Last Chance for the Tour de France

Even if you object to pro cycling on the grounds of alleged widespread doping, the spectacle of the Tour is still hard to ignore: a pack of 200 cyclists winding through French countryside for 3 weeks in July, ascending mountains in the Alps and Pyrenees, then flying down them at speeds approaching 100km/h, sprinting to the finish of a day's stage after 200kms+ and 5+ hours in the saddle.

Only 2 days/2 stages remain in this year's Tour, but they promise to be 2 of the most interesting. Tomorrow's stage ends with a climb up Mont Ventoux, the so called "Giant of Provence". While Alberto Contador's advantage over the rest of the field is almost unassailable at 4 minutes 11 seconds, the other 2 podium spots are still undecided -- expect some drama and aggressive attacking and drama tomorrow. Sunday the riders arrive at Paris and finish the Tour, as always, on the Champs-Élysées.

Thanks to hardcore fans of the sport who have put in some extra effort, nowadays there are lots of ways to interact with the Tour, the route, the individual stages. At the paris.thover.com blog there is a KML file of the full route of this year's Tour, which opens in Google Earth allowing you to see every kilometer of the race (in 3D if you have terrain enabled) and virtually fly over the stages. For live online coverage of the Tour, go to ATDHE.net between roughly 8:30am and 11:30am EST and find the first Tour de France link for English coverage. The official race website is also useful for news, videos, and all the information you could want or need about the standings, riders, and course.

Enjoy!

Adobe Acrobat Webinar: Geospatial and Mapping

Attending this webinar today on facilitating "data maintenance workflow for individuals in the field by using Acrobat 9 with professional desktop GIS software" was well worth the price of admission for me (it was free!). As a newcomer to the field, it was an opportunity to see an example real world application of a GIS and how markup from the field is processed by an in-office GIS technician. The technology of GeoPDFs -- a spatially intelligent PDF map complete with attributes, labels and layers -- is also impressive for a few reasons: unlike hard copy maps which become obsolete and need to be physically replaced, GeoPDFs can be quickly updated with whatever new data is available in the GIS database; a GeoPDF map of an area can be quickly created upon request unlike a hard copy map; updated mapping data markup on a GeoPDF by individuals in the field can be automatically located and easily interpreted by a GIS technician in the office.

I was disappointed upon not winning either of the draw prizes at the conclusion of the webinar though -- a copy of Acrobat 9 Pro Extended and some guide to Acrobat 9 Pro. I guess the knowledge imparted was reward enough.

It looks like the webinar will be available for download on demand from the Acrobat Users website soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Penn State Online Lidar Technology and Applications Course

Penn State is offering an online course in Lidar Technology and Applications this fall, 10-12 hours a week for 10 weeks. There are no official prerequisites but they do recommend that one have an understanding of GIS, remote sensing and cartographic mapping. On the website they offer an online 20 question quiz for self assessment of one's preparedness, a mark of 16 or higher indicating that you should be well prepared for the course.

I gave it a whirl and scored 16 (80%) -- good news for me!

An Introduction

I certainly haven't 'got' geospatial yet, hence the title Getting Geospatial. Come September I start a 1 year post-graduate certificate program in GIS, coming in with little computer science, programming, or geomatics experience -- but lots of motivation and enthusiasm. My undergrad degree is a B.A. in Archaeology and I had planned to continue in to a Master's in Archaeology this September, but lately I've increasingly felt the need for training in a tangible skill rather than more education. Of course overlap exists between the two, training and education, but I think the distinction is meaningful. The relevance and huge importance of GIS today, its power to inform better decisions in planning, land and resource management, also really speaks to me.

To get prepared I've been reading all the literature on GIScience I can get my hands on, playing around with free GIS software (QGIS, GRASS), keeping up on all the geospatial news and developments that I can. To start to get in a programming mindset, I've been tinkering with HTML/CSS -- not strictly necessary (nor exactly 'programming'), but hopefully it will make me more marketable when the time comes to be looking for employment.

What else could I be doing to prepare for the fall, and more generally, for a smooth entry into the geospatial field?