This is a thread about MAPS, GIS, GPS and the USGS!

the main layers i use at work are county parcels (data from assessors office, tells me the assessed value of the lot plus acreage and mailing address of owner), zoning, plat page, master street plan classification (tells me the width of right-of-way), aerial imagery, plus site-specific points like where a conditional use permit, lot split, or large-scale development has been applied for. we use ESRI ArcGIS of course which is the industry standard. any planning office that's not a total joke uses ArcGIS.

any planning office that's not a total joke uses ArcGIS.

Has GRASS gotten any traction lately? I once sat down to learn it for some work related stuff, but ended up going with KML (GRASS was overkill and any of the Esri products would be nuclear overkill)

We use all the ESRI products as well as pasf, mapinfo, windes, quickaddress, and something called easimap which runs through our intranet browser and shows stupid amounts of detailed info.

Global Impositioning Systems - Is GPS technology actually harming our sense of direction?

We’re now on the cusp of an even more dramatic change, as we enter the age of the global positioning system, which is well on its way to being a standard feature in every car and on every cellphone. At the same time, neuroscientists are starting to uncover a two-way street: our brains determine how we navigate, but our navigational efforts also shape our brains. The experts are picking up some worrying signs about the changes that will occur as we grow accustomed to the brain-free navigation of the GPS era.

Me and my Dad want to get my brother a new GPS for his birthday, since his old one seems to fail him regularly. Ideally we'd spend no more than $200. Any thoughts on the best buys, and the most important features? I don't use them so don't know what important criteria I should be looking out for.

This article is incredible and scary

http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/

...this suggests that we absolve ourselves from even having egocentric experiences to build upon. In some general sense, we lack reference points, stable spots that anchor our position in the world. Without these authoritative positions that, in a very real sense, add meaning to our world, we are left floating. Perhaps there is something to the explanation, by those who have driven their cars into rivers and over cliffs, that GPS told them to do it.

I've long intuited this since I used to live in Dupont Circle in DC. GPS systems really, REALLY like to direct people through Dupont Circle en route to just about any destination in northwest DC, even though it's actually horribly inefficient if you actually know your way around the DC grid. The result is that if you're a pedestrian crossing the street near the circle, you learn to make eye contact with oncoming drivers, even if the light gives you the right of way, because it's about 50/50 that they're staring down their GPS map trying to figure out how to turn, not looking at the road at all. I have more than a couple of clear memories of avoiding car-on-me collisions because I realized that a driver heading right into a crossing was completely oblivious to the situation (i.e. people using a people crossing right in their path to or from the traffic circle).

In March 2015, Iftikhar and Zohra Hussain were driving from their home in Chicago to Indiana to visit family. As Iftikhar approached a bridge that spanned the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, he ignored orange cones, “Road Closed” signs, and other deterrents meant to keep cars away, since the bridge had been closed for repairs since 2009. The car plunged off the bridge, dropping nearly 40 feet to the ground near the water. Iftikhar managed to escape before it burst into flames. Zohra died from her burns.

A local paper, citing a police investigator, reported that Iftikhar “was apparently paying more attention to the navigation system than what was in front of him.” Assuming that were true, the question still remains: what was going through his head?

Oh wow holy shit the author of that article is also the guy who wrote Perfecting Sound Forever, one of my favorite books of the last few years

insane story about GPS spoofing and Hong Kong's "sand thieves"

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614689/ghost-ships-crop-circles-and-soft-gold-a-gps-mystery-in-shanghai/amp/

Bad news for Gaia GPS users...

Pocket Outdoor Media (parent company to SNEWS, Backpacker, and nearly 30 other active living brands) announced news that will catapult the Boulder-based company into a powerful position in these industries: It has purchased Outside Magazine, Outside TV, Gaia GPS, Peloton Magazine, and athleteReg.

As the world’s leading backcountry mapping app, Gaia GPS will provide mapping, route finding, and navigation across the Outside platform, benefiting readers of Backpacker, Trail Runner, Climbing, and SKI.

But perhaps what excites Thurston the most is how these brands will come together to fortify the powerful value proposition of its membership program, Active Pass.

ugh

I've collected paper topo maps, national forest maps, and hiking guide books for five decades. I'll get by fine without getting entangled in their fucking stupid corporate synergy capitalist finger-trap.

GPS interference caused the FAA to reroute Texas air traffic. Experts stumped

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause of mysterious GPS interference that, over the past few days, has closed one runway at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and prompted some aircraft in the region to be rerouted to areas where signals were working properly.

The interference first came to light on Monday afternoon when the FAA issued an advisory over ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service). It warned flight personnel and air traffic controllers of GPS interference over a 40-mile swath of airspace near the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The advisory read in part: “ATTN ALL AIRCRAFT. GPS REPORTED UNRELIABLE WITHIN 40 NM OF DFW.”