Today in frigid Washington D.C., the 2008 ESRI Federal User Conference started. I attended and share here some observations on the opening presentation by ESRI’s President, Jack Dangermond. This is the 20th version of the federal user conference. ESRI officials told me that 2,500 pre-registered, an increase of 600 from 2007. Incredible growth for a [...]

Has it really gotten this bad? Apparently so, laments Susan Jacoby in her opinion piece in The Washington Post this past Sunday, “The Dumbing Of America: Call Me a Snob, but Really, We’re a Nation of Dunces.” She argues the U.S. has become anti-intellectual, using evidence such as decreased reading amongst the young and “the [...]

The U.S. primary election yesterday took place in 24 states on what is called Super Tuesday. Of course the day is super important for those trying to become the next president. The event begs for maps to show us what’s going on before, during, and after. Unfortunately, the popular news Web sites as a group [...]

A quick fun diversion. I sure hope you can beat my score of 80% right. Guess the Spot.

John Adams, the 2nd president of the U.S. and one of the first proponents of independence, knew the importance of geography. I recently finished the biography John Adams by David McCullough. While he didn’t leave his home state of Massachusetts from the time her was born in Braintree until he was an adult, Adams’ travels [...]