Category Archives: Tech

Technology, something I waste more time than I care to admit reading and thinking about.

An IDE with code assist for the ArcGIS JavaScript API

Posted on by
Reply

For a multitude of reasons, I want to figure out how to work with the ArcGIS JavaScript API.  It has to do with mobile devices, lack of need for plugins and mostly because this is the direction the web is going long term. After all, HTML5 really is just a combination of html, CSS and JavaScript. Granted there are a few other goodies thrown in, but by and large, HTML5 is little more than an extension of these existing technologies. For these reasons, I want to learn to build web mapping applications using what is going to be the future.

Once deciding on this, another vexing conundrum presents itself. Unlike Flash and Sliverlight, which Esri has web mapping API’s for as well, there is not just a single integrated development environment (IDE) with code assist built in. Adobe distributes the Flash Builder IDE and it has some great code assist built in. Microsoft’s Visual Studio provides outstanding code assist for developing Silverlight.

The best IDE to use for JavaScript? Simply typing JavaScript IDE into Google brings up a flood of blog postings arguing this exact topic. The first hit however, above all these blog postings, is a direct link to Aptana Studio. Cross referencing to the ArcGIS Resource Center, I managed to unearth a help document with rather simple directions for using the ArcGIS JavaScript API with various editors. Continue reading →

Use ArcGIS.com to Create Custom JavaScript Web Applications

Posted on by
Reply

Esri has released web application builders for both Flash and Silverlight. However, for those wishing to stay away from these plugin dependent solutions, at first glance, it may appear there is little other option than starting from scratch and building an web application from scratch. Fortunately this is not the case. There are some great templates available on ArcGIS.com. Using these templates you can create a JavaScript web mapping application in a very similar way to the Flash and Silverlight builders.

Today I created a custom JavaScript web mapping application depicting piracy trends in the Arabian Sea without writing a single line of code. To create the same type of map, all you have to do is create three maps on ArcGIS.com, save them in your profile and use one as a starting point to create an application. Continue reading →

Create List of Unique Table Values using Python for ArcGIS Analysis

Posted on by
3

Necessity is the mother of invention and as of late, this means I have learned to use Python with ArcGIS. Early on, an issue I ran across was needing a list of all unique values in a field to be used in further analysis. Unfortunately there is not a pre-built method for this. Still, it did not take long to figure out the following function to accomplish this. Continue reading →

iTunes Playlists, Texas Country and Unleash the Redneck

Posted on by
Reply

While in the Dominican Republic over the last two weeks, I read Steve Jobs book. Interestingly enough, after reading Steve’s book, I felt a need to start organizing some personal soundtracks for life. That, and buy a iPod Shuffle for some of these soundtracks. This morning I started organizing my first two playlists named, Texas Country and Unleash the Redneck.

Texas Country is exactly as it sounds. While living in Corpus Christi, Texas a few years back, I discovered a radio station only playing Texas artists and bands. My old ’96 Toyota Tacoma rarely was tuned to very much else while down there. A month ago I stumbled across Reckless Kelly again on Pandora. Creating a station devoted to Reckless Kelly, I simply wrote down the other artists who sounded good, and got those through iTunes. A few of the artists in this playlist include:

  • Reckless Kelly
  • Steve Earle
  • Cross Canadian Ragweed
  • Ray Wylie Hubbard
  • Buddy Miller
  • Chris Knight
  • No Justice
  • Shooter Jennings

Unleash the Redneck, songs included in this playlist had to evoke a certain emotion. These are the kind of songs that, when they come on the radio, there is only one thing to do. Roll the windows down in my pickup. Reach down and twist the knob on the radio to turn the volume up…way up. Grab the stick. Mash the clutch. Grab another gear. Bury the gas pedal and drive it like you stole it just for the fun of it. These songs are what happens when rock and country collide, and not surprisingly include a lot of Texas Country. Some of the songs include:

  • Copperhead Road – Steve Earle
  • Cadillac Ranch – Chris LeDoux
  • Amos Moses – Cross Canadian Ragweed
  • Papa Loved Mama – Garth Brooks
  • Dumas Walker – Kentucky Headhunters
  • If You Want To Get To Heaven – Ozark Mountain Daredevils
  • A Guy Like Me – Reckless Kelly
  • Busted in Baylor County – Shooter Jennings
  • Beer for My Horses – Toby Keith
  • Old Enough to Know Better – Wade Hayes

Next I may have to put together a good collection of what has been described as, “Angry White Boy Music,” in honor of a good friend and college teammate, Owen Donahue getting engaged a couple of days ago (congratulations Owen!). Although I already knew of Mettalica, Owen made sure this was part of my higher education while at Mizzou. An angry white boy playlist could prove motivational for those early morning January and February paddles.

Learn LiDAR Principles

Posted on by
Reply

LiDAR, if you work in GIS and pay any attention to digital elevation model (DEM) data, you have heard of LiDAR. Although many people know it has something to do with bouncing light off terrain and it is very accurate, many times knowledge ends there. Fortunately there is an outstanding resource for learning about LiDAR.

The USGS put together this very well organized resource. Although it focuses on applications of LiDAR for natural resources, over 75 percent of the lesson focuses on data collection methods, factors of accuracy and other technical aspects of LiDAR applicable to anybody who uses LiDAR data. Fully narrated with animated visual aids it is a great resource, one I highly recommend.

Beating Lack of Hotel Wireless = Connectify + iPad

Posted on by
Reply

Netflix on the iPad is great for traveling. When coupled with the HDMI connector, it works great for streaming entertainment on the hotel flat screen televisions. Many times though, there is a problem. The iPad only does wireless. It does not get along well with a Cat6 cable. There is internet in the room, via a Cat6 cable. This does little good in getting Netflix from Al Gore’s Internet to the flat screen television though. This is where Connectify for Windows comes in. Within five minutes of downloading Connectify for free, my iPad was connected with Netflix streaming to the television watching something very useful like My Cousin Vinny.

Teaching Paperless with GoodReader on the iPad

Posted on by
1

Yes, I am a geek. This I will freely concede. Just before Christmas I looked seriously at the iPad, but decided to wait in lieu of the second generation soon to come out. Among the reasons this was interesting to me was the possibility of going paperless when traveling and teaching GIS.

Typically when traveling and teaching, I am carrying at least two books, the lecture and exercise books for the class. Many times I am teaching back to back classes, upping this count to four. If it is a more technical class, many times I grab a good reference too, adding another to the mix. It does not take long before my backpack is holding five books, a laptop and all the associated peripherals for working on the road with a laptop. As you can easily imagine, this can become quite a load.

When purchasing my iPad2, one of the first workflows I started exploring was how to get all my materials onto the iPad. Already I have access to most of my references and course materials in pdf format. The difficulty was figuring out how to get them onto the iPad and manage them once there. GoodReader was the answer.

GoodReader allows synchronization with a multitude of server types not only at the file, but also at the directory level. Since I use MobileMe, this means all I have to do is keep all my course materials in a directory together. If I need to add or remove something, all I have to do is change the content on the server. These changes automatically are also performed on my iPad, making file management infinitely easier.

In addition to the file management capabilities, this sync functionality applies to individual files as well. Since GoodReader facilitates notes, highlights and annotations in the pdf documents, these changes are automatically synced back up to the documents on the server where I can access and view them on my desktop. GoodReader, it answers on part of my goal toward moving increasingly paperless at work with the iPad as part of this plan.