Software development

Nothing to with Geomatics but in my spare time (I know, as a post-doc I should not have any) I am the QA Lead for NorbSoftDev, a small Indie developer in the US. I manage the NSD QA staff (about 10 guys but it fluctuates) to create a multimedia historical multi-player PC simulation. This simulation is used in classrooms at the high-school level and college level across the U.S. It is even used to train U.S. Army Officers. We are also one of the few games accepted by the Gettysburg National Park Store!

We have been working on a big release for the next iteration of the engine and we just submitted the release candidate to the publisher yesterday. Has been a busy few months!

One year blog anniversary

So I managed to find material for a full year of posts, not bad going. 44 posts in 12 months, so I average 4 posts a month. Time to try for a second year.

Nothing major to mark the anniversary post except a solar eclipse that was covered by cloud, like most celestial events in Ireland!

LiDAR as art

'LiDAR as art' is a great idea and I love seeing the finalists each year. The winner of a few years back was a robot that had surveyed itself in a mirror.

I'm not sure if these images are from the same competition or a different one - but some fantastic shots here of a world heritage city (Harar) in Ethiopia.

United Nations

We've hit the big time now! Geodesy gets a UN resolution.

"The science that supports the precise pinpointing of people and places should be shared more widely, according to the United Nations General Assembly. The statement came as it adopted its first resolution recognising the importance of a globally coordinated approach to geodesy – the discipline focused on accurately measuring the shape, rotation and gravitational field of planet Earth."

I can see it now - using our veto against the architects and engineers.

Build your own

You'd be surprised how much more, 'bang for your buck' you get if you build a computer yourself. If you have a limited budget you are throwing it away getting a, 'pre-built' unless you have a good company discount. But by devoting some time to picking the components online and building it yourself, you can get exactly what you want, making your money stretch further. I built my first PC with one of the first DX10 GPUs in 2007 - I got 8 years out of it and it is still running well. If any parts sit down you aren't limited to the few options that your supplier stocks. The GPU in that first build sat down in 2011 so I just picked a new one and replaced it. I put my second build together last month and it is a serious piece of hardware. This build is also the first time I have used an SSD (boots like lightning). By building it myself I was able to get the next generation CPU and GPU for the same price as the commercial system which had the previous types.

If you take proper anti-static precautions or buy yourself one of these you should be fine.

There are plenty of forums out there if you are unsure of what components are compatible and also plenty of online guides to get you through a build.