Archive For August, 2011

Book Review: Code

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold Microsoft Press, 2000 ISBN-13: 978-0735611313 The fact that you’re reading this suggests that you know how computers work.  But that’s only at one level of abstraction.  In the case of the touch/point/click interface, that can be ten or more levels of abstraction above […]

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ArcGIS Authorization Error: 7174

When installing an evaluation copy of ArcGIS Desktop 10, you may receive an error message during authorization saying something like “7174: Authorization request for EVA123456 cannot be completed.”  Trial and error suggests that this error is caused by a conflict with a previously authorized installation using a different evaluation code.  Even though you may have […]

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Capturing the Quads

One of the most recognizable and beloved map products of all time is the USGS 7.5′ quadrangle topographic map, commonly known as a ‘quad’.  These maps have been available to buy in paper format for many years, and are considered a definitive reference by backcountry users, such as hikers, campers, and fishing enthusiasts.  These maps […]

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Cartography for the Web

“Cartographic Design for Web Maps” is a new blog post from the ESRI Mapping Center. Written by Aileen Buckley, it is a fairly good primer on the principles of cartographic design. Of particular interest was the visual efficiency chart. On a related note, it’s interesting to note that we’ve supposedly given up on the idea […]

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Bringing your Garmin GPS to Linux: Part 2

In Part 1 of this tutorial, I wrote about getting Linux to recognize and manage your Garmin GPS unit.  Now that everything is set up, we can begin to explore how to make use of the GPS. Most of the work behind the scenes is made possible by the garmin_gps module, which is included by […]

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Bringing your Garmin GPS to Linux: Part 1

Interacting with your hiking/personal Garmin GPS unit in Linux can be simple and rewarding.  However, getting started takes a lot of work behind the scenes.  This tutorial requires you to execute terminal commands and modify read-only files, so it is for intermediate to expert users only.  Before beginning, make sure that the following packages are […]

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