Geoff Jones

Category: Products

  • Checking out my blog with ChatGPT

    I gave it this question – can you summarise geoffjones.com

    Geoffjones.com is a personal travel blog that documents the author’s travel experiences and adventures around the world. The blog features a variety of travel-related content, including trip reports, photos, videos, and travel tips. The author has traveled extensively to various countries, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, and shares his insights and observations on different cultures, cuisines, and lifestyles. The blog also covers other topics such as technology, health, and fitness, as well as personal musings and reflections. Overall, Geoffjones.com provides an engaging and informative read for anyone interested in travel and adventure.

    So pretty reasonable on its second attempt so I asked this.

    can you be more specific on countries visited?
    As an AI language model, I don’t have access to the specific information on the number of countries visited by Geoff Jones or his website. However, based on the travel-related content available on the blog, it appears that the author has traveled to many countries across different continents. Some of the countries mentioned in his blog include India, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, Nepal, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Peru, Brazil, and many others. However, the complete list of countries visited may not be available on the website.

  • Digital Thermometer Instructions

    Finding it difficult to take my body temperature tests twice a day, for the14 days I’m in quarantine, with the digital thermometer supplied by the ASQ Legacy Hotel in Bangkok. I thought I would work out some instructions. None were supplied and I have led such a sheltered life. I have never needed to take my body temperature in the past 74 years 🙂 So with a glass of warm water & Google, I started playing.

    Digital Body Thermometer at
    Thermometer supplied by The Legacy Hotel at Bangkok
    1. Press the button once the display should show a temperature & battery level.
    2. Press the button again the display should now go blank.
    3. Insert the thermometer under the tongue at the back of the mouth.
    4. Press the button for 60 seconds (actually, 7 seconds is enough in my tests with warm water).
    5. Release the button and remove it from the mouth.
    6. You should now have a temperature, Hopefully not above 37.5 degrees!  The maximum tolerated by the Thai government.

    Interestingly whilst in the UK to get the twin jabs I never once had my temperature taken whereas before I went here in Thailand every shop measures your temperature!

  • Elevate your Strava

    Geoff Jones Cycling distances
    Mileage Comparison Chart

    Using the excellent Chrome Elevate for Strava extension  I have now produced this pretty chart.

    As you can see my cycling distance is now down  1,537 miles from the same date in 2018, meaning if I’m to do the same mileage as last year I have to now pedal 6,374 miles in the remaining 188 days of 2019 or 34 miles a day 🙂

    I had better leave the computer and get on the bike and do my 34 miles 🙂

    Oops forgot the bike computer stuff was all in km so the ride was only 23.7 miles 🙁 instead of the required 54km

  • Bangkok booty

    After, for me, a record breaking 4 nights at the ultra deluxe Windsor Suites Hotel I’m moving  south towards Singapore  tomorrow.

    New spectaclesThe long delay was due to V.Siam Optical  waiting for my replacement prescription glasses which after 4 days duly arrived today, not particularly cheap at  £163 for varifocal adaptive glasses but wow are they lightweight in a titanium frame & ultrathin plastic with Crizal Alize coating. Suddenly I can see again 🙂 Must remember after snoozing that I still have them on!

    My other ‘major’ purchase was a new bike mount for my iPhone. The Topeak performs well in wetter cooler climes. However, here it acts as a mini cloche causing the iPhone to overheat and switch off, even with no direct sunlight, 🙁 not so good for navigation.

    iPhone bike mountIn Loft they had a Capdace Uniconcept  Asia Ltd Racer Bike mount holder,  HR00-BC01  for £13 which would be useless in the wet but maybe good in the dry as the iPhone is exposed to the wind directly, all it needs now is a little brolly  for shade so I can read it in the sun.

    Geoff's flash silk sleeping bagI also had one of the tailors here, Zerutti, modify my beloved Chinese  blue silk sleeping bag so it now has a  bright red silk pillow holder for when I return to my down market establishments that have no sheets..

    Other than that I haven’t bought anything here, except a few too many Starbucks Frappuccinos  🙁 In fact Bangkok is not really my type of place although I did get a decentish massage at the hotel today (although they need to buy their oils from Sally)  and just maybe my left heel fasciitis has eased of a little.

    Tomorrow I’m booked into Baansuanphidchamika in Amphawa  so I should get to see the floating markets etc.

  • Site statistics

    I seem to be getting more popular! but just look at the folks who are searching for Scarpa boots wearing out and the Silva pedometer are they connected 🙂

    Geoff Jones site statistics by Google
    Geoff Jones site statistics by Google

  • Starting the next stage of my mega bike ride

    Zurich RouteTomorrow I’m reluctantly moving on from my lovely apartment in Les Gets towards Zurich so that I can meet my big brother & nephew next weekend for a 70th birthday bash (and I’ve heard a whisper it’s his wife’s birthday too 🙂 )

    I’m fully recovered from the ride here and the excellent Thierry has fitted the bike with new chain, rear gear cassette and brake pads. The dreaded rear pannier’s have been despatched home with my neighbour, as I’ve been assured by Sally after speaking to Pete that a tent isn’t necessary 🙂

    I’ve spent the last few days trying to sort out my Etrex 20 with maps and in a moment of sheer stupidity lost my OSX application library – which interestingly broke all my Chrome extensions in a very nasty way, the dangers of using an offline backup service. 🙁

    NB: All that follows is for Mac OSX users.

    What I’ve learnt about Garmin maps is that you can fill your Garmin Etrex up with highly detailed Open Street Maps, essentially for free by visiting Velomap and downloading the desired country(s). Installing Garmin Basecamo & Garmin MapInstall. Unzipping the maps using The Unarchiver, setting the destination to the Application Library/Garmin /Maps folder (be careful here!).

    Then using Mapinstall pop them into the Garmin. I now have all of France, Germany, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary & Romania installed on my recently purchased 4GB micro SD (€8 from GITEM in Morzine).

    To work out the routes I’ve been using Bikemap to create a track. A tip here if you want to modify someones existing track, download the gpx file to the desktop, create a new track in Bikemap and upload the gpx file, then you can edit it. To make the track into a route I used the cool JavaWa tools. I then used Basecamp to stuff the route into the Etrex. Tomorrow is the test 🙂

    However, that’s only the backup sorted :-). What I really will use is the iPhone and the Gaia app, I’ve uploaded the tracks to the iPhone via email. Then used the neat Gaia utility to auto download the relevant Open Street Map tiles to the iPhone that cover the tracks, so in theory it all works offline.

    Apologies to anyone tracking me but my SFR MiFi unit has used all it’s 2GB of data so I’m off air until I can reach a SIM shop in Switzerland…

     

     

     

  • Instrument bar for an Altus bar bag.

    One of the annoyances on the ride down to Les Gets from Cambridge was that at every cafe stop (of which there were many)  I had to struggle to disengage the GPS & iPhone from their handlebar mounts plus the iPhone couldn’t be used in landscape mode due to there been no space left on the handlebars.

    So on the way I was thinking of schemes to overcome the problem. If  somehow I could attach the GPS & iPhone to my Altura Dryline Bar Bag then with one click of the Klickfix quick release I could remove the Altura bar bag, GPS & iPhone in one swift easy movement and head straight to the cafe with all my valuables.

    Obviously any system shouldn’t affect the bag water proofing, map case use or ease of access to the bag for taking quick shots with my camera.

    Altura bar bag with iPhone & GPS mount
    Altura bar bag with iPhone & GPS mount

    As all good design the answer was cheap & simple 🙂 Take an old aluminium broom handle from the scrap bin. Hacksaw it to the right length, then crunch the ends into a flat using a vice, bend to right angles (very slowly & carefully). Put a hole in each end then attach to the sides of the Altura lid using penny washers and M4 bolts.

    The map case slides underneath allowing space for The Bikeline books, even better the broom handle bar keeps the map case  firmly in place.

    The Topeak iPhone 5 case fits perfectly and can be used in landscape or portrait mode and as a bonus can have the power cable in place with the auxiliary battery pack in the Altura bar bag. (Use an IKEA plastic bag clip to hold the cable in place and seal the iPhone in anything but the worst conditions.). The Garmin handlebar mount fits on well.

    Now to give it the 2000 mile test and to work out how to fix the Silva wind gauge……

  • Urine analysis with @uchek

    Screenshot_30_05_2013_10_16Very interesting email I received on one of my favourite topics. If you measure what is going in it strikes me what is coming out is equally important.
    After all doctors used to taste your urine 🙂 It’s interesting how the FDA are getting drawn into the debate. Basically if you interept the dipstick manually it’s OK once you use a camera & computer it becomes a medical device! see here.
    ———————–email from uchek——————

    After our US and India app releases, it has been an interested time! 
    – Lots of downloads of the uChek app on iPhone in USA and India
    – ALL our friends on the Android platform and in non-US, non-India geographies writing to ask “When will we get it?“
    (btw Answer: SOON!
    We’re be sending an update on release in different geographies, and of course, the much anticipated Android app)
    Also interesting development: uChek is a FDA registered device and we have been in discussions with the regulator about the classification of the product. Much commentary about this on the web. Like here.
    We seem to be somehow in the center of a wider debate about innovation and regulation.
    Another thing we’ve noticed – nobody on facebook wants to talk about urine using their real name 🙂 
    So we’ll use this email to talk about urinalysis, and what information the results of a urine test may contain …
    A simple 10 parameter dipstick (less than 20 cents) can be a powerful diagnostic tool. This is precise the type of test strip we read using the uChek app, through the iPhone’s camera. 
    Such a standard urine test strip may comprise up to 10 different chemical pads or reagents which react and hence change color when immersed in, and then removed from, a urine sample. The readings can be obtained between 60 and 120 seconds of dipping. Each parameter has to be read at a specific time after the start of the reaction, as per the manufacturer’s instructions. There are many manufacturers and many types of strips. Information about concentration measurements of parameters like glucose, urobilinogen, pH, ketone, occult blood, protein, bilirubin, nitrite, leukocyte, and specific gravity in urine may be obtained in this way.

    The absence or relative concentration of different parameters may provide inputs for healthcare professionals for diagnosis, and management of upto 25 medical conditions.

    Glucose:

    Glucose is not normally present in the urine.
    Once the level of glucose in the blood reaches a renal threshhold, the kidneys begin to excrete it into the urine in an attempt to decrease the blood concentration. So high blood concentrations lead to glucosuria, as does conditions that may reduce this renal threshold.

    • Diabetes
    • Liver disease
    • Medications such as tetracycline, lithium, penicillin, cephalosporins
    • Pregnancy

    Bilirubin:

    Produced as a by-product during the degradation of RBC in the liver and normally excreted in the bile. Once in the intestine it is excreted in the faeces (as stercobilin) or by the kidneys (as urobilinogen).
    Presence of bilirubin in the urine may therefore indicate:

    • liver disease
    • biliary tract infection
    • pancreatic causes of obstructive jaundice

    Ketones:

    Not normally found in the urine, ketones are produced during fat metabolism.
    Presence of ketones may indicate:

    • diabetes
    • alcoholism
    • eclampsia
    • a state of starvation
    • pregnancy

    Specific Gravity:

    The specific gravity (SG) of urine signifies the concentration of dissolved solutes and reflects the effectiveness of the renal tubules to concentrate it ( when the body needs to conserve fluid). If there were no solutes present the urines SG would be 1.000, the same as pure water.
    The SG of urine is around 1.010 but can vary greatly:

    Decreased SG may be due to:

    • Excessive fluid intake (oral or IV fluids)
    • Renal failure
    • Acute golmerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, acute tubular necrosis
    • Diabetes insipidus

    Increased SG may be due to:

    • Dehydration due to poor fluid intake, vomiting or diarrhoea
    • Heart failure
    • Liver failure
    • Inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion

    It also reflects a high solute concentration which may be from glucose (diabetes or IV glucose) or protein.

    Blood:

    Classified as microscopic or macroscopic haematoria. Microscopic means that the blood is not visible with the naked eye.
    Blood may be present in the urine following trauma, smoking, infection, renal calculi or strenuous exercise.

    It may also be present with:

    • Urinary tract infections.
    • Damage to the glomerulas or tumours which erode the urinary tract.
    • Acute tubular necrosis.
    • Traumatic catheterization.
    • Damage caused by the passage of kidney stones.
    • Contamination from the vagina during menstruation

    The presence of myoglobin (myoglobinuria) after muscle injury will also cause the reagent strip to indicate blood.

    pH:

    Measures the hydrogen ion concentration of the urine.
    It is important that a fresh sample be used as urine becomes more alkaline over time as bacteria convert urea to ammonia (which is very alkaline).
    Urine is normally acidic but its normal pH ranges from 4.5 to 8.

    Low pH (acidic):

    • Foods such as acidic fruits (cranberries) can lower the pH, as can high a high protein diet.
    • As urine generally reflects the blood pH, metabolic or respiratory acidosis can make it more acidic.
    • Other causes of acidic urine include diabetes, diarrhoea and starvation.

    High pH (alkaline):

    • Low carb or vegetarian diet
    • May be associated with renal calculi.
    • Respiratory or metabolic alkalosis
    • Urinary tract infection

    Protein:

    This is measuring the amount of albumin in the urine. Normally there should be no detectable quantities.
    Elevated protein levels are known as proteinuria. Albumin is one of the smaller protiens, and if the kidneys begin to dysfuncion it may show an early sign of kidney disease.

    Other conditions which may lead to protein in the urine include:

    • Injury to the urinary tract, bladder or urethra
    • Inflammation, malignancies.
    • Multiple myeloma

    Urobilinogen:

    Normally present in the urine in small quantity. Less than 1% of urobilinogen is passed by the kidneys the remainder is excreted in the faeces or transported back to the liver and converted into bile.

    Raised levels may be due to:

    • Cirrhosis
    • Hepatitis
    • Hepatic necrosis
    • Haemolytic and pernicious anaemia
    • Malaria

    Nitrites:

    Nitrites are formed by the breakdown of urinary nitrates. This us usually caused by Gram-negative and some Gram-positive bacteria.
    So the presence of nitrites suggests bacterial infection such as E.coli, Staphylococcus and Klebsiella.
    Commonly found during a urinary tract infection.

    Leukocytes:

    Detects white cells in the urine (pyuria) which is associated with urinary tract infection.

    Source: ImpactedNurse

    Urinalysis may be useful in investigations and management of the following conditions. 

    1. Urinary tract infections
    2. Cirrhosis of the liver
    3. Hepatitis 
    4. Hemolytic anemia
    5. Malaria
    6. Pre-eclampsia
    7.Metabolic acidosis and alkalosis
    8. Respiratory acidosis and alkalosis
    9. Diabetse mellitus
    10. Diarrhoea
    11. Starvation
    12. Renal calculi
    13. Diabetes ketoacidosis
    14. Biliary tract infections
    15. Obstructive jaundice
    16. Pregnancy
    17. Alcoholism
    18. Dehydration
    19. Heart failure
    20. Diabetes Insipidus
    21. Nephropathy – Diabetic and Hypertensive
    22. Multiple Myeloma
    23. Menstruation
    24. Vomitting 
    25. Cancers of the urinary tract, kidney, bladder
    Addional information on this topic may be obtained from the sources below.

    —————end email uchek——————–

  • Three Peaks & Three Gadgets

    Three Peaks & Three Gadgets

    Moves storylineLast saturday Sally and I did the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk. A great walk it was too, especially tagging along behind two members of the LDWA who specialise in 100mile non stop walks. So we moved had a brisker pace and had fewer shorter stops than we are accustomed to with The Cambridge Rambling Club 🙂 The weather was very low cloud with 12″ or so of freshish snow on all three peaks.

    The gadgets I was carrying where an iPhone5 with the Moves app running & the route in the Viewranger app (although not tracking). I also had the route stored in my Garmin etrex 20 which was also storing our track as we walked it. Finally I was wearing my trusty Fitbit Ultra.

    I’m pleased to say they all worked flawlessly and all their batteries stayed live for the 11 or so hours we were out. I was also carrying my Canon 550D with a 18-135mm lens.

    Moves

    This is a very nifty app that automatically works out if you are walking, cycling or just sat in a vehicle! It works by using the internal GPS (battery only lasts a few hours) and also the various internal motion sensors. At the end of the day it produces a summary and storyline (see left image). For this walk (and to and froing  before & after) it gave a result of 58,499 steps, 25.7 miles in 10hours 29mins. You can also see the times we summited and the little stops we had.

    I now use this app everyday the biggest disadvantage (apart from battery life – which to me is OKish)is that you cannot easily create a database of activity.

    I kept the iPhone in an Aquapac case to stop water damage & also took a TeckNeti EP387 7000mAh external battery pack with cable. (Total weight 368gm)

     

     

     

    Fitbit

    Fitbit data March 16th

    As anyone knows both Sally and I are obsessed with this amazing device.

    This gave a reading of 60,600 steps, 28.6 miles. 523 floors climbed (5230 feet in normal speak) and 5340 calories burned over about 12.5 hours .  So it agrees very closely to Moves.

     

     

     

     


    GPS

    Using Ascent OSX app we get the profile and speed as:Screenshot_22_03_2013_14_47

    Screenshot_22_03_2013_14_45

    This worked out we had walked 24.8 miles in a moving time of 8hr 45min (average speed 2.8mph) with an ascent of 5,579 feet. So the other devices had a pretty good correlation. So the Fitbit really does work 🙂

    All my photos of the days walk can be found here.

    [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ITldxbLXubU/UUTDgYXvFBI/AAAAAAACTLA/RkSjJEAUIyE/s144-c-o/IMG_8415.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856020376553722898″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8415.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aI1a-or4HKs/UUTDkYfWVdI/AAAAAAACSxo/9ysuarfFNoQ/s144-c-o/IMG_8418.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856020445305132498″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8418.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vfKtIXBHppE/UUTDwEaXKWI/AAAAAAACSyI/4lQSqiWgBBI/s144-c-o/IMG_8427.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856020646073936226″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8427.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-U20qzfWpX98/UUTDzrmUOaI/AAAAAAACSyQ/qNaw1-RyXNE/s144-c-o/IMG_8429.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856020708132665762″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8429.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VyIHfP-zfC4/UUTEWPFYSUI/AAAAAAACSzM/UJJKkPFcMcM/s144-c-o/IMG_8444.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856021301773748546″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8444.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wNwghhkLHIE/UUTFGR2GqhI/AAAAAAACS4s/3RJllI9OqCU/s144-c-o/IMG_8466.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856022127148706322″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8466.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-oEUgnRkl8pM/UUTFJVg3OtI/AAAAAAACS0w/2gi-iBV4EqE/s144-c-o/IMG_8469.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856022179672963794″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8469.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bE_pthyfLb4/UUTFeHvqewI/AAAAAAACS1c/0Ip8AJO9vZw/s144-c-o/IMG_8480.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856022536754199298″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8480.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/–Ig4y1i2L-Q/UUTF_4BlvzI/AAAAAAACSuY/IDRkueWueEo/s144-c-o/IMG_8494.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856023116649971506″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8494.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ZwdvBagJzcY/UUTGucJrDUI/AAAAAAACTGk/HF40lfTRl7M/s144-c-o/IMG_8519.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856023916621532482″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8519.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mUqnVn3_KcI/UUTHGDoTM0I/AAAAAAACSwo/ZMFpIp2y4to/s144-c-o/IMG_8531.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856024322355966786″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8531.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-MbqhPd9G6lk/UUTHJeYzCgI/AAAAAAACS5M/UaQY4OXFizQ/s144-c-o/IMG_8533.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856024381078309378″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8533.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-wqm5H-dhe9g/UUTHKUXvPmI/AAAAAAACSw0/mMLp0k7jnQ4/s144-c-o/IMG_8534.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856024395569380962″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8534.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-JSSMwjHa8LI/UUTHWgrIzQI/AAAAAAACSxQ/BBw-qpjJXMo/s144-c-o/IMG_8544.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856024605030403330″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8544.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DLzmt0xEgMY/UUTHZjoZcSI/AAAAAAACS14/tp0-eIDIl1k/s144-c-o/IMG_8546.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111882957452855371846/20130316YorkshireThreePeaksWalk#5856024657363824930″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8546.JPG” ]

     

     

     

     

  • My year on Fitbit (Part 2)

    Fitbit on Amazon

    I at to smile at this twitter from Fitbit:

    Since I’ve already accomplished this and more by using the excellent Fitbit API and the  script written by John McLaughlin aka @loghound for Google docs. Ernesto Ramirez also made an  how to video on Vimeo which easily explained the process, so that even I could do it!

    The results can be found in this google spreadsheet (It may take a while to download, it’s rather big.

    In my case the answer is 8,867,720 steps or 7,161Km (4,449 miles) which took 1,226.982 Kcals of energy (more or less I did lose just over 1kg in weight through the year). My weight chart is here

    Time wise I spent:-

    • 32% in bed, asleep for 30% + 2100 awakenings 🙁
    • 36% sedentary
    • 14% lightly active
    • 7% very active
    • Using google charts I produced this rather nifty chart of my daily steps.

     

    So an interesting year for me.

    9 Jan 2013 update. Here is the email:

    Fitbit annual stats email