INGRESS REPORT – Translator, Bucketlist, Unight16 – Raw Feed
There are around 220 countries around the world and 150 countries will participate in Ingress Saturday next week. That leaves out about seventy countries.
Yesterday I went on an Ingress bike tide that passed by bison. I went from Nyon to Mies and from Mies up towards Gex, and before getting to Gex, I turned towards Divonne where I met an Ingress player before heading home, as the sun was setting.
I went out in the morning, dressed warmly. It was warm. Warm weather means less clothing on the bike ride. With such a great opportunity I decided to go for a bike ride.
I set off with no destination in mind so I skimmed Nyon and went by the lake road. Cycling along the lake road is good because there are cycle paths for almost the entire length. The drawback is that the bike lanes have obstacles. In some places the paths are not cleaned as often as roads, in others, you have road works and in yet more there are cycle lanes but the transition from one surface to the other is not smooth. In one case you would have to stop and lift the bike onto the cycle lane.
As I cycled I hacked certain Ingress portals along the way, linking, and liberating others. As I was hacking one portal after Mies, someone on a bike asked me if I had a pump, so I cycled back to where I had been and lent it to them. After a few minutes, the flat was resolved and I could continue on my way.
I could have continued cycling towards Geneva, but as I saw a snicket I chose to go up the path. It took me to an unusual place. I think it is a place for camping trailer homes and fair equipment that is stored when not in use. It’s right by the Centre Sportif De Versoix. It’s a road I have seen plenty of times but never explored.
On the Route de La Viellie-Bâtie I saw bison grazing. I didn’t expect to see them there. They are usually in another field close to the motorway and airport. As I continued along this path I followed the cycle route signs and ended up on a narrow metalled path that took me by walkers.
At the end of the path, there is a barrier and I saw three or four old people making their way towards the barrier. Rather than wait for me to pass they lethargically walked through and I had to slow down and wait for them to pass. If I was in a group of pedestrians, I’d like to think we would let the cyclist pass, rather than force him to slow down or stop. When you are flâneurs what rush is there to get from A to B?
There is a fun segment to ride on a bike. It requires a short climb on the lake side of Cessy before a nice descent towards Tutegny. As there was no traffic I enjoyed riding fast along this segment.
When I got to Grilly I went along the Cycle route 7. This is an old train or tram track that has been surfaced for walkers and cyclists to go along. In theory, it’s a cycle lane but on a Sunday this isn’t the case. Between dog walkers and walkers you’re on a bike ride rather than cycling as a cyclist. I don’t mind slowing down for children on their bikes, or parents with children. I mind adults taking the entire road. I cycled slower than usual along this segment.
One or two weekends ago I was in Divonne on foot to play Ingress and field. This time I was on a bike. Playing Ingress on a bike is great. You can get from one point to another very fast and you can go down roads and other paths that are closed to cars. Instead of a 10-minute walk, it’s a two-minute ride. It’s great for hacking some portals and destroying those controlled by the opposition.
I know of people who like to play Ingress in a car, rather than on foot when the space between portals is long. I prefer the bike. With a bike, you’re having a workout, whilst playing the game. You can get between villages in an instant and so cover greater distances. This is useful when portals are spaced widely apart.
Someone was active in Divonne at the same time as I was riding through and after a few minutes of talking, and sharing keys he asked: “Can you go and link these two portals?”. With a bike such favours are quick.
By cycling frequently I increase my endurance. By combining Ingress I take different routes than I would if I was on foot, by scooter or by car. I get to know the local area and I see changes. I headed home, not because I was tired, as I have been on other rides, but because I wanted to be home before the sunset. I need to find a way to fix the front light to my bike. I could simply wait for the long summer days instead.
Now that we are between the via ferrata season and the snowboarding and scuba diving season a distraction is provided by gamers who like to use the physical world and mobile phones.
Dear Ingress agents of Lausanne and elsewhere,
The first Saturday of December (06/12/14), our city will participate in a special Niantic event named #IngressFS (https://plus.google.com/+Ingress/posts/7oVmNtssWGu). Meetings, fun and competition will be there !
Schedule of the day:
10:00 AM : Cross-Faction Coffee / Croissants at Qwerz bar. Meeting between the players, advices and help to the new players, sharing experiences and explanations for the rest of the day.
12:00 AM : Start of the Level-Up Bootcamp event. AP of players will be registered and the teams will be formed (experienced players with new agents). Note that the Visur Game Mechanic system will reward most handsomely low levels agents.
2:00 PM – ? : End of the Level-Up Bootcamp event. Back at the meeting point (Qwertz bar), the AP gained will be recorded and prizes will be given.
Then : beers, beergress & other activities / surprises for you.
For those who also want to eat together at the evening, we created a separate event which you need to register if you want to come : https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/ccbaf6qv7rjgndtoo0b7upbu5mo
Lausanne was selected by Niantic as the main city for the event #IngressFS December 6, so we should receive kits First Saturday (IFSK-100) you distribute: https://plus.google.com/+Ingress/posts / Ai7yxoCpq2L ! Agents of all levels are encouraged to participate to have a good day between Ingress players.
Please fill the following form for the organization of the levelup (we will contact the low levels some days before the event to know their new level) : http://goo.gl/forms/CNSz5ZZVMT
Additionals informations concerning the organization will be provided here. Thank you to register if you would like to participate, so that we could have the best organization possible.
Once again I was out in the rain walking around a city. Once again I was looking downwards and then up. I was also looking around and navigating through a city I have been to before but only for a meal and on my way to another place. I went there for a blogobar event many months ago. More recently I went through the city on my way to a Via Ferrata near La Chaux De Fond. This time was different. I was meeting people who stare at their mobile phones when walking around city. To many of you this describes what you think is wrong with society. Too many people withdrawing from society, not interacting. This isn’t the case.
These people who met from 10am on a saturday until 1145 before a group picture was taken are ingress players. Ingress as you know from previous posts is a muntiplayer augmented reality game that people play by walking around in the real world. They walk towards buildings, monuments, statues and other sights of interest. As a group, as I wrote about yesterday we had three missions as a group. I only did two of these with the group. One of them required a physical walk up to the castle of Neuchatel and back down the slope. As we walked we saw parts of the city which I had yet to see. The second walk was from the train station down towards the lake side.
This is relevant for two reasons. The first of these is that I am a hiker and in summer I spend my weekends in the mountains. The second is that I have walked around more cities than I can remember. The best way to get to know a city is by walking. You gain a sense of scale. You understand it’s geography and you also see what points of interest are where and how they are connected. Rome is a city which I visited many times alone. I love the city because I love the life style contrast between Geneva and Rome. I also love the city because of it’s history. Where else do you park a car in a basement next to some Roman walls. Where else do you have two Millenia of history so visible?
Ingress today offered me an opportunity to meet with strangers and do activities with them, to see parts of a new city and to have company. So often mobile phones are associated with solitude and isolation. Through this account you may understand that mobile phones and especially smartphones can be inclusive. The conversations that we had through social media have faded as the noise has gone up and this is where social augmented reality games can pick up. They can provide a new opportunity for people to connect.
Next month I plan on going to Firenze for another event. So far over 600 people have signed up. They will come from around Europe and around the world to meet in a beautiful city with a rich cultural history. This will be the backdrop for the game. I look forward to visiting the city once again and meeting new people precisely because of smartphones rather than despite of them.
At this time of year there is a race between the walker and the sun. Either you must go for a walk earlier in the day or you must be ready to walk after the sun has set. Both of these are possible. The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are getting lower. They are getting low enough for gloves to be tempting. I haven’t worn them yesterday, or today, but yesterday I almost felt the need.
One aspect of Autumn walks is that we walk at the golden hour, so the light is good for pictures, if you are equipped to walk, once the sun has set. I was not, so I continued walking, hoping to get home before it was too dark to see. I did, easily.
Pikmin Bloom is simple. It is an app/game that uses your steps to decide how many flowers you have planted in the AR world. As you go for your daily walk you plant flowers, and as you plant flowers, and as you take steps, you also gestate flowers in pots.
The game is made by Niantic Labs, makers of Ingress, a great game, and Pokemon Go, a game for compulsive OCD people. Can you tell which one I prefer. So far the biggest flaw i see with Pikmin bloom is that it does not count all your steps. It only counts those that are taken as the app is open, or a certain mode is engaged, and that is a shame. With Ingress I would easily have the 2500 kilometre badge, if only it counted all walking, rather than just the walking you do with the app open.
We are not all going for walks, just to play AR games. Some us go for a walk to go for a walk, and if we’re in the mood we may spend a few minutes playing Ingress or other Niantic games. I dislike Pokemon Go because of the random rejection when you try to catch Pokemon Go creatures. It feels too time demanding, to be worth investing in.
I will spend more time playing with Pikmin Bloom. The name is hard to remember. We will see how long I last.
I was going to take the scooter but it was stuck by three SUVs so I had no option but to lazily give up and go on a 10 kilometre Sunday Ingress walk. I couldn’t be bothered running up to the second floor, getting the car keys, moving the car, getting the scooter out and then moving the car back. This is especially true since it’s going to rain tomorrow.
I do have the goal of having at least one day a week without using an internal combustion engine so by the neighbours each having jeeps/SUVs I reduced my own carbon footprint. Days without internal combustion are always good.
My goal was to complete the Nyon by night set of missions. It’s the top line in the screengrab above. It’s a quick set of missions to complete with just a hack but portal for six portals. As the servers were not acting up or slow the time it took to do the walk was enough to complete the six missions. In the process, I captured a few portals and established a few more fields over the city.
While on this walk I listened to the You’re Dead to Me podcast by the BBC. It’s a podcast that explores history in a light-hearted manner. It has a comedian, an expert on the topic of the episode and the presenter. In the episode I listened to they were discussing Harriet Tubman, It’s the little brother of the In Our Time Podcast.
When I was playing Ingress a few years ago I didn’t track the walk with a GPS. I tracked it for this walk. You see that rather than be a large circular hike without overlaps you have the opposite. You see that I walked over certain streets in Nyon two or three times. You also see that there are thorns where I walk to the right or left of my course to get a portal or other.
It’s especially around the Centre of Nyon that you see that I walk through many more streets than usual. On a normal walk, I’d walk from A to B choosing the most direct route. In this case, I go up and down certain streets two or three times.
If you do this without trying to complete a mission it will be even more chaotic as you walk from portal to portal to hack, capture, up, field or other.
During the lull between summer sports and winter sports Ingress is a good way for some people to get out and be physically active without necessarily driving for hours.