These are the submissions orginally posted on GeoReport's GeoPoll at GeoPlace.com:
GIS allows two-way communication between a database and a map. It lets you "see" the data on a map, and allows you to ask questions about the data using the map.
- Dave FritzkeCity of Crystal, Minnesota
A software system that ties geographic data (maps) and non-geographic data together, allowing for map-based display of data relationships. Without the map component, it's called data mining.
- Kerry Maloney
Almost everything has a location. GIS is a way to store that information and see how things are related to each other, from pipelines underground to the streets to the trucks driving on top of them.
- Barry Waite
Nearly everything in the world exists in a physical space. From the chair you’re sitting in, to the way you drive home, to the boundary of your city, to the events you saw on the news last night. GIS allows us to store information about these locations and examine relationships with other location information to gain a better understanding of our world.
- David Brand
GIS is a tool that allows data and information to be displayed visually on a map.
- Richard Hoiland
GIS is a computer based means of precisely locating and identifying a specific location along with the ability to gather, use, and disseminate data about the location resulting in much better understanding and knowledge than otherwise would be possible.
- Marcus Wood
GIS is the practice of integrating data or information about a place on a map so that a user has the combination of features to fully describe that place in terms that they understand and use regularly in their job or personal activities.
- Gary W. KerrAllstate Insurance Company
GIS is when you know the location of something in, on or above the earth and putting that location into context with things around it at a known point in time. Data about that point and things surrounding it can be combined, compared and analyzed. This information may be viewed or heard in a medium best suited for the user to utilize that knowledge. The combined knowledge about the position of things is used for everything from guiding the end of a laser during eye surgery, intercepting an incoming missile to providing a map to your closest grocery store.
- Erv Rehman
An organized collection of computer technology, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display geographically referenced information.
- Hassan
A GIS is any data set that includes a geographical tag or attribute that enables that data to be analyzed and presented geographically to enhance the quality of decision making.
- Kevin Davies
GIS is a computer-based mapping of landscape features of a known geographic location that allows integration of the non-geographics characteristics of these features to describe the event over landscape at time.
- Meshack Nyabenge
GIS can be thought of as a type of computerized or digital mapping where the maps are spatially accurate and interactive in the sense that they may be used to perform spatial analysis or communicate information about a location in an easily customizable manner. For instance, data about multiple different phenomena are easily brought together to reveal new information from which conclusions may be drawn or decisions made, or the data may be reflected in a variety of different styles to communicate information about a location.
- Mike Espey
GIS is a representation, dissemination and integration of data or information by defining its attributes. When working with GIS, it involves data, various software’s and human resources. The GIS data can be in tabular, map etc. The following activities are involved to achieve a working GIS; these are data capture, input, conversion, database design and management. Any data can be represented using GIS. Our every day-to-day activities can be represented in a GIS.
- C. Disang
GIS is people applying technology to the acquisition and use of spatial information for some desired benefit.
- Paul J. DeFrancisco, Data Services Specialist, New York State Senate Research Service
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Best Damn Haircut ... Ever!
Sometimes the simplest things in life, so often reduced to commonality by the daily mundane, defy the mediocre routine and rise up in rare moments of absolute excellence. Who expects excellence when you walk into a humble barbershop?
For all Bloggers in a 70 mile proximity of the Dominion Barber Shop in McLean, VA, stop by for a haircut ... You'll walk away cleanest, refreshed and impressed. Do I care how it looks? Not really... I'm a guy, I got a haircut and now my hair is short. What matters is how (and for how much) I got a haircut. In my 35 years of existence, I've never had a better cut experience. That's how good my last haircut was. I live in Florida, but I will now save my haircuts for when returning there to visit hometown family and friends.
First, this is not a hair salon, follicle spa or other such confusion (no Jonathan Product here ...), this is a no nonsense barber shop. You walk into a small shop tucked in a building complex in the heart of old McLean. The staff are polite, pleasant and professional, with the graceful understanding that men just need a barber. The conversation was limited to a zen-like brevity. "How do you want it cut?" "Short", I replied. Nothing more had to be said, and amazingly nothing was. No pretense of friendship, no "pretend your a regular" schmooze... Just sit down, we'll both shut up, and you'll get the best damn haircut of your life.
The female barber (barberette?) began with the buz cutters. OK, typical so far. Then she went for the shears, and began snipping away. This is where it usually ends with every other haircut. More buzzed than cut, you look in the mirror and say "thank you", really thinking "hell, I used to that to myself in college" and give the person twenty five bucks after tip. You pay the bill, and weakly wave while exiting, turning in motion to mutter some cliche goodbye like "See you next month" (not likely).
Now return to Dominion Barber Shop in McLean, VA, where a little bit of heaven can be found. My barber(ette) snipped a lot, then went back to the buzzers, then returned to hand snipping around my ears and neck. Now, I'm moderately impressed. Usually its the one-two treatment, and your oughta there. I even looked up, trying to determine was this an unusually thorough treatment, or did she just make a lot of mistakes. Nope, she really cares about the purity and perfection of a good cut. Still, nothing to this point is blog-worthy.
Then the improbable, followed by a rarity and closing with and act nearing the sanctity of ceremony occurred.
First, the barber applied a gel shaving foam to my back neck and sideburn edges. One of those cool, skin percolating shaving creams that were tre' chic in the '80s. Its got the "sshhhschk" sound coming out of the can, then the alovera smell and cool mint-tingling touch all in one package. Then, she shaves me not with a razor, or the latest Gillette Ultra-Rip Off, but a real folding barber blade. I flash to all those old west barber shop scenes and the one scene where an Al Capone-Robert Dinero gets nicked. No worries here, just a smooth shave.
I am now openly smiling, trying to sit up straight and hold back a "...Wow... Cool..." even.
O.K. Now the rarely seen in these western lands.... A neck and shoulder massage. She pulls out some hand glove device, fashioned out of metal and rubber. It looks like a bizarre cat hair glove gone S&M, but she hits me with it so fast I can't even think "what the hell is that thing, lady", before she kneading it into my neck and shoulder. It's vibrating on my neck, she's driving it into knots I've had so long I thought I was supposed to hang my shirts on them. Before I can regain my silent composure, I actually utter "....Wow... Cool". This isn't only cool, its manly even.
Finally, the ritual of sanctity. After doing the usual "remove the gown and brush down" post-hair cut routine, the barber takes a hot scented towellete and wipes my face and neck down. She didn't even ask. Its like "in your face" refreshed.
We approach the counter in silence; me still grinning foolishly and rubbing the back of my now slick neck, like some cowboy getting up in recovery after his first bull ride.
She punches the cash register, smiles, and says ""$15, please. There's a free coke or water around the corner." Price? $15? And you get a free soda to go? I gave here a $5 tip, and still feel the wisely miser.
Let's recap:
1.) Man needs haircut, because wife says so, and because she hates when man does it himself.
2.) Therefore, man hates haircuts, because haircutteries' today do exactly what man do, but cost money, and because wife somehow thinks this is better solution.
3.) Man finds small, simple, clean BARBER shop. (No fu fu)
4.) Barber is barberette who does not talk.
5.) Conversation in detail
- "How do you want it cut?"
- "Short"
- "...Wow... Cool..." (only thought)
- "...Wow... Cool..." Actually said.
-"$15, please. There's a free coke or water around the corner."
6.) BEST DAMN HAIRCUT EVER.
For all Bloggers in a 70 mile proximity of the Dominion Barber Shop in McLean, VA, stop by for a haircut ... You'll walk away cleanest, refreshed and impressed. Do I care how it looks? Not really... I'm a guy, I got a haircut and now my hair is short. What matters is how (and for how much) I got a haircut. In my 35 years of existence, I've never had a better cut experience. That's how good my last haircut was. I live in Florida, but I will now save my haircuts for when returning there to visit hometown family and friends.
First, this is not a hair salon, follicle spa or other such confusion (no Jonathan Product here ...), this is a no nonsense barber shop. You walk into a small shop tucked in a building complex in the heart of old McLean. The staff are polite, pleasant and professional, with the graceful understanding that men just need a barber. The conversation was limited to a zen-like brevity. "How do you want it cut?" "Short", I replied. Nothing more had to be said, and amazingly nothing was. No pretense of friendship, no "pretend your a regular" schmooze... Just sit down, we'll both shut up, and you'll get the best damn haircut of your life.
The female barber (barberette?) began with the buz cutters. OK, typical so far. Then she went for the shears, and began snipping away. This is where it usually ends with every other haircut. More buzzed than cut, you look in the mirror and say "thank you", really thinking "hell, I used to that to myself in college" and give the person twenty five bucks after tip. You pay the bill, and weakly wave while exiting, turning in motion to mutter some cliche goodbye like "See you next month" (not likely).
Now return to Dominion Barber Shop in McLean, VA, where a little bit of heaven can be found. My barber(ette) snipped a lot, then went back to the buzzers, then returned to hand snipping around my ears and neck. Now, I'm moderately impressed. Usually its the one-two treatment, and your oughta there. I even looked up, trying to determine was this an unusually thorough treatment, or did she just make a lot of mistakes. Nope, she really cares about the purity and perfection of a good cut. Still, nothing to this point is blog-worthy.
Then the improbable, followed by a rarity and closing with and act nearing the sanctity of ceremony occurred.
First, the barber applied a gel shaving foam to my back neck and sideburn edges. One of those cool, skin percolating shaving creams that were tre' chic in the '80s. Its got the "sshhhschk" sound coming out of the can, then the alovera smell and cool mint-tingling touch all in one package. Then, she shaves me not with a razor, or the latest Gillette Ultra-Rip Off, but a real folding barber blade. I flash to all those old west barber shop scenes and the one scene where an Al Capone-Robert Dinero gets nicked. No worries here, just a smooth shave.
I am now openly smiling, trying to sit up straight and hold back a "...Wow... Cool..." even.
O.K. Now the rarely seen in these western lands.... A neck and shoulder massage. She pulls out some hand glove device, fashioned out of metal and rubber. It looks like a bizarre cat hair glove gone S&M, but she hits me with it so fast I can't even think "what the hell is that thing, lady", before she kneading it into my neck and shoulder. It's vibrating on my neck, she's driving it into knots I've had so long I thought I was supposed to hang my shirts on them. Before I can regain my silent composure, I actually utter "....Wow... Cool". This isn't only cool, its manly even.
Finally, the ritual of sanctity. After doing the usual "remove the gown and brush down" post-hair cut routine, the barber takes a hot scented towellete and wipes my face and neck down. She didn't even ask. Its like "in your face" refreshed.
We approach the counter in silence; me still grinning foolishly and rubbing the back of my now slick neck, like some cowboy getting up in recovery after his first bull ride.
She punches the cash register, smiles, and says ""$15, please. There's a free coke or water around the corner." Price? $15? And you get a free soda to go? I gave here a $5 tip, and still feel the wisely miser.
Let's recap:
1.) Man needs haircut, because wife says so, and because she hates when man does it himself.
2.) Therefore, man hates haircuts, because haircutteries' today do exactly what man do, but cost money, and because wife somehow thinks this is better solution.
3.) Man finds small, simple, clean BARBER shop. (No fu fu)
4.) Barber is barberette who does not talk.
5.) Conversation in detail
- "How do you want it cut?"
- "Short"
- "...Wow... Cool..." (only thought)
- "...Wow... Cool..." Actually said.
-"$15, please. There's a free coke or water around the corner."
6.) BEST DAMN HAIRCUT EVER.
Dominion Barber Shop
6665A Old Dominion Drive
McLean, VA 22101
703.917.9025
Mon-Fri : 9am - 7pm
Sat : 8am - 6pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm
Monday, August 08, 2005
What Not To Do With Maps ....
This was recently posted with Crain's. Hardly the Thomas Crown Affair, but an interesting story.
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=17381
Map dealer suspected in Newberry Library thefts
Accused appears in court Tuesday charged with other thefts in Boston and London
(AP) — A renowned map dealer accused of stealing centuries-old artifacts from Yale University is scheduled to be in court Tuesday in a case that investigators hope will lead them to several antique maps that recently disappeared from other libraries.
In the eight weeks since Edward Forbes Smiley III was arrested at Yale with a razor blade and a cache of maps worth nearly $900,000, libraries in Chicago, Boston and London have reported finding gaps in their collections.
"We know that Smiley looked at four books, so we have taken those four books, we've turned every page and we think he may have taken two maps," said Charles T. Cullen, president of the Newberry Library in Chicago.
Smiley, 49 was arrested on larceny charges June 8 after a librarian at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library found a razor blade on the floor. Police confronted Smiley, who had been reviewing rare books, and asked whether the blade was his.
"Yes it is," he nervously replied, according to a police report. "I must have dropped it. I have a cold."
Officers searched Smiley's briefcase and pockets, and recovered three maps stolen from Yale and four maps that investigators are trying to trace. Smiley told investigators the maps were his and he wanted to compare their quality to those in Yale's collection.
Smiley declined to comment Monday when reached at his office on Cape Cod. His attorney said Smiley will plead not guilty Tuesday.
The arrest touched off an FBI investigation and prompted a review of rare map collections worldwide. Rare maps frequently are contained in old books or folios, making it easy for thieves to remove them without the library noticing they are missing.
The British Library in London recently discovered that two world maps from the 1500s and a map of New England from 1624 were missing. Newberry librarians said a 1673 map of Virginia and a map of South Carolina from the 1700s were missing from books Smiley had reviewed.
The Boston Public library also discovered maps missing from books Smiley had studied. The New York Public Library is still reviewing the many books Smiley used there. Ronald E. Grim, map curator at the Boston Public Library, said Smiley was always friendly with librarians.
"He had a good way of making friends," he said. "He had a good rapport."
But in the small community of antique map dealers, Smiley had a mixed reputation.
"Forbes was turning up things that aren't possible to turn up, and at a third or fourth of the wholesale price," said Pennsylvania map dealer W. Graham Rader, who said he told federal agents that he's been warning collectors about Smiley for years. "Things were too good to be true."
Tony Campbell, former head of the map collection at the British Library, said collectors complained that Smiley had an exclusive air about him.
"Their comments were always critical," Campbell said. "But I don't think anyone thought - I think we were all surprised by this."
Though Smiley reviewed many of the books that librarians have since realize are missing maps, the FBI has so far been unable to link him to the thefts, librarians said.
At the Newberry, Cullen said curators know the maps were in the books when they were catalogued, that Forbes was the last person to view the books and that the maps are now missing. But they don't know whether they were in the books when Forbes reviewed them, he said.
"Obviously, I think that Smiley took it, but I couldn't go into court and say that," Cullen said.
The Boston Public Library is having the same problem.
"Proving that those items were there when he looked at the book is almost impossible," Grim said.
Frank Turner, director of the Beinecke Library, said curators and librarians are constantly working to protect their archives without burdening scholars who need access to the materials.
"We're all now reviewing those procedures," Turner said.
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=17381
Map dealer suspected in Newberry Library thefts
Accused appears in court Tuesday charged with other thefts in Boston and London
(AP) — A renowned map dealer accused of stealing centuries-old artifacts from Yale University is scheduled to be in court Tuesday in a case that investigators hope will lead them to several antique maps that recently disappeared from other libraries.
In the eight weeks since Edward Forbes Smiley III was arrested at Yale with a razor blade and a cache of maps worth nearly $900,000, libraries in Chicago, Boston and London have reported finding gaps in their collections.
"We know that Smiley looked at four books, so we have taken those four books, we've turned every page and we think he may have taken two maps," said Charles T. Cullen, president of the Newberry Library in Chicago.
Smiley, 49 was arrested on larceny charges June 8 after a librarian at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library found a razor blade on the floor. Police confronted Smiley, who had been reviewing rare books, and asked whether the blade was his.
"Yes it is," he nervously replied, according to a police report. "I must have dropped it. I have a cold."
Officers searched Smiley's briefcase and pockets, and recovered three maps stolen from Yale and four maps that investigators are trying to trace. Smiley told investigators the maps were his and he wanted to compare their quality to those in Yale's collection.
Smiley declined to comment Monday when reached at his office on Cape Cod. His attorney said Smiley will plead not guilty Tuesday.
The arrest touched off an FBI investigation and prompted a review of rare map collections worldwide. Rare maps frequently are contained in old books or folios, making it easy for thieves to remove them without the library noticing they are missing.
The British Library in London recently discovered that two world maps from the 1500s and a map of New England from 1624 were missing. Newberry librarians said a 1673 map of Virginia and a map of South Carolina from the 1700s were missing from books Smiley had reviewed.
The Boston Public library also discovered maps missing from books Smiley had studied. The New York Public Library is still reviewing the many books Smiley used there. Ronald E. Grim, map curator at the Boston Public Library, said Smiley was always friendly with librarians.
"He had a good way of making friends," he said. "He had a good rapport."
But in the small community of antique map dealers, Smiley had a mixed reputation.
"Forbes was turning up things that aren't possible to turn up, and at a third or fourth of the wholesale price," said Pennsylvania map dealer W. Graham Rader, who said he told federal agents that he's been warning collectors about Smiley for years. "Things were too good to be true."
Tony Campbell, former head of the map collection at the British Library, said collectors complained that Smiley had an exclusive air about him.
"Their comments were always critical," Campbell said. "But I don't think anyone thought - I think we were all surprised by this."
Though Smiley reviewed many of the books that librarians have since realize are missing maps, the FBI has so far been unable to link him to the thefts, librarians said.
At the Newberry, Cullen said curators know the maps were in the books when they were catalogued, that Forbes was the last person to view the books and that the maps are now missing. But they don't know whether they were in the books when Forbes reviewed them, he said.
"Obviously, I think that Smiley took it, but I couldn't go into court and say that," Cullen said.
The Boston Public Library is having the same problem.
"Proving that those items were there when he looked at the book is almost impossible," Grim said.
Frank Turner, director of the Beinecke Library, said curators and librarians are constantly working to protect their archives without burdening scholars who need access to the materials.
"We're all now reviewing those procedures," Turner said.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
The 11th Commandment
Eleventh Commandment (Walter Lowdermilk) In 1939 this appeared in a Bulletin of the US Department of Agriculture:
"Thou shalt inherit the Holy Earth as a faithful steward, conserving its resources and productivity from generation to generation.Thou shalt safeguard thy fields from soil erosion, thy living waters from drying up, thy forests from desolation, and protect thy hills from overgrazing by thy herds, that thy descendents may have abundance forever."
"If any shall fail in this stewardship of the land, thy fruitful fields shall become sterile stony ground and wasting gullies, and thy descendents shall decrease and live in poverty or perish from off the face of the earth."
• quoted on page 58 of Lester Brown, Plan B, from Walter C. Lowdermilk, Conquest of the Land through 7,000 years, USDA bulletin No. 99 (Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1939. note 1 page 24.
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