visualization

We now have Pachube feeds and users from every continent on the planet - but we've been wondering just how much cross-planet traffic we're generating. We know we're getting many 10s of thousands of API requests per hour, but are Pachube feeds localised (requesting each other from geographically close neighbourhoods)? Or are we really doing what we set out to do: facilitate "patching the planet"?

As of a few days ago, Pachube has started archiving historical data from each datastream. While this doesn't provide the high resolution we're aiming for in the longer term, for now it's a quick fix for those who want longer historical records of their feeds.

Archive data is extracted from each datastream's history feed and so it is limited to 15-minute intervals; unlike the history feed, the archive feed will more usefully include a timestamp. The archive is retrieved by swapping "history" with "archive" in each datastream's history URL. For example, see: http://www.pachube.com/feeds/1233/datastreams/1/archive.csv

This now enables the Pachube Viz app to display up to one month's history:

Mobile feeds are going to become more important on Pachube as geospatial tracking systems become more prevalent. We already have a few mobile feeds so we're delighted to announce a new mapping app, Trails, that displays a mobile feed's geolocation data for the last 24 hours, fading away as it recedes in time.

If the feed includes a datastream for some other value that you would like to display, it includes a 3d effect corresponding to the value at that particular time, at that particular location, scaled to the maximum of the 24-hour time series.