Josh's Not-a-Blog

Frustrated by low-quality aerial photography on the free web-based mapping services (like Google Maps and TerraServer), I set out to find free sources of the USGS data itself. It comes from a government agency, so it should be simple for us taxpayers to find, right?

After much searching, I found some great resources at Michigan's Center for Geographic Information and the Michigan DNR Aerial Imagery Archive. A relatively complete listing of resources for other states can be found at lgalvin's site.

To use the Michigan CGI data, here's what I did:

1. Select a county from the County Geographic Extent page.
2. On the next page, select the aerial imagery you want to use. For Houghton county, I wanted the Digital Orthophoto Quads - 2005 series.
3. Select and download a quadrangle. These are typically compressed in standard zip format.
   
4. Unpack the file using the unzip command (this works even though the files are self-extracting Windows executables).
5. Download and install FWTools for Linux.
6. Convert the file to TIFF by running something like:
   gdal_translate LAURIUM_NW.ecw LAURIUM_NW.tiff

For the Michigan DNR data, I did this:

1. Select the 1998 series data from the Aerial Imagery Archive page.
2. Select a county of interest, and then a quadrangle.
3. Click on the map of the quadrangle to download the compressed image file.
4. Download and unpack MrSID Decode for Linux.
5. Convert the file to TIFF:
   mrsidgeodecode_linux -i laurium_nw.sid -o laurium_nw.tiff

Either way, you'll now have a high-resolution TIFF that can be used in any number of image manipulation programs. I found the CGI imagery to be the most detailed, and far better than web-based mapping services.

Rumors are flying that DCS wants to outsource email. Back in 2000, they outsourced our local Usenet groups, which was less than successful. James reminded me of my shenanigans back then:

Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 10:23:08 -0400
To: "Myles, Joshua A." <jamyles@mtu.edu>
From: Ann West <awest@mtu.edu>
Subject: Your e-mail service post
Cc: cjmacdon@mtu.edu

Mr. Myles,

It has come to my attention that you posted the following 
notice on mtu.announce regarding the outsourcing of
e-mail.

Joshua Myles wrote:
>
> Starting September 11, MTU's email system will undergo 
> changes intended to reduce the load on MTU's local mail 
> server. After September 11, all MTU mail will be handled
> by Hotmail, part of the Microsoft Network.
> 
> Since a very small amount of students actually use MTU's 
> email system, it was determined that email could be more
> efficiently handled by a commercial provider.
>                                                                    
> Any users who wish to continue receiving MTU email must
> register at http://www.hotmail.com/. Many desirable 
> usernames are available, such as
> fastredcar53982@hotmail.com.                                               
>                                                                
> This change in service is likely to cause a massive
> slowdown in service, and occasional service failures.
> MTU is not responsible for these service issues, and all
> technical problems should be directed to
> support@hotmail.com.
> 
> Thank you for your support.

While we all appreciate a bit of satire, do not post 
service-spoofing messages in mtu.announce. A number of 
readers mistook your note for an official announcement of
IT. This creates additional work on our part to address
rumors resulting from the satirical posting. Let me know
if you have questions or would like to discuss this
further.

Ann West