Category Archives: Computering

SQLite for ArcGIS Pro FTW

October 10, 2022 By in blogging, Computering, GIS, shapefile Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

I work in an Esri shop. My workflow includes periodic ingestion of MS Access and shapefile data. ArcGIS Pro doesn’t recognize Access. This has caused me to stick with ArcMap for one particular process. Esri’s suggested alternative to Access (“Use Excel”) has proven problematic for me to use with Pro for a variety of reasons.

Enter SQLite, which I wish I had tried sooner. Pro works with SQLite. Unlike Excel, SQLIte does not try to guess your fields’ data types (though it will if you ask). Access ⇒ CSV ⇒ SQLite ⇒ ArcGIS Pro is my new workflow. I haven’t opened ArcMap in a while.

Back in February 2019 I used Pro instead of Map for a full month, as a test. I went back to hybrid Map/Pro after that, until now. I may never open ArcMap again.

A Tale of Two NFTs

September 19, 2021 By in art, Computering, crypto, GIS, NFT, shapefile Tags: , , Leave a comment

“[…] it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness […]” –Charles Dickens, 1859

It was bound to happen, and so it did. After the release of the first shapefile NFT back in April, it was only a matter of time before a geopackage NFT also materialized. Its creator is Oliver Burdekin; the NFT is listed on Rarible for 1 ETH (same as the shapefile NFT).

Now it’s up to the discerning geogeek / digital art connoisseur to vote with their wallet. Which NFT will sell first? Exciting times!

The Ten Commandments of GIS

July 16, 2021 By in blogging, Computering, GIS Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Voted by GIS users

  1. Thou shalt save often
  2. Zip before you ship the shapefiles
  3. Thine date format shall be YYYYMMDD
  4. Thou shalt not mingle thy units, feet and meters, together
  5. Thou shalt back up your files
  6. Use a unique ID column for joins
  7. Honour thy project and define projection tools
  8. Use Geopackage
  9. Thyself is thine own master if you use open source
  10. Postal codes are great … if you are mailing a letter

Two of my favorites — “Never open the XLS file with Excel” and “Thursdays are pantless” — did not make the top ten. Such is life.

This is a snapshot of the vote as of 20210716T154422Z. The poll is still open. You can see the other candidates and the live results after submitting the form. Submit a blank form if you just want to see the results.

Confronting my technological prejudices

December 19, 2019 By in Computering, privacy, Security Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I have always been superficially prejudiced against all things Apple. When a seasoned technologist friend announced switching from Android to iPhone, I was curious. I asked him why. It was illuminating for me to hear his reasoning, which I present to you below.

***

When I saw that my friend Bill Dollins — a long-time Android and Linux guy — is now an iPhone user, I was somewhat surprised. I wondered why he switched. I swiftly jumped to my own conclusions about his reasoning. Then, realizing that my conclusions were probably colored by my own biases (they were), I decided to just ask him. Bill agreed to entertain a few questions.

AT: Bill, why did you switch from Android to iPhone? I thought tech people use Android as a badge of honor. I thought Apple products were for artists, celebrities, and the VP of Marketing.

Bill: Working in an Apple shop allowed me to learn more about their products than I would have on my own. My primary reason has become privacy and security. The contrast on these issues between Google and Apple is stark. Apple takes these issues much more seriously for individuals than does Google and it is evident in technical and business choices they have made. 

For example, Apple’s smart home technology, HomeKit, doesn’t specifically require internet access, though some individual devices may. They do things like video processing via a HomePod, which can be disconnected from the internet. These are functions that Google or Amazon offload to the cloud, so connectivity is required. This design choice means that HomeKit doesn’t yet have a video doorbell option, so it can “slow down” feature development when compared to Google or Amazon. I’m okay with that.

The iPhone takes a similar approach. Like Android, it has a location history feature. Unlike Android, the history and all related processing remains on the device. There’s no centralized Apple cloud where it’s being stored along with everyone else’s to train some machine-learning algorithm.

I should note that I haven’t done anything yet with HomeKit myself, but I am considering it. My information comes from my Apple consultant, James Fee.

Having said all of this, I know that no technology is perfect. Zealots of Googlism or Amazonism will certainly nitpick anything that I have said here. That’s what block buttons are for.

AT: Where do you stand on the Windows / Linux / Mac divide for desktops and laptops?

Bill: My primary desktop machine, which I use daily, is still a System76 Ubuntu machine. My MacBook is company-issued and mainly used for specific work tasks and for when I travel. Windows has been the big loser for me.

AT: I used a MacBook once, years ago. I remember apps performing an elaborate dance on open and close. It made me dizzy, and I thought it was childish. I haven’t touched one since. Do Macs still do that?

Bill: I haven’t noticed that since I have been using a Mac. One thing I did notice is that some Mac idioms, such as two-fingered touchpad scroll, exist on more modern Windows machines alongside the older Windows idioms. I have an older Windows laptop that doesn’t support it, but I haven’t looked closely to see if that’s because of the generation of the hardware or of Windows. I’m not really concerned about it enough to investigate.

AT: Don’t tell anyone, but I have been thinking about an iPhone for a while, mainly as a means to distance myself from Google. I haven’t done it yet because I am concerned that my reputation will take a hit. What say you to that?

Bill: I will defer to the expert on this topic: Joan Jett. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO6YL09T8Fw