newsonaut
Turning inner space into outer space
Friday, December 2, 2011
Check out the 10 lowest gas prices in Kamloops
I’ve updated the gas page to show the 10 lowest gas prices in Kamloops. It’s constantly updated as drivers submit new figures to Gas Buddy. We’re currently enjoying prices 20 cents a litre below the B.C. average, thanks to price wars.
I’m go to look into setting up something similar for The Daily News website.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011
KamClean joins the Google Map atlas
The KamClean challenge sees community groups pitching in for Earth Day to clean up neighbourhoods around the city. And guess what — they’ve got a Google map to show who’s taking part.
With the Fix My Kamloops and Criminal Kamloops maps here at newsonaut, we could start up an interactive online atlas.
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Friday, April 8, 2011
Fix My Kamloops goes big
The Fix My Kamloops map was always too small for my liking, so I figured out a way to make it bigger and easier to see. Don’t forget you can use the zoom tool at the top left to get an even closer look. Also, I’ve noticed that some of the pins seem to be placed haphazardly — for example the pin in the middle of the reserve that describes a problem on Victoria Street. I’ll fix them, but if you’re having problems don’t be shy about sending an email and asking me to place the pin for you.
More posts in the Newsloops category
Monday, April 4, 2011
Lots of fixing to do
Maybe Fix My Kamloops should have been called Fix My Street.
Looking at the new pins that were added to the collaborative map Monday morning, it seems that roads and traffic are uppermost in people’s minds. There are the expected pothole complaints, but there are also concerns about U-turns, poor signage, speeding and crosswalks.
Here’s an example of a pothole beef:
“I was driving on the Overlander Bridge going to the North Shore, and to my amazement there was a big pothole right in the road. Please fix it.”
And U-turns:
“We see a lot of U-turns at the intersection of Hillside Drive and Pacific Way. I am surprised there have not been any accidents. People constantly miss the turnoff to the highway due to poor signage. I believe a roundabout will eliminate this problem.”
And a crosswalk:
“How about a stop sign or at least a crosswalk at Copperhead Drive and Hugh Allen (Pineview). Cars are always flying up Copperhead, and there is an ever growing population up in Pineview with families . . . kids and adults are continuously trying to cross Copperhead without getting nailed by a flying car!”
But it’s not always about roads. Here’s one about the Rivers Trail near the 900 block of Lorne Street:
“This unpaved section of the trail is used extensively by both the residents of the condos and the general public. It is a mess for several months of the year due to standing water and mud. It is impassable for much of the year for persons who use walking aids.”
And that’s just part of what they had to say.
The map is designed so that anyone can add a pin to it. Just be sure to sign in with your Google account. If you have any problems making it work, please let us know by writing to mrogers@kamloopsnews.ca.
If you prefer, you can write to the same address with your comment, and we’ll place a pin for you.
More posts in the Newsloops category
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Welcome, Google Chrome users
I’ve worked out an embarrassing glitch that prevented Google Chrome users from being able to view newsonaut. I fixed a nasty bit of code and all should now be right. If you notice any lingering problems, please get in touch.
For those of you whose eyes don’t glaze over at the mention of acronyms such as HTML and CSS, I’ll explain what happened. After I finished designing newsonaut, I came across an article that showed how to put a border around the viewport (a.k.a. the window). It stays all the way around even if you scroll.
The article — from a trusted source, I might add — gave the HTML and CSS that makes it work and provided a demo, along with the assurance that it renders in all major browsers. And if you check out the demo in Chrome, it looks fine.
The tricky part is that the CSS code they used in the demo was not the same as the code presented in the article. Hence, I was lulled into a false sense of security. After checking under the hood (View —> Source), I now have the code that actually works. Let that be a lesson: you can never do too much testing.
More posts in the Newsloops category
Friday, March 11, 2011
Making the most of the map
It’s been fun this morning watching the pins sprout up on the collaborative map. There are a lot of interesting things happening in people’s neighbourhoods. While I realize these are real problems affecting real lives, I can’t help but get a kick out of clicking on the pins to see the details.
If you have any problems making the map work, or if you have some ideas on how to make it better, please get in touch. Just click on the contact button in the siderail.
I’m wondering, for example, if there might be some way of marking these problems as being resolved (if that ever happens). With any luck, the people with power to make things right — at City Hall, the highways department, the school district — are paying attention.
I also wonder if the default map should be zoomed in a little more so that individual points are easier to see. The problem with a map of Kamloops is that it is spread over a lot of territory. In terms of land, this is one big city.
More posts in the Newsloops category
Thursday, March 10, 2011
My experiment in mapping
With the help of Google Maps, I’ve created a collaborative map of the Kamloops area that allows anyone with a Google account to place “pins” on it to point to what they consider to be trouble spots.
Click on the Map button over to the right to have a look at it.
To get things rolling, I placed a couple of pins myself: one for frost heaves on Fleetwood and one for illegal parking on West Saint Paul. Just click on the appropriate pins to get details. It’s also possible to add photos and videos if you really want to get fancy.
I got the idea yesterday when I posted about giant potholes in England. One news website has created a collaborative map where readers can point out neighbourhood potholes. A site called Fix My Street takes things a step further by passing along reported problems to City Hall. It’s something we could consider doing here as well.
For now, have a look at the map and see what you think. If you want to add your own pin, follow the instructions. If you find it daunting, send me an email with the address and the problem, and I’ll take care of it. Contact information is on the right.
Above all, I would appreciate any feedback.
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Sunday, February 6, 2011
Our cool new video player
I’ve been pumping out a lot of videos over the past couple of weeks, and you can enjoy them via the video strip at The Daily News website or you can go straight to the KamNews YouTube channel.
But when I discovered you can embed YouTube’s video player in your blog, I couldn’t resist. So click on the Video button over on the sidebar to the right. I had a lot of fun playing with the controls — never mind the actual videos.
More posts in the Newsloops category
