Educators Succeed Despite Adversity
education is supposed to be about nurturing thoughtful creativity, yet we are often forced to “stay on script.”
Open Source GIS and Mapping Tools to Help You Get Started
I’ve been an ESRI ArcGIS user since the days of Arc/INFO Ver. 5.0. Having used “command line GIS” since 1991 the rise of open source GIS solutions intrigues me. Trying new products and new software and learning new terminology and getting familiar with many different data formats are valuable jobs skills for me. However, being…
Tribulations of GIS Center Management
The unfortunate position of blogging in situ circumstances is having to constantly prognosticate the down-stream consequences of words and assertions. If my words appear to deliberately obfuscate some details, you are observant. As the saying goes, names have been changed to protect the willfully ignorant. That is the saying, right? Upon my return to my…
ESRI International Users Conference: Day 3
My last day, Wednesday, arrives like a bottom-hitting roller coaster. The momentum builds as the days climb towards the apex of Tuesday night. Wednesday arrives as a crashing descent, slipping into the smooth arc of Wednesday evening. Once, I relished the late Thursday social dinner with me and 16,500 of my peers, either in Embarcadero Park…
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…
ESRI Education Users Conference: Day 1
San Diego is a city I’ve come to hate to love. San Diego represents the best of urban life and the worst of urban settlement patterns. San Diego is a city wrestling every day with contrasts; wonderful climate, multimodal transportation, eminently walkable, family-friendly, dog-friendly, bike-friendly, LGBT-friendly, yet not environmentally friendly. Not really, but they do…
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…
First Blush Review: Microsoft Surface Pro 3
I had a few end-of-years dollars to spend. After taking care of everyone else, I opted to spend my allowance on a Microsoft Surface Pro 3. For the last 4 years or so I have been using a 2007 13.7-inch Macbook for all of my remote work. I bought the Macbook used for $300, almost…
Universities Cannot Afford Nonsense Bureaucracy
To be clear, I am not tenured faculty, nor will I ever be, unless a Prime Mover intercedes on my behalf, or my life circumstances alter significantly to allow me another opportunity to pursue a terminal degree. I suspect I will succumb to a terminal illness before that ever happens, though. My position on campus…
Promote Innovation in Higher Education Using a StudentStore
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of reddit, states in his new book, Without Their Permission: The 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed, an idea “is worthless.” I agree, sort of, but in my book review I amend his statement. To me, an idea is worthless if the idea is never executed. So, let’s see if someone…
Constant Geography 
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