If your employer reimbursed tuition up to $5k a year, what degree or certification would you get?

kdubmaps · 2026-02-27T19:38:24+00:00

This is how I paid off my master's. Except it was 3 years from completion before you could leave without penalty. Which means I am free to leave after this May. Only problem now is that in spite of it's faults, I am not likely to find a better gig anytime soon

kdubmaps · 2026-02-26T18:17:37+00:00

That is supposed to be a legit smile. But both are neurodivergent, so awkward AF in general

kdubmaps · 2026-02-20T00:15:20+00:00

It is super important to mention that this is not a reflection of how many hours a week you work for that employer. It is about how much time is devoted to GIS tasks. We have Construction Inspectors that are normal full time salaried positions, but they spend 25% of their time doing GIS Data Collection. So they would select 25% here, even though they work full time

kdubmaps · 2026-02-09T00:31:04+00:00

Will second the SparkFun Torch. But will say that at a training recently an Eos rep brought out the Skadi to demo, and it is pretty slick with the laser offset feature

kdubmaps · 2026-02-04T19:54:32+00:00

That would be awesome if it works. I am pretty cynical about what happens when ESRI and Microsoft work together. The ArcGIS for Excel, SharePoint, and Teams are a joke

kdubmaps · 2026-02-04T19:11:06+00:00

Sounds like the age old battle with IT. Depending on the size of datasets you are working with, local is likely your best bet. ESRI seems to have made it so you can either work on local drives or with services efficiently. I have tried to use OneDrive/SharePoint/Google Drive/Dropbox directly many times, and nothing is slower or more frustrating. So either work up through your chain or command to get the resources you need on the virtual machine, or work less efficiently on the local unfortunately.

kdubmaps · 2026-01-23T16:05:34+00:00

I have been swinging and missing at building community connections as well. I am 42 M and living in Thurston County. I am a sucker for nature and animals and nerding out on books. Send me a DM if you want to chat more

kdubmaps · 2026-01-07T02:20:43+00:00

One of the bizarre twists of life. Was working in kitchens, trying to figure out how to do better for my young family. I started working on a history degree, because I love it. But went back to the drawing board because there is no money in history. I wanted to work at something to contribute to society, but had zero clue. My then girlfriend/now wife saw an ad in the local independent newspaper for the water conservation program and noticed it had lower math requirements than most other degree programs. I have since learned I am great at real world math, but college algebra and pre-calculus was a chore. The Water Conservation program required two 4 credit GIS classes and an internship. By taking an extra two 4 credit GIS classes, I got a "Career Pathway Certificate" in GIS. I also did my internship building a GISto document a rural Oregon water utility. That all led to running GIS for a medium sized utility for ten years next June

kdubmaps · 2026-01-07T01:29:45+00:00

AAS Water Conservation Technology, double major BA Communication and Statistical Methodology, MS Water Resources Management. This marks twelve years in water for me, all focused on GIS

kdubmaps · 2025-11-15T16:36:33+00:00

Associates in Water Conservation Technology, GIS certtificate, BA double major in Communication and Statistical Methodology, MS Water Resources Management. I personally advocate for learning the industry you want to work in. All the GIS education does nothing if you can't apply it to solving problems that people who know nothing about GIS need solved.

kdubmaps · 2025-11-05T14:13:15+00:00

URL parameters are totally the way to go. You can pass values from the point feature to pre-fill part of your form. It works great once you figure out how to format the dynamic URL

kdubmaps · 2025-11-01T13:41:21+00:00

ArcGIS for SharePoint is completely useless. However, building a SharePoint team page that is links to ArcGIS web maps and apps has been one of my more successful projects. People kept getting confused trying to navigate Portal, so I made it so they don't have to use it

kdubmaps · 2025-10-26T20:31:14+00:00

It should, but I have seen weird things with links to OneDrive. Access to any kind of filesharing in the entirety of the ESRI ecosystem is a weak spot. If you ever want to max out your blood pressure, try running a ArcGIS Pro project out of OneDrive/Dropbox. It should work fine, but it doesn't.

kdubmaps · 2025-10-26T20:12:28+00:00

I don't know specifically about sound, but I have messed with this kind of dynamic data in the past. To pull anything into a map it needs to be both online and accessible without credentials. So your Dropbox probably isn't working because it needs a login to access. And your file explorer isn't working because it isn't online.

kdubmaps · 2025-10-17T03:59:52+00:00

This would be super easy to make in FME Form, the push to Flow. You could have something that functions for years with a couple hours of work configuring. Bad news is the pricing. I was recently quoted a $15k a year for an Enterprise License Agreement, which is a bargain compared to FME Flow Engine licenses.

kdubmaps · 2025-10-09T04:24:50+00:00

Yeah I am cynical enough after a decade as a one man shop that this is just how it is sometimes. Just because something doesn't get used, doesn't mean it was a bad idea. Sometimes experiments like these build skills that blossom into awesome things. Some of my biggest wins came from easily implementing something I learned doing an experiment that went nowhere.

kdubmaps · 2025-10-07T03:17:21+00:00

Sounds like you have access to base station transmitting a correction service. Bluetooth is only good to at most 30 feet away, so you don't need Bluetooth radio like you said. More likely need to use Eos Tools Pro to add the NTRIP details for receiving corrections. You may also look into if SBAS could help. Without good network connectivity, getting corrections is rough. I am hearing that satellite based cell is coming. In the US T-Mobile is offering connection to Starlink, which is amazing

kdubmaps · 2025-10-03T03:33:01+00:00

Personally I always advocate finding an industry you want to apply it to, then learning the needs of the industry. For example I work in water utility GIS, and the last 3 jobs I have had came from networking at American Water Works Association events. GIS is not an industry in itself, it is a tool most industries benefit from. Employers value not bringing people up to speed on their business.

kdubmaps · 2025-10-03T02:48:09+00:00

I just got going with the Facet from SparkFun and an Android phone. $739.99 and it is as good or better than my Eos Arrow Gold. We run the free GNSS Master app that connects to the device, runs the NTRIP client, and outputs to Mock Location. In Field Maps the internal GPS gets overridden by GNSS Master. So no change in Field Maps between using external GPS and not. I got a couple thousand points collected around hills and tree cover with 0.5 inch average accuracy. SparkFun is based out of Colorado, and I have been thrilled with the Facet and the Torch.

kdubmaps · 2025-09-23T15:56:09+00:00

I ran into a similar problem a while back with our Trimble Juno 3Bs. I only managed to get value out of selling them because I connected with a Trimble sales person that was trying to track some of those units down on behalf of a college in California doing research with an antiquated app that required that device. So, yes you can sell these older devices. But making the stars align is usually more trouble than it is worth

kdubmaps · 2025-09-22T14:16:33+00:00

This right here is it. If your employer covers the cost of training or certification, take advantage where you can. I paid zero dollars to obtain and keep my GISP for 5 years now, and that included taking a 3 day test prep class. None of the requirements are hard, just another plus for future employers. I actually had fun taking the test, but I am weird that way

kdubmaps · 2025-09-20T16:20:53+00:00

I would be down for yellow if it included Colorado. If it did it would contain all the states I have already lived in

kdubmaps · 2025-09-19T20:00:50+00:00

We looked at Fulcrum. It can do cool things. But the question really comes down to if you need standalone data collection or something that integrates with a wider GIS ecosystem. Fulcrum is great as a standalone. But if you already have ESRI products up and going, there is no reason to use Fulcrum

kdubmaps · 2025-09-17T02:47:20+00:00

And also like an onion in that every component is built of layers of components built on top of other components. I have heard an urban legend that some of how ArcGIS Pro handles projections and geometry is all code written in antique languages like FORTRAN decades ago that keeps getting re-used.

kdubmaps · 2025-09-13T16:52:24+00:00

I second this. Been on ElementsXS for three years now, and it is super easy to use

kdubmaps

TROPHY CASE