Point of Beginning articles from July 2002

Point of Beginning archives from July 2002

Times are a changin'.(surveyors embracing technology)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
July 1, 2002... On a plane recently I heard a little boy ask, "Dad, do you think I'll be alive when there are flying cars?" His father answered with a quick and emphatic, "Yes." Hmmm, I thought. Flying cars. Maybe not too far off. The changes that...

On quality and compensation. (Letters to the Editor).
July 1, 2002... After reading several articles and listening to surveyors' and consultants' comments, it is time I spoke up. The problem is clear and of our own making: We do not pay our employees what they are worth or give them the benefits they deserve. ...

On taking the LS exam. (Letters to the Editor).
July 1, 2002... I have been a resident of Bakersfield, California, for the last 15 years. I've been working for the City of Bakersfield for 14 years already, the last 6 years as one of the staff engineers in traffic engineering. I acquired my LSIT registration...

Moving forward with the national map. (The Latest News).(United States. Geological Survey)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Imagine being able to turn to your PC to find up-to-date and reliable geographic data about any location in the United States. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) hopes that within the next 10 years this will become a reality. The...

A "New ACSM" on the horizon. (The Latest News).(reorganization of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) has adopted a new strategy in an attempt to make itself more effective. "With membership decreasing, this was an effort to address concerns we've heard from people when we talk to them about...

GPS to deliver more military power. (The Latest News).(satellite global positioning systems)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Pentagon has proposed upgrading the newest GPS satellites that have not yet been launched. The upgrade would allow the satellites to put out a signal eight times stronger than what they can currently produce. The boosted signals would...

Texas foundation sets educational example. (The Latest News).(Professional Surveyors Education Foundation)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Texas Board of Professional Land Surveyors (TBPLS) and the Texas Legislature require a four-year college degree prior to registering a person as a surveyor. But many of the major universities in Texas still do not offer surveying degrees....

Allison's aftermath: LIDAR provides the silver lining for a storm cloud in Texas.(Light Detection and Ranging technology in flood control planning)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... On June 5, 2001, Tropical Storm Allison barreled into southeast Texas from the Gulf of Mexico. After initially dumping heavy rain on Houston and the surrounding suburbs, the storm drifted away to the north. Allison then reversed course and...

Fluid challenges: how water boundaries differ from their upland counterparts; this is the first part of a three-part series on water boundaries.
July 1, 2002... Every surveyor is aware of perpetuation of the original corner positions on upland boundaries. The contemplated intent of perpetuation is the stability of boundaries. If any of those boundaries are watercourses or water bodies, however, there...

Tripod data systems Survey Pro for Pocket PC: a detailed look at the features of this software star. (In Review).(Software Review)
July 1, 2002... TDS Survey Pro for Pocket PC is designed to operate on the iPAQ Pocket PC. In the May 2002 issue of POB, I looked at the iPAQ hardware and discussed some of its advantages and limitations compared to traditional ruggedized data collectors. In...

Manufacturers: alphabetical listings. (A-X).(Directory)
July 1, 2002... A A.R.E. TRUCK CAPS P.O. Box 11 Massillon, OH 44648 (800) 649-4ARE www.4are.com ALLEN OSBORNE ASSOCIATES, INC. 756 Lakefield Rd. Westlake Village, CA 91361 (805) 495-8420 Fax: (805) 373-6067 ...

Manufacturers: product listings.(Directory)
July 1, 2002... AERIAL CAMERAS Applanix Leica Geosystems, GIS & Mapping Division BOOKS/MANUALS/REFERENCE MATERIALS Antique Scientific Instrument Boeing Autometric Leica Geosystems, GIS & Mapping Division Professional...

Manufacturers: trade names. (A-Z).(Directory)
July 1, 2002... 3dipsos[R]-MENSI, Inc. 3300 DR Total Station-Trimble 3300 Total Station series-Trimble 3600 DR Total Station-Trimble 3600 Total Station series-Trimble 4600LS GPS Survey System-Trimble 5600 DR Robotic Total Station...

Dealers. (Alabama-Wyoming).(Directory)
July 1, 2002... ALABAMA GULF INSTRUMENT SERVICE, INC. Please see our listing under Louisiana. NAVIGATION ELECTRONICS, INC. [RR] 700 Eliza Jordan Rd. N. Mobile, AL 36608 (251) 645-9900 Fax: (251) 645-9973 ...

Professional services.(Directory)
July 1, 2002... AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AIRBORNE 1 CORPORATION Please see our listing under Imaging/LIDAR. LOUISA AERIAL SURVEYS, INC. Please see our listing under Photogrammetric Services. BATTERY REPAIR/SERVICES A.J. ENTERPRISES ...

Part 2: contracts--"Assignments of risk". (The Business of Surveying).
July 1, 2002... A contract by definition is "a promise or set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty." Simplified, a contract is "a legally enforceable promise or a set...

GIAA Mailbag.(prisms)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Q&A. Q: Why are there so many types of prisms with different offsets? Now that zero offsets are common, why even have the others? A: For a lot of prisms, the "traditional" offset has been -30 mm. More than likely this number came about...

State lines and how they were surveyed. (The GPS Observer).
July 1, 2002... The original territory of the United States, as defined by the treaties with Great Britain of November 30, 1782, and September 3, 1783, was bounded on the north by Canada, on the south by the Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida, on the...

The dark side of surveying. (Offsets).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... I can almost hear a Darth Vader-type character breathing heavily behind me. A sinister voice beckons me to give myself over to the dark side of my beloved profession. Could there be such a negative side to professional surveying? Yes, there is....

Surveying solutions.(water boundaries)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Each month we present a math problem from the second edition of 1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems by Jan Van Sickle, PLS. As in the following example, the answer will appear below the problem, in a shaded box. We hope you enjoy these...

Sanborn. (Turning Points).(open industry standard format )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Sanborn, Colorado Springs, Colo., joined forces with Z/1 Imaging Corporation, Huntsville, Ala.; Optech Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada; EnerQuest Systems LLC, Denver, Colo.; Leica Geosystems, Heerbrugg, Switzerland; and the U.S. Army's...

Laser Alignment Inc. is now officially known as Leica Geosystems GR LLC. (Turning Points).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Laser Alignment Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., is now officially known as Leica Geosystems GR LLC. Acquired in January 2001 by Leica Geosystems, Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Laser Alignment became a part of the parent company's construction business...

Leica Geosystems, announced a regional reorganization of its North American operations in a move to improve service to customers and dealers. (Turning Points).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Leica Geosystems, Norcross, Ga., announced a regional reorganization of its North American operations in a move to improve service to customers and dealers. The new structure will provide each region with a Leica Geosystems vice president who...

Russell G. Congalton was elected ASPRS vice president for 2002. (Turning Points).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Russell G. Congalton was elected ASPRS vice president for 2002. With the installation of officers at the ASPRS Annual Conference in April, Terrence J. Keating moved into the position of president; Donald T. Lauer became president-elect, and...

CST/Berger, finalized the purchase of essentially all assets of David White, LLC. (Turning Points).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CST/Berger, Watseka, Ill., finalized the purchase of essentially all assets of David White, LLC, Germantown, Wis., (except for outstanding accounts receivable). David White Company was founded in 1895 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is one of the...

TLV Twistloc prism pole by SECO. (Product Profile).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Surveyors sometimes attach importance to equipment with respect to its cost. That is understandable, but the importance of particular equipment can outweigh their cost. Case in point: prism poles. Examples abound of pole glitches with incorrect...

Riegl USA introduced the Riegl Scan Cart. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Riegl USA introduced the Riegl Scan Cart. The Scan Cart, designed for the LMS-Z210 scanner, safely secures the scanner for quick mobility around the survey site. Consisting of two sets of large rear- and front-mounted rubber wheels for easy...

Blue Marble Geographics' Geographic Calculator. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Blue Marble Geographics' Geographic Calculator now offers free conversions and full functionality, allowing users to perform 12 interactive coordinate conversions using their own data. All functions within the interactive tab are fully...

Traverse PC (TPC) released Version 5.0. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Traverse PC (TPC) released Version 5.0. With this software, a user can easily define a border and all the topo points within that border will be included on a map with multiple contours. It also offers the function of creating transects from...

Polaris launched Professional Series Workmobiles. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Polaris launched Professional Series Workmobiles. In addition to developing a line of larger bed and box-type vehicles, Polaris created a line of personal task vehicles that are smaller and more maneuverable. To further augment its UTVs, ATV...

Eagle Point released the Q2, 2002 upgrade to its land development software. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Eagle Point released the Q2, 2002 upgrade to its land development software. Enhancements include: a new authorization wizard to simplify the requesting and authorizing process; EPPN (Eagle Point Place Node) command for placing nodes into your...

Laser-Scan launched Radius Topology, an advanced spatial processing environment. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Laser-Scan launched Radius Topology, an advanced spatial processing environment that extends the Oracle9i database and provides improvements to the speed and quality of spatial data handling. Radius Topology works behind the scenes,...

CST/Berger introduced the LaserMark MP5- Five Beam Laser. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CST/Berger introduced the LaserMark MP5- Five Beam Laser offering five independent self-leveled 650nm highly focused laser beams that provide accuracy of 1/4 in at 100 ft. The laser allows the user to plumb, level and square instantly, and has...

Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping Division introduced the Leica Terrain Productivity Bundle. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping Division introduced the Leica Terrain Productivity Bundle, a software package that combines IMAGINE OrthoBASE Pro with SOCET SET. Via the bundle's Photogrammetry Data Exchange utility, users can transfer aerial...

Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping Division released ImageEqualizer. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Also, Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping Division released imageEqualizer, a stand-alone application for correcting image variations such as hot spots, unequal lighting, atmospheric and temporal effects or color cast in single and multiple images...

Leica Geosystems released a Windows-based software program. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Also, Leica Geosystems released a Windows-based software program that facilitates two-way data transfer between a PC and Leica's DISTO Pro 4 handheld laser distance measuring tools. The DISTO Online software runs on Microsoft Windows 95, 98,...

Leica Geosystems released ViewFinder V2.1. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Also, Leica Geosystems released ViewFinder V2.1, a free viewing tool that provides the ability to display image files; spatially query image files prior to exporting; overlay, smooth, sharpen and enhance imagery; reproject multiple images...

ESRI released ArcGIS 8.2. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... ESRI released ArcGIS 8.2. ArcGIS is a scalable family of software products (ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo, ArcSDE and ArcIMS) comprising a complete GIS that is rich in functionality and works out of the box. The ArcGIS 8.2 release improves...

Tripod Data Systems (TDS) released version 3.5. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Tripod Data Systems (TDS) released version 3.5 of Survey Pro for Windows CE and Survey Pro for Pocket PC. Both versions include a new Auto Collect routine and allow surveyors to edit the feature code file while collecting attributes. Survey Pro...

TDS released version 3.1. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Also, TDS released version 3.1 of SOLO Field for Windows CE and SOLO Office. The new version lets GIS users link images, video clips or wave files to attributes and play them back in the field. In version 3.1, users can also change the color,...

RockWare Inc. released RefCon Rx 1.1. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... RockWare Inc. released RefCon Rx 1.1, an ARX extension for AutoCAD 2000 and later CAD versions that gives AutoCAD users the power to perform essential mapping related functions without leaving the AutoCAD environment. RefCon Rx features widely...

Autodesk Inc. announced the new Autodesk Map Series. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Autodesk Inc. announced the new Autodesk Map Series, a tightly integrated suite of mapping and design software for GIS, mapping and infrastructure management professionals to create, maintain, integrate and present maps. The Autodesk Map Series...

LizardTech Inc. announced the latest version of its MrSID Decode Software Development Kit. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... LizardTech Inc. announced the latest version of its MrSID Decode Software Development Kit (D-SDK), a toolkit that enables viewing and manipulating next generation MrSID imagery files natively inside third-party applications. Key enhancements...

Delorme introduced Topo USA 4.0. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... DeLorme introduced Topo USA 4.0, the latest version of this high-performance mapping software. With its detailed topographic maps of the entire United States, combined with extensive road data, Topo USA 4.0 is ideal for off-road and high-way...

Thales Navigation released Ashtech Micro-Manager and Micro Manager Pro version 1.2.00. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Thales Navigation released Ashtech Micro-Manager and Micro Manager Pro version 1.2.00. Micro-Manager is a new Windows software program to help administrators manage a network of remotely operating GPS reference stations. Designed to work...

Thales Navigation released Ashtech Geodetic Base Station Software (GBSS) version 3.2.00. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Also, Thales Navigation released Ashtech Geodetic Base Station Software (GBSS) version 3.2.00. The latest version of GBSS includes several new features including support of the NGS CORS file-naming convention. It will also automatically create...

Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions announced GeoMedia version 5.0. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions announced GeoMedia version 5.0, comprised of GeoMedia and GeoMedia Professional for the desktop and GeoMedia WebMap and GeoMedia WebMap Professional (formerly GeoMedia WebEnterprise) for the Web. The...

Safe Software Inc. announced the availability of FME 2002 SR-1. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Safe Software Inc. announced the availability of FME 2002 SR-1 which includes new and increased data format support, enhancements to the user interface, and significant performance enhancements. FME 2002 SR-1 software empowers users to work...

Vexcel Corporation released FotoG 5.2 software. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Vexcel Corporation released FotoG 5.2 software, used to make measurements and create 3D CAD models of real world structures and objects from digital photos. FotoG 5.2 brings two brand new features to the system: the capacity to automatically...

NavCom Technology Inc. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... NavCom Technology Inc. (NCT) introduced its new line of RTK and DGPS products: SF-2040G, SF-2050G and SF-2050M. NavCom's new series of GIS sensors utilize NCT's StarFire Network on a subscription basis. The SF-2040G is an all-in-one, robust and...

Blackburn Flags and Marketing Products offer custom printed and plain marking flags. (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Blackburn Flags and Marking Products offer custom printed and plain marking flags in weather-resistant, 4-mil plastic. The 14 flag colors available include all APWA colors and four fluorescent colors. Flag sizes include 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", 4" x...

Additional 2002 Laser Survey Entries.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Additional 2002 Laser Survey Entries Electronic Levels (beam coverage up to 1,000 feet) Manufacturer Trimble Model Spectra Precision Laser LL200 Date of...

RPLS.com connection.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Here are a few messages from a thread called "Forum for Equal Opportunity." Posted By Gail Oliver on 5/9/2002 at 11:07 PM Many of you may have read in [the May] issue of POB that the Forum's work is complete and women are in the...