aalbs.blog

Innovation

2012-02-28T23:15:00.001+13:00

seems to be a difficult thing to create, but it doesn't have to be. This article is an example of it done really well. Turns out the answer is not always about speed and profit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/opinion/sunday/innovation-and-the-bell-labs-miracle.html?_r=1

I want to live here

2011-12-28T10:41:00.000+13:00

This is an exciting idea. How much energy does it take to rotate a city?

Revolution Through Banking?

2011-12-28T08:46:00.000+13:00

This is the first pragmatic suggestion I've heard come from the Occupy movement. I would have added in something about the use of open source software. http://www.thenation.com/article/165333/revolution-through-banking

The future of the ESRI Flex API

2011-11-19T12:27:00.001+13:00

ESRI's offiicial thoughts on the future of their web mapping APIs (Flex, Silverlight, Javascript) are here. Officially, they're all looking good for the foreseeable future, but you can bet on Javascript getting bigger slices of the development budget in years to come; At least until something else comes along.

2011-10-10T10:25:00.000+13:00

from 4chan.org

Particles travelling faster than the speed of light?

2011-09-24T06:15:00.001+12:00

I'm no physicist, but this sounds like a game changer.

Rugby World Cup time

2011-08-25T20:56:00.003+12:00

If this doesn't get you excited for it, nothing can.

"Labels are like roosters, if you cram too many into one area, there are going to be casualties"

2011-08-23T21:50:00.001+12:00

At the Eagle GIS roadshow, Auckland town hall.

The future of education?

2011-04-22T08:53:00.002+12:00

Another brilliant video from RSA animate. I think the ideas around distraction and overloading of the senses are relevant to all of us, not just in relation to formal education but in everyday life.

"You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play"

2010-07-23T17:07:00.001+12:00

- Warren Beatty

How to get people to do things

2010-06-27T09:24:00.002+12:00

This is an interesting look into how to motivate people in an organisation, or anywhere for that matter. Paying people is overrated.

Open Windows Explorer from Python

2010-03-24T12:09:00.005+13:00

Let's say at the end of your script you want to open the folder you've been creating files in. Doing this in Python is really simple.

import os

os.system('explorer "i:\foldertoopen"')

Using os.system() is the same as using the command prompt.

Funky evolution

2010-03-24T09:27:00.006+13:00

I've just finished a book called Remarkable Creatures, which describes significant discoveries in the search for the origin of species from Darwin's time to the present. A really good read, I'd recommend it if you're that way inclined. I thought sharing this video was appropriate.

Poor man's tool for creating centroids

2010-02-20T13:00:00.005+13:00

In Arc to be able to create centroids from polygons or lines you have to fork out for an ArcInfo license, which is a bit harsh for such a commonly needed and simple process. I've created a python script to be able to perform this using any license type (ArcView or ArcEditor). To use the scipt

- Copy this text into Notepad and save it as CreateCentroids.py.
- Add a script to a toolbox in ArcCatalog or ArcMap. The source file will be the python script.
- Add three parameters to the tool; the input feature class, the output workspace and the output feature class name as a string.

The tool should look something like this:

Joining a table to a feature class

2010-02-19T15:47:00.012+13:00

One of the most frustrating things about using ArcMap can be the inability to perform one-to-many joins on a feature class to a table. If there is one record in the feature class then it will only join to the first record in the table that it finds, ignoring all others. Joining the other way, from table to feature class, is one solution but means losing the spatial element as the result is another table.

After being frustrated by this one too many times I wrote a python script that will perform this join and build spatial features as well as attributes as a result. Have a look at this arcscript, which includes a visual example to better explain what I mean.

UPDATE: An updated script which is a lot faster and provides progress messages is available here.

Hitler vs. ESRI

2009-12-23T10:24:00.004+13:00

Warning: this video is for GIS geeks only.

Woman worried about feral rabbits in Nevada

2009-11-07T16:26:00.003+13:00

The only reason I'm posting this story, besides the fact that it's fascinating, is because it has a David Aalbers in it. It's not me either, apparently there's a David Aalbers working as a primary school principal in Carson City, Nevada. He also seems to be concerned about the outbreak of feral rabbits in the neighbourhood as there are some that live under his school. The "outbreak" might consist of "a dozen or more" rabbits. It's good to know there are David Aalbers' all over the world concerned about the issues that really matter.

I found this out using 123people.com, which will tell you everything the internet knows about you, or about people with the same name as you. Go ahead, give it a shot.

Safer communities together

2009-10-17T17:54:00.001+13:00

If you live in New Zealand chances are you've seen this by now, but it may be one of the funniest and weirdest things I've ever seen on TV. Safer communities together, you keep working that positive PR NZ Police!

Creepy

2009-09-28T22:22:00.010+13:00

This is a great illustration of how guys' minds actually work. From XKCD.

Priceless

2009-09-24T19:50:00.012+12:00

I've now been home for almost a week. It's a sad thing to realise that you're no longer a foreign diplomat, no longer that guy with the cool accent, no longer the intrepid adventurer so far from home. You're just another guy, making your way through the day at your 9 to 5 job like everyone else, but maybe with a few more stories this time. Well at least I have a job, I guess.

The last two weeks of my travels, in which I did a Trek America tour, were epic. Cost of the tour: $1300. Moments like this, watching the sunset over the Grand Canyon with the team: priceless. And I didn't even need Mastercard.

From Trek America

Amphibious van crosses Cook Strait

2009-09-07T16:09:00.001+12:00

I can't believe I'm missing out on this ridiculousness. I need to get home.

"The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time"

2009-09-07T04:48:00.002+12:00

- Willem de Kooning

3800 miles travelled. Next trip anyone?

2009-08-28T13:39:00.008+12:00

"There we understood that our vocation, our true vocation, was to move for eternity along the roads and the seas of the world ... not setting down roots in any land."

- Che

"For most men life is a search for the proper manila envelope in which to get themselves filed"

2009-08-28T08:50:00.002+12:00

- Clifton Fadiman

I think we can all identify with this.

Solve any computer problem

2009-08-26T11:40:00.009+12:00

using this.