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Domain: schwehr.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to schwehr.org.

Comments · 8

  1. Documentation by goatbar · · Score: 1 · on How Can I Contribute To Open Source?

    Do whatever you can. Documentation, packaging, training, whatever

    Consider even just small steps... e.g. posting small examples of using FOSS can help a lot. I use my blog to help NOAA accomplish its mission indirectly. One instance is how to use QGIS to read data directly from a PostGIS database:

    Using QGIS to view PostGIS data

    Now, how do I convince the NOAA IT folks that QGIS should be on more peoples machines?

  2. Around the world... by goatbar · · Score: 1 · on Abused, But Working Hardware Stories?
    Hmmm... lets see... Put a P5 headless computer on the back of an ATV in the artic. I was up to my waist in mud. Once I discovered that one one of the PCI cards had come unseated from the twin otter drop off it worked great for two weaks in the artic.

    Took the same system to yellowstone... worked great right next to some huge guysers. (why did I think it would be smart to weak tevas there?)

    yellowstone operation photos

    Took a laptop to antarctica. Tried to download data from a remote outdoor station during a blowing ice store. After a half hour, the powersupply died, but after getting a new powersupply it worked great.

    We took an SGI Indy to the remote Arizona desert and the high Chilean desert. That's when we realized that optical mice rule. The mechanical ones freak out. You do have to remember to dump out the sand from the computer every couple of days.

    Last one... on board embedded computer on an ROV in lake tahoe... flooded the first day there. One night with a hair drier and the next day it worked more reliably than before the flooding. No troubles with the Amiga 1000 control station setup on a chair on the beach.

    Hope those were entertaining :)

  3. not a need for data, but a need for ACCESS to data by goatbar · · Score: 4, Interesting · on Open Source Geographic Information Systems
    Yes, so it doesn't take long to discover that there is a mountain of data available for free here in the US. The problem is GETTING the data. What a nightmare. The DataDepot is truely a hideous system. And ArcWeb (or what ever their web map server thing is) is totally frustrating to all but the most patient. Data comes from 10000 sources in 100's of formats and require a different way to get each one. Please don't make me separately click to download the 50 different files just to make a basemap of a new field area.

    I've triend to make an effort to show how to do this, but it gets frustrating! You can see what I did here at my Visualization Classes. I used to be a Arc/Info hardcore user, but got so frustrated I gave up. It's easier for a programmer to write their own than deal with all the cruft in Arc. However, it's great for creating funny war stories.

  4. One example - La Jolla, CA by goatbar · · Score: 1 · on Open Maps?
    Hey All, We've been trying to lay foundations for similiar type stuff at a local level here at Scripps Inst. of Oceanography. I've been working with a large range of data formats and programs. Take a look at our sample project:

    LaJolla - Topography, Bathymetry, air photo, dive photos, helicopter photos, geologic map, seismic lines, ...

    You'll need to get the iview3d free browser to view the model. I'm just taking a break from getting it ready for the NSF visualization competition. Someday soon, I will export this stuff to a more open format (probably my prefered form of OpenInventor/Coin).

  5. Linux on NASA Robots by goatbar · · Score: 3, Interesting · on The Robots are Coming

    I think it was about 1997 that a bunch of us at NASA started replacing VxWorks systems on robots such as the Marsokhod and Nomad with Linux systems. Much more pleasant to develope Linux based systems. Then there was the time we were forced to cope with a WinNT box on Nomad when it went to Chile. Bad memories.

  6. Re:Not New... by goatbar · · Score: 2, Interesting · on 3D File Manager on Linux Wins NSF Prize
    No kidding... not too different than what Fourth Planet was selling with their nScope product. Did that about 1997/1998 or so. Also saw a number of programs like this in the Stanford Computer Graphics labs back in 95/96 in Levoy and Hanrahans' classes. Ah... the joys of watching network traffic with etherman (??) on IRIX 4.x. Also very similiar to the winner.

    Okay, okay... I entered and didn't win with xcore. Not quite as flashy, but I thought I'd have a good chance.

    Congrats to all the winners. Those finalist projects are pretty amazing.

  7. Virtual worlds for spacecraft and underwater by goatbar · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Designing Virtual Worlds
    I was pleasantly surprised when I went to slashdot this morning and found this article. I just spent the morning teaching some people how to use OpenInventor to visualize some Martian datasets for the upcoming MER missions.

    I've been writing some lecture notes for a class on designing virtual worlds that illustrate the real world (usually under water here) and have not discussed with those in the class the how, why, and philosophy of designing virtual worlds.

    thanks for the review!

  8. Nasa did something similar by photonic · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Pencigraphy: Image Composites from Video

    They did something similar some years ago with the mars pathfinder mission. By combining all the images from the stereo-imager and the rover they were able to glue everything together into a textured 3d model.