Sunday, August 31, 2008

How to Track Your Own Hamster

Hey everyone! By popular demand, Tommy has written up an Instructable on how he tracks Lizzie's running and progress across America! Everything you need to know, from the list of materials and equipment to assembly instructions and some basic code to get you started is there. Check it out! Now you too can monitor the activities of your furry little friends. :-D

Instructables: Track How Far Your Hamster Runs.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Main Page Is Up!

Holy crap! I think I need my eyes checked. How convenient my optometrist appointment is tomorrow afternoon. Until then, I may have to call everything I see into question, like the main page actually working and the furry spherical cow having tea with a pink platypus and an anthropomorphic eggplant in the corner of my bedroom.

Even if it is indeed an illusion, I have to say it looks quite fabulous! Major props to Tommy for finally pulling off our lovely Google Maps mashup so we can see exactly where Lizzie is in the U.S.

To get everyone up to speed, Lizzie is not following any particular road or highway. We had originally been considering having her run along I-80, but decided it would be more fun instead for her to cut across and visit famous parks, cities and landmarks. After all, she's a hamster, so she should be able to handle some off-roading to avoid the pesky nuisance of traffic jams, pot holes and angry drivers. Lakes and rivers pose a problem because getting hamsters wet can make them susceptible to wet tail and pneumonia, but let's assume for the purposes of her virtual tour that her wheel is buoyant and water-tight with its own recycling air supply (Oh a hamster submarine! That could be a fun project to work on....). ;)


Looks like at the moment she's finished swimming/sailing across Lake Meade after visiting Las Vegas and is running as I type towards the Grand Canyon. Keep up the good work, Lizzie, and again a huge thanks to Tommy for making this site possible.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Congrats Tommy!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a quick shout out to Tommy, who just finished his masters! Congrats! Now you have no excuse to not get the main page working... ;)

In the meantime, Lizzie has become very innovative in her running: she's been running along the TOP of the wheel instead of in it! Kudos for the innovative thinking!

Set me fweeeeeee!!!!
"Let me out of here!!!"