FalseNorthing

That’s just business… Oh, wait….

April 15th, 2013 No Comments

Caution: I’m poking a hornet’s nest with this post. read at your own risk and know this is my PERSONAL opinion.

Should tax dollars be directly supporting the general budget funds of a GIS ‘Consultant’?

Your answer to that question may be “Yes”. You may not like me asking the question and I may not like your answer, but it’s a good discussion for the Geo-Community to have. Here’s the backstory: I work for a growing new startup; a Geographic Information System (GIS) consultant. We compete on fairly small projects all across Illinois. Our target client is a small-town public works director in need of a GPS inventory or county engineer too swamped to maintain the few GIS layers they already have. Time and time again our experience has shown one of our largest competitors of such professional GIS consulting services is not other for-profit companies, but taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Planning Commissions and state universities / community college GIS Labs. I’m not picking on anyone this is just what I’ve found.

You’d be surprised to see how many MPOs, Labs & Planning Commissions sell their GIS services like consultants

Now, if you know me, you’d think this is a bit hypocritical: I graduated from a state school with a GIS Lab, taught GIS at a community college and I had my first GIS job at an MPO. So, I get it. I understand that the schools just want their students to gain ‘real-world’ experiences. I also know that some MPOs and planning commissions have GIS consultation services to fill a vital (sometimes unmet) need. They help build GIS for a small community who could not afford it otherwise. That’s great, GIS used to be expensive, VERY expensive. But not so much anymore. With cloud-based solutions, faster internet connections, ArcGIS online, free aerial imagery and LOTS of other inexpensive and easy solutions; the $500,000 price tag just isn’t there anymore. Try telling this to someone paying $35/hr for an MPO or even less for student labor. Competition between for profit companies is expected, but this isn’t an equal playing field. (Whine- Whine- Whine) I understand that all governments are being asked to do more with less, I’m reporting what I see and asking the question.

These governmental organizations can simply price out the competition because of two factors; 1. They can supplement operations with other funding sources. 2. They really don’t have to make money.

I also appreciate loyalty. If you honestly assess the progress of your GIS and are satisfied with it. Great. I’ll move on. But do yourself a favor and critically analyze the quality and progress of what you are getting. And it should be progressing. Like any other technology, the geospatial field is constantly advancing so should your GIS. Blindly paying for a consortium for 20 years because that’s what you’ve always done is simply poor management.

Before you think I’m just whining. This issue is as old as time. There are small business advocates, anti-governmental competition lobbyist groups and Chamber of Commerce’s all across America who have been talking about this subject since before my father was born.

If this is a hard concept or topic, then it’s a good subject to talk about.

Geo Cloud Confusion

March 1st, 2013 No Comments

I’ve talked a LOT about the cloud here, here, here and here. Still, I get so confused by all the different offerings for GIS in the cloud. To keep things straight in my brain, made this spreadsheet to keep track of the differences as I learn them.

Below is just a viewable version of the Spreadsheet HERE on Google Docs. Feel free to open the Google Docs file and edit as you see need (the ??) or errors. There is no login required. If you’re an authoritative source on the product, make that blue or something.

The guys at Spatial Networks added some detail via the comments, click through to see them.

Here is a Link to a Downloadable PDF that gets updated every 5 minutes.

The Dropoff Dance

February 7th, 2013 1 Comment

As long as you know the process, nobody gets hurt.

Allow me to deviate from my normal geospatial technology topics to address a ‘Life’ topic….One thing I’ve enjoyed over the last 4 months is being able to take the kids to school. At first the idea of ‘Proper’ procedures for dropping them off was abrasive to me. Since then I’ve accepted and endorsed these as truth and correct. You should too.

Listen, I like systems and spatial organization. The collective thing we do every day to drop off our kids at school can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t know whats going on. There are some unwritten rules, that need to be written.

More Instructions below the pictures.

Davenport Elementary School Drop Off Procedure Map (I know the car lane looks like a sidewalk, but it’s not)

DavenportElementaryDropOff

Eureka Middle School Drop Off Procedure Map

EMS_DropoffProcedure

Yield to Busses & Kids. Always. (You might get blocked in by a bus, that’s just the deal, take a deep breath and wait)
Obviously, do NOT use the Bus Lane to get ahead in line. It’s a small town… don’t be That Guy
If you have to get out of the car then PARK in a parking place out of the traffic pattern, it will be safer for everyone.
Going around stopped cars gets a bit tricky. It might seem like you’re cutting them off. Everything runs better if everyone keeps moving-but sometimes some people just aren’t with it.
Pull all the way up to the end of the ‘Acceptable Range For Child Deployment’ area. Your kid can walk (Unless they can’t, then see #2).
Keep space in-between cars to a minimum, traffic backs up to the highway surprisingly quick.
If it’s rainy or snowing out, it is understandable to want to drop off your kid directly in front of the door. But this is why God invented snow boots and umbrellas. Teach them that the world is a harsh place.
Failure to adhere to these unspoken/unwritten rules (which are now spoken and written) will result in the evil eye from mothers in bathrobes and a lot of personal stress. Believe-me-brother, You’ll have a better day just going with the flow.

P.S. Eureka High School is a free-for-all. With that many new drivers around, there is ONE rule; Stay Alive.

Simple Man’s Look at Cloud Sync/Storage

January 10th, 2013 Comments Off

I read the Blogs of some very smart people.

They talk about programming languages with funny names, Acronyms of acronyms, big data and how our world will look in 5 years. Usually after a few minutes of plodding through their theories and recommendations I feel quite neanderthalic.

SO, at the risk of being a simpleton and out of date (I Know, it’s 2013), I want to share with you some ideas about a question I think most normal computer users (like my dad) struggle with. “What’s the difference in all of these ‘cloud storage’ things?” and “Which one should I be using?”

I haven’t grabbed ALL I can of cloud storage, but I have quite a bit.

CloudContent

5.8 Gb On Dropbox
25 Gb On Google Drive
50 Gb On Box.com

There’s two reasons for keeping files in the cloud.

1. Trust issues. You don’t trust yourself, your company’s computer guy or any backup plans that anyone has set up for you before this whole cloud thing exploded. Syncing files to the cloud does give you the sense that they’re (somewhere) safe.

2. Pride Issues. You need to, at all times, be just a few clicks away from getting to your precious files. Better yet, you need to be able to share them with anyone, on your terms; “I’ll just share that with You”.

Which category are you? I’m Both. I’ve accepted it. Not only do I have these applications installed and use them for various tasks (Current work, Personal stuff and Past work) I have apps on both mobile devices, so access is literally im my pocket.

Ok, maybe there’s a third more collaborative reason for using the cloud, but the majority of users fall into one of the two categories above.

Here’s a few lessons learned that I want to pass along.

Other than these three there’s ton’s of options, Amazon Cloud, SkyDrive , Sugar Sync, Media Fire, Synplicity, etc… *Note* Symform is not truly ‘in the cloud’ and with iCloud Apple is telling you what you can sync.
Having someone share a folder with you (so you get the files synced locally) in Dropbox eats up your storage allotment.
I always turn off sync while I’m working on GIS files/layers. MXDs and Geodata do not like to be synced while it’s being edited.
Here’s a good tool to work outside the dropbox. Sync Any Folder
Don’t let Google convert your documents if you want to use them again outside of Google Docs.
If you’re on a tablet device and use M$ Office, you NEED to get your CloudOn.

This is all aside from my using of Evernote (free), Pocket and iCloud for other syncing needs. I don’t use iTunes Match or music.google.com or last.fm, just plain old-fashion MP3s on a flashdrive.

MacBook Pro as My Primary GIS Machine

November 27th, 2012 1 Comment

Hello, My name is Micah, I’m a Mac User, and I’m a GIS professional.

I’ve made the switch and I’m not going back. Despite all the fun I’ve made of Apple over the years, despite rolling my eyes at the releases, iPods, phones, fanboys and all of it really. I’ve switched. Completely. I watched the WWDC, have a forums.macrumors login, get irritated with Windows file structure and have even contemplated putting a sticker on my car (haven’t). It all started about 18 months ago when I developed an app for my previous employer. Previous to that my experience was an Apple IIe making banners on a dot matrix printer in 7th grade.

I still have not conformed. These Anti-Establishment-Stick-It-To-the-Man feelings persist because I’m using the MacBook Pro as my primary GIS tool. Let me tell you, this takes a concerted effort. No Seriously, I’m going to tell you.

What’s already available for GIS on the Mac?

Not Much. Open Source, for one. But, if you want to feel what uDIG, Q-GIS, or GRASS is like, you don’t need a Mac to experience that. (Maybe Just stab yourself in the eye?) Specific to OSX, I really only found 2; Cartographica and MacMap (natively in Italian). At the writing of this entry, I have downloaded both, but tried neither. The point here is not to outline an alternative to Esri, but to embrace the normal workflow of an average GIS professional, but with a MacBook Pro.

Hardware:

As important as what you put on it, selecting the right MacBook is key. I didn’t want to spend a mint, so I got a 13 inch. I know Steve Jobs said disc media is dead – but not quite to me, so I chose one with a Super Drive. I knew I was going to virtualize so I got 8GB RAM. Finally, I didn’t want to wait around for much so I picked out a Solid State HDD. To be fair, I might have seriously considered sacrificing the Super Drive for the 13-inch with retina display, but I was about 2 months too early.

Software:

Many mac users who live in a PC world will recommend the Mac OSX utility BootCamp. But it’s a pain in the neck. Especially if you actually use all the native Mac applications (Mail, Calendar, Facetime, iTunes, iLife, Time Machine …) all that rebooting is a monumental inconvenience. So virtualization is more efficient In my mind there is only one option here; Parallels. Parallels 8 to be specific. I tried the open source alternative, Virtual Box, but it is sad shadow of Parallels. It’s an amazing tool. Printers, Wireless, RDP, Shared folders… it all just works. There are enough options to satisfy even the pickiest of users. You can even dedicate up to a Gig of RAM for video memory and use ActiveX for video acceleration In coherence mode, you hardly notice you’re executing exe files via the virtualized OS. Sometimes Parallels will slow the shutdown process of OSX, but I fault Windows for that, not the software. So run ArcGIS and everything else exclusive to Windows on Parallels. The other software fight I had was being able to write to an NTFS formatted drive, which is not native to the Mountain Lion OS. I don’t really understand why this limit is here, but whatever. Installing two programs and following the directions here, problem solved. now I can connect to my home 1 TB External drive to dump all my home movies I create in iMovie.

Desktop Setup:

This may be old school, but I like dual monitors and my desktop peripherals. Whenever I’ve had a PC laptop, I get a dock so I can close the lid and pretend it’s a desktop. Over the years the number of attachments have increased as well the size of my external monitors. The problem here is the 13″ MacBook Pro only has two USB3 ports and one has a 32 GB micro flash drive permanently affixed for my music library. Enter Henge Docks. There are both good and bad reviews of this product, but I love it. At the end of the USB cable that comes with the Henge Dock, I put a USB Hub giving me as many ports as I need for whatever attachment that gets plugged in. The only bummer about the Henge Dock is the need to buy an additional power supply. Bite the bullet and do it. Displays were my last fight. I already mentioned my being cheap, so I didn’t spring for the Thunderbolt displays that can be strung together. And no matter what splitter you buy; a Mini Display Port signal cannot be pushed to two external displays in clamshell mode. So, through much fear and trepidation after reading reviews on Amazon, I purchased a DisplayLink Adapter (Adds a second display via USB). There is a ‘Slight’ stagger when moving windows over to that display, but no fuzziness or shaky, or blinking. It is attached via DVI-D and not VGA, maybe that makes a difference.

So, there you have it. My set up being a geospatial consultant. In the future I hope to add a wireless Time Machine, Airplay speakers. and maybe a standing desk. Don’t be too jealous, Keep in mind this is all in Roanoke, Illinois.

Evenings off.

October 15th, 2012 1 Comment

Currently, I am two weeks in at the new job. I like having my evenings back.

Of course, that’s a relative statement. It isn’t like I just watch TBS specials and eat buffalo wings all night long. With my family and activities, there’s plenty to do. My brain, however, seems to feel certain relief. I would not have considered myself a ‘workaholic’ but my wife may have a different opinion. During the last two months of transition, my evenings were consumed with plans, reminders, last-minute projects, writing exit documentation…etc. I double holstered two iPhones, both with email. My mind was cluttered with ideas, priority lists and squeaky wheels. I slept little and had frequent headaches. Let me be clear. Not one job demanded this type of evening attention, it was my choice.

For the three professional jobs that I have left, I have tried to “Leave Well“. I have written knowledge base articles, help documents, commented code, and left open letters to my predecessors with the office manager. The previous two seemed to be an easier transition. Moving from one local government to the next seemed like moving down the hall. I attended the same meetings, had the same interactions and, lets face it, most politicians are (stereotype) the same personality. With this transition, there has been a period of detoxification. Two weeks out, I’ll admit to being very interested in the articles and radio reports of goings-on at the city and county. I wonder, email, and wish I knew what was happening. “Are the services up?” “Did the scripts run?” “Who is asking for help?” “Did someone steal my monitor yet?” I’ve been assured this is normal and it will fade.

I am, however, enjoying the freedom of working for a small consultant. I have to track my time more, but that constricting feeling in the back of my throat is gone. My music library is (for the first time) actually on the computer I’m using and not an external HDD. At the risk of this being read by my boss, I’ll admit to being a little lax in my hours these first few weeks. Longer lunches at home, taking the kids to school, picking them up. For the better part of 15 years I have not been able to feel like doing any of that is possible. As my interest in the affairs of my previous employer fades, I am confident that my work ethic will rise back to normal. And by ‘Normal’ I mean solid work days filled with GIS and most evenings off.

Half and Half

July 27th, 2012 Comments Off

I grew up in the country about 200 yards from the family farm where my mother and grandfather grew up. Consequently, we put Half and Half on our cereal. I always hated eating cereal at a friend’s house after a sleepover because they used milk on their Cocoa Puffs. I would say, “You’re supposed to drink milk, not put it on your cereal!” It was not until much later in life when I realized milk actually was the preferred choice for a majority of breakfast cereal eaters. Presently, (after a few years of martial conditioning) I could never go back to Half and Half on my cereal.

When all you know is what you’ve done, that is what seems right to you. I’ve worked in local government since May of 2001. My entire GIS/Geospatial career. It seems right to me. The rules, red-tape and expectations are cumbersome and sometimes goofy but I’ve come to expect them and know how to be productive in spite of them. It’s all I know. It’s what I’ve done.

As of August 6th I will only be a half-time employee here at the County.
<dramatic pause>

Here’s the story: For a while now a local geospatial/engineering consulting firm has been courting me to work for them. Unbeknownst to anyone at the county, I had tentatively agreed to a September 3rd start date. Recently, a rather large assignment was given to me in my capacity as GIS Manager, one I had been trying to get for years. Knowing that I am the only GIS person at the county and understanding the financial strain the county is in right now, I promptly expressed to the owner of this firm serious hesitation in such a hard and fast break from the county in the light of this new project. Not to sound too idealistic, but I don’t want to leave that way. I’ve spent the last 5+ years trying to get to the point where I could take this assignment. The last thing I want to do is leave a bad taste in the mouth of my administration and all the affected players. Peoria is too small of a town and my professional career has meant too much to me to just burn the bridges as I leave.

So, I’ve negotiated this Half and Half agreement. I will spend half my time at Peoria County as I have for the last 5 years, sitting in the same cubicle, working feverishly on exit documentation and this new large assignment. Then, I will spend the other half at Cloudpoint Geographics working on their large projects and assignments (not affiliated in any way with county work). I don’t know how long it will last; 1 month, 2, 5? The county has asked me to stay as long as I can. I know that it is not sustainable long-term, as I am a mere mortal, loyalties will become divided. I do not intend to get to that point.

I mean, I knew that people put milk on cereal, I just thought they were poor kids.

Cloudy With a Chance of Clouds

June 19th, 2012 Comments Off

If you know me or have ever read this blog; you know I’m a fan of Esri.
I also don’t back down from calling them out.

Name of Ugly Maps blurred to protect the innocent.

When GIS was starting, no one thought it would replace the artful aspect of cartography. Even the best practitioner would say, “ArcView maps are always ugly.” Once, I read a classmate’s Masters thesis on how GIS is not a good platform for traditional cartography. GIS was primarily used for ‘quick-n-dirty’ maps. Anyone who considered themselves an actual cartographer, used Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand. We wanted control over labels, symbols, text, layouts, legends & everything really. High from our lofty positions, we looked down at hastily made GIS maps and scoffed. Then came Maplex, cartographic representation and a host of other tools to enable proper cartographic principles and symbology rules. Esri now has a group of extremely qualified of cartographers on staff. In the last 10 years, I think we all can agree that GIS can really produce beautiful maps.

Recently on the GIS scene is ArcGIS Online Subscriptions. Esri has big hopes for this product. I mean HUGE. See how Jack fawns over it. I’m not going to the UC this year, but I’d bet the kool-aid will be flowing.

<rant> I’m ticked about this whole ‘subscription’ thing. Esri spends 18 months telling us to use and develop with this free new tool (ArcGIS Online). They said “We will give you 2GB, Integrate it into your systems, use the templates, download and post the code on your webserver or we’ll host it for you for FREE. – Oh Wait, No. Now that costs. But we’ll give you 9 months to comply. You’re welcome.” How long until participation in the Community Maps program costs $$ ? Esri really needs to explicitly define Non-Commercial (Govt, NGO, Education, 501c ). And tell us what (if anything) will disappear from these personal accounts. </rant>

Taking GIS to the cloud is a good idea for lots of reasons. However, ‘Just Because’ is not one of them. I see ArcGIS Online as the ‘quick-n-dirty’ of website programming. Just like the ArcView 3.x maps of old, the apps available are simple, basic and leave a lot to be desired (ascetically speaking). Giving the ability of creating web apps to your entire user base….? Yeah, that’ll work. I think we might find ourselves answering programming questions from frustrated users, instead of GIS questions. There are many similarities in these two shifts in our profession. When web-GIS apps became the expected norm, our focus shifted from desktop applications to web programming. Currently, it’s shifting again to one of SaaS Administrator. You won’t even make the code changes, just check the box to enable that permission to user ‘X’.

It’s not only us (GIS Pros) dealing with this same professional shift. I recently attended a user conference for a crime analysis software. That software company is rolling out an awesome dashboard tool. It functionally makes the crime analyst’s position legacy, or at least greatly changes it. This is never the intention of these software providers, they are just trying to make their systems better (can you say “steam-powered drill“?). I get it, this is the tech field, that’s how things go. Adapt or find another job. What I resent is when software companies shrug their shoulders and act like Urkel.

Is it good or is it bad? Meh. Different. I do think it (temporarily) lowers the bar for geospatial apps. Now everyone can make a crappy application. I’m sure that over time and releases the templates will get better. But are better Esri templates really the direction we want to go?

FalseNorthing

just another GISP muddling through it all.