Open Blog on Digital-Seas

We thought it was a good idea when Stevo wished for a better markup of search results.
So please find the new layout enabled for the search field and give us some feedback. Hope this will make your daily lookup a bit faster and more fun :-)

Update, 2010-06-04:
- new colorcoding system to distinct searchresults even better :-)
- checkout the search vessel browser integration

THANKS to all commenters!

ps. we really enjoy pushing the development of all vessel tracking sites :-) let’s see how fast we get copied this time

…Youtube did it and we’ve done it also.

Using the rainy day here in Rostock for some programming I decided to get rid of the two years of voting on our great images. People and their beloved photos are a very emotional and personell subject.
I always disliked the idea of taking images and getting in some kind of contest, due to the rating system. So why not simplify our lives and transform it into a way of still having the chance to express my “Favs” and leave all other images alone.

Almost 30.000 votes got converted to a more simplier system of: “like it, or leave it”. The vessels image thumbnail now has only one star left to honor the photographer. Show, that you are a fan of the photo. Thanks to the help of our friend Marcus and a little bit of AJAX you can also decide later on about your decision :-)
It will take another day of hacking to count the results and display them inside the stats icon, so hang on.

Let us know, if you like the new way here:

UPDATE: we replaced the STAR with a THUMBS UP icon (Stevos suggestion)

we added a new way to secure your images against being published on the web by third parties, without beeing asked first. After some discussion in our forum and members asking for a solution, we came up with an automatic watermarking of images.

http://forum.digital-seas.com/topic/deleted-photos
http://www.digital-seas.com/vessel_search/vessel_photo/detail/b70792e_louise_marie_q2007778.html#comment-1718

Since we do not accept uploaded images with interference of the vessels image, there is now an automatic way to secure your images with a switch, if you want to do so.

This will give people a chance to secure their images (possibly only part-time, when the newspapers are done with the next pirated vessel :-)
Everybody, who does not like a watermark on own images, check your profile page and unmark the option. We still prefer vessel images without extra watermarks in high resolution on this site. Willing to respect every copyright and listening to you, this is another step towards handling the copyright issues…

Effects, when text is given in your profile and switch is ON:
- no watermarks on small thumbnails in lists and preview thumb inside Fleetmon
- watermark is automatically rendered on vessel images in lightbox and preview mode
- your own preview of the uploaded image in full size will not be affected by the watermark, so you can happily continue using DS as your full size image store

statistics:
- more then 35.000 users are registered
- more then 11.000 vessels in permanent AIS coverage
- more then 99.000 vessels in database
- more then 1.000 Fleetmon :mobile users

new AIS receptions:
[+] added new AIS antenna: Denmark: Fredericia
[+] added new AIS antenna: Sweden: Vänersborg
[+] added new AIS antennas: Belgium: Antwerp, Brussel, Zeebrugge
[+] added new AIS antenna: Netherland: Terschelling, Leeuwarden
[+] added new AIS antennas: Brazil: Sao Vicente, Salvador, Sao Lois
[+] added new AIS antenna: China: Tianjin Xin Gang
[+] added new AIS antenna: Indonesia: Kota Surabaya
[+] added new AIS antennas: Singapur: Johor, Kota Kinabalu Kuching Melaka Miri Port Dickson Port Kelang Tanjung Pelepas Singapore Jurong Island Keppel - (East Singapore) Pulau Bukum Pulau Sebarok Serangoon Harbor

Site changes:
[+] new image watermarking option in user profiles
[+] added vessel history to vessel-detail page
[*] added ETA in port arrival lists

[*] improved algorithm to determine vessel location (verbal)
[+] added inland rivers/ports in Europe for location detection
[*] much extended Fleetmon :mobile Version 1.2 released
[+] new Fleetmon :mobile page
[*] still working on vessel detail edit extension

We are always looking for new AIS coverage. If you could share a signal or establish a new antenna in your port of interest, let us know via: Contact

Version 1.2 is online in the store today, Port Section and many new functions added. Check it out!
http://www.digital-seas.com/iphone

Changes from v1.1 to 1.2:

[*] new exclusive “pinch to fetch” feature (get updates on map move)
[+] improved spotter mode (store last position, new callout buttons with flag and type icon, better performance)
[*] faster listings for all vessels in area
[*] rewrote the listing tab, faster, better info overview
[+] new detail view of vessel, with ship images and last position map
[*] much improved vessel-search, starts now with your last search

[+] new port listing, lists all vessels in a port, select regions, countrys and ports
[+] configuration settings now inside the app

[*] new shiny app icon :-)

for our AIS coverage please research at http://www.digital-seas.com/ports

numbers: around 100 new users registering every day, 264 people did upload more then 800 images over the last 30 days, more then 900 users made use of the personel vessel-list, our keen moderators sorted out around 40 images due to quality and copyright reasons in this period, communication needs (mail, phone) around the site are rising…

new AIS receptions:
[+] added new AIS antenna: Germany, Bremen
[+] added new AIS antenna: Germany, Mannheim (Rhine, inland AIS)
[+] added new AIS antenna: Austria, Vienna (Danube, inland AIS)
[+] added new AIS share: USA, Savannah
[+] added new AIS antenna: Spain, Vigo
[+] added new AIS antenna: Portugal, Tavira
[+] added new AIS share: SouthAfrica, Richards Bay
[+] added new AIS share: Singapur, SingapurCity

[+] set up a GIS database of world wide ports and areas
[*] rewrote the Port Listing area to reflect the new Port-Areas in GIS - DB
[*] extended our zone alerting for more then 300 new areas (beta)
[*] made all internal AIS statistics available for sharers
[+] added new page: My AIS Station (users sharing with DS, have access to various parameters of their antennas)
[+] added new page: Chat (for users, looking for a fast way of communication)
[*] reworking the search engine for overall search
[*] created a desktop uploader (ImageManager) for power users (closed beta)

[?] did you try out the site-wide search lately ?

We are always looking for new AIS coverage. If you could share a signal or establish a new antenna in your port of interest, let us know: Contact

statistics: we crossed the 9.000 permanent tracked vessels this month,  almost 90.000 vessels in the database, 16.000 vessels with images…

going for a mindopen dive now:

[+] added new page: My Vessel List (list of monitored vessels)
[*] changed vessel lists + vessel thumbnails to new option of monitoring

[+] added new page: My Ship Finder (visualizing SP XML files)
[+] added new page: Uploads Timeline (all image uploads browsable)

[+] added new Tutorials in the FAQ section (you can listen to Lars voice in the iPhone demo:-)
[+] created new Page explaining DynDNS in the FAQ section

[+] API extensions for Fleetmon :mobile for zone alerts

[*] reaching milestone 2/3  in Fleetmon V2 development

[?] did you try the sitewide search lately ?

[+] added iPhone page with ScreenCast
[+] added iPhone ForumSection
[+] added Image Pager on VesselDetailPage
[+] added VesselThumbNail on ImageDetailPage

[-] removed pager on VesselDetailPage

[*] changed label speed of vessel from km/h to kn on VesselDetailPage
[*] fixed link to user profiles from ImageDetailPage
[*] finished API to database for external access
[*] base coding for site wide search created