What is Geohashing and how do you use this function?

Geohashing is a way to create a new, random point on the world map every day using a calculation. The idea is that people can look up that point and go there for a playful or adventurous activity.

How did Geohashing originate?

Geohashing was invented in 2008 by Randall Munroe, the creator of the xkcd webcomic. It started as a joke in a comic strip, but many people liked the idea. As a result, it quickly became a real hobby. The concept is simple: a computer creates a new, random location on the map every day. People can visit that location to discover something new. The name comes from “geography” and “hashing”. This means a computer uses a code to calculate the location. Geohashing is somewhat similar to geocaching, but you are not looking for a box. You are only looking for a point on the map. All over the world, people sometimes go to these points and share their experiences with each other.

What is Geohashing?

With geohashing, one new point on the world map is created every day using a fixed calculation. The calculation always starts with the date. This date is used as text, for example “2026-04-04”. Then this text is combined with a large number, such as the Dow Jones value of that day. The two pieces are joined together into one long line of text.

A hash is then made from that text. A hash is a kind of digital fingerprint: a long string of numbers and letters that always remains the same as long as the input is the same. For geohashing, the MD5 hash is used. This hash is then split into two parts. Each part is converted into a number between 0 and 1. The first number belongs to the latitude, the second to the longitude.

The Earth is divided into a grid of squares. Each square is one degree wide and one degree long. You choose the square you are in, for example 51° North latitude and 4° East longitude. The two numbers from the calculation are added to these degrees. This creates an exact location, such as 51.348912° N and 4.772104° E. That is the geohash point for that day.

The Geohashing function

In GC Wizard you can find this function in the folder Encryption & Codes > Geohashing

How does the function work?

This function calculates a new location using a starting coordinate, a date and a Dow Jones Index value.

Year, Month, Day

At the top of the screen you see the date. The app automatically fills in today’s date. The date is in year, month, day order. You can adjust the date using the up and down arrows, but you can also change the date directly in the text field.

Location

Below the date is the Location heading. Here you must enter coordinates. This concerns the latitude and longitude.

You can enter them in three ways:

Type the degrees directly into the text fields
Retrieve your current location with the location button
Paste a copied coordinate with the paste button

Symbol	Name	Description
	Location	Button to enter the current location into the text fields
	Paste	Button to enter a coordinate from the clipboard into the text fields

Dow Jones Index

In this section the value of the Dow Jones Index is entered. This can be done in two ways:

Manually: Set the switch to “Manual”. A text field will then appear in which you can type the value yourself.
Via the internet: Set the switch to “Internet”. A message will then appear that the app will automatically retrieve the data from an external source.

Output format

In the selection menu you can choose the format for the coordinates. There are several options available, such as DD° MM.MMM. This determines how the figures of the location will appear.

Below this menu is the Submit button. Pressing this button executes the calculation.

Output

After pressing the Submit button, the Output block appears at the bottom of the screen. This block is structured as follows:

To the right of the text Output is the Save button. This allows you to save the location as a GPX or KML file.
Below the text Output are the coordinates of the calculated point. Behind them is a button to copy the location to the clipboard.
Below the coordinates are two map buttons:
- Show on separate map: This opens the location on a new map.
- Add result to general map view: This adds the point to the collection map in the app.
Below that is the stock market value of the Dow Jones Index used. With the button at the end of the line, this value can be copied.
After Geohashing is the full text line with the date and the location. This line can also be copied with the button at the end.

GC Wizard

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