Tag Archives: personal

My flight bag

Ever wonder what student pilots carry in their flight bag? (from left to right): Cessna 172 Pilot’s Operating Handbook; emergency glow sticks; navigation logs; kneeboard containing local airport info, emergency procedures, comm frequencies, notes, etc; San Antonio sectional chart; contact lens rewetting drops; Smith and Wesson red/white LED aviation flashlight; sectional chart clips; pens and pencils; notecards; checkbook; laminated procedures checklists; replacement batteries for headset/flashlight; pilot logbook; Texas Airport and Facilities Directory; E6B flight computer and manual; navigation plotter. Not pictured: Bose A20 aviation headset, flight bag.

“That’s how you know it’s real”

During a talk at SXSW yesterday, tech journalist Steven Levy talked about how he had once brandished an iPod with an external microphone to record an interview with Steve Jobs.

Jobs was horrified when he saw that Levy had a case on his iPod. Jobs asked Levy why he would choose to change the form factor on such a beautiful device.

“So I told [Jobs], but it’s beautiful! I don’t want to get scratches on it,” Levy said.

Jobs replied, “But that’s how you know it’s real, that it’s a real thing.”

Using GIS to solve common problems in local government, city planning

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Here’s a short piece I recently wrote about a group of Texas counties collaborating on GIS solutions. This will be of interest to anyone who attended my presentation at SXSW last year on the importance of open data and data visualization in government.

The consortium operates under the direction of the East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG), an already chummy and productive network of counties and other governmental entities with a shared commitment toward smart government. GIS encompasses the technology and analysis of electronic maps and the data they represent. It’s like your GPS, but with a brain and a hard drive, allowing officials and workers to spot geographic trends with satellite images without so much time in the field. The East Texas GIS Consortium’s goal is to share otherwise costly GIS systems, similar to a co-op, creating savings that ultimately benefit East Texas taxpayers. The city of Rusk, for example, mapped its fire hydrants and analyzed the data to identify underserved areas. By spotting deficiencies in hydrant service, officials can preempt disasters and other emergencies.

Read the entire article.