A user can copy the map data of a designated city to the memory card and get quick geographic information to know their location and if any landmarks are located nearby. Geo-tagged images are automatically sorted and can be played back along a map so that users can literally trace their photographic journey. The LUMIX ZS20 shows the name of the Country/Region, State/Prov./County, County/Township, City/Town/Village and Landmark – all of which is saved in the EXIF data.

Lumix TS4
Another newcomer at Panasonic is the LUMIX TS4, a ruggedized camera combining a GPS, compass, altimeter, barometer with waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof features. This camera is coming mid-March 2012 with a suggested retail price of $400.

COOLPIX S9300
Nikon is also announcing a new GPS-enabled camera: the COOLPIX S9300′s that also boast a slim form factor with a 18x optical Zoom. Besides the built-in GPS, the cameras displays a map as to where the user has been. It will be available for a suggested retail price of $350.

Khoor (Khur) Salt Lake - دریاچه نمک خور

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Khoor (Khur) Salt Lake, Khur and Biabanak County, Isfahan Province, Iran - by Taha Tebyani

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AMBIT, the new Suunto range comes in two colors, black or silver, with or without a heart rate belt. It will be available in March 2012 in selected outdoor stores and the price is estimated to be between 400-500 Euro.

Winter in Karaj - زمستان در کرج

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Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran - by Dariush.M

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One celebration marked the hundred day before the religious No Ruz on the first day of the month Farvardin (religious No Ruz is different from spring No Ruz). The other one was the hundredth day after the gahambar of Ayathrima (one of the six feasts of obligation) held to be the beginning of winter. This day coincides with 10th of Bahman in present calendar.

It is not clear why there are two Sadeh Festivals and why different regions have had different dates. Many of Zoroastrian holy days were and are celebrated twice; this is caused by the calendar reform in the 3rd century AD.

From Achaemenid times the Iranian calendar had 360 days and was short of 5 days. Ardeshir the first Sassanian king reformed the calendar and 5 days were added at the end. The new calendar receded slowly against the solar year, and the holy days, which with their symbolism were closely linked with the seasons, became gradually divorced from them. The months moved and so did the holy days, to make sure festivals were observed correctly both the old and the new dates were celebrated. The festival celebrated in Yazd is according to Fasli calendar and in a few villages it is called Hiromba.

While the other Zoroastrians celebrated the Sadeh in Bahman. There was confusion earlier in the century as to when it should be celebrated, but most Zoroastrians have adopted the 10th of Bahman as the main event.

In Sassanian times huge bon fires were set up. Priests led the prayers specific to fire ‘Atash Niyayesh’ and performed the correct rituals before it was lit at sunset. People would dance around the fires. Wine an expensive luxury would be served communally and like all other Zoroastrian religious ceremonies the occasion would end with fun, merriment and feasts. The most elaborate report of the celebration comes from the 10th century during the reign of Mardavij Zeyari, the ruler of Isfahan.

From Iranian origin the Zeyar family did their best to keep the old traditions alive. Huge bon fires were made in both sides of the ‘Zayandeh Rood’, the main river dividing the city. The fires were contained in specially build metal holders to maintain control. Hundreds of birds were released while carrying little fireballs to light the sky. There were fireworks, clowns, dance and music with lavish feasts of roasted lamb, beef, chicken and other delicacies.

The tradition was virtually lost even amongst the Zoroastrians. In Pahlavi era it was revived and adopted as a major celebration by the whole Zoroastrian community and it is becoming known and increasingly popular with the rest of the Iranians as well. With Zoroastrians the chief preparation or Sadeh is the gathering of wood the day before the festival. Teen-age boys accompanied by a few adult males will go to local mountains in order to gather camel’s thorn, a common desert shrub in Iran. For most it will be the first time they are away from their families. Wood is a scarce commodity in Iran and the occasion resembles a rite of passage, a noteworthy step for the boys on the way to manhood.

The wood gathered would be taken to the local shrine and on their return home if it is their first time there will be a celebration for the boys at home with friends and relatives. However this practice is becoming more difficult these days and attempts are made to preserve it. The work is hard, wood more scarce than ever, fewer boys are prepared to attempt it and safety is a major concern. In addition massive emigration into the cities or outside the country has significantly reduced the number of boys available for this occasion.

Traditionally young boys (before the revolution girls had started joining the boys as well, but the practice has stopped since 1979) would go door to door and ask for wood and collect whatever they could get, from a broken spade-handle to logs and broken branches. While knocking on doors they would chant simple verses like “if you give a branch, god will grant your wish, if you don’t, god won’t favor your wish” and similar verses. All wood collected would be taken to the local shrine. Before the sunset all would gather outside the temple to torch the wood with prayers and chants remembering the great ones of the faith and the deceased.

In ancient times the fires were always set near water and temples. The great fire originally meant (like winter fires lit at other occasions) to help revive the declining sun, and bring back the warmth and light of summer. It was also designed to drive off the demons of frost and cold, which turned water to stone, and thus could kill the roots of plants beneath the earth. For this reasons the fire was lit near and even over water and by the shrine of Mihr, who was lord both of fire and the sun. Biruni in AD 1000 has very accurately described all these reasons for Sadeh Festival.

The fire is kept burning all night. The day after, first thing in the morning, women would go to the fire and each one will carry a small portion back to their homes and new glowing fires are made from the ritually blessed fire. This is to spread the blessing of the Sadeh fire to every household in the neighborhood. Whatever that is left of the fire will be taken back to the shrine to be pilled in one container and will be kept at the temple. The festivities would normally go on for three days and the wood gathering by the boys door to door and blessing of the dead happens every night and evenings are spend eating and giving away ‘khairat’ (giving away as a good deed). Food prepared from slaughtered lamb and ‘ash e khairat’ are distributed amongst the less fortunate.

Today, Sadeh is mainly celebrated on 10th of Bahman. The fires are not lit outside and all activities take place inside the shrines. The wood gathering activities are reduced though there are efforts to preserve them. However the bulk of the Iranians are becoming more familiar with the occasion and there are gatherings and celebrations outside Iran.

Fires are lit, music, dancing and merriment of all kinds will go on for the rest of the evening. The occasion for the majority of Iranians has no religious significance and no specific rituals are involved other than torching bon fires at sunset and having a merry time and therefore keeping up with the ancient traditions when merriment was venerated and practiced.

Learn Your System
One of the first mistakes people make when using a GPS system is taking it out of the box as they begin their journey. If you do this, you may find that there is a learning curve to most GPS systems. They each work in slightly different ways. While new technology often excites us to the point that we just want to go, it is important to slow down and read the manual. At least give it a quick flip through so that you understand the functions of the system. After you understand the basic functions of the system, you will want to explore how it actually works. Take a road trip as a passenger. Set up a route that you travel routinely and pay attention to how the system actually functions in real life.

Experiment with setting benchmarks, orientating yourself and what happens if you need to re-route. If you plan on using the GPS for walking around cities or exploring nature areas, place yourself in those situations on a small scale. Walk around your home town with the device. Take a small hike. Actually using the GPS in a real situation will prevent stress when in an unfamiliar place. You will know exactly how to read and use your device when you need it the most.

Prepare your GPS
Download the maps for your travel with plenty of time to review them and ensure that they give you the necessary information for the area you are exploring. Compare the generated routes to physical maps to ensure that they are routing properly. Take a test run at finding specific addresses, locations and POI’s.

Remember the Power
Power can be a problem when traversing rural areas by GPS. Be prepared by making sure that you have more power than necessary – in case you become lost or change your travel plans. Make sure you have extra battery power, universal adapters, solar chargers or other power systems. If you are relying on a GPS, you don’t want to have it run out of power just when you need it most.

Considerations for GPS Travel
Be smart when traveling with a GPS. Avoid leaving the device exposed in your vehicle. It could easily be stolen, taking your route with you. Carry a physical map with you, just in case. While it may not be as detailed or updated as your GPS maps, it could help you navigate in an emergency. Keep in mind that wondering around a city while blatantly using a GPS can target you immediately as a tourist or lost. Many GPS devices allow you to use ear buds to listen to directions, allowing you to keep the device in your pocket. This can also free up your hands.
Taking the time to understand your GPS and prepare the device helps prevent the stress that often comes from travel situations, leaving you able to enjoy every minute of your adventure.
Source: MemNav.com

40 Sotoun (Chehel Sotoun) - چهل ستون

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40 Sotoun (Chehel Sotoun), Esfahan (Isfahan), Esfahan (Isfahan) province, Iran - by Danoush V

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High speed | Low speed

This multimedia report is the product of a conversation with the late Ansari on the subject of the rapidly dwindling number of plane trees on Tehran’s famous and beloved Valiasr Avenue due to climate change, deliberate destruction, and other human factors.

The contention over the plane trees is an issue that has recurred many times since the early nineteenth century. History even records an instance where Reza Shah ordered that attention and resources be lavished on the trees in the dead of winter, though some street sweepers would instead girdle the trees for eventual use as firewood. Today, nearly seventy years later, the contention continues. The street sweepers have given way to boutique owners some of whom apparently use quick and efficient methods to dry out the trees in order to clear the view of their storefronts. Meanwhile, many of Tehran’s city officials are content to find any suitable excuse to turn dead trees over to the saws of municipal employees.
 

In this report, Yaser Ansari Kojuri calls for a coordinated policy to protect the plane trees of the iconic Valiasr Avenue in Tehran.
Source: jadidonline.com

Imamzadeh Hossein - قزوین : امامزاده حسين

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Imamzadeh Hossein, Qazvin, Qazvin Province, Iran - by Bijan1351

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Indoor location is basically made of two components: map content in one hand and location engine in the other hand. These components are often provided by two different types of companies. Because GPS and Glonass are not working indoor, other types of technologies are offered by a number of companies to provide the positioning of mobile devices: Wi-Fi RF fingerprinting & triangulation (Cisco, Pole Star, Navizon), Bluetooth (NAVTEQ/Nokia), Cellular signal (GloPos), GPS Pseudolytes (Insiteo).

In addition, some companies like CSR/SiRF with its SiRFusion platform are willing to fuse several techniques/sensors to provide the best positioning depending on the sensors available. As it comes to indoor maps providers, there are several of them such as Micello, Point Inside, What A Map and of course NAVTEQ who came late to the game. There are also players which specialize in vertical markets. For example, aisle411 provides store maps and in-store navigation for retailers such as Home Depot or Lowe’s as well as grocery stores in a dozen of U.S. metropolitan markets. FastMall is, as the name implies, specializing in shopping malls maps and navigation.

Before talking about the impact of Google it is interesting to understand the business models and go to market strategies of the players in this market segment. There are basically two ways to monetize indoor location. One is to work directly with venue owners to provide them with tools to offer maps and navigation to their visitors and, sometimes, to track these visitors behaviours. In this category the business model is traightforward: the venue owner supports the cost of the system and offer it as a value added service.

The second type of business model is to provide a service directly to consumers with a mobile app. This type of model requires scale and the monetization is likely to come from advertising. this is where Google is obviously playing. It is therefore interesting to understand that many players are not really afraid of Google because they not directly compete against the web giant.
This is the case for WiFi positioning provider Pole Star. According to its CEO Christian Carle, “Google’s announcement creates great opportunities. It demonstrates to Pole Star’s prospects and customers that indoor positioning and mapping have great value. For Pole Star, it reinforces the value of our high accuracy positioning technology. Google educates on “Where Am I?”, Pole Star’s technology enables step-by-step guidance for users and advanced marketing services to our customers. Moreover, this creates a need for apps with maps whose specific look and feel are able to convey the image of the brand.“

According to Todd Sherman Chief Marketing Officer at indoor map vendor Point Inside, Google is silently building a system that is threatening retailers because it could easily allow in-store marketing from competitors.
“A customer inside a store is a high-value target for advertisers and a lucrative revenue opportunity for Google. It is likely that Google’s indoor maps will operate with Google’s very successful AdWords model where algorithms decide which ads to present and are biased toward the highest bidder – which can easily be a competitor.“

The key here is that indoor location is one of the technologies where brick & mortar players collides with the web giants. Everything indicates there will be a battle over who is going to own the smartphone experience in-store and in-mall. To some extend it is not very different of the battle launched by Amazon against brick and mortar stores with its price check app that is offering a 5 percent discount on any product scanned at a retail location. Small players in the indoor location market might therefore find a good business working with retailers to enable their own indoor maps and navigation applications that will compete with Google products.

“Still at a nascent stage“
Nevertheless, this market is still at its very early days; even Google does not have much to offer yet with only a few location mapped. As noticed by Patrick Connelly, analyst with ABI Research, “A tranche of new technologies from CSR, Nokia, Google, Ericsson, Mexens Technology, NextNav, and Boeing have all been launched over the last three months to help unlock the potential of indoor location and marketing. However, it will take a few years for these technologies to proliferate; indoor mapping has yet to reach anywhere near a critical mass and the ability to build relevant indoor information, marketing, and advertising is still at a nascent stage.“
Source: gpsbusinessnews.com