Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Year in Maps: from Boston Globe
The Boston Globe reports that thanks to GIS and other computer offerings, mapmaking has exploded in the past year.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Why I GIS
There are a handful of reasons why this blog has gone dormant in recent months -- not the least of which is the fact I was immersed in a 4-credit computer programming course that was required for my GIS certification.
Another reason is the fact that I sometimes feel as if I am a tiny voice in the wilderness amid the growing (exploding?) field of GIS. With all of these experts out here, who wants to read the musings of a newbie? Indeed, I didn't feel as if I had much to say.
Finally, what I did have to say centered largely about the issue of cemeteries and land use, as expressed in my newly relaunched blog, Whistling Past the Graveyard (same name, new location: http://taphofiles.blogspot.com). I figure that perhaps it was prudent to narrowcast about a topic with which I do have a tiny bit of expertise and a good deal of interest.
But I read an interesting column today from Directions Mag, about the difficulty of coming up with a top-10 GIS stories list for 2008. I like the running analogy. The members of the author's running club are all in it for the running -- no matter how far they run. We're all in this GIS thing for different reasons, but we all like GIS. And I have something to contribute -- even if, right now, I don't know exactly what that is.
So, now that I'm out of the programming pond, I hope to be back here. Members of my church have ideas to map the grounds, and I hope to contribute there. I will continue with my cemetery blog, and hope to expand that in 2009. I even want to revive my GeoSongs feature of this blog.
So, while my blog probably isn't even within the top 1,000 GIS stories of the year, I'm here for the long haul.
Another reason is the fact that I sometimes feel as if I am a tiny voice in the wilderness amid the growing (exploding?) field of GIS. With all of these experts out here, who wants to read the musings of a newbie? Indeed, I didn't feel as if I had much to say.
Finally, what I did have to say centered largely about the issue of cemeteries and land use, as expressed in my newly relaunched blog, Whistling Past the Graveyard (same name, new location: http://taphofiles.blogspot.com). I figure that perhaps it was prudent to narrowcast about a topic with which I do have a tiny bit of expertise and a good deal of interest.
But I read an interesting column today from Directions Mag, about the difficulty of coming up with a top-10 GIS stories list for 2008. I like the running analogy. The members of the author's running club are all in it for the running -- no matter how far they run. We're all in this GIS thing for different reasons, but we all like GIS. And I have something to contribute -- even if, right now, I don't know exactly what that is.
So, now that I'm out of the programming pond, I hope to be back here. Members of my church have ideas to map the grounds, and I hope to contribute there. I will continue with my cemetery blog, and hope to expand that in 2009. I even want to revive my GeoSongs feature of this blog.
So, while my blog probably isn't even within the top 1,000 GIS stories of the year, I'm here for the long haul.
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