Building an Augmented Reality Sandbox


Background In 2012, or thereabouts, I sat down with my boss, Dr. Kit Wesler. He didn’t really have an open door policy in spite of leaving his door open. Usually, an open door simply meant he was venting heat from his office into the hallway. Happens when one works in an old building with south-facing…

My Cosmology Bookshelf


I read a considerable number of cosmology and physics books written mostly for the general public. Perhaps a better phrase is books written for “general consumption,” as I’m not sure how many people would really enjoy reading “Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy” (Kip Thorne) or “The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of…

ESRI International Users Conference: Day 2


One of San Diego’s best traits is the dog community. Dogs are great; their owners vary in disposition as much as dogs vary in size, weight, color, temperament, and breath odor. Walking down the sidewalk in San Diego, one may pass all sorts of dogs breeds as well as associated human breeds. Pass a dog…

Geomentoring Workshop for Teachers


The first exposure I had to the term, “geomentoring,” was about almost two years ago. Conferences tend to be little more than large accumulations of people who passionately disclose to conference-goers how their innovative bit of plastic and germanium is awesome and their competitors competing product is shit. But, if one can go to sub-conference…

Spring is Finally Here…Maybe


The above region depicted in the image above should be familiar to most of us in the United States. The blue “veins” are the regional arteries of part of our nation’s transportation network. Here, we can see flooding along the Ohio River near Henderson, KY. Also, small areas of flooding are located across from Paducah,…

Blizzard of January 2015


The weather systems which brought rain and some snow to the U.S. Midwest and South threatened to bring record amounts of snow the U.S. Northeast. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Aeronautical Administration) provides daily images, maps, graphs, and reports for global weather systems, not merely those systems affecting the U.S. The image (above) was captured January…

Here’s Your Box: The Dismal Nature of Higher Education


How often have we begged, pleaded, or cajoled our students, “You have to think OUTSIDE the BOX!” I know I have. But, a couple of years ago, I got tired of using this aphorism (link: “Destroy the Box”). More contemplation led me to believe this is really a weak proposition. Last week, I came to…