GIS Tech News (#27)

Roadmap to Recovery

It was late afternoon on Friday, September 2, 2005. Hurricane Katrina had finally been downgraded to a tropical depression. Two days before, it had been a Category Three monster, wreaking havoc on the Gulf Coast with 125-mph winds. About 1,400 miles away in Troy, New York, the phone rang at MapInfo headquarters. On the other end was a staffer from the Louisiana Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health, located in Baton Rouge. The Bureau had already evacuated its associates from New Orleans, but in the ensuing rush, it lost some of its data and operational capacities.

"They were a bit desperate," said Greg Donahue, MapInfo's senior marketing manager. "They wanted to make sure they could track certain scenarios and take preventative measures."

MapInfo put together a number of software products, along with several DVDs containing relevant geospatial data. By then, company shipping personnel had gone home for the day, and FedEx and UPS had completed their last pickups. Undaunted, MapInfo employees drove to Albany International Airport and handed the package over to the FedEx plane crew. The Bureau received the delivery the next day and was able to resume work.Read More>>

Cadalyst's Holiday Gift Guide, Part 2

By Nancy Spurling Johnson

In "Holiday Gift Guide: Make Your Workstation Smile" in the October 20 edition of Cadalyst Daily, we presented a rundown of some fun and amazing hardware on the market today for working in 3D. We also invited readers to send us their own workstation wishes, offering a SpacePilot 3D navigation device as incentive, courtesy of 3Dconnexion.

Selected in a random drawing, the lucky winner of the SpacePilot is Manuel Anthony Perez. Read on for what his workstation wants this holiday season, as well as the practical and pie-in-the-sky yearnings of other 3D CAD workstations and their operators who sent in wish lists. Read More >>

UPCOMING GIS EVENTS
Cadalyst'scomplete list of upcoming events is always available on our Web site. Cadalyst's sister publication, Geospatial Solutions, also offers a full calendar of GIS-related events.

2007 GeoTec Event
May 14-17, 2007
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
This 21st annual event will include an educational conference with keynote speakers, workshops, breakout sessions in multiple tracks, best-practice case studies, round-table discussions and vendor presentations. Read more

WHAT'S NEW AT CADALYST.COM
Visit the GIS Tech News archives to view current and past issues online.

Get the Code!
Cadalyst's December code from Hot Tip Harry is now available for download. This month, each AutoLISP tip was developed by Harry himself, in response to user requests posted on Cadalyst'sHot Tip Harry — Help discussion forum.

Cadalyst's December Web Exclusives Now Live Online!
The latest editions of all your favorite Cadalyst tutorials for AutoCAD and other popular CAD software, CAD Cartoon, Dialog Box (letters from readers) — plus all the content from the December edition of Cadalyst magazine — are now live on Cadalyst.com. Check it out!

My Monitor's Bigger Than Your Monitor
The latest Cadalyst Quick Poll is live online. This month, we want to know about your screen real estate: Is your monitor sadly small, the envy of all the CAD world or somewhere in between? Take the poll (go to any page of Cadalyst.com and scroll down to find the Quick Poll in the margin), then watch for the results in Cadfidential in the January 2007 edition of Cadalyst magazine.

Time for a New Job?
If you're in the market for a new job -- or if you just want to see what's out there -- Cadalyst.com offers a Job Search that will help. Powered by Indeed, this search tool offers a state-by-state list of CAD-related job openings, or you can customize a search to find your own list of U.S. job openings based on the keywords and locations you specify. Check it out today! Use the Job Search button under the Resources section on any Web site page, or click here for a direct link.

Cadalyst Daily Update
For all the latest news and new products, subscribe to the Cadalyst Daily e-newsletter. Plus, every issue includes a feature you won't find anywhere else --hardware and CAD software reviews, success stories, AutoCAD tips and much more! Here's a sample of what you missed recently:

• Autodesk Gets Platform-Neutral DWF Viewing into Vista: 'Working with Microsoft, we're liberating our customers from paper-based sharing and proprietary software' – but for now, only for 2D files

• AutoCAD Tips: Time-Saving Toggle Routines: Personalize your software with code to quickly switch a variety of variables

WHAT'S NEW AT GEOSPATIAL SOLUTIONS  

Cadalyst's  sister publication, Geospatial Solutions, offers a Web site packed with features, news, events and other information for users of geospatial technologies. Check out this latest news from www.geospatial-online.com:

City of Franklin, Tennessee, Joins Bentley's Municipal License Subscription Program: Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced that the city of Franklin, Tennessee, has joined Bentley's Municipal License Subscription (MLS) program, which offers municipalities all the software they need to design and manage infrastructure for a fixed annual fee based on population.

Map World Forum Expecting High Level of Government Participation: The Map World Forum Committee announces a high level of government participation at Map World Forum, which is scheduled for January 22 to 25, 2007, at Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Hyderabad, India.

William (Bill) Goodson Joins Autodesk as Federal Vice President of Sales for Autodesk Government: Goodson will be responsible for driving Autodesk's presence in the government and managing the business in key federal markets, including defense, homeland security and civilian agencies. In addition, he will be responsible for growing Autodesk's partnerships supporting the federal government.