Hopefully this update is appreciated by most.

We can hope! But I bet there will be at least a couple of people who won't by happy with the changes and accuse me of trying to fix something that's not broken. *nodding*

-- Ryan

Just a heads up! There's going to be some downtime tonight for The Next Big Update!

Aren't you a day early for an announcement like this? ;-)

Sorry I missed it (Closed on Monday).

Could you put the new IP address on the "Under Construction" page? That way people can reach the new server after it comes online but before the DNS service spreads the new IP address outward worldwide.

Thanks Ryan for keeping AQ as modern and up to date as you do. I understand completely what you will be doing; Yeah Right!!!!! I trust in knowing that you do and that is good enough for me. A few hours downtime is worth a better AQ. I hope this isn't something nefarious in relation to tomorrow's date; huuuuummmmm?????? >>tapping finger on mouth<<

I really want to go find some letter boxes today. There's this one box I've been wanting to find and the clues are all letters with three digit numbers behind them. I know nothing about GPS or anything like that so I'm wondering is that the only way to solve this. Or is this related to something else that I am NOT aware of. Thanks

I just finished compiling and posting another round of test results (two more also came in the mail today and I'll be scanning and getting those ready, too).

Once again, I will say that every one of the testers in the Merry Band has done a fantastic job putting this new material through its paces and giving me very useful feedback. I really, really appreciate it.

I also wanted to thank all the generous people who suggested ways to help defray upfront costs on the material production. You guys are the best. I'll think about that, too.

The final decision about whether to go ahead right now or try to do another round of tweaks before going into production will be made when I talk to my production team next week. I'm leaning toward doing a run, given the feedback I'm getting, but I'll see how long it will take and how much another run of tests will cost, given the tweaks I'm considering and how much improvement it might make in the finished product.

In the meantime, enjoy another batch of fantastic carves. Even if you don't want to read the test results, the images are well worth a peek. :)

Tan Material Sample Results - Round #3

Webfoot

If it has two three-digit number then it may be the last three digits of the GPS coordinate of the letterbox, especially if those letters are N and W. However, you didn't say how many sets of letters followed by digits are there.

One possible meaning of this is a book cipher. This is the cipher used in the movie National Treasure, but it was called "Ottendorf cipher". The problem is finding the key (which isn't always a book) used to code the message. (Perhaps the letters are a coded message indicating the key.) I have made two letterboxes using a book cipher where the key isn't a book but is a monument indicated on the maps provided.

You can also check out the Beale ciphers.

More likely the message is using some other code. There should be some hint on the page somewhere, perhaps in the title of the box.

Even if you don't want to read the test results, the images are well worth a peek. :)

Agreed! You certainly picked a group of carvers that can carve excellent images. They also provided excellent feedback.

From the test results (and feedback) it appears that you will be doing another test run. Do you have an estimate as to when this will be done?

From the test results (and feedback) it appears that you will be doing another test run. Do you have an estimate as to when this will be done?

The jury is still out on this. Depending on costs and timing of another round of tweaking, it may be more expedient to go ahead with it as it is and try and refine it for the next time around. It seems people are liking it well enough that I have a feeling it will disappear faster than the OZ Kut did.

Incidentally, someone asked about the OZ pile and how long it took to go through it. There were actually three runs of OZ. Two shorter test runs with minor production tweaks along the way and one full production run. They were very accommodating. I can't do that with this manufacturer. It's a full on production run or nothing. And if I do much more messing with formulations, sizes, thicknesses, etc., they'll want an even bigger run than I'm already looking at, so I have to balance how much difference the tweaks might make against the cost and risk factors of having to go with a much larger purchase as well as increasing the final cost of the product, since every change I make increases the cost at this point. Incidentally, it looks like with things as they are, and depending on how much shipping costs, the price should come in comparable to OZ, if I did my calculations properly.

More than you really wanted to know, right? If I go with the formula and basic extruder setup as it is (which may mean leaving the pebbled side on the back this time around - I'll try to negotiate that - although PZ Kut had a wrong and right side, too, and MZ, NZ, and OZ all had a better side as well), and I've already negotiated a .26 inch thickness without too much additional cost, then we're looking at a lead time of about 8-10 weeks. Additional testing would probably add another several months to the process, if past experience is anything to go by.

So, can we live with it as it is for a while? How much value do we add by more minor tweaking (which will also increase the cost of the final product)? What do you think - any pearls of wisdom for a puffin?

Webfoot (wracking her little feather brain with so many decisions)

Uh, oh. Thanks for the reminder about tomorrow.....

Some of the features on AQ work only when people use www.atlasquest.com, so there's actually code that will automatically redirect you to that if that's not what you're using. (Try it--going to atlasquest.com will automatically redirect you to www.atlasquest.com.)

For instance, the SSL cert will only work with the www. The Google key I use for creating maps only works with www.atlasquest.com

So... typing in the IP address won't work. You could update the hosts file on your system with the new IP address which does work--but then it breaks things when the IP address has to change again. (I've gone through several over the years!) So I prefer to discourage people from doing that. If the IP address hasn't propagated after several days, I might suggest it, but for most people, it's better just to wait for it to propagate. In theory, it shouldn't take more than an hour or so. *knock on wood*

-- Ryan

I hope this isn't something nefarious in relation to tomorrow's date; huuuuummmmm?????? >>tapping finger on mouth<<

The beautiful thing about doing the update today--I know people are going to think it's part of an April Fools prank, but I don't really care! =) It don't affect the update one way or another.

But if anyone plans to find some boxes tomorrow, I'd suggest the better safe than sorry bit of advice and print your clues now. If it's a prank with no downtime--no big deal! If I'm telling the truth, you'll be glad you printed out the clues and laugh at those who didn't. =)

-- Ryan

I have a set that looks just like this but has a different name. I love them. They are smooth and very sharp and the handle feels good in the hand. I can use the big U at varying angles to even get into small places.

The stick is to push the different blades out. It's just easier than pulling them out with your fingers. I lost my stick and have to wiggle the blades out.

Ah. Makes sense. Thank you

The tan stuff is a very good replacement for OZ, and as such I'm happy with it as is. I really don't think more tweaking is required. And I only carve on one side anyways, so a pebbled side is a total non-issue.

my $.02

All the Eevil clues with links to external sites seem to be broken... help! I get an error which says Bad Request. Same issue from Firefox or my iPad.

I really really liked it. I've carved images on 2 other materials since carving on the test material and found myself wishing for a piece of the tan material instead of what I was working with. I'd buy some as is.

dp

I know people are going to think it's part of an April Fools prank, but I don't really care! =)

Then what will the people do who usually pull April Fools pranks? They'll be out of luck until it comes back up! ;-)

All the Eevil clues with links to external sites seem to be broken... help! I get an error which says Bad Request. Same issue from Firefox or my iPad.

Do you think that it could be an Eevil plot that is occurring a day early because of the downtime?

we're looking at a lead time of about 8-10 weeks. Additional testing would probably add another several months to the process

I'm sure there are a few OZ carvers out there with a bit of a stash, but I know most of us are definitely starting to squirm. To me, this carving material is much better than OZ. It's like OZ, without the pain. Totally holds up detail just as well, but is much easier to carve. PZ and good pink are before my time, but I think this might be the best material I've tried. Even as it was for the sample- thin and curling (of course the final product will be thicker, without the curl).

We'll all have some slight adjusting to do no matter what the new material is like, so I really think this stuff is a winner as is.

Then what will the people do who usually pull April Fools pranks? They'll be out of luck until it comes back up! ;-)

I'm confident that it'll be back up before then. *nodding* I'm really only expecting it'll be down for an hour or two for most people, and almost certainly everyone should be back on by the time they wake up in the morning. =)

And if push comes to shove, there's always April 2nd. Nobody expects a gag on April 2nd so that could work out too. =)

-- Ryan

Having now played with this material twice and feel good detail is possible, my two cents would be to do a production run at .26 inch thickness and let everyone interested play with the material and learn how to adjust for their particular carving style. For me it will be adapting to slightly more elasticity with tiny cuts. I can see enjoying carving with the material more and will be sending pre-order money when Webfoot is ready.

Darn it, me too!

Here's to a smooth IP address change, Ryan!!

Do you think that it could be an Eevil plot that is occurring a day early because of the downtime?

Not likely. I noticed the links were broken probably a month ago. It looks like the domain name they were on or maybe the hosting service wasn't renewed.

I haven't looked to see they're available on the Wayback Machine, but you might try that.

-- Ryan

Well, that update seemed to go reasonably well. Guess we'll see how long it takes for the IP address to propagate as we see people checking in. =)

There's not really much new in this update. The biggest thing was just moving it to the cloud! Faster, cheaper and more reliable than ever! If it's good enough for Netflix's servers, it's good enough for AQ.

The biggest obvious change is that AQ is now using a cloud-based font, but you'll find some smaller changes hidden around if you're observant.

Happy trails and happy Easter!

-- Ryan

IT's SOOOOOOOOO FLUFFY!!!!!!!!

IT's SOOOOOOOOO FLUFFY!!!!!!!!

That sounds suspiciously like something that Fluffy Cow would say. Is that you, Fluffy?

-- Ryan