Point of Beginning articles from October 2004

Point of Beginning archives from October 2004

Modesty, aside.(Editorial)
October 1, 2004... Modesty and literature usually do not go hand-in-hand. The more modest the sources for stories, the harder the task of compiling copy. So it often goes for the life of the editor of a surveying publication. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ring...

On the level.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... August 2004 There seems to be no end to the articles about the image of the profession. Mr. Foster's is another in a long line [that has] included some new ideas, at least ones I had not heard. My belief is [that] the poor image of the...

The academic angle.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... July 2004 In the July issue, columnist Mickie Warwick, PLS, answers the question "Are the right questions being asked on the NCEES exam?" with these two questions: "Can a four-degree alone produce a qualified surveyor?" Answer: "Absolutely...

Arizona Association changes membership bylaws.(The Latest News)
October 1, 2004... The Arizona Professional Land Surveyors Association (APLS) changed its bylaws in July to allow geospatial professionals to become members of the organization. According to Jack Avis, PLS, the chair of the APLS Geospatial Committee, the new...

Amended Tennessee law requires surveyors to search adjoining land records.(The Latest News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... On July 1, 2004, an amendment to Tennessee's code of law regarding land surveyors became effective. The new clause in Section 62-18-127 reads: A professional land surveyor shall search the land records of the land to be surveyed filed in...

ASPRS releases guidelines on vertical accuracy reporting requirements for LiDAR-derived elevation data.(The Latest News)(American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing)(Light Detection and Ranging)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) adopted the "ASPRS LiDAR Guidelines-Vertical Accuracy Reporting for LiDAR Data V1.0" in May. This is the first in a series of guidelines to be published by ASPRS covering the...

Land Surveyor's Workshops offers Caribbean cruise for continuing education.(The Latest News)
October 1, 2004... Who says that because continuing education is required it can't be fun? Nearly 75 percent of state licensing boards have made continuing education mandatory for land surveyors. Now, Land Surveyor's Workshops (LSW), based in Jefferson, N.C., is...

Scanning the mapping toolbox: today's mapping technology provides photogrammetrists and land surveyors many opportunities.
October 1, 2004... In August, for the first time in its 86-year history, the PGA used an aerial image for the official illustration of its championship host golf course. On May 17th, AEROMETRIC Inc., of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, captured the image of Whistling...

Stay out of court! Manage surveying and mapping risks through clear, written contracts.
October 1, 2004... What is a surveyor's best risk management tool? As leading providers of insurance for surveyors, our clients often ask us how to reduce the number of lawsuits or disputes that come their way. Of course, there is no single solution. But our...

A legal look: the extent of surveyor supervision.
October 1, 2004... Case law regarding subjects germane to the surveying profession--and with national implications--is very hard to find. Almost all property law is governed by state specific case law and statute. Similarly, our profession is regulated by each...

The end of an era: on the genesis, life and death of the HP 48.(related article: Transitions)
October 1, 2004... In 2003, an era ended. The technology giant Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif., announced the end of production of the HP 48, the scientific calculator/computer used by numerous surveyors--and which surveyors had ranked above most other...

The great sage stone expedition, Part 2.
October 1, 2004... In Part 1 of the story (September 2004), Ian shared with us the beginning stages of a survey for his good friend and client, Jim Wilson, in Section 1, Township 8 South, Range 1 West, San Bernardino Base and Meridian in California. Having worked...

Carlson Explorer by Carlson Software: a new handheld data collector option for surveyors combining time-tested hardware and software.(In Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 1, 2004... We live in a digital world run by microchips. In the book One Digital Day, (1) the authors state, "By the middle of the next century, the typical microprocessor may have more computing power than today's fastest supercomputers. It will talk,...

Mining with robot.
October 1, 2004... Slope stability monitoring (a form of deformation monitoring) in open pit mines has improved since the introduction of advanced surveying technology. Five Leica Geosystems (Atlanta, Ga.) robotic total stations controlled by A. Chrzanowski &...

Creating a national exam.(On Licensure)
October 1, 2004... Are the licensure examinations developed by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) relevant to today's surveying practice? A March POB article, Offsets "The surveyor's new clothes," asserts that they are not. In...

Are you using "junk math"?(Offsets)
October 1, 2004... In the early 1960s the term "junk food" was introduced. Items such as candy bars and sodas were the main examples. The term was expanded in later years to describe any type of fast food. The original application of this expression was to...

Land surveyor: it defines who we are!(The Business Side)
October 1, 2004... I was recently asked to be the keynote speaker at the annual convention of the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors in 2005. The theme of the conference is "A Glorious Past and a Bright Future." What a great theme! No other profession has as...

Optech Inc.(Turning Points)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Optech Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, announced Mike Smallwood joined the company in the position of U.S. regional sales manager for the Terrestrial Survey Division. Smallwood operates out of Optech International Inc. in Kiln, Miss. His...

Bentley Systems Inc.(Turning Points)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Bentley Systems Inc., Exton, Pa., acquired Haestad Methods Inc., Waterbury, Conn. Haestad solutions provide for design, analysis, and management of water distribution supply, municipal sanitary sewers, urban stormwater collection, roadway and...

NavCom Technology, Torrance, Calif., signed Topo Center to its global network of dealers.(Turning Points)
October 1, 2004... NavCom Technology, Torrance, Calif., signed Topo Center to its global network of dealers. Topo Center is an authorized representative for NavCom products and services in Switzerland. Topo Center is a full-service survey organization...

Keith and Schnars P.A.(Turning Points)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Keith and Schnars P.A., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., named Frank Nunez, PSM, as surveying manager for the firm's Miami office. In this role he oversees surveying and mapping services in Dade and Monroe Counties. Nunez has more than 24 years of...

Leica Geosystems HDS Inc.(Turning Points)(APPOINTMENTS)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Leica Geosystems HDS Inc., San Ramon, Calif., announced that Derrel Shaffer has joined the company to guide the growth of High-Definition Surveying (HDS) technology in plant, facilities and related markets. Shaffer is a registered professional...

DigitalGlobe.(Turning Points)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... DigitalGlobe, Longmont, Colo., announced Dr. Walter Scott, founder and CTO, received the 2004 Colorado Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the emerging technology category. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Timmons Group-TRANSMAP partnership.(Turning Points)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Timmons Group, Richmond, Va., an engineering, surveying and landscape architecture firm, and TRANSMAP Corporation, Columbus, Ohio, a provider of asset inventory and infrastructure management solutions, formalized their multi-year partnership....

Thales.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 401 Thales introduced the MobileMapper CE, a handheld GPS receiver for GIS and other data collection applications. The MobileMapper CE GPS receiver offers real-time, submeter GPS positioning, embedded Microsoft Windows CE .NET, Bluetooth...

Trimble.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 402 Trimble introduced GPS Analyst, a software extension to ESRI's ArcGIS software. The GPS Analyst extension allows direct processing of GPS data inside the ArcGIS software environment. ArcGIS is an integrated framework of software for...

Topcon.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 403 Topcon introduced the GPT-7000 reflectorless total station series, featuring an on-board controller with Windows CE operating system. A touch screen display and a user-oriented graphical interface allow fast, precise data collection...

Topcon's Occupation Planning program.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 404 Also, Topcon's Occupation Planning program is now available for free download at www.topcongps.com/software/utilities.html. Topcon GPS + (GPS + GLONASS) users, as well as users of conventional GPS-only systems, can employ the program...

Leica Geosystems.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 405 Leica Geosystems introduced new GPS reference station receivers based on its System 1200 technology: the GRX 1200 and GRX 1200Pro. The receivers incorporate Leica's exclusive 12 L1 + 12 L2 SmartTrack GPS measurement engine. The...

Crain Enterprises Inc.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 406 Crain Enterprises Inc. announced its new data collector mount system, the Data-Max. Constructed of lightweight, high-strength composite material, the versatile Data-Max can tilt the data collector to any one of 26 positions for easy...

GeoplusUSA.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 407 GeoplusUSA released VisionCOGO for LDD, an add-on product for AutoDesk Land Desktop (2004-2005). Compatible with data from all major total stations and data collectors, VisionCOGO for LDD brings users a set of powerful COGO...

NavCom Technology.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 408 NavCom Technology announced the availability of RTK Extend, a product feature that combines the capabilities of NavCom's StarFire global decimeter positioning system with its RTK positioning algorithms to overcome the problem of...

PrimaCode Technologies.(New & Notable)(PrimaCode Technologies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 409 PrimaCode Technologies released Transform for Windows, a product designed specifically to help land surveyors quickly analyze and reproduce prior surveys. Transform uses a concurrent processing schema to perform least-squares solutions...

Bentley Systems Inc.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 410 Bentley Systems Inc. announced its Enterprise Training Subscription (ETS) Resource Center, the source for online learning from Bentley. The ETS Resource Center (www.bentley.com/ets) includes: feature clips, which are instructional...

NovaLIS.(New & Notable)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 411 NovaLIS released NovaLIS Parcel Editor for ESRI's ArcMap 9. NovaLIS Parcel Editor is an out-of-the-box parcel mapping and addressing solution that enables users at any technical level to create and maintain accurate parcel data with...

C-Map Systems Inc.(New & Notable)(C-Map Systems Inc)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 412 C-Map Systems Inc. released WriteGPS, an intelligent GPS video overlay and typewriter. The self-contained, 12-volt, palm-sized unit overlays video with GPS time, date, position coordinates, altitude, depth and heading. WriteGPS accepts...

Surveying solutions.
October 1, 2004... Each month we present a surveying 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 beside the problem, in a shaded box. We hope you enjoy...

Classic POB.
October 1, 2004... Copyright[c] 1989, P.O.B. Publishing Co. Carlos Walraven, Dallas, GA [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

This month's candidate: Barry E. Savage, PLS.(Meet Sam the Surveyor)(Biography)
October 1, 2004... Name: Barry E. Savage, PLS Credentials: B.S. Civil Engineering Technology, University of Tennessee-Martin State where you reside: Tennessee Registered/licensed in: Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama Positions/Companies: Land...