStyle = new ol.style.Style({  
    image: new ol.style.Icon(/** @type {olx.style.IconOptions} */ ({  
     anchor: [0, 0],  
     anchorXUnits: 'fraction',  
     anchorYUnits: 'pixels',  
     opacity: 0.75,  
      color: [113, 140, 0],  
     src: 'ol_icon.png'  
    }))  
   });  
   //create a bunch of icons and add to source vector  
   for (var i=0;i&lt;(carLocs.length-1);i++){  
      var myrecs = carLocs[i].split('/');  
           //console.log("lat ",mypos[0]," long ",mypos[1], " speed ", mypos[2]);  
           //console.log(myrecs[0],myrecs[1],myrecs[2],myrecs[3],myrecs[4],myrecs[5])  
       var mypos = myrecs[4].split('||');  
           //console.log("lat ",mypos[0]," long ",mypos[1], " speed ", mypos[2]);  
           //console.log(mypos);  
       var myspeed = myrecs[5].split(':');   
           //console.log("Only speed: ",myspeed[1]);  
       var dauser = myrecs[2];  
      //console.log("user ",dauser);       
      var dalat = Number(mypos[1]);  
      //console.log("lat ",dalat);  
      var dalong = Number(mypos[0]);  
      //console.log("long ",dalong);  
      //console.log("speed bit: ", myrecs[5]);  
      var daspeed = Math.round( Number(myspeed[1]) * 10 ) / 10;  
      //console.log("speed ",daspeed);  
      //console.log(dalat,dalong,daspeed);  
     var iconFeature = new ol.Feature({  
      geometry: new   
       ol.geom.Point(ol.proj.transform([dalat, dalong], 'EPSG:4326',  'EPSG:3857')),  
     name: 'daInstance_' + i + " Speed: " + daspeed,  
     speed: daspeed  
     });  
      if (daspeed &lt; 10) {  
           iconFeature.setStyle(new ol.style.Style({  
                image: new ol.style.Icon(/** @type {olx.style.IconOptions} */ ({  
                     anchor: [0, 0],  
                         anchorXUnits: 'fraction',  
                         anchorYUnits: 'pixels',  
                         opacity: 0.75,  
                          color: '#DC143C',  
                         src: 'ol_icon.png',  
                          scale: 0.5  
                     }))  
                }));  
      }  
     vectorSource.addFeature(iconFeature);  
   }  
   //add the feature vector to the layer vector, and apply a style to whole layer  
   var vectorLayer = new ol.layer.Vector({  
    source: vectorSource,  
    style: iconStyle  
   });  
   var map = new ol.Map({  
    layers: [new ol.layer.Tile({ source: new ol.source.OSM() }), vectorLayer],  
    target: document.getElementById('map'),  
    view: new ol.View({  
     center: ol.proj.fromLonLat([-77.353011, 25.0785398]),  
     zoom: 12  
    })  
   });  
   var element = document.getElementById('popup');  
   var popup = new ol.Overlay({  
      element: element,  
      positioning: 'bottom-center',  
      stopEvent: false  
   });  
   map.addOverlay(popup);  
 // display popup on click  
 map.on('click', function(evt) {  
  var feature = map.forEachFeatureAtPixel(evt.pixel,  
   function(feature, layer) {  
    return feature;  
   });  
  if (feature) {  
   var geometry = feature.getGeometry();  
   var coord = geometry.getCoordinates();  
   popup.setPosition(coord);  
   $(element).popover({  
    'placement': 'top',  
    'html': true  
   });  
   $(element).data("bs.popover").options.content= feature.get('name');  
   $(element).popover("show");  
   //document.getElementsByClassName("popover-content")[0].innerHTML = feature.get('name');   
   //$(element).popover('show');  
  } else {  
   $(element).popover('destroy');  
  }  
 });  
 // change mouse cursor when over marker  
 map.on('pointermove', function(e) {  
  if (e.dragging) {  
   $(element).popover('destroy');  
   return;  
  }  
  var pixel = map.getEventPixel(e.originalEvent);  
  var hit = map.hasFeatureAtPixel(pixel);  
  map.getTarget().style.cursor = hit ? 'pointer' : '';  
 });  
 }  
   &lt;/script&gt;  
  &lt;/body&gt;  
 &lt;/html&gt;  
</code></pre>

And this is the datafile: systemlines.txt

/zbloc/U999999/Speed_OK:13.93651/25.07857||-77.34838||-20.33905/Current_Speed:13.93651
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_OK:21.58705/25.07843||-77.35162||-27.1488/Current_Speed:21.58705
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_OK:29.55077/25.07976||-77.36289||-31.21094/Current_Speed:29.55077
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_OK:30.40083/25.07899||-77.35873||-31.58047/Current_Speed:30.40083
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_OK:31.63118/25.07833||-77.35521||-21.68082/Current_Speed:31.63118
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_OK:9.19407/25.0782||-77.34737||-31.22083/Current_Speed:9.19407
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:0/25.07853||-77.35114||-42.20892/Current_Speed:0
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:11.94558/25.07862||-77.34995||-18.98419/Current_Speed:11.94558
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:13.93651/25.07857||-77.34838||-20.33905/Current_Speed:13.93651
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:14.11547/25.07856||-77.34897||-27.05417/Current_Speed:14.11547
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:1.45405/25.07847||-77.35113||-20.47964/Current_Speed:1.45405
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:1.54353/25.07853||-77.35106||-30.974/Current_Speed:1.54353
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:1.54353/25.07853||-77.35106||-30.974/Current_Speed:1.54353
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:21.58705/25.07843||-77.35162||-27.1488/Current_Speed:21.58705
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:24.11486/25.07878||-77.35756||-29.90512/Current_Speed:24.11486
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:25.61365/25.07832||-77.35262||-30.26508/Current_Speed:25.61365
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:27.11244/25.07859||-77.35653||-33.70917/Current_Speed:27.11244
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:29.55077/25.07976||-77.36289||-31.21094/Current_Speed:29.55077
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:29.66262/25.07818||-77.35385||-27.67673/Current_Speed:29.66262
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:30.40083/25.07899||-77.35873||-31.58047/Current_Speed:30.40083
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:31.63118/25.07833||-77.35521||-21.68082/Current_Speed:31.63118
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:32.4365/25.07932||-77.36005||-27.33765/Current_Speed:32.4365
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:33.37604/25.07954||-77.3615||-28.73572/Current_Speed:33.37604
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:3.3555/25.07801||-77.34728||-24.91364/Current_Speed:3.3555
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:3.48972/25.07852||-77.34784||-7.2254/Current_Speed:3.48972
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:4.38452/25.07796||-77.34716||-26.48145/Current_Speed:4.38452
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:5.54776/25.07856||-77.35069||-15.47156/Current_Speed:5.54776
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:8.67956/25.07847||-77.3476||-11.89642/Current_Speed:8.67956
/zbloc/U999999/Speed_Slow:9.19407/25.0782||-77.34737||-31.22083/Current_Speed:9.19407

So this was my first take. What this shows...

1. The ability to place "cars" on the map based on external data in a file.
2. The ability to change the colour of the cars based on the car's speed.
3. The ability to change the size of the cars. (Again based on the car's speed but this in not the final purpose for setting the size.)
4. The ability to popup information about the car by clicking on its icon.

Desired improvements...

1. Automatically put app data into a database. (mysql/mariadb with geo features.)
2. Ability of web page to pull in data from the database instead of a text file.
3. Ability to change the size of the car icons  in an intelligent way so that they scale with the size of the roads they are on as the map zoom changes.
4. Fix the problem with the car icons being "offset" from the roads. Unless this turns out to be an issue with the data being inaccurate...
5. (I don't think the problem mentioned in 4 can be the whole issue) Fix the fact that the car icon's position with respect to the map roads changes on zooming.
6. It would be nice if the choice  of when to consider a car slow could be based on the speed limit of the road but that is not 100% necessary at this point.
7. It would be nice to change the orientation of the car to match the road so that it does not sit sideways on north/south roads. (Perhaps it would be better to represent the car as a point if this is not possible?)
8. perhaps add a few more colour coded speed "bands" rather than just red for slow and green for normal.

I have made progress on some of the above and will post improvements when I can.

I am looking for people who would like to discuss this and people who have a bit more expertise with openlayers/javascript/etc.

Augmented Reality Staging For Home Sales

Augmented Reality Staging For Home Sales

Consider AR staging for home sales... New home sales, renovations, flips...

Potential buyers show up. Put on the AR glasses/headgear and are led into the property.

They "see"' the place fully furnished and decorated. If they like it great. If not, they can discuss what they liked and did not like with the realtor/seller and they can be led into the property another time but this time see a completely different set up, furniture more to their liking, a colour scheme they prefer, different art work, a completely different "theme." Repeat as needed.

No need to rent furniture, art, and the rest and do an actual, physical staging of the property.

This could be tested against a Virtual Reality concept doing basically the same thing to see which performs better in which situations.

What If We Did Laws Like This

What If We Did Laws Like This?

----------------------------------------
Section 1.
Title/Name Of Law
----------------------------------------
Section 2.
Traditional Text of Law as we do now.
----------------------------------------
Section 3.
Spirit of this law is. ...
----------------------------------------
Section 4.
Intended to apply like this. Intended to be used for this.
----------------------------------------
Section 5.
Never to apply to this. Never to be used for this.
----------------------------------------
Section 6.
Intended consequences. Intended Results.
----------------------------------------
Section 7.
Guaranteed not to happen. Guaranteed not to result in this.
----------------------------------------
Section 8.
If sections 5 and  7 are violated, this entire law is null and void.
----------------------------------------