Category: Thoughts

While I did post a lower score than my 3 year (to be fair he will be 4 next week so it isn’t as bad as it looks) old son at miniature golf today, he’s quite the natural. He handles the rubber putter better than I do.

[

[

Sure I should have hit save more often, but nothing ruins a Monday morning when this crap shows up. What a way to throw away an hours worth of work.

Another new ESRI Course has cropped up on the the Training site. In addition to the Introduction to ArcGIS Server class, this one gets into developing applications with the .NET framework. The description is below:

ArcGIS Server provides a set of software components and a framework for developing centrally managed GIS applications. This advanced course introduces the ASP.NET Web Application Developer Framework (ADF) and teaches how to build custom ArcGIS Server applications. Students learn about the available libraries, application programming interfaces (API), and server development guidelines, and how to develop different types of Web applications. In course exercises, students build applications ranging from ASP.NET Web applications that use the ADF Web controls to ArcGIS Explorer custom tasks and server object extensions. Students also learn how to extend the ADF with custom buttons and tools through the new task framework.

Finally we are beginning to see the ArcGIS Server being pushed by ESRI.

Einstein dabbled in ArcGIS Server during his later years

I was checking the weather tonight to see if there was going to be any rain tomorrow morning (it appears that will be the case) and saw that Weather.com dumped their proprietary mapping and is now using Virtual Earth.

I had seen some Virtual Earth maps on Weather.com, but this is the first time I’ve seen it as the default map. It appears that Weather.com is using a Flash overlay on top of the Virtual Earth maps (double click on the map to see a cool zoom-in animation). The interface works really well and you can control the radar and cloud layers as well as the animation. And of course don’t forget you can also view the satellite image in the background if the road map isn’t your speed.

Compare the new maps to the “Classic” Weather.com graphics.

Quite an improvement! Kudos to the Virtual Earth team for getting their product out there. Shows what a more liberal licensing policy can do for a product. Can’t wait to see when they integrate VE3D into their maps. 3D clouds and rain falling should be pretty slick.

Update – The Virtual Earth (MapPoint) B2B Blog has some thoughts too.

If you like most people have been having a hard time figuring out what the heck ArcGIS Server is and what it can do, ESRI now has a new course just for you. Called “Introduction to ArcGIS Server”, it will teach you how to install, configure, and use ArcGIS Server. The description is below:

ArcGIS Server provides a complete server-based GIS system that supports the use of centrally managed spatial data for mapping and analysis. This course introduces ArcGIS Server and teaches how to install, configure, and use the product as administrators and consumers of GIS services. Students learn how to publish maps, globes, and geoprocessing models that are optimized for performance. Students also create out-of-the-box Web applications using Manager and learn how to use GIS services in both Web applications and ArcGIS Explorer.

Those completing this course will be able to

• Understand the client and server components of the ArcGIS Server architecture.
• Configure the ArcGIS Server system.
• Administer the GIS Server and GIS services.
• Optimize the performance of GIS services.
• Build Web applications that consume GIS services.
• Utilize ArcGIS Explorer to work with GIS services.

2007 ESRI Developer Summit: ArcGIS Server Geoprocessing (Deep Dive)

Listen as Art Haddad, Sentha Sivabalan, and Nathan Warmerdam talk about the types of applications that can be built using geoprocessing services and ArcGIS Server and what developers can expect to learn from their technical session at the upcoming ESRI Developer Summit.

Direct Link to Podcast

Don’t forget to register for the Developer Summit. The early bird rate has come and gone, but you can still go and register. Also remember that you don’t need to be an ESRI customer to go so if you want to see how the ESRI developer world operates, this is your best opportunity (plus who doesn’t want to be in Palm Springs in late March?).

The ESRI ArcGIS Server Code Challenge continues to get submissions so keep checking out the blog. Given the current number of entries I’d submit something but we aren’t running 9.2 Server yet so that will have to wait for another time.

ESRI has posted the dates and times for the developer teams for ArcGIS. If you want to talk directly with these team members, make sure you note the date and time and get their early. Remember it was very crowded last year and I’m sure ESRI has done much to improve things, but you really want to be early for this kind of stuff.

If you didn’t go last year and want to get a flavor of what happens at the Dev Summit, check out some of the posts from last year.

• Results from the Unofficial Developer Summit
• Dev Summit Day 1
• Standing room only at the Building Web Applications with ArcGIS Server and .NET
• The Java SIG from the back of the room
• Day Two at the 2006 Developer Summit
• Five points to take away from the 2006 Developer Summit

I’ve said before this Arc”Whatever” stuff is more confusing than helpful. From an email I received yesterday:

James, hello!

I got spoiled with Google Earth! When I downloaded ArcExplorer today, I expected something similar to Google Earth, but instead I got this!

FYM (for my information), does ArcGIS have something like Google Earth?

I’m amazed any of us can keep all this ArcExplorer, ArcWeb Explorer, ArcGIS Explorer, ArcExplorer Web stuff strait.

I’ve not really written anything up on Google’s KML Search because it really is irrelevant to me. One still can’t install Google Earth in corporate settings without paying for pro so why would I bother since none of my clients can install it (can you imagine if Adobe had such a restriction on Acrobat Reader when it started up?).

Anyway I’ve read what Directions Magazine and Ogle Earth has posted in regards to the new “service”, but Allan Doyle hit it on the head with is post, “Google’s KML Search – SDI or not?”.

Google paid for the development of KML. Google pays for the crawlers. Google pays for the servers that hold the data and respond to your search.

It’s also open. Anyone else can crawl for KML files. Anyone else can parse them, and anyone else can offer a search service for them.

But, until they do, the only way to geographically query KML is via Google Earth.

To me that’s not an SDI.

Look, I’m not saying this kind of search isn’t needed and probably there isn’t anyone other than Google that could pull it off, but limiting it to KML and not fixing the licensing issues with Google Earth just leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Going to the ESRI Developer Summit next month? Dave Bouwman is on top of it with the details to the blogger/non-blogger meetup at the hotel lobby bar.