Update From Little Rock: At the Clinton Library

I'm sorry to say that most of my photos from within the Clinton Library from the other night did not come out well enough to post on flickr. We were asked to not use flash photography, so my shots, while interesting to me, are not sharp enough for "publication."

I did get some cool shots outside.

The evening's event was sponsored by TeleAtlas, a company that DelDOT and the three Delaware counties are working with on a comprehensive statewide update of road data in Delaware. They had one of their data-gathering cars there for us to check out. These cars, and vans, and outfitted with some high-end locational data gathering tools. They are simply driven around, by highly trained folks, to find what's there.

Pretty cool.

Filed in:

• nsgic
• conference

Still in Little Rock

I'm still ensconced in a hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the middle of a grueling week of the annual NSGIC Conference.

I've mentioned before how crazed this organization is; we meet all day, for days on end, trying to cram as much content as possible into one week. As a result, of course, I'm usually too pooped to post.

I have been trying to blog the conference on the NSGIC blog. I have been reduced, by limited web access, to one post a day (generally). I'll keep working that angle.

Thursday morning I will make a presentation on using blogs, wikis and other social media to increase communication among our user groups. I guess I'd better get to writing that.

This afternoon, I did get a chance to take an hour's walk around downtown Little Rock. With my camera, of course.

This evening, our social event was a dinner at the Clinton Presidential Library. It is a fascinating place. Very impressive. The meal was great and the crowd was interesting, as usual.

Because we were at a presidential library, we all made an effort to rise to a certain sartorial level. One long-term NSGIC leader remarked that he'd never seen the group look so classy.

Yes, I did take photos at the Clinton Library. I'll post those tomorrow.

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• travel
• conference

Here I Am

I'm seated at a desk in a room at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, getting ready for the 2006 Annual Meeting of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), which gets started tomorrow at about 9:00 a.m.

The NSGIC conference is an important part of my professional life. It is the annual gathering of people who try to do what I try to do for Delaware's state government: coordinating the use and sharing of geospatial data among local, state, and federal agencies, along with the academic and private sectors.

There will be state GIS coordinators from probably 40 of the 50 states (maybe more), with lots of private sector folks, USGS staff, Census Bureau staff, and federal Homeland Security people. We'll meet from early morning until late at night Sunday through Thursday and finish up with a Board Meeting on Friday morning. I have the honor to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of NSGIC.

There will be breaks, and members of the group will be out late drinking beer every night. Likely without me. Lots will get done and by the end of the week I will be a wrag (even without too much partying). It's all worth it, though. This is an active, directed, and valuable group.

Riding in from the airport this afternoon, I shared the hotel shuttle with several USGS staff and , as it turned out, several folks who are in town for the annual meeting of COSLA, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

One, I think, was Gary Nichols, the State Librarian of the State of Maine, with one of his staff. I think Mr. Nichols is the President of COSLA. A nice man, and interested, as I am, in the possible cross-overs between our two organizations. We are both, after all, in the business of enabling public access to information.

I was, as a graduate of Colby College in Maine, interested in talking with the Maine State Librarian. In addition, his staff member is a fellow Colby Grad, though she notes that when she was there, in the 1960's, they still had to wear skirts or coats and ties to class.

I'll have to keep an eye out for Anne Norman, the Delaware State librarian, and see if we can have a Delaware Caucus here in Arkansas.

If I can figure out how to get wireless access in the State Convention Center, next door, I plan to try to live-blog much of the NSGIC Conference on the NSGIC Blog. One of my goals for this week is to try to turn the NSGIC Blog into a group blog, recruiting and, if needed, training a few of my colleagues to add content.

Filed in:

• travel
• nsgic
• gis
• conference

A Window on Dover

This is one of my earliest digital photos, and a favorite. I'm terribly proud of it.

I took this shot from inside the Schwartz Center in Dover in September of 2004. A group of us were scouting the Schwartz Center as a potential site for an event.

Earlier this week, walking back to my office past this spot on a beautiful fall day, I realized that I needed to try to see the other side of this view.

On a clear, blue-skied day, the view from outside the window is fascinating.

I took a series of shots, trying to find a combination on the windows, the sky, the clouds, the church, the old brick buildings, and chimneys.

I think I like these new shots even more. There's an abstract quality that appeals to me. I like the way the windows scramble the various elements of the State Street streetscape.

Filed in:

• Delaware
• Dover
• window
• reflection

Mount Up

I took a lunch-walk around the Green in Dover today. It was a crisp, blue-sky day, so I took some pictures.

The Green has a few marble mounting-blocks on the brick sidewalks outside some of the more venerable Victorian houses. These were most likely once used to help ladies and gentlemen climb into their carriages. I imagine they may also have been used to help folks mount their horses.

I've always thought they were a quaint addition to the historic-ness of the Green. I was charmed today to find a Mustang waiting patiently by one of the mounting blocks.

Filed in:

• irony
• dover

Two Word Protest

A new commercial building is going up in what once was about an acre-sized field near Lewes. It is behind, and I assume will replace, an older single-family house that has been turned into a real estate office.

Today I noticed a new protest by the folks who live in the next field over. They've posted their feelings about the new office building rather, well, prominently.

I'm not certain how long this protest has been in place. I only pass this property at the right angle to see this face of this fence once a week. At best.

I hope this doesn't go the way that that incident with the painted spite fence went up in Red Lion back at the end of 2003 and the start of 2004. A property-line dispute there led to a fence being built, being painted a fluorescent green and orange, and eventually hung with a variety of underwear.

We don't need that.

Filed in:

• growth
• development
• Sussex

Fare Well, Young Del

Del, also known as The Delawarean, has decided to hang up his keyboard. At least where his blog is concerned.

Last week he reached 10,000 hits; a milestone he had picked for blog-reevaluation.

He has decided to focus on other projects. With a new home, new job, and new challenges, I think Del has plenty to keep him busy.

We'll miss him, but I think we all understand.

Can I out your real name now, Mr. D?

Filed in:

• Delaware
• blogging

A Small Update to the Blogroll

I've re-tagged two of the blogs I track with "inactive-blog." This moves them off my blogrolls in the sidebar.

I try to go through the blogs in my list each month. As a general rule, those that have been silent for a month are removed.

I am sorry to see that Tim Slavin has stopped posting to his blog. I thought it was an interesting experiment in blogging by an elected official. The other inactive blog is DelaVision, which ironically fell silent after bragging about how the long-silent DelaVoice now redirects to DelaVision.

Now that I'm managing the blogrolls with del.icio.us, it should be easier to recheck these blogs and re-add them if they wake up.

Filed in:

• blogging
• blogroll
• inactive-blog

New Toy

This is my anniversary gift from the lovely Karen. She had decided that I should have one of these Chimineas, which I have wanted since I saw my friend Andy's, but she asked me to find the right one for me.

This is a nice gift. I like to burn wood.

I took a vacation day yesterday to take Christina to an orthodontist appointment. After I dropped her back at school, I had time to wander around under cloud-flecked blue skies and take a few photos.

I found this Chiminea at a shop along Route 113, north of Selbyville. I liked the flower motif and the fact that it has two openings.

I had time for a first fire late in the afternoon. I'm told one needs to start small, with modest fires that are allowed to burn slowly out, to cure the Chiminea. I hope to try another this evening, if we have time.

Filed in:

• chiminea
• fire
• deck
• outdoors

What Makes an Icon?

Dolles is a candy shop on the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I've photographed those red letters up there a few times. This one is one of my favorites.

Scanning through photos from "my contacts" on flickr this afternoon, I noticed that salnunzio has also posted a nice shot of the Dolles sign.

It turns out that we're not the only ones.

It got me thinking about those images -- signs, views, vistas -- that have become icons. The Dolles sign is an icon for the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, I guess.

It's hard to think of the boardwalk without it.

Filed in:

• Rehoboth
• Dolles
• Sign
• icon