North River Geographic Systems Inc

Spatial Problem Solving

FOSS4G

Southeast FOSS4G meeting

· · Leave a Comment

Emails are going out to people and the gears are slowly starting to turn.

Last year several of use got together and held a FOSS4G “mini event” in Knoxville TN. It turned out pretty well with about 50 people coming from as far as 5 hours away to join in the fun. I think we had about 10 or 11 presentations – too many to be honest but I didn’t want to turn anyone down. We ran the event for free and if I remember (I’m not looking up the costs) the entire event ran something like 600 dollars. We had 4 sponsors (including myself in that one) and overall it rocked.

Two things:

  • I’ve had a large number of people ask “Are you doing this again?” and I had a blast doing it. Sooooooo – the answer has turned into “YES”. Granted I don’t run meetings like this for a living but everyone enjoyed themselves and the true spirit of Free and Open Source software for GIS was there. Yes it’s happening.
  • The big question is where and when. I’ve had offers of moving this to Chattanooga. I’ve had offers of Knoxville again. I’ve had other offers outside of my normal area. So I’ve got to decide and go “IT’S HERE” and we crank this up again. FOSS4GNA got in the way for spring so we’re gonna have to push this off a bit.
  • OK this is a third thing. I will probably charge just a wee bit for this one. Why? So we had something like 50 register. 5 dropped. 5 walked up out of nowhere. I bought food for 65 people so some left with an extra sandwich shoved in their pocket. If I run this for $10 bucks a piece people are likely to show up and it gives me a bit more money to play with to do things like deal with parking or snacks or fly someone in for the event. Yeah I said it. Fly someone in.
  • Fourth thing – workshops? I’ve debated some educational opportunities for this event – except that drags it into multi-iday. I’m OK with multi-day if it remains fun.

That was four things – you might wonder how I write blog posts and the answer is pretty much unedited most of the time.

So anyway – I have no clue what to call this gathering. Don’t really want to give it a name. Are un-conferences a thing still? Where conferences? Anyway – more news will be coming and if you want to help track me down and we’ll make this a thing for 2018.

 

 

So you’re going to write a year end review……..

· ·

As the title would suggest – a year end review. I have started this piece a few times and trashed each one. One was too technical. One was too emotional. One just wasn’t clicking. All that tells me is this needs to remain unedited. So you get what you get…….in no particular order.

2017 was weird on a lot of fronts. On a personal level I found myself making peace with a lot of “things that go bump in the night” – those things that, when you should be sleeping, tend to come and cause more questions and angst. From a poorly paraphrased conversation with Atanas Entchev I once said “It’s not personal it’s just business” and he remarked back “It’s all personal – it’s your business”. So there was much reckoning on the business front and I started acting more like an entity that makes money. 2016 was the year I learned to say no and 2017 was the year I looked at a job for two things: income potential and how much difference would it make in the world. Some prospective clients were told no. It was just that easy. No. Some jobs where there was only going to be “break even” potential did get work done because their mission was too great to be ignored. I also separated myself a bit more from the business. Randy made an appearance. Randal stayed at work.  I did completely miss another work anniversary where I should have went “Woooooooo 11 years in business”…..

On the personal side of life it was a bit brutal.  A good friend of mine just up and died. So I found myself in the pouring rain one day in April standing outside his house as he was wheeled out in a body bag. No final joke. No:

“Hey we need to get you to a hospital”
A Hospital…. what is it?
“It’s a big building with patients but that’s not important right now.”

Anyway – I’ve been working with his girlfriend attempting to get things wrapped up. Death is a messy business if you don’t have a plan for it. I knew people that suddenly passed – but never someone that didn’t have at least a clue something wasn’t right. He just went to sleep. I also found myself questioning every bodily function after he died. I burp and “Oh man – I’ve never burped at 8:36 PM – I wonder if that’s a sign I’m about to die”.

One family member had multiple surgeries. So many in fact we had to have “the talk”. The talk where you are the executor because it can get messy if the surgery doesn’t go as planned. The executor – because you are the one guy that doesn’t let emotions get in the way to make a decision. Which isn’t entirely true – BUT…….hey no one reads this blog in my family.

All of that really left me (if you bounce up a few paragraphs to the personal part) going “What the hell am I doing?”.  Some self examination is good for the soul. There was a lot of that. A lot. A lot of changes. Some say I got less grouchy. Some say I got more grouchy. Eh – maybe a little bit of both. Overall I am trying more. Trying what? To be better. Mom tossed her #metoo moment out one day. So for those who go “man everyone is a bit touchy these days”. I will agree – but – sit with your mom and have that talk. So changes. Lots of changes.

I did wrap up in July the “year of Canoeing”. So I had to be in my canoe for at least an hour a month for a year. If I got out once I knew I’d stay out for 3 or 4 or more hours. I did it. It wasn’t easy but I did it. This year? Ride my very old mountain bike in one new place a month. So I expect a road trip or a few as a peddle around the area. Maybe I get a new bike.

On the work side of life – I made the decision to remain off any boards of any Geo related things and instead throw my energy into QGIS. Why? I like the community. I enjoy the software. So I’m going to do my best to integrate more and support the project and spread the word. To that end I started working on writing a plugin a few days ago. I know what I want to do. I’ve got a decent enough understanding of Python to make it happen…so Why Not? I also found myself neck deep in postgis. I finally “get it” – and so I’ve been just enjoying that piece of software. Wrote my first nested sql statement and had it run “first time”. I was so excited I accidentally deleted the entire directory where the script was sitting and had to re-write it. Nothing like a plan. On another side note – I had to use ArcGIS multiple times this year at a client’s location. What did I learn from that: 20 something years of using the software and I still can sit down an just start using it when I haven’t touched it in half a year.

With the help of several we have QGS.US back up and running. I need to work on that more in the next few weeks. I’m inspired and want to have an event of some sort centered around QGIS.

I did hold a “foss4g” mini event in Knoxville. It went better than I’d hoped for – except for the financial end. I gotta work on “Make sure things are paid for”….but – worth it. I held it. I started a small thing. We’re doing it again in 2018 – I just have to figure out “when”.  Show up if you can.

I ended up on a massive road trip to Boston to the FOSS4G event there. I can’t say enough good things about that. I met people. I talked. I got to meet some long time “heroes” in the FOSS4G world. It was a week of wearing myself out. Boston FOSS4G committee – thank you for the event. It was massive. It was fun.

I also started “rebuilding” the QGIS class after a year off. I’m three chapters in to having a QGIS 3.0 class. New exercises. New Data. New Pricing Scheme. What would that be? I have no clue as of yet but I’m aiming for organizations because that’s the only time I have success in training. Read above where I covered “income”. But do remember “make a difference”. I’ve toyed for doing the class for a small donation also just to upset the apple cart.

So what did we learn this year kids?

  • Life is short – make a difference
  • Love your neighbor even if don’t subscribe to any major religious institution that yells that concept.
  • The past is the past – it’s isn’t going anywhere but you are.
  • Get involved in the Open Source Side of life kids – if you aren’t you are missing out. You may not get the chance to use it at work. Use it at home. Load Linux. Load QGIS. Contribute. Write documentation.
  • Do one kind thing a day.
  • Read Geohipster!

Get busy – 2018 is coming.


 

Fulcrum Live at FOSS4G 2017

· ·

While I was at FOSS4G 2017 this happened on the Tuesday before the Conference.

Yes – A one day conference on Fulcrum.

Fulcrum is one of those software programs I enjoy. It’s not open source but it has a lot of open source DNA built into it and it just works. NRGS is a business partner with them.  Customers can run it on Android or iOS. Your data gets pushed into the cloud. It works offline. It works with bluetooth GPS units.

I missed the first half of the conference. I was teaching a class for FOSS4G on using QGIS and Fulcrum as one workflow (Planning is for dullards). Not my best class – but I think with a few more edits it will blend in well with the QGIS Class I teach occasionally. I arrived at 12 and had a chance to watch as a number of people got up to discuss how Fulcrum is used in their organizations.

People discussed using Fulcrum with utility companies, environmental companies, engineering companies…..companies even my size using Fulcrum for about everything. Two days before the conference I used it to log equipment being used by the FOSS4G Conference. One company is using it to log time sheets in the Yukon. One group is using it to clear land mines.

For me personally I’m always curious how people are using Fulcrum. I know how I use it. Am I using it as well as I can? There is no right or wrong answer. You can do whatever you need to do with it as long as it’s providing what you need.

Three things I remember walking out of this conference:

  • Fulcrum has had 75% growth every year for the last three years. Two years ago I said “Fulcrum” and people would go “Huh?”. As of late I say Fulcrum and people go “yeah I’ve tried it or <fill in the blank> is using it”.
  • Fulcrum Desktop – I can now sync my account to a local postgis/spatialite database. Which is now giving me a few more “things” I can do to play with the data.
  • It’s flexible enough to allow you to hang yourself. You can collect all types of data to the point you should ask yourself “Do I need to collect this?”. I always lean more into “No” but sometimes complicated is needed. One person in my QGIS/Fulcrum class created a form that no doubt would stretch about 3 or 4 feet long if printed. All used on an Ipad. they gave statistics at the end and it seems like one application had well over 1000 photographs attached to it for one point. I may have that wrong but I don’t think I do.

I had a chance to talk about one of groups using Fulcrum Community: a local non profit collecting stream quality data. Not as exciting as oil drilling or utility location – but it’s important.

Update!

It’s been two weeks since the conference and I’ve been meaning to hit publish and life keeps getting in the way. I’m glad it did as an interesting thing happened called Hurricane Harvey:

The map you see is being generated out of Fulcrum Community. Spatial Networks stepped up and offered this to aid the recovery effort. People are crowdsourcing about everything you can think of and more. Fulcrumis making it’s way into first responders hands and people about to do damage assessment. Got a disaster bearing down on you? Worried about Data collection. Remember the good old days of paper forms?

Anyway, I hope this conference happens again. With as much growth as Fulcrumis having I can’t imagine it won’t. Something else to mark on your calendar and attend.

FOSS4G 2017

· ·

I’ve been sitting here for 2 hours trying to decide how to tackle this conference wrap-up on FOSS4G 2017. I’ve written and deleted and re-written and deleted it yet again.

Lets try this – I hate conferences. Mostly. I don’t hate the FOSS4G ones. I love them. It may sound like I’m about to take a trip into gushing over a conference and the attendees and the people that put it on. I will just a little.

I seek out different these days for conferences. My first GIS conferences was in 1996. I flew out to Palm Springs for my First ESRI users conference. There were about 3 thousand people there. I talked to a lot of people. Goofed off. Went to technical sessions. Learned quite a bit and came back. I did two more of these in the 2000’s and to be honest I can’t remember much about them and I’ll blame that on a decade’s worth of living vs the conferences being terrible.  I’ve almost stopped going to state conferences. After 25 years I’ve almost seen it all on that level. Not that I’m some sort of “geo-genius” – to the contrary I’m not that smart. I just want different out of my conferences.

I started slowly getting involved in FOSS4G (Free and open source Software for Geospatial) back in 2013 and finally had my chance to attend an international conference – the one in Boston last week. So why even go? Randy you said you were tired of conferences. I am. I’m not tired of Community. That’s one of the things I’ve really been lacking. That’s the one thing I found in the QGIS crowd and the PostGIS crowd. Community – Plus I get to meet the people that build the software. Plus I get to carry on conversations with those people and come back and go “Oh boy – I got to meet……”

There were something like 1150+ people at this conference. 44 of the 50 States were represented. 48 countries were represented. They were able to pull in a massive pile of Sponsors. Who you ask…..IBM…..Carto….Mapzen…..Boundless……You know –  companies that work with open source software in some capacity. Even ESRI was there. What? Weird right? Trimble was there. Names you recognize from other places.

It’s the cool thing about this group of people – you can sit and talk to everyone. A one sentence Nutshell of what I did?

  • I had the chance to hassle Lene Fischer – and she hassled me back.
  • R? There were a lot of talks on R. I have go to pick up some R knowledge as that was mentioned a lot at this conference.
  • PostGIS? That’s my favorite thing these days. I sneaked up behind Regine Obe and hugged her.
  • I even had the chance to help a PHD Candidate work his way through a spatial problem. We just sort of randomly met at the conference. That actually happens a lot. You meet someone. Start a conversation. Then you start working on a problem.

Confession – I was on the Workshop Committee. I did do a workshop. Which – this sounds more impressive than it is – but I did get to teach at Harvard. Which sounds awesome and Harvard is a pretty cool place to see.

The kicker on this conference (and as I’m reading back this is getting way too long) that in order to pull it off you’ve go tot have a community of people willing to do it. Boston stepped up. They were able to land Richard Stallman to come and talk. Below – Michael Terner and Richard Stallman (I’ll let you pick who is who).

The ESRI Conference had a theme which was something along the lines of “The Science of Where” which I swore they’ve used before. If you tagged this one with a theme it should be “The Warmth of Community”. I’ll be babbling more on this conference over the next week. I’ve cleaned out my suitcase. I’ve been washing clothes – and I’ve been trying to get caught up.

My hats off to you Boston. I hope to come back at some point. Dar Es Salaam you have me wondering if I can make it over.

 

 

 

MAGS meeting in August 2017

· ·

I know – I’ve been a bit negligent in the “news bringing” as of late. Well – I won’t be there as I’ll be at FOSS4G in Boston.    If you are in the Atlanta Area and want to meet up with some fellow GIS people – show up and grab a drink and chat.

  • Tuesday, August 15, 2017
  • to

Marlow’s Tavern

3575 Durden Drive Northeast, Brookhaven, GA (map)

Greetings, all!

We’ll be in Brookhaven on Tuesday the 15th,at Marlow’s Tavern on Johnson Ferry, and maybe grab some frozen treats at Southern Custard next-door afterward.

Looking forward to hearing about everyone’s Eclipse plans, and about the Esri UC if you went this year.

See you on the 15th!

 

Contact