Software Review: I-Site Studio 3.0 and 4400 Laser Scanner
It seems that every surveying magazine now overflows with stunning 3D images of everything from people, to cars, to historic landmarks, to infrastructure. Point clouds of intricate structures and shapes naturally captivate the geometrically adept mind. But what about the ... Read the Article
Software Review: Topocad 9 from Chaos Systems
Topocad from Chaos System comes to us from Sweden. In this day and age more and more municipalities are requesting some form of surveying and engineering work that can be incorporated into their local GIS, so having a program that... Read the Article
Software Review: Prefiniti from Center Line Services
Bob Stevenson, a well-known and respected New Mexico surveyor*, once told me that a surveyor could make good money doing lot and block surveys for title companies. I thought he was probably right, but at the time survey inspection reports, or whatever they are called in your area, were equivalent to ... Read the Article
Software Review: Adapx Digital Pen and Capturx for ArcGIS
It all started with Dick Tracy and his radio wrist watch. Now we have a pen that is a data collector. The Adapx digital pen is both Bluetooth-enabled and a USB device. The pen weighs just over an ounce and is about the size of an average ballpoint pen. Communication is either ... Read the Article
Software Review MicroSurvey CAD 2008
MicroSurvey CAD 2008 (MSCAD) represents the latest incarnation of their popular desktop drafting software. MSCAD is a fully integrated COGO and design suite developed for the IntelliCAD platform, specifically, IntelliCAD version 6.4. For those of you unfamiliar with... Read the Article
Software Review: General CADD
Backward compatibility has always been one of the things that make a good solid product. General CADD started out as an inexpensive CADD program working in DOS. Generic CADD was the name and it made it possible for surveyors who could not afford the very... Read the Article
Software Review: Carlson SurvNet Network Least Squares Adjustment Software
Many of today's surveyors began their careers with the chain and transit. As many of you will recall, even though electronic distance measuring technology had been around for a while, wide spread acceptance of EDM instruments did not occur until the late 1970s to early 1980s. The chain is simple, easy to ... Read the Article
Software Review: cvlTracker by cvlSoft, Inc.
There are two kinds of surveyors/engineers bosses and employees. If all you ever want to be is an employee, you can probably skip this review. However, if you ever want to open your own office or become the head of the organization you work for, then pay attention. Many states now require a fouryear degree for ... Read the Article
Software Review: Ez-Adjust
In Part One I discussed a small part of Ez-Adjust dealing with Four-Parameter Coordinate Transformation and compared it to other programs that offer analysis of the fit of two coordinate systems. Least-squares programs have two sides. The first is adjustment. The second is ... Read the Article
Software Review: Pythagoras Pro
Pythagoras is a beautiful CAD software program with maximum flexibility. Figure 1 shows the opening screen. You can work in just about any global or local coordinate system but you can always view the drawing coordinates and the drawing ... Read the Article
Software Review: ptbase by CBI Systems, Ltd.
For the past five years I have encouraged every software developer with which I have had contact to provide surveyors and engineers with a simple Geographic Information System (GIS). In this issue we'll take a look at a GIS called ptbase (pronounced "point base"), which comes from ... Read the Article
Software Review: Autodesk Civil 3D 2005
Autodesk has come out with a superior design package, Civil 3D 2005. How is it different from Land Desktop 2004? At first glance, not very. Of course they had to move the commands around just to annoy me but I admit that most changes were improvements. So, if you can do everything in ... Read the Article
Software Review: Manifold System
This review requires some background. My county has a Geographic Information System (GIS) parcel base. It delineates boundaries. Should it be under the control of a planner, a computer specialist, a geographer or a surveyor? I believe that this is the most important question that needs to be resolved in this ... Read the Article
Software Review: SiteComp Survey
It's a simple name for an extraordinary program. SiteComp Survey does all the things that surveyors do; it just does them better. It does not require any other program. First and most important is the fact that Survey is a point-based system. Every line or figure in the drawing is based on points in the ... Read the Article
Software Review: XMap, XMap/GIS Analyst, XMap/GIS Editor and GPS PostPro 2.0
XMap is DeLorme's basic mapping package, and it is a remarkable set of programs. XMap/GIS Analyst contains tools for GIS analysis and all of the functionality of XMap. XMap/GIS Editor contains ... Read the Article
Software Review: Geographic Calculator, 6.0
The Geographic Calculator, from Blue Marble Geographics, is the kind of utility program that allows the average surveyor to swim around in the geodetic pool without drowning. They might have called it the geodetic surveying calculator. I have been using the Geographic Calculator for many ... Read the Article
Editorial: Carlson’s 30th Anniversary
Downtown Cincinnati was the site for the recent Carlson User Conference and 30th Anniversary celebration. Held in the Netherlands Plaza, a gorgeous art deco building built during the Depression, the conference was another success. I found it interesting that the developer of the Netherlands .... Read the Article
The World's Oldest Instrument Manufacturer
I've long had a soft spot in my heart for Germany. My German grandfather emigrated to this country as a child in the late 1800s, his family possessing little more than the knowledge of raising Holstein cows and the strong work ethic, one of .... Read the Article
GIS Enhances Safety + Efficiency at Dow Corning's Midland Plant
While the concept of using GIS to accurately identify and map physical assets is widely accepted in cities, towns and municipalities throughout the country, that approach has not yet found the same level of broad acceptance within private industry. Perhaps because of a misplaced .... Read the Article
Trails of the Mesoamericans in Lakkin Itza (Florida)
Lakkin Itza is the author's play on words, comparing Florida to the more famous Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula. Florida being east of Yucatan, the author located this Mayan glyph representing east in the John Montgomery Dictionary of .... Read the Article
Reconnaissance: ExpressMap--The End of Surveying?
There has been a tremendous flurry of emails flying back and forth across the country over the last few weeks regarding ExpressMap™ and how First American Title is using it to try to put surveyors out of business. This column will try to separate the myths from the facts of ExpressMap .... Read the Article
Product Review: Carlson SurvPC and Supervisor
In 1983, Dad founded J. D. Billings Land Surveying Company. Survey software development was a burgeoning market with the relatively affordable and easily obtainable personal computer suddenly available. That same year Carlson Software was born. In 1985, because Bruce .... Read the Article
Angle Points: The $15,000 Question
The fax arrived at my office on one of those fine, sunny afternoons, one of those days you get up early just to stretch your legs and feel the warmth of the sun. It read: "Finally, it's over!!!!! The Court entered Judgment last Friday...!!!!! I'm faxing it to you--of particular interest to you should .... Read the Article
Footsteps: The "Weight" of Monument Placement
The placement of a property corner monument seems like such a simple act. If your land surveying practice is like mine, you may not remember the last time you set a property corner monument. Or, if your practice is focused on small property surveys, you may set property corners frequently .... Read the Article
FeedBack
Einstein on Surveying: I find "The American Surveyor" a must have publication. However, I am troubled that so much emphasis is placed on the technology and so little is placed on Boundary surveys. I believe the licensing of surveyors is for the express purpose of protecting the .... Read the Article
The Curt Brown Chronicles: A Lasting Legacy
Curtis Brown served as the elected president of ACSM in 1965 and 1966. He also served as ACSM's Chairman of the Task Committee on Education. All the while, he continued lecturing extensively across the country. Amongst his many endeavors, he returned to Purdue University where he .... Read the Article
Vantage Point: Haunted by the Past
They never die. They continue to haunt us long after they should have been retired once and for all. But once approved, old subdivisions and developments often manage to sustain a faint heartbeat years beyond changes in zoning, changes in topography, and changes in how we .... Read the Article
Huge cost overruns and missed deadlines have long been the accepted norm for construction project operations. But as construction starts to pick up after a long hiatus, construction expert Barry LePatner stresses the importance of putting new rules in place to make construction cost containment the way of the future for the construction industry.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama revealed his “Fix It First” plan for repairing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Infrastructure expert and author Barry LePatner explains why he fully supports the president’s plan.
Note: This article originally appeared on the Machine Control Online website and is the result of a presentation made at the recent Esri/ACSM Survey Summit in San Diego.
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