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See, the quake was the website update for Adobe Acrobat 9 Extended!

…A friend once told me, “PDF is where data goes to die.” If that holds true, then geoPDF is where maps go to die…

Word on the street is that ArcGIS 9.3 will natively export to this new Acrobat format. Schweet.

The other neat thing that I’d like to point out is the Flash embed capability for Acrobat. Could the ArcGIS Server 9.3 Flex API be embedded in the PDF for dynamic mapping?

Just forget about workflow for a moment. Is it possible?

Ok, now think of the workflow. Could it have the potential to be another SharePoint-like pain in the butt?

Adobe = Upgrade (with the potential to Fail!)
ESRI = Upgrade!
TerraGo = Fail!

So, I went back. Back to the Kool-Aid stand that is the ESRI DevSummit. I got smarter, I got excited, I got even more hooked on the Kool-Aid.

First I’d like to note that I’m a geographer, not really a programmer, but… I learned a lot at the DevSummit and I got a lot of crazy ideas for my post-Redlands life. I did realize that to understand the mechanism that is ESRI GIS you can be a dope like me, but to develop the mechanism it’s hard work. I guess any development is really. Putting up with the client/user’s griping and complaining, their clueless ideas and so on. I commend a lot of developers for putting up with that crap, and most other geographers should too.

So, yes, my first DevSummit opened up a new world to me. One that f’in nuts! Still, I like building things, designing things, seeing the happy smiles of users. So, I think I’ll not only keep up with the tech and the processes that are new in buttonology, but also keep up with the tech that makes working with GIS “so fun.”

Bottom line: ArcGIS Server 9.3… F’in rocks. It’s off the hook, fool.

Side notes:

1) Jeremey B. said he should have made a “HTTP Goodness” t-shirt. I mentioned they would probably sell like hot cakes at the UC or next year’s DevSummit. I also recommended that he make “GET” and “POST” shirts too.

2) I spent the afternoon in the Microsoft Lounge charging my laptop, doing some homework, and found myself consulting with Ed Katibah and a Redlands alumn from back East. I tell you, that Ed sure is awesome. Always fun to chat with, always a ball of energy. Though I felt kind of bad about holding him up from his FAQ work that he did for the Microsoft SIG. I told him though that he’s lucky he hasn’t suffered from “Adult Onset Internet ADD” like I have. That’s what GIS and blogging will do to you.

3) The Flex API for AGS was “demonstrated today. Slick, slick, slick. In the three weeks that they’ve worked on it, it has some great visualization capabilities in the browser. The interesting thing is that you can not only build web RIAs but you can also export your work to Adobe Air for a light weight desktop app. Licensing? No clue. It’s built to mimic the AGS 9.3 JavaScript API, so any changes to either one, the other should be updated as well. So, a pretty nice presentation layer for the Flex/Flash folks. BTW: The Flex API isn’t in beta yet. Notice I said they worked on it for three weeks? So, Flex and AWX devs/designers will have to wait.

4) Congrats to Dave Bouwman. He won second place in the Code Challenge. Just think if he would have reminded us to vote for him?

It has been about a month since the announcement of Google Map Mapplets and within the past week two mapplets have caught my eye. The terrain profiler and the sea level rise mapplets from the HeyWhatsThat? folks. The whole concept has has piqued my thoughts that we’re starting to see the development of online geospatial processing outside of the traditional GIS body.

There’s ESRI’s ArcGIS Server, which is for the enterprise. There is MapServer, GeoServer, GraphServer, etc from open source. But these are for dedicated GIS teams for clients who have the resources to maintain them. So, does GMapplets enable the public in a way to build their own processes for specific issues and move online geospatial processing away from the enterprise to the home?

I think it may.

I don’t think that it will cut into the enterprise solutions, open or proprietary, but will probably bring greater awareness to issues that folks care about. There’s crime, there’s public resources, there are environmental issues people are interested in that could bring greater geographic awareness to communities. There are about 276 mapplets in Google’s gallery. They range from Wikipedia, a GeoRSS reader, webcam locator, transporation surfaces, area calculators, and user generated content. As early as it is, I think we’re going to see a lot more development in this area to start complementing information generated and shared via collaborative atlases.

The other thing I wanted to note are some of the questions that everyone seems to ask at some point, “When will Google jump into GIS?” Well, I don’t think they have to. All they have to do is enable bright people with the right platforms. Then I think they’ll be eating someone’s lunch.

Yes, I’m on the ESRI crack, but. . .

A few weeks back ESRI announced its code challenge for the Dev Summit and a lot of concern was flying around about, “What about the Desktop?” Well, I may have an answer for you. . . If you don’t mind being objective?

Well, think about this, I’m making plans with server-based GIS (in all its flavors) to enable my enterprise and to enable non-GIS users. This is important because not everyone in my enterprise has the want or skill to use desktop GIS. They are, however, smart enough to use the GYM maps, Mircosoft Excel 97, and MediaWiki (which they just learned.) What they constantly ask of me is, “Can I map “this” information?” Or they ask, “Is there an application I can use on our network that I can plot this info on?”

I have to say, “No. Not right now because, our network’s configuration management doesn’t allow for it. I am trying.”

So, I’m trying to be responsive. Sometimes my peeps ask me for a copy of ArcMap when they can barely spell GIS. I do work with them to get set up, but it’s a long learning process for them. So, I’m working towards the server-based GIS environment to crate a layer of data services and map services that will allow non-GIS folk to look up information. This is an important first step to what I’m getting at.

So, why is server-based GIS important and why is ESRI having a code challenge?

The two most hated words in our industry: Data Entry.

Remember how I mentioned that my non-GIS peeps can use GMaps, Excel, and MediaWiki? Well, if you aim to build a collaborative environment that allows your folks to edit your GIS themselves, with some structure, your data entry time shrinks tremendously. It also allows for your folks to fill in gaps in your database and to provide a level of quality assurance. This is largely why server-based GIS is important to an enterprise.

I want to emphasize that the Desktop is still important! GIS experts can still manage and analyze data with the tools the desktop offer. Perhaps even utilize geoprocessing services for higher-end geoprocessing of large datasets?

So, refering to Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, that’s probably why ESRI has issued a code challenge for the Dev Summit. It sees its customers being just more than power desktop GIS users. Probablybecause GIS software is useless without data.

. . . And that’s why server-based GIS is important. (At least, in my ESRI crack smokin’ mind.)

That’s right, I went through a AGS 9.2 overview seminar on Friday, and it friggin’ blew me away.  Of course, I’m one of those lucky people who can implement AGS 9.2 Advanced Enterprise with all the bells and whistles. . .  Come on, “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!” Right?

What it means is instead of stringing together IMS, SDE, and old versions of Server, I can from my 9.2 desktop suite, manage my data effciently and effectively.  I can also build custom applications and task different servers with different capabilities.  So, I could have a few servers to manage my database(s), provide visualization services, geodata services, task services, globe services, web maps, analytical geoprocessing services, and even mobile services.

As you can read, I’ve drank the Kool-Aid.

Even though I saw a lot of cool things in action, I’m still cautious about the “what if I do it” factor.  What if I implement something and it doesn’t work for me, but it worked for ESRI?  Am I up a creek?

I’ll assume the probablities are low of something like that happening, but you never know.

I’m going to try it. I’ll let you know if the Kool-Aid was truth or fiction.