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From Geo Hashing
Welcome to the Geohashing Community Wiki. Geohashing is a Spontaneous Adventure Generator, brought to you by the xkcd webcomic.
What is this?
xkcd comic #426, published on 21 May 2008, contains an algorithm that generates random coordinates around the world every day. Everyone in a given region gets the same set of coordinates. As such, these coordinates can be used as destinations for adventures, à la Geocaching, or for local meetups.
For a little more interactive discussion, consider joining the #geohashing IRC channel on Foonetic.
Contents |
How it works
Play with the coordinate calculator at http://xkcd.com/geohashing. All coordinates refer to the WGS84 datum.
iPhone users can download the app from the iTunes store. (needs iTunes/iPhone (3G?))
Every day, the algorithm generates a new set of coordinates for each 1°×1° latitude/longitude zone (known as a graticule) in the world. They are randomly placed -- they could be in the forest, in a city, on a mountain, or even in the middle of a lake! You can use this wiki to document the daily coordinates (geohashes) you’ve been to.
Unless you can accurately predict the stock market down to the penny, you can't figure out what the coordinates will be ahead of time. You can first calculate a weekday’s coordinates at about 9:30am ET, and on Friday you can calculate the coordinates for each day that weekend.
When visiting geohash locations, please respect the area you are visiting. Absolutely do not litter or otherwise disturb the natural integrity of the area. However, if possible, creating some kind of a marker out of nearby materials (i.e. cairn of stones, blair-witch-style ‘stick figures’, etc.) is encouraged.
After the fun, why not document your Expedition? The rest of us would love to read your story, see your photos, and cheer your success (or commiserate with your failure).
Official xkcd meetups
Official xkcd meetups happen every Saturday afternoon at that day’s normal geohash coordinates. All meetups start at 4:00pm* (local destination time). If you go at these times, you might encounter other readers of xkcd. Bring games!
When the coordinates fall within a body of water, you can rent a boat and win the Water Geohash achievement, or find a friendly hot air balloonist and go for Air Geohash. Use your imagination!
In other cases when it is unwise to attempt to access the generated coordinates, an alternate Saturday meetup can be suggested. As much fun as an expedition, with the addition of a Category:Failed - Did not attempt the coordinates.
*In some areas, 4:00pm is too close to sunset during the winter, so earlier meetups are often more appropriate. See individual graticule pages for local conventions.
Really Cool Expeditions
Sometimes to know how seriously cool a geohashing expedition was, a picture is insufficient. You may need a thousand words. Please contribute links to the Hall of Amazingness of “you have got to see this!” way cool expeditions that we might otherwise not hear about.
Unofficial invitations
Having a party or board game night or some other activity and will welcome anyone crazy enough to stop by only knowing your coordinates? Invite them on the Unofficial Invitations-page and maybe meet some amazing people!
Achievements
Sometimes you need to go above and beyond (or, perhaps, beneath and short of) the call of the GPS receiver to get to your hash. The Achievements page lists recognized wins (and fails) of geohashing and corresponding awards.
Active Graticules
Want to find geohashers in your local area? See Category:Active Graticules for a list of graticules with active users in them.
- Don't see your home area? Follow the format and create a page for it! We'd love to have you!
- An interactive map is available for Google Earth or on Google Maps.
- You can also attach your photos to this Google Maps layer.
Implementations
A full list of reference and practical implementations can be found on the Implementations page.
Recent and Upcoming Coordinates
The coordinates for the Saturday meetups on 6 September 2008 are now available. The coordinates for the next Saturday meetups, scheduled for 13 September 2008, will be based on the Dow’s opening price published at 09:30 EDT (13:30 UTC) on Friday 12 September. See timeanddate.com to convert this time to your local time zone.
- Coordinates: Mon 8 Sep* | Sun 7 Sep | Sat 6 Sep | Fri 5 Sep | Thu 4 Sep | Wed 3 Sep | Tue 2 Sep | Mon 1 Sep
* Only known for regions east of 30W longitude. Coordinates for regions to the west announced 13:30 UTC, 8 September. - View expedition archives for: September 2008 | August 2008 | July 2008 | More...
- Refresh the cache
Gallery of Recent Expeditions
The gallery for each day is added to this page automatically, but pictures are selected to the gallery by us. Any geohasher is welcome to add a picture from that day. Just add your image name in the list at the “add yours” link. If the gallery hasn't been started yet, copy the format from the previous day, or read the how-to.
| Start the gallery for Sunday 7 September. (how?) |
Known Issues
Several known issues are presented at Known Issues. There is an ongoing discussion on these and other issues at Talk:Main Page.
FAQ
Q: Is there a facebook group for my area?
- A: Take a look at the Facebook groups page.
Q: I tried to use the md5sum from my unix/linux command line and the hash was not the same as the comic. What is the correct command line?
- A: You probably forgot the “-n” (echo without a newline). Try this to match the example:
-
echo -n 2005-05-26-10458.68 | md5sum - The md5sum command may be called md5 instead.
Q: What should I bring?
- A: See What to bring.
Q: What do I say to puzzled locals?
- A: See Cover Stories.
Q: What if I can't access the exact location, but still think others nearby are trying to meet up?
- A: See Radio Communications.
Q: Is it okay to visit a geohash location in a neighbouring graticule instead of my “own” one?
- A: Sure! There’s no rule saying you can't visit other graticules, and in some cases (for example, San Francisco), you would almost have to in order to actually access a hashpoint. Geohashing is about meeting other people, and it doesn't matter whether you do that here or there. In fact, finding a new mix of people might be a good thing. Go ahead and geohash on vacation for all we care!
Q: What do I do when I get there?
- A: Poke around, take pictures, have a picnic, and, in general, have fun! The world is an adventure!
Q: How will Geohashing get me laid?
- A: You never know who you might find when you show up next Saturday.
Q: I don't have a car, how am I supposed to participate in this sport?
- A: Some of the most avid geohashers don't use cars. Geohashing is suitable for bicycles or by public transit.
