Geobulletin alpha

Tool - Convert Munsell Soil Code to Soil Color Name 

The folks at LogItEasy.com have put together a very useful, free online tool for converting Munsell color codes that you might use in the field into the actual color names. This functionality is also built into their interface for electronic field logging and log creation. [Source: Go check out the free Munsell Soil Color tool at LogItEasy.com. Image:

Mr. Google - Enhance the Nest Cam! 

I know you are reading this!  You read everything.  We just got a video of house being hit by an earthquake which was totally useless because they didn't glue down the camera with seismic wax. You guys are big on California and whole Left Coast.  Add functionality to the camera for very little cost.  You could do what I am trying to do in a heartbeat.  Put in an accelerometer and some

Short Announcement: Leaflet 1.0 

Leaflet is one of a kind in the list of javascript webmapping libraries. It was designed with simplicity, performance and usability in mind. Unfortunately the development seemed to have stopped for a while. This week Vladimir Agafonkin (the creator of Leaflet) released a Beta version of Leaflet 1.0 Leaflet 1.0 Leaflet is used by a variety of companies as their major mapping engine when it comes to the question “Where is my ‘stuff'”: Github, Facebook, Flickr and other big [...]

Amazing styling in QGIS 2.6 

Since QGIS 2.6 was released with a lot of new features and functions I’ve been testing it sporadic and have come to realise that the quality and functionality of symbol styling and labelling is so high that ESRI ArcMap no longer can match it. Honestly I haven’t tested the 10.3 version of ArcMap, so my experience is based on previous versions. Here I’ll use an example to highlight some of the extensive possibilities offered in QGIS. I’ll be using “live” [...]

Creating models in QGIS 

You’ve probably heard of model builder in ESRI ArcGIS (even used it?), but did you know the same functionality is available in QGIS? Image showing the “Processing Toolbox” in the background right and the “Processing modeler” in the front. In my example I’ll be building what should be a very simple tool that extracts points at a maximum distance from some lines, but it has a complication due to a bug in QGIS. However there’s a fix explained on the QGIS [...]

ArcGIS server vs. Open Source GIS solutions 

originally posted from our friends @mappinggis Which program is better suited to serve geographic data on the web? ArcGIS Server form ESRI or open source ? This question is common in mailing lists and GIS-forums. The most consistent answer is that depends on the project. But in this post we will see some numbers to determine which is the best software to develop an application for web mapping: ArcGIS for Server ArcGIS for Server  was launched to replace ArcIMS, and its quality and [...]

Physics Makes for a Beautiful Moment in a Day 

This post is off the beaten geo-track today, but there is a little bit of science involved. Our new Science Community Center at Modesto Junior College, which I have mentioned extensively in previous posts, has many remarkable features that represent educational opportunities. There are the big ones like the observatory and planetarium, and there are others built into the functionality

Building an Effective Social Media Strategy for Science Programs 

Social media has emerged as a popular mode of communication, with more than 73% of the teenage and adult population in the United States using it on a regular basis [Lenhart et al., 2010]. Young people in particular (ages 12–29) are deeply involved in the rapidly evolving social media environment and have an expectation of communication through these media. This engagement creates a valuable opportunity for scientific organizations and programs to use the wide reach, functionality, and [...]

DuctTake; splice your video 

What a fantastic research project – and presentation video. It not only makes me salivate at teh thought of getting my hands on this type of functionality – easily splicing elements of different video takes together – but also exudes joyful creativity from the research team. Fantastic. From the ETH Zurich and the Disney Research

Google maps on foraminifera finds 

Personalized google maps with flags on each locality of foram finds have been implemented. They have full functionality like zooming in and out, changing map-type ... A click on each flag opens an info-window from where a link leads to the locality-page with all images. Maps are available for the geological periods Carboniferous to recent. Please tell me, what you think about it and how it should be improved.

Using Excel statistical functions for trend analysis 

Most geoengineers I know are comfortable using Excel's curve fitting functionality on a Chart. Have you ever found yourself manually copying the coefficients from the resulting equation on the chart into cells to program the equation to do some interpolation or extrapolation? It's possible to do some of the same things with Excel's built in statistical formulas as well. This post on the Excel blog Chandoo.org describes some of these functions like SLOPE, INTERCEPT, TREND, LINEST and FORECAST [...]

3DS Details Emerge 

Nintendo blew their load about the 3DS last night in Japan, offering up the system's final look (shown here), pricing, online functionality, and more games...for Japan. Nothing was said of the Western release. In short, here's the deal:The Nintendo 3DS will cost approx. 300 American dollars in Japan. I'm betting that price will be dropped to $249.99 for North America. Still, that's the price of

KML2Geocode converts address spreadsheets into KML files 

The Tennessee Electronic Atlas, Dr. Bruce A. Ralston Director, has released a number of helpful software tools for working with both geographic and non-geographic data. Some of the functionality offered in the free software titles include: TIGER to KML, TIGER to Shapefile, Shapefile to table, and, most recently, KML Geocoding. KML Geocoding (pdf documentation) allows users to create a geocoded KML file from an Excel file. The KML file is displayed in Google Earth using orange pushpins. [...]

Boulderscape Launches New and Enhanced Web Site 

San Juan Capistrano, California (January 25, 2010) Boulderscape Inc, the nationwide leader in sculpted retaining wall finishes, is pleased to announce the launch of it’s newly resurfaced web site, www.boulderscape.com. The new site was designed to increase functionality for clients and is complete with comprehensive photo galleries, videos, case studies, and technical information. [Editor] Click through for the full press release.

Trimble Yuma Field Tablet PC has Pricing Info 

I introduced this ruggedized field tablet PC by Trimble here back in March, but there wasn't any pricing information available at that time. To refresh, it has a military grade ruggedized design to keep out dirt and water, 32GB solid state drive (no moving parts), built in GPS, Wi-Fi, bluetooth 2.0, 2 integrated digital cameras with geotagging functionality (why 2?), Windows Vista Business, and a 7" sunlight readable screen all in a 2.6-lb package. Read on for the