tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20237036666862077172024-02-21T00:20:32.457-08:00bytemapsThomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-45237230776822072012014-06-09T19:24:00.002-07:002014-06-09T19:24:18.994-07:00The United Watersheds of AmericaCalifornia, along with the entire Western United States, is in the midst of a historic drought. Areas with relatively plentiful water watch helplessly as densely populated areas drain shared water sources with reckless abandon. A large population center in a dry area can consume water from surrounding watersheds because all the resources within the state may be directed wherever the people will it to go, and political power is concentrated in the populated areas. Therefore, people who live in rural areas with relatively plentiful water supplies can be overpowered by the will of thirsty city inhabitants.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhh8x65O3-GZWhVYYv3k2x5-fSUWmY-NcmyRGycb7uW3E4iLhQ4lVGLWPEluRc2aXs0wmCKD8TKlRN0QSCWmLWmXb-d833Ecx7p_gjcut4jU0fiVdq5tA7AbMEiCP5yTX8q7K-Oo69Sc/s1600/celeb23a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhh8x65O3-GZWhVYYv3k2x5-fSUWmY-NcmyRGycb7uW3E4iLhQ4lVGLWPEluRc2aXs0wmCKD8TKlRN0QSCWmLWmXb-d833Ecx7p_gjcut4jU0fiVdq5tA7AbMEiCP5yTX8q7K-Oo69Sc/s1600/celeb23a.jpg" height="321" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A golf course in Palm Springs Desert irrigated with water from Northern California and Colorado.</td></tr>
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Let's look at California as an example. Political power in this state in concentrated in large coastal cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. These cities do not have enough water to sustain themselves, but because political power is concentrated in their populations, they can overpower the will of residents in neighboring watersheds to demand access to water. This is why Los Angeles enjoys a steady stream of water from Northern California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The residents of these mountains do not have the political clout to rebuke Los Angeles' demands. <br />
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But what if residents of an area did have the ability to decide how to use their own water? What if each watershed was an independent state, in charge of managing it's own water resources. Many cities would find themselves separated from their water sources by watershed boundaries. San Francisco and Los Angeles, no longer in control of water from neighboring watersheds, would only be entitled to the water which neighboring watershed states agreed to provide.<br />
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This is not a new idea. In the late 1800s, director of the USGS John Wesley Powell suggested the idea of determining the boundaries of western states based on watersheds. His idea was that each region would be responsible for their own water, and would not be forced to supply water to another region involuntarily. In this scenario, Los Angeles would be powerless to override the will of water-rich northern Sierra residents as their political institutions would be distinct instead of combined into one state. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbia6KNAv3YB1utQejxw13pTfXcdphN901Xj1w6mtnJ1rk07vq7Q_m-7GrSRy3SVlCdHWAR1Cj3A2bJtqwpa0UOp2BM4qGChKL5dCL6Er4Zxv_DE567zEwG-bWYVYpY54h_ot-Y3NepTo/s1600/Powell_Map-540x707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbia6KNAv3YB1utQejxw13pTfXcdphN901Xj1w6mtnJ1rk07vq7Q_m-7GrSRy3SVlCdHWAR1Cj3A2bJtqwpa0UOp2BM4qGChKL5dCL6Er4Zxv_DE567zEwG-bWYVYpY54h_ot-Y3NepTo/s1600/Powell_Map-540x707.jpg" height="400" width="305" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powell's map of States based on watersheds. </td></tr>
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Above is a map of Powell's state boundaries based on watershed. Notice that coastal California would be politically separated from it's primary water sources, the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Colorado River. No longer would residents be able to force those living in other water sheds to give up their local water supply. Perhaps than residents of desert areas would understand just how precious clean, clear water is to the American way of life if they didn't not have unlimited access to water from other regions. When we bring the water to where we want to live, those who live where the water is are deprived of their right to enjoy their local resources. Political clout is removed from the environmental impact of resource management choices made by thirsty urban centers. The end result is that the biggest consumers of water in the west don't know where their water comes from, and this water has often traveled thousands of miles through many watersheds to reach an end user.<br />
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Look at the map above - clearly, none of Powell's recommendations were adopted. Those who live near potable water are doomed for the foreseeable future to provide water to the dry cities of the west and desert southwest. Hopefully better management techniques will be implemented before the water runs out all together. Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-9213166049081839192014-05-30T12:06:00.000-07:002014-05-30T12:06:06.378-07:00National Broadband MapThe Federal Communication Commission's <a href="http://www.broadbandmap.gov/" target="_blank">National Broadband Map</a> is a highly useful tool to understand the current availability of high speed internet throughout the United States. This map and its related source data is made available as part of an FCC public outreach program promoting high speed internet availability.<br />
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Available data sets include:<br />
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<li>Maximum Advertised Speed.</li>
<li>Type of Available Technology. </li>
<li>Providers Available in a Given Area.</li>
<li>Service Footprint per Provider.</li>
<li>Broadband Availability in Relation to Demographics. </li>
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Take some time to play with these maps. They have sliders which allow you adjust the parameters of the data displayed. Here are some of the interesting maps:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoEhJm5DPxKWv87FBj84wr1hW0L7sR35kFSC84T7X466qEmNBdyrja3AqtfEm_lJRna35B3aKzp_UBt6Iiz-SQPJFgfrjmdwocLJQ_go4fVDNINgvNnCaJJ2FHiuyywa2vorEqKNZBU8/s1600/ss01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoEhJm5DPxKWv87FBj84wr1hW0L7sR35kFSC84T7X466qEmNBdyrja3AqtfEm_lJRna35B3aKzp_UBt6Iiz-SQPJFgfrjmdwocLJQ_go4fVDNINgvNnCaJJ2FHiuyywa2vorEqKNZBU8/s1600/ss01.JPG" height="334" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue areas have a maximum available speed of 10 Mbps or less.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peach areas are served exclusively by Comcast</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8OhLRKPZ9d6xPr7kZGjIX_aYxapk2hD2eBopGj02y1fNP-fHcwnsEyXBN5RTB2DKbW7Y61ubhhTMteoIBTvvdrKBW0dnbL651O5J4ziIL3-2PITWgUN4AzK6Kc-b3_1nnl3qKK-Qh_Q/s1600/ss03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8OhLRKPZ9d6xPr7kZGjIX_aYxapk2hD2eBopGj02y1fNP-fHcwnsEyXBN5RTB2DKbW7Y61ubhhTMteoIBTvvdrKBW0dnbL651O5J4ziIL3-2PITWgUN4AzK6Kc-b3_1nnl3qKK-Qh_Q/s1600/ss03.JPG" height="612" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red areas have ZERO high speed providers.</td></tr>
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Upon casual examination, it appears to be the case that areas with high population density are served by one or two high speed internet providers. For most people, the local cable company is the only provider available, and in many populated areas that cable company is Comcast. No matter the provider, available speeds are dreadfully slow. A large portion of those with high speed access can obtain no more than 10 Mbps downlink. Note that speed is the maximum advertised speed, meaning that actual speeds may be (and usually are) much lower. <br />
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Rural residents have things even worse. The vast majority of land area in the US has no high speed internet available. Residents in these areas are effectively cut off from the benefits of internet access. I have family in rural areas of California that are stuck with dial up internet or expensive and still slow satellite connections. <br />
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My takeaway is that we need faster connections available to more of the country. Both quality and quantity has to be built out. It's time for another Interstate-style public works project where we lay dark fiber from coast to coast and contract with private firms to light it up. Symmetrical Gigabit speeds are a reasonable goal to start with. Let's get to it!Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-77226683634033723442014-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:002014-04-25T12:54:25.605-07:00Strava: A Better Way to TrainThroughout history, human kind has sought to perfect skills with repeated practice. All of us have at one time or another completed a challenging task and wondered "did I do better this time?". Athletes training on a team benefit from the real time feedback of their coach or team mates, meaning focus remains on good form and proper pacing without staring at a clock. For those of use who do not train with a coach or trainer, the question than becomes "how do I know how I am doing?"<br />
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In the good old days, a mechanical stop watch dangling around one's neck was state of the art in terms of self-evaluation, assuming that one took the time to stop and read the watch. Thankfully, today we have something so much better!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43dXAJ7ySr9VpD9htimlINm8muqxcYUgWkR35nvOGwcM8Z9Zn_kgvsh0rkvz-YvHQHznLurnu3CootCISnDa5Kz3CvCUwtddc4rvtLslxL_nFgE2YNf85C4k1L9JfrCfbKDaFJ3XgCrs/s1600/stop-watch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43dXAJ7ySr9VpD9htimlINm8muqxcYUgWkR35nvOGwcM8Z9Zn_kgvsh0rkvz-YvHQHznLurnu3CootCISnDa5Kz3CvCUwtddc4rvtLslxL_nFgE2YNf85C4k1L9JfrCfbKDaFJ3XgCrs/s1600/stop-watch.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old fashioned way to train....</td></tr>
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Meet Strava, a social training platform that provides personalized, real time feedback and metrics during runs and rides. The premise is simple - capture GPS data of a run or bike ride and analyze that data to answer the question "how did I do?". In fact, I have been trying to do this for years using my cumbersome GPS unit. I'd collect the data, import a GPX onto my computer, view and edit, generate speed and elevation profiles, and ultimately attempt to publish my data. Unfortunately, this process was entirely too time consuming to do regularly, meaning my data piled up in a messy virtual junk heap. Thankfully, Strava's smartphone app and web platform provide a powerful training analytics platform where difficult data capture and manipulation processes have been elegantly automated.<br />
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I signed up for a free Strava account, downloaded the application onto my android phone, and set off for a ride on my trusty Univega. I was quickly impressed by how intuitive the application was to use, and how little battery power it consumed (a big issue for GPS-dependent apps). When I finished my ride, I was delighted to see my phone displaying a map of my route along with some basic stats: avg MPH, elevation chance, and distance. My route was automatically uploaded to Strava's cloud service where I can view more detail. Additionally, the application breaks a route into segments based on segments created by other Strava users, allowing users to compete against each other on the same segment, with the fastest riders listed on that segment's leader board. Additionally, I can track my progress per segment, meaning that a huge hill doesn't bring down my avg MPH for the whole ride.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xo3OVzKTtcRmOkE9EE-j2qqc7CkCTjUpX5g_0BIbu_QrlYpEi24JpyNVnbn9B2a3MwGJifrKQvl4e7vUXe6VgTldLYvxRnvbD1n-u67cW0pTdyzIgeUi9GxfDxSEqAIIrbHHBx1UD6g/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xo3OVzKTtcRmOkE9EE-j2qqc7CkCTjUpX5g_0BIbu_QrlYpEi24JpyNVnbn9B2a3MwGJifrKQvl4e7vUXe6VgTldLYvxRnvbD1n-u67cW0pTdyzIgeUi9GxfDxSEqAIIrbHHBx1UD6g/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="264" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My recently ride was automatically broken into segments by Strava. </td></tr>
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As a casual athlete, I find this app incredible exciting. It's super easy to use, and provides analytics which are useful for both casual runners and riders as well as serious athletes. Additionally, it's fun to know how you rank against other users. Because I know others can see my performance, Strava gives me the distinct feeling that every run and every ride count. There is no time to be lazy and take it easy, because now we have a virtual crowd-sourced team to encourage us during that last mile when things seem the toughest. Thanks to Strava, my workout routine is new and exciting again, and I can't wait for my next ride. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBv-XT9UnSTTAk1f3c3DHK9g0P7XPobBhDDaOtx98f8aSrtKLseyA0OetyMuhbIzm_AfhGIja5qWGH4-x6ZzuA3ijO8a-jHf0Hwp9X4FKjE0aQOcqvyKZy1mubKwCDq0GbkoZxnl47r0/s1600/Capture2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBv-XT9UnSTTAk1f3c3DHK9g0P7XPobBhDDaOtx98f8aSrtKLseyA0OetyMuhbIzm_AfhGIja5qWGH4-x6ZzuA3ijO8a-jHf0Hwp9X4FKjE0aQOcqvyKZy1mubKwCDq0GbkoZxnl47r0/s1600/Capture2.JPG" height="241" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My (as of yet very limited) activity overview. Cool!</td></tr>
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<br />Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-69990027270320175912014-02-03T09:35:00.002-08:002014-02-03T09:35:21.337-08:00iBeacon: A Promising Solution For Indoor Location Opens New World of Smart Shopping<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">iBeacon</b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is a new indoor location system developed by Apple for iOS devices. An iBeacon is a cheap, self-contained piece of hardware which utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy to interact and exchange information with nearby devices. Each iBeacon may inform the device of it's current location, and can also exchange info with the device. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, An iBeacon might be able to recognize a shopper's loyalty card number, and serve special offers based on a consumer's buying habits. Additionally, each iBeacon knows it's own location, so a mobile device can locate itself based on which iBeacons are within range. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Value of Indoor Location to Consumers</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indoor location allows consumers to find their way around stores more easily by enabling precise indoor location fixes. Retailers can provide immense value to consumers by integration location with inventory systems, making a store's inventory searchable in real time. Additionally, by providing APIs to this location and inventory data, it would be possible to cross reference a consumer's location and shopping needs with current store inventory.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfHBBhlufETR8nFzCv6jThR0XWIcSzgrQMmN803D13iexv45zOOlozZHqqVKWU1PbG5dwxNKH4gxp3h8kDkBlMtrLxBteDkdSdMFsNlv2kxy-6CfkvuCQMePMpLOUG0EWnL-gzsi_ZgA/s1600/iBeacon-Apps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfHBBhlufETR8nFzCv6jThR0XWIcSzgrQMmN803D13iexv45zOOlozZHqqVKWU1PbG5dwxNKH4gxp3h8kDkBlMtrLxBteDkdSdMFsNlv2kxy-6CfkvuCQMePMpLOUG0EWnL-gzsi_ZgA/s1600/iBeacon-Apps.png" height="127" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic use case for indoor location.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My vision of this smart shopping experience would entail an application such as Simple Note or Google Docs being able to compare my shopping list and current location to the current inventory of nearby stores and alert me when I am near a store with items I need in stock. If I enter the store, I would be able to follow turn-by-turn directions to any items I that were on my list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To go a step further with this scenario, imagine a service which finds the cheapest price for each item on one's list by searching inventories of nearby stores, and them sorting the items into a shopping list for each store. This would empower the consumer to know which stores to go to, and which items to purchase at each.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As someone who has tends to get lost in big box stores, I would greatly appreciate the ability to digitally plan my shopping.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMzsnLUshEiJk537YklLZ2o7dwfObCcEBDnwZ7t_KV34QnLjrn-AM_ESTDKOFPdcMFk8YzDX8vd2bg9gNeSg7hsjIvNymNnDM_VFrJ-2KiJoKWALciLlH_fZlb2gCS8uQ3VtyCl-KQaQ4/s1600/ibeacon-131206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMzsnLUshEiJk537YklLZ2o7dwfObCcEBDnwZ7t_KV34QnLjrn-AM_ESTDKOFPdcMFk8YzDX8vd2bg9gNeSg7hsjIvNymNnDM_VFrJ-2KiJoKWALciLlH_fZlb2gCS8uQ3VtyCl-KQaQ4/s1600/ibeacon-131206.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple's iBeacon collateral.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How iBeacon Works</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">iBeacon uses the latest bluetooth standard (Bluetooth Low Energy) to passively communicate with compatible devices, but can only interact with device if the user has installed an iBeacon enabled app.For example, if I install a store's application and go into that store, the iBeacon signals may interact with the applcation to show me special offers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Privacy Protected</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The app may send my personal info to the beacon, but only if I have given permission to do so. In short, iBeacons protect user privacy because they require device-based permissions to show messages or collect user info. The device cannot send or receive any info on the user's behalf without an application explicitly installed and approved for that purpose.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIaHwnrHgCj6ZNp-DUWny5-kBoa7d8f9plHuCzbjamDsnRmwNuN0GmwHfNjp_wa3i8-0kbDHfyxWXKE9LOPJ80-EAMwSRYOzbivPDifWcm5UOp2R7njW003l4Pe0dCSC4QNr43VfAn60/s1600/ibeacon-580x3421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIaHwnrHgCj6ZNp-DUWny5-kBoa7d8f9plHuCzbjamDsnRmwNuN0GmwHfNjp_wa3i8-0kbDHfyxWXKE9LOPJ80-EAMwSRYOzbivPDifWcm5UOp2R7njW003l4Pe0dCSC4QNr43VfAn60/s1600/ibeacon-580x3421.jpg" height="188" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every iOS device can act as an iBeacon <br />
to exchange info with passing devices.,</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the time Apple brought this new standard to market, they had been working on incorporating iBeacon functionality into their devices for some time. The end result is that the last several generations of iOS devices support iBeacon; not only can they interact with iBeacons, but each device can by itself serve as an iBeacon for other devices. iBeacons will be available as dedicated hardware, but since every Apple device can act as an iBeacon to other iOS devices, existing Apple devices can engage in this exiting new protocol, exchanging information as the two devices pass each other. No other hardware maker can claim this advantage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far Apple has announced the iBeacons are compatible only with certain Bluetooth Low Energy enabled iOS devices, leaving Android users wondering if iBeacon works for them. We do not yet know for sure, but it stands to reason that any Bluetooth Low Energy enabled device should be able to interact with iBeacons. Based on Apple's previous behavior, it stands to reason that non-Apple devices would work with iBeacon, but exclusive features will be available to Apple users. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bottom Line</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indoor location is the next frontier in the mobile location space, and Apple has a significant head start. iOS 7 contains advanced location technology to pinpoint location indoors and exchange location-relevant information. iBeacon may have limited compatibility with other devices, but only iOS device users will realize the full benefit of iBeacon at present.</span></div>
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Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-262379573221980672014-01-24T10:12:00.000-08:002014-01-24T10:12:00.014-08:00Google Maps IndoorOnline Maps, such as those offered by Google, have become the cornerstone of wayfinding in today's always-connected world. I use Google Maps regularly to plan a route, find the right subway stop, or even just check traffic. Until recently, navigation has focused on outdoor navigation only, meaning that a Google Maps user will have no trouble finding the desired building, but then must find their own way once inside. Google is working to change that with a new indoor mapping product.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tLBJhjKlTHgeUuT_zriHe733PCBTou7eu5JzqQQVhrd8_B6MTXV3btSrD2shesQHlJc1AoygBSFmA5VXSpVEmIhi6lqls-fyOyPqQfqQ_3vYDmi5-40b51IGyKTFtKrnyPfupOxMyIM/s1600/crossroads-mall-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tLBJhjKlTHgeUuT_zriHe733PCBTou7eu5JzqQQVhrd8_B6MTXV3btSrD2shesQHlJc1AoygBSFmA5VXSpVEmIhi6lqls-fyOyPqQfqQ_3vYDmi5-40b51IGyKTFtKrnyPfupOxMyIM/s1600/crossroads-mall-07.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic (confusing) map of a mall.<br />
If I am in the green, how do I get to the red?<br />
How do I cross the black abyss <br />
between the red and purple stores?<br />
Where is the exit?!?</td></tr>
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<a href="http://maps.google.com/help/maps/indoormaps/" target="_blank">Google Maps Indoor</a> has recently starting mapping public indoor spaces and incorporating these maps into the Google Maps application on Android. A user can view inside an eligible building simply by zooming in on the map. The maps can be quite detailed, showing hallways, rooms, bathrooms, elevators and stairwells on each floor of a building.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrlvucFWFBqNBd6rf7i9yPTsR7F_-op9y0oKkBwL3oazWm46PWfu59gB3ifT4UEsyAqwf2PCi2f8ATVP-wEoLm6Nt8Mb34QhBy7__ZL51kcqqQ6r_1ZLGhBDKvuKOCOG_pSsoji1lOzA/s1600/Screenshot_2014-01-23-13-33-13.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrlvucFWFBqNBd6rf7i9yPTsR7F_-op9y0oKkBwL3oazWm46PWfu59gB3ifT4UEsyAqwf2PCi2f8ATVP-wEoLm6Nt8Mb34QhBy7__ZL51kcqqQ6r_1ZLGhBDKvuKOCOG_pSsoji1lOzA/s1600/Screenshot_2014-01-23-13-33-13.png" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Maps Inside view<br />
of the GooglePlex<br />
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Indoor maps will be the next revolution in location technology. Map users will be able to navigate even the most confusing complexes with ease and find their exact destination within the building. As exciting as the prospect of indoor navigation is, there are some significant challenges remaining:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1) <b>The maps must be made. </b>Outdoor streets and spaces have been mapped and remapped over the years by a variety of organizations, resulting in a comprehensive, up-to-date mapset. Interior maps, on the other hand, exist for few buildings. Building owners must upload floorplans for their buildings in order to be included in google maps indoor. For a helpful video on how to do this, click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DnORTkX2FY" target="_blank">here</a>.</blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
2) <b>Lack of Indoor Location. </b>Most mobile devices are not yet able to determine their location inside a building, meaning that the device can display an interior map of a given building, but cannot indicate where that device is on the map. NFC has provided limited solutions allowing a device to be tapped to an NFC terminal to indicate that "I am here" but this method is quite primitive and usually requires the user to actually touch their phone to a reader. Apple's iBeacon shows promise as a means to determine indoor location, but iBeacon roll-out has not yet reached critical mass of adoption.</blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3) <b>No Indoor Routing Instructions. </b>The ultimate goal with indoor mapping is enable turn-by-turn navigation inside buildings. The ability to view indoor map data is a start towards this end, but a device must also be able to determine it's indoor location to accurately navigate. In addition, each building must be associated with a routing table, which helps the map software understand how different pathways interconnect throughout the building. Without a routing table, the mapping application has no idea if Hallway A connects to Hallway B, or if the door in Hallway B opens one way or both, etc. </blockquote>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bAG-b-Qlhig7zjr3Tf8dEo3VzXxmA3k-zlcmSoKEs-8ZJkPZ_hJg04Ck2m2xO7TbLFQ_WlJstbr9pGuaKzOYsQa5EtbNu8jkShbjA9GDAFGti6ZVyy1OuaSiP3K2WkAe6NIBU5jRc2s/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bAG-b-Qlhig7zjr3Tf8dEo3VzXxmA3k-zlcmSoKEs-8ZJkPZ_hJg04Ck2m2xO7TbLFQ_WlJstbr9pGuaKzOYsQa5EtbNu8jkShbjA9GDAFGti6ZVyy1OuaSiP3K2WkAe6NIBU5jRc2s/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="187" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Toggling between floor 1 (right) and floor 2 (left)<br />
of the interior of the GooglePlex.<br />
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en_US" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width: 0;" /></a><br />
<span property="dct:title" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">Google Maps Indoor</span> by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.bytemaps.com" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">Thomas Vieira</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en_US" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>
Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-27958593510533898932013-12-16T13:17:00.000-08:002014-01-09T11:53:05.463-08:00Twitter Entices Users to Share Location DataTwitter is reportedly experimenting with a new feature which will show nearby tweets on a map. This feature, currently referred to as "Nearby," appears designed to encourage users to geo-tag their tweets by providing the user value in sharing their location information.<br />
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Currently, users may geo-tag a tweet, but this feature is not enabled by default. Twitter is attempted to make money by selling advertising, and having more location info about more users will make Twitter's advertising inventory more value.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qCGiaK4cO4yoz0bHkgWWVfI6TQV4-XNHWWYYdkP83CbwyDptjLNtioyHVCPblK7I2_KjtAanauQ_AiHuv8ZLphf-9Q0Iwu_KRASWpJCuRZ4K3GzQ8jc-MMAVoYP5mfRK48bTlP_R3hA/s1600/twitter_icon4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qCGiaK4cO4yoz0bHkgWWVfI6TQV4-XNHWWYYdkP83CbwyDptjLNtioyHVCPblK7I2_KjtAanauQ_AiHuv8ZLphf-9Q0Iwu_KRASWpJCuRZ4K3GzQ8jc-MMAVoYP5mfRK48bTlP_R3hA/s320/twitter_icon4.jpg" height="320" width="314" /></a></div>
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Users get the benefit of being able to see what is going on around them. This may be immensely useful for finding out about current news and further cements Twitter's position as the go-to source for news happening right now.<br />
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Imagine seeing a plume of smoke rising from ten blocks away - the first thing most of us tweeters would do is search Twitter for likely keywords, i.e. "smoke SF Financial district." Even the most artfully crafted searches still leave the user sorting through a huge amount of content. Twitter's new "nearby" feature will allow users to see tweets based on their geo-tagged location, making it much easier to see tweets being sent from the area of interest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgV2NUEjKKHj4gJxZpQmTse7n3ATH7T3ngO-L1lzEufbMAp8WUIyApooERuezQqPLanr7a4Ebe0zSayJRw9y_ax-S4l4uAf2g8g7UBHrT7jVrrNGe3M80ptTpdDZXpJ-UE-_9mBgoVv8/s1600/Location-Based-Marketing-for-Small-Business.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgV2NUEjKKHj4gJxZpQmTse7n3ATH7T3ngO-L1lzEufbMAp8WUIyApooERuezQqPLanr7a4Ebe0zSayJRw9y_ax-S4l4uAf2g8g7UBHrT7jVrrNGe3M80ptTpdDZXpJ-UE-_9mBgoVv8/s320/Location-Based-Marketing-for-Small-Business.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Note that geo-location enabled tweets have been possible for some time now. Several years ago, I worked with a developer who was making a "heat map" of tweets containing a given keyword. Higher tweet densities were represented with brighter colors on the map. I do not know the technical solution this developer had implemented, but so far as I can tell, Twitter's new API does not add new functionality, but rather, makes existing functionality available to users posting from 3rd party clients.<br />
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I am excitedly waiting to see the community's response to this new feature. New features often lead to new and previously un-imagined features, but the privacy challenges are daunting....<br />
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Good luck, Twitter!Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-9397386379813183812013-12-12T09:20:00.003-08:002013-12-12T09:21:12.572-08:00Winter Cruise around Angel IslandWe received our first winter storm recently here in the San Francisco Bay. A cold low pressure system moved in from Alaska and brought with it freezing temps, driving winds, and several inches of rain. I found this inclement weather to be a welcomed break from the typical winter pattern cool, calm, hazy days. The worse of the rain moved past after a few days but left behind strong winds. I couldn't help but take advantage of this break from typical winter calm to go for a sail.<br />
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After grabbing some sandwiches and bundling up against the cold, I headed out of Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael and set a source south to Angel Island. Taking advantage of the unusual wind out of the north west, we had a leisurely cruise under the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and down towards the bustle of one of the world's most iconic waterways. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHjbWH6qii8AVSJ-JWg6u9zSNWIwZ42hZhUK5TXsqrEzUk1gTrF59-lMs3Ccjn_aJY0-59UK0_SP_l29ELThMOYVKBl44idpq8ZO8dk647HJdGKMO8_roxBIpum7s4KgfXTUafrba60M/s1600/06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHjbWH6qii8AVSJ-JWg6u9zSNWIwZ42hZhUK5TXsqrEzUk1gTrF59-lMs3Ccjn_aJY0-59UK0_SP_l29ELThMOYVKBl44idpq8ZO8dk647HJdGKMO8_roxBIpum7s4KgfXTUafrba60M/s400/06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our route on the San Francisco Bay.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Loch Lomand Marina - Must make sure to<br />
make the turn WIDE to stay in deep water!</td></tr>
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Loch Lomond Marina is difficult for sailboats. The marina sits about one mile from the deep water channel on the edge of a tidal mud flat. The water depth leading up to the marina is about two feet, which is tricky because the sailboat I use requires five feet of depth to pass safety. Fortunately, there is a channel dredged across the mud flat which is deep enough to navigate in a sailboat. Unfortunately, this channel is poorly marked and very narrow, and the only sure way to know you're not in the channel is once your vessel becomes mired in mud.</div>
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As you can see in the above picture, there is a small channel out of the marina which feeds into a slightly larger channel at a ninety degree angle (the blue line is the path taken by my vessel through these channels). Both channels are marked poorly, and the areas immediately surrounding this turn are especially shallow. Too wide of a turn will run one aground, as will too narrow of a turn. I have "played in the mud" here on several occasions, and have learned to not even attempt entry at low tide. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Unusual NW winds allowed us to sail<br />under the Richmond Bridge.</span></td></tr>
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Successful transit of the San Rafael Bridge under sail power was possible because of the storm's unusual winds out of the north and west. The prevailing wind, out of the south and west, is readily blocked by the bridge, making it difficult to safely cross without starting the motor. The wind out of the north, however, was able to keep the sails full all the way under the bridge - a rare treat!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearing Raccoon Straights.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZK9guxh11N9VylJvDEb4Jed0-tfr6Q_PgdRAIOed53XoEktVhInGa67xKXd6HDy5p4OOMwu_iYKyQTC_W_mYWJ9KYrMfekm9wmsKY4mMfuptFMOmi5A2_MPFnYaaAkAM5beUjmLGz66U/s1600/03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZK9guxh11N9VylJvDEb4Jed0-tfr6Q_PgdRAIOed53XoEktVhInGa67xKXd6HDy5p4OOMwu_iYKyQTC_W_mYWJ9KYrMfekm9wmsKY4mMfuptFMOmi5A2_MPFnYaaAkAM5beUjmLGz66U/s400/03.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squeezed between Angel Island and passing some container ships.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Rounding Angel Island brought us head to head with a line of oncoming container ships. Luckily I was able to hug the coast and stay out of their way (and their wakes).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOqvuQcsNE3G5XdTIpR5TPhl8q3hqKsPpGqiD7EY0iv2DrPg0bS5BJq1MqnX86iCp39MKehoMjx8E2VZGftRSe192458ClpikE24tdzftNh0lqFyqegu7ME9pKOZ88YAIWshoyyCr5v0/s1600/04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOqvuQcsNE3G5XdTIpR5TPhl8q3hqKsPpGqiD7EY0iv2DrPg0bS5BJq1MqnX86iCp39MKehoMjx8E2VZGftRSe192458ClpikE24tdzftNh0lqFyqegu7ME9pKOZ88YAIWshoyyCr5v0/s400/04.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fun upwind portion of the sail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After rounding the southern tip of Angel Island and taking in some great views of San Francisco, we headed back upwind. Sailing against the wind is much rougher and more difficult than sailing with the wind. A sailboat cannot move directly into the wind, so we had to tact back and forth across the wind many times to get back upwind to where we started.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWxnBjsHeFRGAJta_3ciwNUkwjq0sj__iGbDOwWqvrVdqPUDbh0TG2O2x0EK-y0DjPisMgnKGjHDb_nMuI_8BVRCmta9kPxsSvgjUw9cEFePj32-ohMGVlwMro4UpKN66B0TJtddF2aw/s1600/05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWxnBjsHeFRGAJta_3ciwNUkwjq0sj__iGbDOwWqvrVdqPUDbh0TG2O2x0EK-y0DjPisMgnKGjHDb_nMuI_8BVRCmta9kPxsSvgjUw9cEFePj32-ohMGVlwMro4UpKN66B0TJtddF2aw/s400/05.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Going upwind is a lot more work than going downwind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_kr9wOdX6zpjHZUyX3orYWzr84pK1dtPtSlxlWmRlStasysjXhU4fN7nvLyGfhu-4CHPYSatcdYhCZwbAuheHFm-jWrol_YRsKBqtpBe1IG_4GNqEZlnJNX44wJDPdsYHCYHAFbeNJ4/s1600/07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_kr9wOdX6zpjHZUyX3orYWzr84pK1dtPtSlxlWmRlStasysjXhU4fN7nvLyGfhu-4CHPYSatcdYhCZwbAuheHFm-jWrol_YRsKBqtpBe1IG_4GNqEZlnJNX44wJDPdsYHCYHAFbeNJ4/s640/07.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out our recorded speed (the blue line).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We averaged 4.4 mph, which is not bad for the entry-level 27 foot sailboat we were sailing. During some of the heavier gusts, we hit close to 8 mph!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Complete route map - zoomable and scrollable!</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/embedViewer.html?webmap=74288fd5a7774923a54960c789a9c819&extent=-122.6436,37.8182,-122.222,38.0046&zoom=true&scale=true" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br /></div>
<small><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=74288fd5a7774923a54960c789a9c819&extent=-122.6436,37.8182,-122.222,38.0046" style="color: blue; text-align: left;" target="_blank">View Larger Map</a></small>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-39865095269476047802013-06-14T08:00:00.000-07:002013-06-14T10:26:32.955-07:00Open (Source) for Business?: My First Attempt at Deploying an Open Source Spatial DatabaseAll modern geographers face the critical decision of selection an appropriate GIS. There are many options from which to choose, and each offers unique benefits while invariable containing some drawbacks. Open source solutions such as GrassGIS, Viking GIS, and my current favorite, Quantum GIS have the main advantage of being free to use, and allowing for great data portability between applications. In terms of close sourced GIS solutions, ESRI's ArcGIS rules the pack. ArcGIS is very prominently used by governments and other large organizations who want a solution that will offer reliability and that comes with support and complete documentation.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoesfN0xnsY-HTbJTJ2lFMiWHpTlOgkNapI7AHd3n6-G2n_nsHNgu3x2Q811Li5AzhREAIWEtLX7pYuxB0SkS9lwunbWu9cU_bl5SF8t2v_lcvi2l9Ca5quNABiqtjcZ1gaeb7uOhTln4/s1600/db_graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoesfN0xnsY-HTbJTJ2lFMiWHpTlOgkNapI7AHd3n6-G2n_nsHNgu3x2Q811Li5AzhREAIWEtLX7pYuxB0SkS9lwunbWu9cU_bl5SF8t2v_lcvi2l9Ca5quNABiqtjcZ1gaeb7uOhTln4/s320/db_graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well structured data is essential success in any GIS project. <br />
All good databases are thoughtfully designed <i>in advnaced.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
I cut my spatial teeth at University of California, Santa Barbara, where ESRI is the GIS of choice. Reflecting on my early GIS years, I feel somewhat shortchanged that my instructors did not expose me and my colleagues to open source GIS solutions. Once I graduated, I lost my school-provided ESRI seat license, and I needed to find a cheaper alternative to ESRI's products. And by cheaper, I mean free, because when it comes to GIS software, the options are either extremely expensive (ESRI) or free (most other GIS applications). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After experimenting with a few options, I settled on Lisboa's Quantum GIS. Quantum GIS (qgis for short) has a clean and logical UI and is a comfortable switch for an ArcGIS user such as myself. I quickly discovered how to utilize the functionality I was looking for, and soon was using qgis to contently import, clip, rasterize, merge, and project, and export data.<br />
<br />
Before too long, I had some large CSV datasets to work with for a consulting project. I converted the data into a shapefile, and quickly learned that shapefiles are not an effective storage format for 1.5 million data points, which unfortunately is the size of the data set with which I am working.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAEMNCQBXMoXEyFWrOJIIvs_RAnkshCleVBTgXq_YhTsPr9C6Ldk2XMDzGiKhBNmouxlyt_GYWG-dcmNL3gXLNKhGgP8qMB8whRIHI19RbF7ym6XVfWv0q2FvO51RKbaObWVpXWQAFuA/s1600/facebook-frustration_full.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAEMNCQBXMoXEyFWrOJIIvs_RAnkshCleVBTgXq_YhTsPr9C6Ldk2XMDzGiKhBNmouxlyt_GYWG-dcmNL3gXLNKhGgP8qMB8whRIHI19RbF7ym6XVfWv0q2FvO51RKbaObWVpXWQAFuA/s320/facebook-frustration_full.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">I wish I had more RAM. (Not actually me in this picture).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
As my Dell laptop (with a humble Core i-3 chip and 4 gigs of slow RAM) tried desperately to crank away at spatial queries on this enormous shapefile, I become intimately acquainted with all varieties of program and system crashes. After a few unsuccessful days of booting and rebooting, I decided I needed to put my data in a more scalable format. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
<b>Enter: The Spatial Database. </b></h4>
</div>
<div>
Had I been using ESRI, a Geodatabase would have been just the ticket to manage such a large dataset. I fired up qgis and started looking for the "create GeoDB" function. Well, as it turns out, Geodatabases are a feature proprietary to ArcGIS, and ESRI does not embrace the sharing of functionality and open data standards which are common in the open source community. I was stunned to discover the Geodatabases as they exist in ArcGIS, are unique to ESRI products, and that a GeoDB cannot be access by any other application.<br />
<br />
My assumption was that any database used to store spatial data was a Geodatabase. I was less than thrilled to learn that my relatively extensive experience working with Geodatabases would not apply to spatial databases in any other application... and every other spatial data application utilizes a common db protocol and ESRI alone does not embrace. Humph!</div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4j3jxn07yOoNzAS8ayVuc1zaZaW0J3pW3X9625TTNoCgzYuFm195WPFGhAMIF0LIsRilTcnk7wPEEvbqJ0s_VEbL2eZNqcTl6xD0aO9_kiZSbI9_xYUBeCYXGXazu7SBFjboHHS44g4/s1600/RDOpenNotFound+(1).gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4j3jxn07yOoNzAS8ayVuc1zaZaW0J3pW3X9625TTNoCgzYuFm195WPFGhAMIF0LIsRilTcnk7wPEEvbqJ0s_VEbL2eZNqcTl6xD0aO9_kiZSbI9_xYUBeCYXGXazu7SBFjboHHS44g4/s1600/RDOpenNotFound+(1).gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon I found myself in the world <br />
of painful, general error messages. Help me, please!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
How is a spatial database different from a "capital G" Geodatabase? After all, they serve largely the same function, in that they both are a fast way to store large amounts of spatial data in a hierarchical structure. ESRI's database solution is designed from the ground up to work with spatial data. It's very much a black-box solution - you give it data, and it lets you use that data in ArcGIS. A user does not have visibility into the configuration and implementation of the database - this is all handled under the hood by ArcGIS. As a user of open source GIS software, I learned that I would have to utilize the power of databases with my spatial data, I would have to roll my own database solution.<br />
<br />
I have only a very general idea of how databases work: deploy the database, import your data, and then reference the database in an application to view and modify the data. So far, I have managed to get the database instance installed on my local machine. I selected POSTgres as my database system, and installed the POSTgis plugin to add spatial functionality to the database system. I used the included tool to store data (a single shapefile) in the database, and access that data from qgis. My understanding is that the main value of a database for spatial data comes in that data does not have to be contained within the shapefile format, but instead data of different types can be easily cross-referenced which allows for powerful analysis. Additionally, databases are much faster than shapefiles when manipulating large datasets, and are less prone to corruption during data writes.<br />
<br />
I am still confused about the following:<br />
<ul>
<li>How does one relate shapefiles to each other in a spatial database?</li>
<li>Can shapefiles of similar features (i.e. the same feature class) be combined upon import?</li>
<li>What is the best way to import bulk geodata into a spatial database?</li>
<li>How can I be sure data attributes are preserved?</li>
<li>How do I move data from my database back to a shapefile for transfer to a collegue?</li>
<li>Shapefiles are a great way to share data - is there a analog for sharing data from a database, or is export to shapefile the best method?</li>
<li>How can projections and coordinate reference issues best be handled?</li>
<li>How do I modify data in a database (the db equivalent of editing a shapefile?)</li>
<li>Do databases support topologically-aware feature editing?</li>
</ul>
<div>
As I continue to tinker and learn, I hope to answer most if not all of the above questions. In the mean time, if you have any suggestions, please do let me know!</div>
</div>
Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-65187691076571058992013-06-10T15:06:00.003-07:002013-06-10T15:06:41.430-07:00Sailing on the San Joaquin RiverWith summer in full swing, there is no better time to get out for a sail! I recently went for a day cruise on the San Joaquin River in the heart of the region known locally as the delta. The winds were very light in the morning, so we had some time to float around and work on our tans, but thankfully a stiff breeze came in around 3 PM.<br />
<br />
Overall, we covered 12 nautical miles, or about 14 miles, which is pretty good when you consider that we spent a <i>lot </i>of time sitting and waiting for a breeze.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7173q581Ma4nSJ8RiypV23Ja8l2KDt2jVIzbXqMlrFoYmvnQrVFWraJP-VMzMr_a4Gu_RyE00i1jrz9PZO8c2xeGvg2D0aGbtMzfy7tzCu7UIclqGN3kF8h1F9_HnMfbFDMwiLVE8qY/s1600/Capture00.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7173q581Ma4nSJ8RiypV23Ja8l2KDt2jVIzbXqMlrFoYmvnQrVFWraJP-VMzMr_a4Gu_RyE00i1jrz9PZO8c2xeGvg2D0aGbtMzfy7tzCu7UIclqGN3kF8h1F9_HnMfbFDMwiLVE8qY/s320/Capture00.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Delta Sailing School's dock in Seven Mile Slough.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEmSBQqnXL5oVV8OBPn3P6G_a-_cuR4nUTJv8v37Ie0GcZNZk6d7DvVin2BOWr1TiKrihtYVLJbolhvq7JxHnCh3StSaL5G-bCJmP0wiJKkD0h1TqevXbrz1hX7zLPRG29zD3EhbT7tc/s1600/Capture01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEmSBQqnXL5oVV8OBPn3P6G_a-_cuR4nUTJv8v37Ie0GcZNZk6d7DvVin2BOWr1TiKrihtYVLJbolhvq7JxHnCh3StSaL5G-bCJmP0wiJKkD0h1TqevXbrz1hX7zLPRG29zD3EhbT7tc/s320/Capture01.JPG" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We got the sails up and made no progress upwind....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K3pzhAIhWaXIHYq1gQpK-fUtM1foYhVYp24ywkeT1HNVqkB9H4BqDcNQ3jre6lwW2GoB5NNIhruyAlMK0nQf-aAfUEdp6WqiuZbvQaslYLfZn1jhe7m-qD34T65oxd7GY0rIhGzQBng/s1600/Capture02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K3pzhAIhWaXIHYq1gQpK-fUtM1foYhVYp24ywkeT1HNVqkB9H4BqDcNQ3jre6lwW2GoB5NNIhruyAlMK0nQf-aAfUEdp6WqiuZbvQaslYLfZn1jhe7m-qD34T65oxd7GY0rIhGzQBng/s320/Capture02.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So we headed downwind for a nice cruise. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamEjf__gfqRF26rAxkGTt7V5FHty50XZabQiexTXLoFoPVWhT5f9HUFuFSBtQcVATNqJ15LLgrGYbzTOCrmxFCqr6bqvPSQIp_0jpKISUa2vfOsap5dSWU8IYtZuOf5MCQY47c6rqVU0/s1600/Capture03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamEjf__gfqRF26rAxkGTt7V5FHty50XZabQiexTXLoFoPVWhT5f9HUFuFSBtQcVATNqJ15LLgrGYbzTOCrmxFCqr6bqvPSQIp_0jpKISUa2vfOsap5dSWU8IYtZuOf5MCQY47c6rqVU0/s320/Capture03.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately, this meant we had to head <br />back upwind, requiring many tacks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjseIqaA90YR15kA4e9GEF8qIQPUSSBsKb0MJ0DFUlJsmfpxNpMY8oFtCV6nvQpjbNUEiulxgAlcRaXdPp5XbQpcXM_GFqDmd9xRlWIq7ExBfr0m-0tDUJaKoVmxiedODgZiUGzoltok/s1600/Capture04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjseIqaA90YR15kA4e9GEF8qIQPUSSBsKb0MJ0DFUlJsmfpxNpMY8oFtCV6nvQpjbNUEiulxgAlcRaXdPp5XbQpcXM_GFqDmd9xRlWIq7ExBfr0m-0tDUJaKoVmxiedODgZiUGzoltok/s320/Capture04.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We finally got some nice log runs in before calling it a day.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-49674166883362251192013-03-10T16:25:00.005-07:002013-03-10T16:25:59.325-07:00Turkey Launches Satellite to Capture Earth ImageryOn 18 Dec 2012, Turkey successfully achieved orbit of their new earth observation satellite, Göktürk-2. According to an article on <a href="http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/12/china-end-2012-long-march-2d-launch-gokturk-2/">NASASpaceflight.com</a>, the satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Launch Area 4 in China, and successfully achieved low earth orbit within hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxifJNwtoXDk9jsAqmgf2RQRc6LQj-3yJK1URfbCFSENoH14gjRc8YZlu1oW0FDbCJrehWHMsoZSpSlAWvEhe8bplKsjW-OIy7qzDKLRhcEkDUBwDgZgAm4sygVAjpvVS9qAlaefnMYt4/s1600/Z513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxifJNwtoXDk9jsAqmgf2RQRc6LQj-3yJK1URfbCFSENoH14gjRc8YZlu1oW0FDbCJrehWHMsoZSpSlAWvEhe8bplKsjW-OIy7qzDKLRhcEkDUBwDgZgAm4sygVAjpvVS9qAlaefnMYt4/s320/Z513.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Göktürk-2 launching aboard a two-stage Chinese rocket.</span></td></tr>
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Göktürk-2 will capture both panchromatic (black and white) imagery with a resolution of 2.5 meters, and multi-spectral (color) imagery with a resolution of 10 meters. Multi-spectral imaging captures different wavelengths of light separately, allowing researchers to compare and analyze different types of light to gain detailed information about conditions across the earth's surface. For example, multi-spectral satellites can map vegetation health by comparing how much visible light plants reflect with the amount of reflected infrared light. Stressed vegetation reflects more visible light and absorbs more infrared light than healthy vegetation, allowing researchers to use imagery to identify areas where ailing plant health may hurt food production, or to identify the impacts of global climate change on sensitive habitats.<br />
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All of the software running on Göktürk-2 as well as 80% of the satellite's hardware was designed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK), and assembly was completed by the TÜBITAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBITAK UZAY) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ). The satellite showcases Turkey's rising status as a technological powerhouse, and will prove to be a major strategic advantage by providing Turkey's Defense Department with remote imagery from countries around the globe.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8I5td88NUmCUrewo9KFiGZfbjoLWFPSaYSZitzr_NaPtG021-UjfRePQBSrlCvRqiwdMhj0WkEptJTbAJ52wWSWultAhWObWHklCT8jOxxu9dgh9XGnEPbbQ6PdHBMo8M4A-rlaxolg/s1600/Z61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8I5td88NUmCUrewo9KFiGZfbjoLWFPSaYSZitzr_NaPtG021-UjfRePQBSrlCvRqiwdMhj0WkEptJTbAJ52wWSWultAhWObWHklCT8jOxxu9dgh9XGnEPbbQ6PdHBMo8M4A-rlaxolg/s320/Z61.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Göktürk-2 in the lab before leaving earth.</span></td></tr>
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Many countries already have satellites orbiting the globe for a variety of purposes, such as imagery collection, communications, and navigation. Over 200 publicly and privately owned satellites have been launched from the United States alone. Turkey no longer must rely solely on data provided by the international community to map and research important environmental phenomena, and can now produce such data first hand. Göktürk-2 is part of a family of satellites planned by Turkey to further facilitate data collection and augment existing intelligence resources.Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-20899669139392196072013-02-21T09:42:00.000-08:002013-02-21T09:42:00.342-08:00Bill of Rights Does Not Apply to 66% of AmericansIn their ongoing mission to defeat the terrorists, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended the constitutional rights of 200 million Americans with a move that makes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy" target="_blank">Senator Joseph McCarthy</a> seem well reasoned and logical.<br />
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The Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights gives Americans protection against unreasonable search and seizure of their person and property. Just to review, here is the text of the fourth amendment as posted on the U.S. Government's document archive site (<a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html" target="_blank">source</a>).<br />
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<div class="heading" style="background-color: #e9e6e2; color: #463e3e; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Amendment IV</div>
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The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.</div>
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The DHS has claimed a long-standing right to search people crossing our international borders. Upon superficial consideration, this seems reasonable. But consider the smart phone, tablet, or laptop. These devices contain a person's most personal and sensitive data. If the data isn't stored on the device itself, than the device most likely will provide agents access to data stored online.<br />
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The DHS claims that these devices can be searched as part of a border crossing inspection. However, these devices contain access to an individual's most intimate and private data. By obtaining someone's device, one gains access to their email, phone records, bank accounts, photos, documents, and other private data. Therefore, searching one's laptop, tablet, or smartphone is not the same as searching their pockets and briefcase. In fact, searching an electronic device is more analogous to searching their entire home, office, and car all at once. By looking through a device, border agents can review and seize any and all of that person's private information.<br />
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An easy solution would be to only carry "dummy" devices when traveling internationally. For example, I can take a laptop with no personal data on it, and access my data online when I arrive at my destination. I can also encrypt my data, so if my computer is seized at the border, agents will only be able to see a scramble of nonsensical 1s and 0s.<br />
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Unfortuately, border searches are NOT limited to the border. The DHS claims that the internal border extends 100 miles inland, and therefore anyone within 100 miles of the border can be searched without probably cause and without a warrant. .66% of our nation's population (over 200 million people) lives within 100 miles of the border, and are therefore subject to search and seizure of their electronic devices and data at any time and place without a warrant.<br />
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Here is the ACLU's map of what it calls the "Constitution Free Zone". </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 out of 3 Americans live in this Constitution Free Zone.<br />© <a href="http://www.aclu.org/constitution-free-zone-map" target="_blank">American Civil Liberties Union</a></td></tr>
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Do you live in it? Most of us do. 99% of Californians do, as do 88% of Arizonians. If you live in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey or Rhode Island, then your entire state is a DHS search and seizure zone. So, you know, good luck with that.<br />
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Therefore, most of us no longer have the right to avoid unreasonable search and seizure. So if and when you see those flashing reds and blues in your rear view mirror, and you're in the orange section on the map above, you'd best start deleting your hard drive and smart phone memory. Unless, of course, you are ok with the government having access to your entire digital life including your banking info, email, web browsing history, and location data. I, for one, do not consent to waive my 4th amendment rights. I have nothing to hide, but as the founding fathers intended, the U.S. Government cannot require me to prove that.<br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/user/darlene-storm" target="_blank">Darlene Storm</a>, whose ComputerWorld article on this topic inspired mine. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_464310629"></span>Read her article here<span id="goog_464310630"></span></a>.Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-88003310901126689532012-08-08T09:04:00.000-07:002012-08-08T09:04:28.260-07:00Why Can't (the carriers) Just Get Along?No matter how hard they try, it seems that large companies have a tough time working together; as a company grows and its bureaucratic develops, the company seems less and less able to deliver products in a responsive manner.<br />
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Case in point: the wireless carriers. Sprint, Verizon, At&t and T-mobile all have network-based location capabilities, but none are available to app developers via a simple-to-use API. With this API, developers find it extremely difficult to utilize network-based location on their apps. The Wholesale Application Community (WAC) was a cross-carrier partnership who's goal was to allow any app to be used on any handset on any carrier. Under this Utopian coalition, a developer would build their app to WAC standards, and then would be able to deploy the app across carriers. It turns out that the carriers each had their own idea of how this should work, and after years of infighting, the WAC dissolved with few results for years of effort.<br />
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<a href="http://www.loc-aid.com/sites/default/files/sky_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.loc-aid.com/sites/default/files/sky_logo.png" /></a></div>
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So what's a cross-carrier app developer to do? Well, if the end goal is to inoperative carrier-grade network location services, then companies like LOC-Aid are the answer.The carriers specialize in building infrastructure that operates with 'five 9s' reliability, and therefore innovation on the carrier side is a slow, painful process. LOC-Aid (for who I do contract work, full disclosure) specializes making carrier location services available through a modern, well-built API that app developers find easy to use. The carriers handle the back haul equipment and reliability, and LOC-Aid provides an innovative, high tech front which developers can use to bring the latest location technologies to their apps without direct carrier interaction.<br />
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The failure of the WAC shows how intermediary companies such as LOC-Aid continue to provide a highly valuable service to developers and end users. Maybe some day that telcos will learn to play nicely together (not likely), and until then, let someone like LOC-Aid handle the tough carrier negotiations!<br />
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<br />Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-69074699877480431282012-08-04T18:08:00.000-07:002014-09-25T12:58:43.770-07:00Just How Big is Los Angeles?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Los Angeles is the urban sprawl capital of California. Simply climb to the top of any of the many mountain ranges which surround the city; one can see freeways, blocks of buildings, and endless ballet of cars, usually through a thick blanket of smog. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Los Angeles Skyline and San Gabriel Mountains<br />
Image © <a href="http://99cnaclasses.com/los-angeles/" target="_blank">Charles Abbott, 99 Photography</a></td></tr>
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Ask anyone who lives in the area: no on gives a second thought to driving 45 minutes at the top of the hat, or assuming that traffic will delay one's arrival for at least another 30 minutes. These constant traffic snarls and delays are simply a part of life for the average resident of the area.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hollywood Sign<br />
Attribution: User <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Oreos" target="_blank">Oreos</a> at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PB050006.JPG" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></td></tr>
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So why is traffic also so bad? How did Los Angeles earn the reputation as one of the most trafficked city in the country? Well, take a look at the map below and see how much larger of a geographic area the city covers when compared with other cities. A resident of LA simply has a much larger area which they will be expected to transverse for work, school, or pleasure. And because everything is so spread out, many areas are impractical for mass transit, keeping everyone stuck in their cars.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7tBaRW0h2pxOhr1E-TULfmslbl8iMCUaiN6_ZdFCva0f3raNYueJDDtV1y-vXeYu-fbDObJ7koKIT2pYC9tWSS63HElu2EeIH2ueltLA1Y3ozR3W7hOgoPCvcg7F99NyT6jttx9q7NdM/s1600/384753_3946547416537_491485470_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7tBaRW0h2pxOhr1E-TULfmslbl8iMCUaiN6_ZdFCva0f3raNYueJDDtV1y-vXeYu-fbDObJ7koKIT2pYC9tWSS63HElu2EeIH2ueltLA1Y3ozR3W7hOgoPCvcg7F99NyT6jttx9q7NdM/s320/384753_3946547416537_491485470_n.jpg" height="320" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Size of Los Angeles vs. other urban centers<br />
Attribution: <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/18228916/comparison-of-other-major-cities-that-can-fit-inside-la" target="_blank">Archinect News</a></td></tr>
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<br />Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-70376554874707084902012-07-27T15:34:00.000-07:002012-07-27T15:34:00.286-07:00Exploring Sonoma Valley Wine Country - On a Segway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;">When it comes to wine tasting, I am traditional. I like to spend time taking in the rich aromas, colors, and tastes of each wine. I chat with the workers at the vineyard to get a sense of the love and care put into production. When possible, I always like to see the grapes themselves out in the field. (Not that I know much about wine tasting, but I try and copy what I see other 'wine snobs' doing!) </span></div>
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Thankfully, my traditional tastes only apply in the tasting room and not to the method of transport used to get there, because I arrived to each vineyard on the back of a wild electronic steed, more commonly known as a Segway!<br />
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My dad had some about-to-expire coupons he'd bought on groupon for this wine tour by a local firm called <a href="http://segwayofhealdsburg.com/" target="_blank">Segway of Healdsburg</a>, so he insisted I use them. "Ok, If you <i>insist</i>," was my reply. The tour started off in a park and ride parking lot in Healdsburg, right off HWY 101. The Segways come to you in a van, charged up and ready to go. They guides teach you how to ride in the safety of the big empty parking lot, which was great because I had never been on a Segway before, but thankfully it was super easy. We took a quick trip up a side street to make sure our Segwaying skills were up to snuff, and then we were off!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location of the tour's starting point in relation to the bay.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overview of our route.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My tracks when I was practicing back <br />
and forth in the parking lot!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDN5tKjnUXL_jsJiBDtX-_HZcCdWPw9n2nzu2JVqpa6MXEg_keuz_nqIKD-k22PpqJUTSn6p6uJNpPJ1TdOqliKToGOM04ShSzQihzZhyb1iWL_Pc2NM_w-EQ373o6O6tVLPkp_e_Va4A/s1600/04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDN5tKjnUXL_jsJiBDtX-_HZcCdWPw9n2nzu2JVqpa6MXEg_keuz_nqIKD-k22PpqJUTSn6p6uJNpPJ1TdOqliKToGOM04ShSzQihzZhyb1iWL_Pc2NM_w-EQ373o6O6tVLPkp_e_Va4A/s320/04.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the side road we practiced on.</td></tr>
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After getting the hand of it, we headed down a main road to Limerick Lane, a quaint country road dotted with small vineyards. Segways are legally bicycles, so we stuck to the bike lane, but boy did we get some funny stares from passing motorists!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNF9HgSC25V6pHlene8TdpQR_djHM3fC896wi_X9r7qMO-BXopwXsqBh-y-t-S_eVbhlzLObtaTRly0T8X7VOuZWzwJkiH0hjn98VzRb5xDj5w5TSIpjjZL9r8qco9nuwE_P9XZ7szsKU/s1600/05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNF9HgSC25V6pHlene8TdpQR_djHM3fC896wi_X9r7qMO-BXopwXsqBh-y-t-S_eVbhlzLObtaTRly0T8X7VOuZWzwJkiH0hjn98VzRb5xDj5w5TSIpjjZL9r8qco9nuwE_P9XZ7szsKU/s320/05.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial View of Viszlay Vineyards. </td></tr>
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Our first stop was <a href="http://www.viszlayvineyards.com/" target="_blank">Viszlay Vineyards</a>. John, the owner, conducted our tasting himself around a shady outdoor table adjacent to the fields of vines. John told us he is a recent transplant from Chicago who decided to try his hand at wine making, and boy, he is doing something right! I am not a fan of Chardonnay, but we tasted a Chardonnay so crisp and delicious that I had to purchase a bottle. It felt great to buy something in cash directly from the person who had made it - this is how agriculture should work! And of course, we got him to sign the bottle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUf2CxAhCDI8VHVbUlMXsJSohPme0eLOWdtpYXVz82efeeLKEtn7o3gDQVvvVcpF1-rFSNc50jXhLre-LrqQrnMGXxP9nBHeDJ7OllN6aYP-gpyZiEbPby5iJPKDUnLUzSiN9th8Ln_c/s1600/06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUf2CxAhCDI8VHVbUlMXsJSohPme0eLOWdtpYXVz82efeeLKEtn7o3gDQVvvVcpF1-rFSNc50jXhLre-LrqQrnMGXxP9nBHeDJ7OllN6aYP-gpyZiEbPby5iJPKDUnLUzSiN9th8Ln_c/s320/06.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial View of Limerick Lane Cellars, with its bottle-shaped pool!</td></tr>
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Our second and final stop was just down the road to a place called Limerick Lane Cellars. The tasting room here was much more formal, with dark woods and ornate decorations. The tasting assistant was very helpful and knowledgeable, and he gained my respect with his honesty; his personal favorite on their tasting list was also the cheapest, so he didn't seem to be trying to upsell us. </div>
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Limerick Lane Cellars has been around for a while; some of their vines have been producing grapes since 1910! These old vines are unique because they were keep alive during prohibition when most grape vines in the area were ripped out. Due to their age, their roots reach down to the groudwater, meaning that these vines are non-irrigated. The reliance on groundwater gives the fruit a special kind of taste which you would not get with irrigated vines! We ended up buying a bottle of Zin from vines planted in the 1930's, and I cannot wait for a special occasion to drink it.<br />
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Overall, the Segway tour was a blast! I'd highly recommend taking the tour with <a href="http://segwayofhealdsburg.com/" target="_blank">Segway of Healdsburg</a>, but even if you go it alone to Sonoma Wine Country, be sure to stop by Viszlay and Limerick Lane Cellars! <a href="http://www.flickr.com//photos/segwayofhealdsburg/sets/72157630611459006/show/" target="_blank">Click here for photos of the trip taken by our tour guide!</a></div>
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Here is an interactive map of our route: The pins show the starting place and the location of both vineyards. Click on them for more info!<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/embedViewer.html?webmap=1c96fcf4e586433d8b580db8489fdd60&extent=-122.8609,38.5853,-122.825,38.5997&bing=true&zoom=true&scale=true" width="500"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=1c96fcf4e586433d8b580db8489fdd60&extent=-122.8609,38.5853,-122.825,38.5997" style="color: blue; text-align: left;" target="_blank">View Larger Map</a></small>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-21909138090633233072012-07-25T14:37:00.000-07:002012-07-25T14:37:00.041-07:00Megaregions: New Ways of Thinking About the Modern United States<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It appears that States, Counties, and Cities are having a smaller and smaller influence on the development of the United States. People today commute father to work than ever before, and in most central cities hold much less relevance than they once did. Suburbs and Exurbs have spread the population across huge areas such that it is often difficult to distinguish where one city or region ends and another begins. <div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Historically, the central business district of a city demanded the highest rent and therefore was home to highly productive economic activities (technology, manufacturing) and small, expensive housing units (apartments). As distance from the city center increases, housing costs typically decrease and economic activity becomes less dense and lower profit.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBSUcYnHpOJ_cY-Oq2lTPVf9-8pZROGnQyDncr9hy3kkP7zqgfXzv2YjFn30P_j4-bfv_DXv-YMmFkItrfk_TVcEk6_G55NUcwQEWvERwRwt6juoGlle28uFzlP1w_KIq0uPSNopZIZM/s1600/Growth-Cost_Page_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBSUcYnHpOJ_cY-Oq2lTPVf9-8pZROGnQyDncr9hy3kkP7zqgfXzv2YjFn30P_j4-bfv_DXv-YMmFkItrfk_TVcEk6_G55NUcwQEWvERwRwt6juoGlle28uFzlP1w_KIq0uPSNopZIZM/s320/Growth-Cost_Page_7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Housing Availability vs. Distance from city center.<br />Attribution: <a href="http://thetysonscorner.com/land-use-similarities/" target="_blank">The Tyson's Corner</a></td></tr>
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<br />Once the industrial revolution and the automobile made commuting either, both residents and business fled the city for cheaper rents out in the country. The megaregion is the natural extension of this trend: proximity to a major city center is having less and less affect on locations selected for homes and businesses, and workers are increasingly expected to commute long distances or work remotely.<div>
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Instead of defining areas by city or county, it may be more accurate to group areas into larger, inter-state 'regions.' Recent research by the <a href="http://www.america2050.org/content/megaregions.html#more" target="_blank">America 2050</a> initiative has concluded that eleven so-called 'megaregions' are poised to become the default unit for grouping people and places. </div>
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According to Wikipedia<span style="background-color: white;">: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">A megaregion is a large network of metropolitan regions that share several or all of the following:</span></blockquote>
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Environmental systems and topography<br />Infrastructure systems<br />Economic linkages<br />Settlement and land use patterns<br />Culture and history</blockquote>
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Essentially, a megaregion is anywhere with strong ties to surrounding areas. Megaregions are seperated by areas of low population density and less progressive economic activities. The map below really shows that the vast majority of land area in the United States has little to no population. Shaded megaregions account for 26% of land area in the U.S., but over 74% of the population!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHVUOpST8J-XtCKK4D6RoMaOOYIdiMGv9fKtw9hyphenhyphenx_4gHTi477aek3FKjvOazYpnlp3V2CUYPAGHTK_NKGNi3wffKcoTaRV33NVssSs4BudfsLp_SepUBTTw2g4ORRq-NdzzUoJOazTo/s1600/2050_Map_Megaregions2008_150.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHVUOpST8J-XtCKK4D6RoMaOOYIdiMGv9fKtw9hyphenhyphenx_4gHTi477aek3FKjvOazYpnlp3V2CUYPAGHTK_NKGNi3wffKcoTaRV33NVssSs4BudfsLp_SepUBTTw2g4ORRq-NdzzUoJOazTo/s320/2050_Map_Megaregions2008_150.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megaregions of the United States<br />Attribution: <a href="http://www.america2050.org/maps/" target="_blank">Maps of America 2050*</a><br /></td></tr>
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<br />Viewing Megaregions as cohesive units can allow for more effective urban planning, as it allows entire urban ecosystems to be taken into account at once. In the day and age of megaregions, planning for a single city or country simply does not make sense anymore, as good urban planning requires every aspect of the urban ecosystem to be evaluated and accounted for.<br /><br />
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*Map Attribution:<br />
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/" rel="license" style="color: #ae1b13; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/3.0/us/88x31.png" style="border: 0px none;" /></a><br />
<span href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" property="dc:title" rel="dc:type" style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Maps</span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.america2050.org/maps/www.america2050.org" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" style="color: #ae1b13; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; outline: none; text-align: left;" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">America 2050, Regional Plan Association</a><span style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"> are licensed under a </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/" rel="license" style="color: #ae1b13; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; outline: none; text-align: left;">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License</a><span style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">.</span><br style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Based on a work at </span><a href="http://www.america2050.org/maps/" rel="dc:source" style="color: #ae1b13; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; outline: none; text-align: left;" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">www.america2050.org</a><span style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">. </span><br style="color: #555555; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><div>
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</div>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-28117475824094878592012-07-23T09:00:00.000-07:002012-07-23T09:00:00.772-07:00Peaks and Valleys - Exploring the Geology of the South Coast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I am taking UCSB's Intro to Geology class this summer, and we just went on our field trip to observe geological formations in the Santa Ynez mountains. The trip really helped me understand the formation of rocks, mountains, and valleys; geology is a lot easier to understand when observing it in the field than learning about it in the classroom.</div>
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Our class piled into vans and went up Gibraltar Road, which begins in the foothills of Monticeto and winds its way up to the ridge of the mountains. Along the way we stopped several times to observe different layers of rock where they protruded from within the mountains. The Santa Ynez mountains are composed primarily of sandstone and shale. The sandstone is relatively hard and tends to form peaks, while the shale is softer and erodes more easily.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyy0PWfGiUezQ5Im_zBzWh-W5_GB2KR0QE6Z0VJEy0S2XTJo4Lx8RcPJDEvuKrQLz9U5WWqsDThrycuN-QVIr_LRvVNFhLrDR7ESUuysaZ6FmnuXrod_ZbtnCSUJ7xKQ67SvTyU6Hy34/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyy0PWfGiUezQ5Im_zBzWh-W5_GB2KR0QE6Z0VJEy0S2XTJo4Lx8RcPJDEvuKrQLz9U5WWqsDThrycuN-QVIr_LRvVNFhLrDR7ESUuysaZ6FmnuXrod_ZbtnCSUJ7xKQ67SvTyU6Hy34/s320/01.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An overview of our route.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmrqh4DUcTSgvHsxWX5ghRKWriqAj9Gr-VHT9LhCx7rh65PRFcNjvMt9536SWQY-LzZ4dvFHsELjZ0jZ-JEE09okPA2ijaCcFfUqIy7MsuFOV5svXlvpwzl2qAjcYYjoPuZknIIPhZ1M/s1600/02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmrqh4DUcTSgvHsxWX5ghRKWriqAj9Gr-VHT9LhCx7rh65PRFcNjvMt9536SWQY-LzZ4dvFHsELjZ0jZ-JEE09okPA2ijaCcFfUqIy7MsuFOV5svXlvpwzl2qAjcYYjoPuZknIIPhZ1M/s320/02.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Route overview, including return trip.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speed/Elevation Profile: Speed is purple, and elevation is in red.</td></tr>
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The main formations we viewed, in the order we passed them, were:<br />
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<li>The Sespe Sandstone Formation - a reddish sandstone with lots of rocks and pebbles mixed in.</li>
<li>The Cozy Dell Shale Formation - very soft shale which would crumble in one's hand.</li>
<li>Coldwater Sandstone Formation - hard, durable rock which comprises the peaks of the Santa Ynez Mountain Range</li>
<li>Matilija Sandstone - like the coldwater sandstone, but with more shale mixed in.</li>
<li>Juncal Shale - Another bed of soft, crumbly shale.</li>
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The rock layers formed due to rising and falling ocean levels. High ocean levels deposit fine silt, which becomes shale. When the ocean was lower, layers of sand would be deposited over the silt, forming sandstone. The layers of rock were flat until about 1.5 million years ago, when movement along the San Andres fault squished the rocks and bunched them up into mountains. Its crazy to think that rock in these ~4,000 foot high peaks formed under water originally.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBmTYp8XyT16heDKWGMRIBkgF1avWHbuAYdN3x1TNPFE9pXuxvBpRPGtAF5Gjudl-2WQBO_ffMCF-25Frz8tfAfzpB3XaNZe0oHjx4xm_IEYHy50Z8xilkfRuOMNxclyGKOInOe2wu70/s1600/oblique)route.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBmTYp8XyT16heDKWGMRIBkgF1avWHbuAYdN3x1TNPFE9pXuxvBpRPGtAF5Gjudl-2WQBO_ffMCF-25Frz8tfAfzpB3XaNZe0oHjx4xm_IEYHy50Z8xilkfRuOMNxclyGKOInOe2wu70/s320/oblique)route.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of our route looking north.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good outcropping of the bottom layers of Sespe formation <br />
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At our first stop we viewed the Sespe sandstone formation, along with some 'fanglomerate' which is comprised of sandstone which had erroded from the peaks and ended up at the bottom of a valley. The ridges surrounding this valley have since eroded away, leaving the fanglomerate perched up on a ridge.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7t6moAKOuYmS2fFt7BM5NaWCwSwyaHITeLtMcsabzFR7T6y1Wx-WFi1L8eMxyVxFZ7fD_imZSG4971BYbrkn1dSK6DzyE2BHnOmIg2lYiiFTNOB8tYureCt_t_Lq-4R8FAnyKZVFeung/s1600/04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7t6moAKOuYmS2fFt7BM5NaWCwSwyaHITeLtMcsabzFR7T6y1Wx-WFi1L8eMxyVxFZ7fD_imZSG4971BYbrkn1dSK6DzyE2BHnOmIg2lYiiFTNOB8tYureCt_t_Lq-4R8FAnyKZVFeung/s320/04.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cozy Dell Shale near the 'No Shooting' signs on Gibraltar road.</td></tr>
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The sandstone formations are much harder and therefore form the peaks of the mountains. Areas comprised of shale are soft and erode into valleys. These alternating bands of shale and sandstone help explain the formation of the moutain's topography.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55mGpnY4-RhiCsz-IKyjiqdLldFn_yuYv9adJyX48gohsxPBo2Wo_e4QOjYPMF2K_qKVNVsU2frc0dJ8IZM4JjKnYPW0u7O5I7EW8btIka4VpNqOLOVTzvp5P6xaWT96Io-wsZFqM5Qs/s1600/05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55mGpnY4-RhiCsz-IKyjiqdLldFn_yuYv9adJyX48gohsxPBo2Wo_e4QOjYPMF2K_qKVNVsU2frc0dJ8IZM4JjKnYPW0u7O5I7EW8btIka4VpNqOLOVTzvp5P6xaWT96Io-wsZFqM5Qs/s320/05.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Coldwater Sandstone pin, looking west.</td></tr>
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We stopped to view the coldwater sandstone formation from a distance. The above image is the view we saw; notice how there are two peaks with a valley inbetween. The peaks are both comprised of sandstone while the valley is mostly shale.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzkgkdMktQvLoAa4jpyXHbf-c6xxQNJzACbGGAQ31zlz0onWolPvvXZ9a-XqOvxRDxOzqMWpFRxhXFhuUeF_QKjR53boaiBjNAqQKMBEdVLHCzEiH2EzBWy0iDlZIorVmTwANJIDSc1AY/s1600/06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzkgkdMktQvLoAa4jpyXHbf-c6xxQNJzACbGGAQ31zlz0onWolPvvXZ9a-XqOvxRDxOzqMWpFRxhXFhuUeF_QKjR53boaiBjNAqQKMBEdVLHCzEiH2EzBWy0iDlZIorVmTwANJIDSc1AY/s320/06.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again, notice how the sandstone is perched on a ridge, while the shale <br />
is visible in the valley.</td></tr>
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We ended out trip at La Cumbre peak, the highest peak in the mountains, where we had a terrific overview of the terrain we had just driven through up close.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRUK51WXsjbInlP52RnZoSwuYJgCcZKxxbtyYdzR8uV5gJKHfZJWJbF5uEKd3hUYGiOc3Jft0OAXvdR6dRjBo9zEOBU6HP8k8I4npu4u65W8F8yrqRyK6502_acTdGVMVFa333YUuZI4/s1600/07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRUK51WXsjbInlP52RnZoSwuYJgCcZKxxbtyYdzR8uV5gJKHfZJWJbF5uEKd3hUYGiOc3Jft0OAXvdR6dRjBo9zEOBU6HP8k8I4npu4u65W8F8yrqRyK6502_acTdGVMVFa333YUuZI4/s320/07.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from La Crumbre Peak, looking East. <br />
A good portion of our route is visible.</td></tr>
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Here is an interactive map of our route. If you zoom in, you can see areas where there appears to be lots of frantic running around. These areas are where we stopped and got out of the vans to walk around, and the GPS unit recorded my movements as I examined the rock formations!</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/embedViewer.html?webmap=aa4c3fa5cb8645319cc8cc32238037d1&extent=-119.9021,34.3931,-119.6147,34.515&zoom=true&scale=true" width="500"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=aa4c3fa5cb8645319cc8cc32238037d1&extent=-119.9021,34.3931,-119.6147,34.515" style="color: blue; text-align: left;" target="_blank">View Larger Map</a></small>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-60873405713419494332012-07-21T12:00:00.000-07:002012-07-21T12:00:04.700-07:00Live Traffic Info for the Central Coast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) recently introduced </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://sbroads.com/index.php" target="_blank">SBroads.com</a></span><span style="background-color: white;">, a site which provides real time traffic information for towns between Goleta and Carpinteria. The site's interactive map shows current traffic conditions on the 101 freeway, and markers on the map display the location of any accidents, roadwork, or other incidents which may affect traffic.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvyTi18Fk5s1lQDoqp2Hx6HALxjVyEDqnwlNrYBBHOwBy68Q_yL6m73wLsKMviOaHX5KqpSp_VTUnP-qw1iUrSNA_ys8aBAsM1yk_YqFgBRwXXq6iiO79apQ19QqdHPJGlaFfiQT8Hx8/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvyTi18Fk5s1lQDoqp2Hx6HALxjVyEDqnwlNrYBBHOwBy68Q_yL6m73wLsKMviOaHX5KqpSp_VTUnP-qw1iUrSNA_ys8aBAsM1yk_YqFgBRwXXq6iiO79apQ19QqdHPJGlaFfiQT8Hx8/s320/Capture.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Users can view live traffic cameras (blue symbols on the map)</td></tr>
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Additionally, users can also view one of seven live traffic cameras up and down the 101 freeway in Santa Barbara and the Goleta Valley to see what traffic looks like in real time. Travel time estimates are provided based on current traffic conditions as measured by roadway sensors, and traffic incidents and sigalerts are provided by the CHP for display on the traffic map.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvlOrcU-oz7g_FrWc51M3O2s872MCBFru3z8RNr7b176HJsnv1iMbJgzeEbPDGfC6ZDIx_lWKufmAjka5cO7dwQI1OwCgTlVjsJta7QaAPuOwAlGTdOZyWwmQN_unpBaAd-9bmJ1K1z8/s1600/travel+times.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvlOrcU-oz7g_FrWc51M3O2s872MCBFru3z8RNr7b176HJsnv1iMbJgzeEbPDGfC6ZDIx_lWKufmAjka5cO7dwQI1OwCgTlVjsJta7QaAPuOwAlGTdOZyWwmQN_unpBaAd-9bmJ1K1z8/s320/travel+times.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Estimated travel times are calculated and displayed.</td></tr>
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<br />SBroads.com also has lots of information about ongoing improvements to the 101 freeway and other transportation improvement projections occurring across the county. Current projects mentioned on the site include:<div>
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<li>Construction of HOV lane between Santa Barbara and La Conchita.</li>
<li>Widening of the US 101 Santa Maria River bridge.</li>
<li>Addition of passing lanes to HWY 246 between Solvang and Buellton.</li>
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Click any of the following links for more info about <a href="http://sbroads.com/regional_projects.html" target="_blank">Regional Transportation Projects</a>, <a href="http://sbroads.com/improving_101.html" target="_blank">101 Freeway Widening</a>, and <a href="http://sbroads.com/news_and_updates.html" target="_blank">the latest news and updates.</a> And of course, for up-to-the-minute traffic conditions, be sure to visit <a href="http://sbroads.com/index.php" target="_blank">SBroads.com</a>!</div>
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</div>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-27295370875230530362012-07-19T11:00:00.000-07:002012-07-19T11:00:01.255-07:00NYC Subway Cars make good home for Fishies<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The Delaware </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has taken an innovative approach to manage the ocean's reefs. Artificial Reefs have long been built out of left over tires and cement blocks which are dropped in the ocean, but Delaware wanted to build a reef of a larger magnitude. Starting in 2008, a contractor has been dumping retired subway cars from New York City into the ocean eighteen miles off the Atlantic Coast, forming the Red Bird Reed.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">The subway cars make great homes for fishes of all kinds, and allow life to flourish in what was previous a barren stretch of sea floor. The subway cars are heavy enough that they will not move once dropped in the water, and New York City provides the retired cars for free. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/08/us/08reefB.600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/08/us/08reefB.600.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #909090; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; text-align: right;">Tim Shaffer for The New York Times</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">As the Red Bird Reef project grows in </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">notoriety, demand for the retired subway cars have shot up. An <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/us/08reef.html?_r=2" target="_blank">article</a> which ran in the NY Times in 2008 stated that other organizations were seeking the cars to build reefs. New York State itself is in the process of renewing its permit to build artificial reefs; one the state has secured this permit, the supply of subway cars is expected to dry up. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">The subway cars attract all sorts of marine life, including tuna, mackerel, sea bass and flounder. Each fish prefers a different spot in the car, allowing them to co-existing, and the cars are durable enough that they will last for decades. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://aquaviews.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/articial-reefs-the-redbird-reef-sunken-subway-cars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://aquaviews.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/articial-reefs-the-redbird-reef-sunken-subway-cars.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://aquaviews.net/featured/from-trash-to-treasure-artificial-reefs-uncovered/" target="_blank">© Aquaviews.net</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVti1EMX9ZbVFe-EWhdpZlwd2-I6QMEYX1CBpU3iZAorzVXvLSIInMDOEqOJss_OK_c8NpvbbOEDYBO6W67Equrz8lIy2PRTT9-2biplKS48vLOHO1HIH-aMnJg8jjTrP9uKkIdu3tVfM/s1600/reefsetting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVti1EMX9ZbVFe-EWhdpZlwd2-I6QMEYX1CBpU3iZAorzVXvLSIInMDOEqOJss_OK_c8NpvbbOEDYBO6W67Equrz8lIy2PRTT9-2biplKS48vLOHO1HIH-aMnJg8jjTrP9uKkIdu3tVfM/s320/reefsetting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Location of the reef</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3JZfCxEvwLHETDC-HvCHb4kUvO7z6_1fxWbVrZKN_mvUK0pzZWa38aBYPetsG4Hbqmmzjkqn6Fl4gvNSdSEmHcy-o6bNpUeohJ_5J5qn1dXBP5X72p5GzxJU9m3xqWBomoAr5hl9TibA/s1600/reefshape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3JZfCxEvwLHETDC-HvCHb4kUvO7z6_1fxWbVrZKN_mvUK0pzZWa38aBYPetsG4Hbqmmzjkqn6Fl4gvNSdSEmHcy-o6bNpUeohJ_5J5qn1dXBP5X72p5GzxJU9m3xqWBomoAr5hl9TibA/s320/reefshape.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approximate shape of the reef based on documents from the<br />Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife</td></tr>
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span></span>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-49652515211483438802012-07-17T11:00:00.000-07:002012-07-17T11:00:07.786-07:00Romantic Santa Barbara Mountain Getaway<span style="text-align: left;">My girlfriend Shoree and I recently celebrated our one year anniversary, and being the modern woman that she is, Shoree insisted on taking me on an overnight getaway to celebrate. She told me she'd book a hotel, but that she wanted to keep the exact location a surprise. I figured we would be going to a nice bed and breakfast in Santa Barbara or Solvang, or something else simple and affordable.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">The day of our trip finally arrived; I was driving, and Shoree was giving me directions to the hotel. She directly me up Hwy 154, and I thought to myself "Ok, we're going to Solvang." You can imagine my surprise when I was told to turn right up Painted Cave Road, and I realized that Shoree had something much more special in store for me than just a hotel.</span>
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After a few miles we turned off Painted Cave Rd onto a private road which narrowed and quickly became quite bumpy. The trees overhead grew thick, giving the feeling of driving through a tunnel, as anticipation grew in my mind about where we were going.
We pulled up to an opening in the forest, and Shoree announced "This is Headwaters Ranch, and we will be staying in their guest cabin tonight." My mind was blown! I never expected that we'd be staying in a cabin tucked away in the beautiful Los Padres National Forest.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC6YVQF0B95RaStyOZlyYaKqY3JlsYQko8vw5oJsXDO_rhi6ehpeWTxh7pWNVKdEeZLtjLO2L3OsBOruFzsOFDYTZB_ViTudesGgJ0vsYrzKRRlKjmHCjEBEYQ1Xs6ufVloFGKzFoHobI/s1600/2012-07-04_09-16-14_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC6YVQF0B95RaStyOZlyYaKqY3JlsYQko8vw5oJsXDO_rhi6ehpeWTxh7pWNVKdEeZLtjLO2L3OsBOruFzsOFDYTZB_ViTudesGgJ0vsYrzKRRlKjmHCjEBEYQ1Xs6ufVloFGKzFoHobI/s320/2012-07-04_09-16-14_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headwaters Ranch Guest Cabin</td></tr>
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The ranch is owned and occupied by Jim and Cathy who advertise their guest cabin for rent via craigslist and <a href="http://www.headwatersranch.net/index.html" target="_blank">their website</a>. Jim greeted us in the driveway as we pulled up, and directed us to a driveway in front of the guest cabin. He then took us inside and showed us around in what was the cutest cabin I have ever personally seen. This cabin is around 100 years old, and was originally built to house miners working at a near by quarry. Despite it's age, the place was very comfy and welcoming; it was clear that someone had put a lot of love into fixing the place up, and every detail was meticulously attended to, as one would expect from a luxury vacation home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyD8j10xQHjOVx48rI0uJw2I45d2_Jhp34ruyCwTK4yJKFCF8UPcyaSaMXE861uSX-KlANdSWSAqhZtftNBkyUAI9opMRerW_ebsElKduPoAEuECxIm0hBz0GuMkooOv7T0gbbsobXpHc/s1600/IMAG0255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPB4RPstALoLhjwZ11Vw99cjRYEM3px_WhW__00eEZoM3rUNks-Orcg4uhCTGKjd5EYxoW68D5-vP7SXECZv2qfhobRcgptHLUM0A8Fj9hwDfTwYM-yGL4pafUU53_2FK-Ua8381KSRc/s1600/IMAG0257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPB4RPstALoLhjwZ11Vw99cjRYEM3px_WhW__00eEZoM3rUNks-Orcg4uhCTGKjd5EYxoW68D5-vP7SXECZv2qfhobRcgptHLUM0A8Fj9hwDfTwYM-yGL4pafUU53_2FK-Ua8381KSRc/s320/IMAG0257.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The patio off the kitchen offers a gas BBQ, an outdoor <br />
fireplace, and comfy seating to enjoy the view.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFrTW1tYQnI-twW1IDMCjQaGdPIG05UWbxg8hqYJiKP6kKoevJ6NNQ9drcMW3GhSJWXIaL6MIPk2J4ZMC4qmWPyVrxnwuHNrcoPb-hfkAH1AjV8I7CKjE-Pmg9n91ZBpw0YvB-S_YooA/s1600/2012-07-04_09-14-51_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFrTW1tYQnI-twW1IDMCjQaGdPIG05UWbxg8hqYJiKP6kKoevJ6NNQ9drcMW3GhSJWXIaL6MIPk2J4ZMC4qmWPyVrxnwuHNrcoPb-hfkAH1AjV8I7CKjE-Pmg9n91ZBpw0YvB-S_YooA/s320/2012-07-04_09-14-51_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the ranch property</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guest Cabin Back Deck, off of the living room.</td></tr>
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The cabin feels spacious with lots of natural light. The doorway from the patio leads into the beautiful, recently remodeled kitchen. Off the kitchen is the bedroom and bathroom, and on the other side of the bedroom is the living room which has a wood burning stove and giant windows looking out on the creek below.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the back deck.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the driveway and cabin.</td></tr>
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The cabin has beautiful landscaping and is tastefully decorated. I felt right at home, and did not want to leave after our stay!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wood Stove in the living room. Firewood is provided!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original entrance door added a very quaint touch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oldest portion of the cabin, which today serves <br />
as the master bedroom.</td></tr>
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Headwaters Ranch has many miles of hiking trails which guests can use. The terrain is relatively steep, so be sure to bring good hiking shoes, but the views are breathtaking and Jim takes great care of the trails. The cabin seems very remote, but it's less than twenty minutes from Downtown Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley, so there is pleanty to see and do during the day before returning to this lovely hide-a-way at night. The next time you need some time away to relax and take in nature, grab a loved one and head up to Headwaters Ranch (after making a <a href="http://www.headwatersranch.net/contact.html" target="_blank">reservation</a>, of course) for a taste of life at a slower pace.<br />
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For more info, visit the ranch's website. Here you can read about the<a href="http://www.headwatersranch.net/history.html" target="_blank"> ranches history</a>, view <a href="http://www.headwatersranch.net/photos2.html" target="_blank">more photos</a>, review <a href="http://www.headwatersranch.net/rooms.html" target="_blank">rates and booking info</a>. Jim and Cathy are old school, however, so to make reservations you will have <a href="http://www.headwatersranch.net/contact.html" target="_blank">to give them a call</a>.<br />
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Please explore the interactive map of our drive to the ranch. I recorded our path (the brown line) using my handheld GPS receiver.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/embedViewer.html?webmap=ecf0736e75354700b58f29a4fb4f1c04&extent=-119.9448,34.3293,-119.3701,34.5731&zoom=true&scale=true" width="500"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=ecf0736e75354700b58f29a4fb4f1c04&extent=-119.9448,34.3293,-119.3701,34.5731" style="color: blue; text-align: left;" target="_blank">View Larger Map</a></small>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-37305864501196841272012-07-02T15:24:00.002-07:002012-07-02T15:24:58.349-07:00Iran Seeks Closure of Straight of HormuzThe Straight of Hormuz has long been a controversial water through which a large portion of the world's oil must be shipped. Adjacent to Iran, the waterway is known around the world as a battleground in which western nations try and protect the shipment of oil from the Middle East to global markets while Iran tries to limit these exports to gain leverage in it's struggle for a space on the world's stage.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnw0GI-kfzC5_oRRqwqwmT5ZVjBSMnBSbHLNl4kYbiyxWYMGalYJNwcJiUyq4ivGwuvyGtdPgjgouN0PLwmITPmH6jhB-5BoUR4thACIyie3jxx2-yMKsyF5xD6eYrwRK33g-N66gHnNY/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnw0GI-kfzC5_oRRqwqwmT5ZVjBSMnBSbHLNl4kYbiyxWYMGalYJNwcJiUyq4ivGwuvyGtdPgjgouN0PLwmITPmH6jhB-5BoUR4thACIyie3jxx2-yMKsyF5xD6eYrwRK33g-N66gHnNY/s320/Capture.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The location of the Straight of Hormuz (A).</td></tr>
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In a move seen as retaliation for the EU's recent increased sanctions, Iran's Parliament has drafted a bill which would prohibit oil shipments in the Straight of Hormuz to nations imposing the sanctions. The body of water is a strategic shipping channel by which oil is moved from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Syria to consuming nations around the world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Struggle of East vs. West over Hormuz as <br />depicted in an Arab Political cartoon.</td></tr>
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If Iran's government is successful in it's desire to close to the waterway to oil shipments going to countries which have imposed an embargo, the world oil markets may react violently as more oil is made available to Iran's allies while less is available to western countries. War hawks here in the U.S. are likely to use Iran's shipping prohibition to continue beating the war drum, saying that we need to protect our 'strategic interests' in the Middle East. In this case, 'strategic interests' refer to freely flowing oil. I hold out hope the U.S. and E.U. have the common sense to 1) recognize Iran's legitimacy as a sovereign nation state to control it's land and water, and 2) pursue a diplomatic solution to what is likely to be perceived by the west as another Islamic threat.<br />
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<br />Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-85304742427613575382012-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:002012-06-27T11:34:33.487-07:00Creating Virtual Models with LiDAR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a powerful radar based technology for creating virtual models of physical surfaces and environments . A LiDAR scanner attached to a helicopter, for example, can scan the ground and record information about elevation and ground type, buildings, vegetation, roads, and any other visible structure. Electric utility companies use LiDAR to survey transmission lines remotely, and first responders can use the technology to assess ground conditions after a natural disaster. </span></div>
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LiDAR works on the same principal of radar, but bounces light off distant surfaces instead of sound. A closer surface will return a reflection more quickly than a more distant surface, indicating the distance of a reflection's source point from the sensor. The brightness of the reflection indicates what material the laser. is reflecting off of, allowing the sensor to different feature types more easily.<br />
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As the LiDAR sensor moves, it precisely calculates its location using GPS, accelerometers, and other motion sensors. As the laser sweeps the surface of interest, the precise location of each point is recorded along the delay and brightness of the reflection.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IGmu2o5454GzYJ3aNNlgTXLwXstaOApfWNfhvObHdU3jSZeBB-MZJ7D-gV1-fPlSlTA4jweFGQpbf92xSDZ0O8-sGpPfXTaYc_hp0Bb12yno-ziOPG5a5t7cfq9vMs8yiVikVtd0nBE/s1600/lidarWorks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IGmu2o5454GzYJ3aNNlgTXLwXstaOApfWNfhvObHdU3jSZeBB-MZJ7D-gV1-fPlSlTA4jweFGQpbf92xSDZ0O8-sGpPfXTaYc_hp0Bb12yno-ziOPG5a5t7cfq9vMs8yiVikVtd0nBE/s320/lidarWorks.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LiDAR Collection Process<br />
Photo Credit: <a href="http://stratus-aero.com/?page_id=106" target="_blank">©Stratus Aero</a></td></tr>
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This collection of measurements is assembled into a 'point cloud' which can be used recreate virtual models of the surface's 3D features. The differences in the brightness and delay of the laser's reflection indicate information, and this information is organized spatially within the point cloud. False color is used to differentiate different features and objects out of the point cloud data set. As shown in the image below, this false coloration helps the viewer identify distinct features and objects within the point cloud.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjed0bDlpgxAsBZHBWAs25NsD1nqUfprnLhOhJyzKQMqU9aW2v5PSE-wESURB1b65Ea0HvFU8nHevpztzv-ogCrqQVXw08AICDL_75-90DGRy4NGpmEuYp_bS07hwSv_NIRuJ9bIUnbg5k/s1600/lidar_example.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjed0bDlpgxAsBZHBWAs25NsD1nqUfprnLhOhJyzKQMqU9aW2v5PSE-wESURB1b65Ea0HvFU8nHevpztzv-ogCrqQVXw08AICDL_75-90DGRy4NGpmEuYp_bS07hwSv_NIRuJ9bIUnbg5k/s320/lidar_example.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">False Color Lidar Point Cloud<br />
Photo Credit: <a href="http://mcarlberg.wordpress.com/electrical-engineering-research/" target="_blank">Between The Walls</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsxBtK5rLrA0SfQ34k44IxlPdWPPAPlBrRI40cTXiL0UBu9tNP27y1iSe8pUpMQTN-Nuc-xujSZgeDO-lIjtbvtgwh1zXKJv1ZlUUw8ulKwT6C0eq4HKugnYx88uIiwCa5-wc99UCewk/s1600/d1_ex22.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsxBtK5rLrA0SfQ34k44IxlPdWPPAPlBrRI40cTXiL0UBu9tNP27y1iSe8pUpMQTN-Nuc-xujSZgeDO-lIjtbvtgwh1zXKJv1ZlUUw8ulKwT6C0eq4HKugnYx88uIiwCa5-wc99UCewk/s320/d1_ex22.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">False Color Lidar Point Cloud<br />
Photo Credit: <a href="http://mcarlberg.wordpress.com/electrical-engineering-research/" target="_blank">Between The Walls</a></td></tr>
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LiDAR has many practical applications. Utility companies and construction companies use the technology to survey existing or planned pipelines, electrical lines, roads, and buildings. Huge areas of land can be surveyed quickly and in fine detail from the comfort of a helicopter or small plane. Researchers can even use LiDAR to record and model the exact layout of historic buildings, statues, caves, and other culturally important sites. These high resolution 3-D virtual models can be studied by anyone around the world without travel to the site. Additionally, the current condition of the site is preserved, and researchers do not risk further degrading the site by visiting it in person.<br />
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LiDAR is a great tool for remotely measuring the physical environment in great detail. It can be used to survey hundreds of miles for a trans-continental pipeline or freeway, or to model indoor areas with a ~3 MM resolution. Ultimately, LiDAR will allow anyone with an internet connection to explore large parts of our world in great detail. </div>
</div>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-37534028161799235882012-06-19T16:36:00.004-07:002012-06-19T16:36:45.176-07:00Using GIS to Assess Bike Parking at UCSB<br />
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Where is the parking!?!</h4>
As part of my emphasis in Geographic Information System Science, I recently completed a quarter-long project in which we produced updated maps of on-campus bicycle parking as well as spatial analysis of parking adequacy on campus. Using ArcGIS, my team updated locations of all racks as needed and collected additional 'attribute' information describing the condition of each rack. We then created a web map service using ArcServer where a user can see the location of each rack, and chose a rack which best suites their parking needs. Below is is an excerpt of our final paper. Please view the <a href="http://ags2.geog.ucsb.edu/icm-bikegroup/" target="_blank">online map</a>, and slowly double click on any bike rack (dark blue) to view additional info about the rack.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjMQD_na6IZMf-FPtVKJ4j_rIHDxkM42Uo9FLmc5s3UQKtUJgove9b3hkhYXbI8FFmCVjsgF3tAFH05X85sR9PqRPOaKIjSu1pBB9rBppvYii0-ex-v1MitFs6HaTFkMsHtqN5xgVKwk/s1600/map04_highres_copright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjMQD_na6IZMf-FPtVKJ4j_rIHDxkM42Uo9FLmc5s3UQKtUJgove9b3hkhYXbI8FFmCVjsgF3tAFH05X85sR9PqRPOaKIjSu1pBB9rBppvYii0-ex-v1MitFs6HaTFkMsHtqN5xgVKwk/s320/map04_highres_copright.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parking Adequacy based on Building Occupancy</td></tr>
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<h4>
Introduction</h4>
Bicycles are everywhere on the UCSB campus, and it seems as though bike parking is constantly in short supply. Racks are not available near all buildings, and existing racks are often full or in poor condition. According to the survey administered by Associated Students Bicycle Improvements Keep Everyone Safe (A.S. B.I.K.E.S.), 80% of students ride a bike to class every day. Many maps of bike rack locations exist, but they are often outdated and do not contain any information regarding the capacity or condition of racks.<br />
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The UCSB community would benefit from an updated, comprehensive map of campus bicycle parking. For each rack, the map would indicate surface type, presence of night time lighting, presence of U-lock accommodating space-saver racks, as well as the number of spaces. Such a map would aid campus administrators and planners in understanding where additional rack capacity is needed, and where racks need safety or capacity improvements. Ideally, all buildings on campus would be located in close proximity to lighted, paved, space saving racks. A key benefit comes in that U-locks are easier to use properly with space-saving racks, and so greater distribution of these U-lock compatible racks would increase securely locked bicycles, and decrease bike and wheel theft.<br />
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Students can utilize the map via an <a href="http://ags2.geog.ucsb.edu/icm-bikegroup/" target="_blank">interactive online portal</a>, which shows each rack along with detailed attribute information to aide informed decision-making. For example, a student working late on campus may want to find a rack with nighttime lighting. On a rainy day, students may wish to find racks that have pavement instead of dirt surfaces. Some students may wish to seek out space-saving racks for their convenience or security.<br />
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A key outcome of this project was the development of a method of comparing spatial densities. Density comparison is an ongoing challenge in GIS, and we have developed a workable solution which, given certain assumptions about bike rack demand, we were able to use to produce a map of rack adequacy for a large portion of main campus.<br />
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<h4>
Motivations and Objectives</h4>
Based on our own experiences as biking students and the survey information provided by A.S. B.I.K.E.S., we identified several variables relevant to bike parking security. An important objective of the project was to identify U-lock compatible bike racks. A U-Lock compatible rack allows the owner to lock the frame of the bike to an immovable surface, which makes it less vulnerable to theft. Another variable related to the safety of the bike and the owner is whether or not a bike is parked in a lit location. We also specified the type of pavement as cement, gravel or dirt based on our manual data collection in order to objectively classify rack quality.<br />
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We formulated several project goals. Our primary goal was to create a new ICM layer of the campus bike parking data that would clearly show locations of bike racks and the number of spots per rack in order to increase the decision making capacity of the community. We also planned to determine where additional bike racks are needed by performing an analysis of building occupancy.<br />
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<h4>
Data Collection</h4>
The project began with a visit to every bike rack on campus. Group members collected detailed attribute data including rack name/description, pavement type, and number of spaces, as well as ‘yes/no’ values indicating the presence of night time lighting or space-saver racks. Campus Planning and Design provided a geodatabase feature class containing most campus bicycle racks and we converted this feature class into a shapefile. The attribute data collected for each feature was then input into the shapefile’s attribute table using the ‘editor’ toolbar in ArcMap. Each rack was assigned to the nearest building in the building layer of the interactive campus map using the spatial join tool. The summarize tool was then used to produce a table which indicated how many racks were assigned to each building as well as the total number of parking spaces available for that building.<br />
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In order to determine if a building had adequate bike parking, we obtained Gaucho On-Line Database (GOLD) enrollment data for Spring 2012. This data was then parsed to determine the peak building occupancy for each building on campus for which data was available. We calculated each building’s bike parking needs based on 80% of its maximum occupancy, as A.S. B.I.K.E.S survey data indicates that 80% of students use a bicycle to get to class every day. A new “rack adequacy” field was created in the rack shapefile attribute table, and then was populated using the field calculator tool. For each building, the rack adequacy percentage was determined by dividing the number of spaces by 80% of expected peak occupancy. A rack adequacy of 100% or above is considered to have optimal parking, 50-100% was considered adequate, and less than 50% was considered sub-adequate.<br />
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<h4>
Results</h4>
This map shows the attribute data collected for the different racks. If a rack was both u-lock compatible and lit at night, this rack would be designated as 'optimal.' The map below shows areas of campus within 100 meters of an 'optimal rack.' There is a large corridor of campus from the University Center northeast to campus green and the engineering building which is not served by optimal racks, and these areas should be highest priority for rack upgrades.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVon0djWBlzBYlB1WTVWkvNa4kzZ60MFLtq3gr8TFLuLfo-VchbtB6BKgDkdJlipbrUobZn5WJGDmY9sbqFLvn6Z8R-6xVibuRLjEkiVkxk9rFTjmwQt_aW1hvzbwgjO-N6_IUQg_xvRc/s1600/map01_highres_copyright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVon0djWBlzBYlB1WTVWkvNa4kzZ60MFLtq3gr8TFLuLfo-VchbtB6BKgDkdJlipbrUobZn5WJGDmY9sbqFLvn6Z8R-6xVibuRLjEkiVkxk9rFTjmwQt_aW1hvzbwgjO-N6_IUQg_xvRc/s320/map01_highres_copyright.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map showing if racks are u-lock compatible, <br />lit at night, both, or neither. </td></tr>
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<br />This map shows a section of campus where on-going construction necessitated substantial edits to the existing rack locations. Polygons which were removed are indicated in red, while polygons which were added are indicated in blue. Purple polygons, where blue overlaps red, means that the original polygon did not need to be edited.<br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8Vv4U4EfOJYnOtKsjc3IL1hW9-T3VB114LTzyXROX0nLAv8P7SC2gfrBgJ8SV4eek3fBQ41s2v_FS6hloj6g4CyDPQO6nkAPnEuqN9kfjwyYceQNih4tyZwJ5pmpOJ9FpyOk6Q6ic0o/s1600/map02_highres_copyright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8Vv4U4EfOJYnOtKsjc3IL1hW9-T3VB114LTzyXROX0nLAv8P7SC2gfrBgJ8SV4eek3fBQ41s2v_FS6hloj6g4CyDPQO6nkAPnEuqN9kfjwyYceQNih4tyZwJ5pmpOJ9FpyOk6Q6ic0o/s320/map02_highres_copyright.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Examples of changes made to rack locations.</td></tr>
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<br />To determine whether bike parking adequately served any given part of campus, we compared available rack spaces with the expected peak occupancy of surrounding buildings. In reality, any given rack serves more than one building, and any given building is served by more than one rack. We were unable to model this complex spatial relationship between racks and buildings in the time allotted for the project, so we created the simplified assumption that each rack exclusively serves the nearest building. This assumption allowed us to calculate how many spaces were available for each building.<br />
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Research by A.S. B.I.K.E.S., the organization in charge of bicycle affairs on campus, indicates that 80% of students arrive to class by bicycle. Therefore, we decided that a building's parking will be considered adequate if there is enough bicycle parking to accommodate 80% of the building's peak expected occupancy. We than compared the number of spaces with this 80% occupancy estimate, and classified the buildings as either optimal (>100%), adequate (50-100%) and sub-adequate (<50%).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAr7sZXzIashwaboMiQsTGPZkRLjwwsRDUoTGJG-MuGcTv4_OH0H79aBPZOdQllTxHmIucUwHggK8jcXlb_H6Zfop9TAzHVHu2iY79RBRY5oar00ItP9FjO2slvBXFjC2Mlwa9-v0C8E/s1600/map03_highres_copyright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAr7sZXzIashwaboMiQsTGPZkRLjwwsRDUoTGJG-MuGcTv4_OH0H79aBPZOdQllTxHmIucUwHggK8jcXlb_H6Zfop9TAzHVHu2iY79RBRY5oar00ItP9FjO2slvBXFjC2Mlwa9-v0C8E/s320/map03_highres_copyright.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adequacy rating for each building. </td></tr>
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<br />This analysis was complicated by several factors. We only had occupancy data for buildings which have scheduled classes, so heavily used buildings such as the library and university center were excluded from this analysis. Additionally, there are several examples where several buildings share one large bicycle rack, even though our analysis would assigned this rack's capacity to one building. Overall, we determined that Campbell Hall, Ellison Hall, Phelps Hall, and Buchanan Hall all need additional rack capacity. A new rack is scheduled for installation on the eastern side of campus green, but not other racks may be installed in this area due to lack of bicycle path access.<br />
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Click <a href="http://bytemaps.nfshost.com/ICMBikeGroup_Final176CPaper.doc" target="_blank">here</a> to download the full final report. Note: contains high resolution map images, so downloads may take a minute.<br />Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-29943729537885856172012-03-26T08:09:00.000-07:002012-03-26T08:09:54.573-07:00From the History Pages: Skyhook Launches!Here is an oldie but goodie: This 2005 Financial Times Article focuses on new-fangled location start-up known as Skyhook, which sounds like it has perfected the futuristic art of locating any mobile device over an internet connection:<br />
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FT Journalist Chris Nuttall reports that: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">The technology, invented by Skyhook Wireless, a Boston, Massachusetts-based start-up, could resolve difficult problems such as tracing stolen laptops and providing 911 emergency location information on voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone calls. </blockquote><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/366d7c64-e1d7-11d9-bf18-00000e2511c8.html#ixzz1pykTsxGr" target="_blank">Read the original Financial Times Article Here!</a>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-25952894279157885852012-03-23T14:27:00.000-07:002012-03-23T14:27:57.684-07:00Magdeburg Water BridgeIt used to be the case the barges traveling down Elbe-Havel Canal, a major shipping channel in Germany, would be majorly delayed by the Elbe River crossing. Because the canal's water level is much higher than the rivers, a barge would have to be lowered to river level, sail several miles downstream, and than would have to be raised again to canal level before proceeding.<br />
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German engineers came up with an ingenious solution to this problem: they constructed an elevated aqueduct to connect the two canals, which would cross over the river. This brilliant solution was completed in 2003, and saves vessels large amounts of time while navigating the area.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdZRgk3tiVR2r0IDgd2Og7LTZ22ntQPvanw9w1WTwqLTvLZY1y2-DQO_U4VPzXyNxtF8qlicaWXHOo3cU9r-2E2iyvH2Ut0b1O8jidNi3cC4O0S0LKjefLqag56UrQwOZ7unZ5hQniPQ/s1600/Magdeburg_Water_Bridge_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdZRgk3tiVR2r0IDgd2Og7LTZ22ntQPvanw9w1WTwqLTvLZY1y2-DQO_U4VPzXyNxtF8qlicaWXHOo3cU9r-2E2iyvH2Ut0b1O8jidNi3cC4O0S0LKjefLqag56UrQwOZ7unZ5hQniPQ/s320/Magdeburg_Water_Bridge_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pedestrians and Boats cross the water bridge</td></tr>
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The following picture shows the waterways with the old route (in red) and the new route (in yellow). The water bridge itself is depicted in gray.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkmKAwNs1GQRfnDFqJL6DeuTKckrIbGcif3FnjOqErX4vKcFRhYe3_yk3dy9L4ppq3pIMBIZlzcpZ50Zvaml_msyPgZ6DlftVRq6zTjpcSmxLxRKppK-8OOaEmqwp4u4PAs45NzFtVhg/s1600/Wasserkreuz_umweg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkmKAwNs1GQRfnDFqJL6DeuTKckrIbGcif3FnjOqErX4vKcFRhYe3_yk3dy9L4ppq3pIMBIZlzcpZ50Zvaml_msyPgZ6DlftVRq6zTjpcSmxLxRKppK-8OOaEmqwp4u4PAs45NzFtVhg/s320/Wasserkreuz_umweg.png" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Attribution: <span class="licensetpl_attr"><a class="extiw" href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ClickKlack" title="de:User:ClickKlack">ClickKlack</a> at the <a class="extiw" href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/" title="de:">German language Wikipedia</a></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An aerial view of the Water Bridge crossing the Elbe river</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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To view the bridge yourself, fly to <span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a class="external text" href="http://toolserver.org/%7Egeohack/geohack.php?pagename=Magdeburg_Water_Bridge&params=52.23116389_N_11.70190278_E_type:landmark" rel="nofollow" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">52°13′52″N</span> <span class="longitude">11°42′07″E</span></span></span></a> in Google Earth. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The underside of the bridge as is traverses land near the Elbe River</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023703666686207717.post-53071467252434936262012-03-20T14:38:00.000-07:002012-03-20T14:38:26.436-07:00City of Avalon Must Clean Up Its Water<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Located on a crystal clear bay on Santa Catalina Island off the cost of Southern California, the resort town of Avalon does not look polluted. The hills are lush with vibrant vegetation and the water is cold and clear - or so it seems.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgM2UGWeB1LPKKj9xHwcEdicHUeoG1zCn6VTCELoTbedMDwqhr42ZaXwIcPbQrz2SFOiGeVtONN9Zu1vz06RHNO5nZMhwFgvXp15EdgivN8OkrblzUKaLqJCnPjGr3q447vrvGu5CcR4/s1600/catalina-island-map_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgM2UGWeB1LPKKj9xHwcEdicHUeoG1zCn6VTCELoTbedMDwqhr42ZaXwIcPbQrz2SFOiGeVtONN9Zu1vz06RHNO5nZMhwFgvXp15EdgivN8OkrblzUKaLqJCnPjGr3q447vrvGu5CcR4/s320/catalina-island-map_1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Catalina Island</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">© Catalina Island Conservancy</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to the <span style="line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, Avalon's picturesque harbor is one of the most polluted in the nation. The source of the contamination is the city's aging sewer system, an antiquated network of clay pipes, which leak raw sewage into the surrounding ground water. This water then mixes with the bay water, creating a health hazard for swimmers, boaters, and others who come in contact with the water. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">From the Hills Above the City of Avalon</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Avalon Harbor Beach with the famous casino the background</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Charlie Wagner, Avalon's chief administrative officer, said that the city is working to quickly correct the problem. The </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-avalon-water-20120317,0,5071534.story" style="line-height: 20px;" target="_blank">LA Times</a><span style="line-height: 20px;"> reports that work is already underway to replace the old pipe with modern plastic pipe. Officials hope that Avalon Harbor will past strict water quality tests by the summer of 2016. Currently, the harbor fails environmental tests so regularly that signs are frequently posted warning beach-goers of the risk. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/88x31.png" style="border-width: 0;" /></a><br />
<span property="dct:title" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">City of Avalon Must Clean Up Its Water</span> by <a href="http://bytemaps.blogspot.com/2012/03/city-of-avalon-must-clean-up-its-water.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">Thomas Vieira</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License</a>.<br />
Based on a work at <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-avalon-water-20120317,0,5071534.story" rel="dct:source" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">www.latimes.com</a>.</span><br />
</span></span>Thomas Vieirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07524425525509958179noreply@blogger.com0