G-I-Yes Video!

A true GIS person will definitely get a laugh out of this...
(and if you're not already a GIS person, you will probably think that we are all completely nuts)

"The Arc of My GIS Career"

The Arc of GIS career has brought me to some exciting places. Back in college, Grass was my gateway. I partook of it happily in the warm (Unix) Sun and was hooked. Alas, I eventually got distracted by the flashy look of Idrisi. This didn’t last too long as I soon ran off with a Surfer. Eventually fate brought me the opportunity to hop aboard a big ship called ESRI for a good ten years. I have to say it was generally pretty smooth sailing with loads of amenities, however, I still ran across more than a few of those darn stowaway bugs on board.

Older and wiser, I’m now expanding my horizons some more. The recession has brought me Manifold reasons for discovering new territory, not the least of which is cost of (ahem) living. And since the internet is really the best place to be anymore (forget fixed coordinates, I can be everywhere!), I’m taking a Quantum leap, an OpenJUMP into becoming an online MapServer, GeoServer and MapBender. Got any favorite 'places' you recommend I visit? I'd love to hear about them! Hope to see you along my route – I’ll be delivering lots of MapInfo on the Interwebs...

Bon Voyage and Amein!
Kelly Sparks, GIS Guru and Certified Map Geek

Snowmageddon in the Northeast - Mapping the Cleanup

The recent Northwest US snowstorms are now being called Snowmageddon.

People all over the area stuck inside, vehicles stuck in plowed snow, and many simply unable to shovel the massive snow on their walks. There are also plenty of people who have the requisite shovels and muscles and are ready to make a buck or just help out.

One enterprising mapper realized that it's a spatial problem - How to bring the "projects" and the "solutions" together. Enter Snowmageddon - The Cleanup. This Web site was built to be a simple tool that allows people to easily enter in locations of where help is needed, and where help is offered, and allow neighbor to help neighbor.

The website was built using Ushahidi, a powerful open source platform used to report incidents in crisis situations.