#OSGEO IRC Log - 2008-11-04

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08:22:23 sigq: osgeofeed: Ticket #308 ( task created ): Upload updated OSGeo logo to all web sites and service interfaces <http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/308>
09:28:08 darkblue_B: ajturner: just reading feeds from votereport.us/reports.json
09:28:12 darkblue_B: so far so good
09:28:21 ajturner: cool
09:28:28 ajturner: btw - if possible use the static feeds
09:28:32 ajturner: or cached I mean ( every min )
09:28:34 darkblue_B: url?
09:28:40 ajturner: votereport.us/feeds/1.json
09:28:44 ajturner: 1-20.json pages
09:28:48 darkblue_B: ok
09:28:53 ajturner: and feeds/state/CA/1.json ( 1-3 pages )
09:28:58 darkblue_B: right
09:49:06 CIA-53: osgeo: arnulf * r1260 /marketing/logo/OSGeo_logo_guide.pdf: Added OSGeo logo guide. Needs to be updated!
09:49:06 sigq: osgeofeed: Changeset [1260]: Added OSGeo logo guide. Needs to be updated! <http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/changeset/1260>
10:23:58 darkblue_B: ajturner: first 500 Cant Connect just now
10:24:23 darkblue_B: feeds/state/CA/1.json
10:25:25 darkblue_B: timeout
10:32:57 ajturner: got it now darkblue_B -but not sure why it's so slow
10:33:32 darkblue_B: intermittant - just got more data
10:33:47 darkblue_B: hth
10:51:32 ajturner: darkblue_B: constant fight on this scaling
10:52:04 darkblue_B: ajturner: yeah.. hope the field reports are an aid
10:52:30 ajturner: btw - are there any opensource tools for dealing with File GeoDatabases from ESRI?
10:52:49 darkblue_B: me ? naw.. not an ESRI expert
10:54:50 ajturner: hoping someone like FrankW has the 411
10:55:58 darkblue_B: FrankW is on vacation for 9 days
10:56:24 darkblue_B: try #gdal though
10:57:47 wildintellect: ajturner, I haven't seen any - and I think GDAL and geoserver can only do Personal Geodatabase extraction and ArcSDE at the moment
10:58:22 ajturner: wildintellect: that's what I figured so far - but have been getting feedback that ESRI is definitely pushing on GDB
10:58:35 ajturner: ergo Sean's thoughts here: http://blog.fortiusone.com/2008/11/03/file-format-support-in-geocommons-do-geodatabases-make-sense/
10:58:36 sigq: Title: File Format Support in GeoCommons - Do Geodatabases Make Sense? | Off the Map - Official Blog of FortiusOne ( at blog.fortiusone.com )
11:02:08 wildintellect: ajturner, it's possible that the Safe data interoperability tool can do it, which is free for some pay for others
11:02:41 ajturner: wildintellect: best would be part of OGR/GDAL
11:03:05 wildintellect: oh I agree
11:19:35 ajturner: wonder how we have to poke FrankW to make that happen
11:20:49 wildintellect: he usually does what his clients need, so if any of them are moving to fgdb he might get around to it
11:21:10 wildintellect: I'm sure if someone did some reverse engineering on the format that it would help
11:27:26 pramsey: am doing some, wildintellect, but it's slow going.
11:32:33 ajturner: pramsey: so it's true there isn't any public spec or documentation on the format itself?
11:33:04 pramsey: true
11:33:08 pramsey: fgdb is still closed
11:33:15 pramsey: esri has repeated promised an *api*
11:33:24 pramsey: but never a public specification
11:33:29 ajturner: that is *so cool*
11:34:02 ajturner: yeah, talked with an esri guy last week at GeoInt - and it was all blank stares and "but I don't get it, ArcGIS Server does that, why would you need to have a spec?"
11:34:10 pramsey: that was hillarious : )
11:34:29 pramsey: "what, you just buy ArcMap, what's the problem?"
11:34:35 pramsey: life in the bubble
11:34:46 ajturner: I'm hopeful that they're just really well trained
11:34:50 ajturner: and not that completely clueless
11:35:21 pramsey: they have the hammers, and the world is their nail : )
11:35:40 ajturner: no, not so much using the tool - the world is their Hardware Store
11:35:54 ajturner: they just want you to buy it - and look, we have Handiwork classes!
11:54:35 ominiverde_away: @seen seven
11:54:35 sigq: ominiverde_away: seven was last seen in #osgeo 21 hours, 58 minutes, and 56 seconds ago: <seven> sorry...
20:17:14 pramsey_: Congratulations America.
20:18:31 : * mleslie is relieved.
20:22:52 gsherman: and now we shall see if the words ring true or hollow
20:26:53 pramsey_: Stevens going to win?
20:27:11 gsherman: no idea, polls just closed 30 min ago
20:29:23 : * tbowden is also relieved. I don't think it matters so much if the words are true or hollow ( at least for us way down here ). The prospect of a continuation of the current situation was way too frightening to contemplate for many in the rest of the world.
20:31:32 gsherman: change for the sake of change?
20:36:55 pramsey_: competence for the sake of competence : )
20:37:08 gsherman: again, time will tell
20:37:37 tbowden: from this far away any change looks good. Of course, the view from on the ground is always very different but as someone who considers myself to be traditionally sympathetic to the US ( and a traditional conservative ( that is AU liberal- right wing; don't ask! ) voter, I've become quite scared of the impact the US is having on the rest of the world, and that's without taking into consideration the recent financial fubar.
20:39:45 mleslie: Even if competence remains elusive, the promise of a kinder, gentler incompetence is still quite encouraging.
20:39:51 pramsey_: speaking as a socialist, I'm ecstatic : )
20:40:43 tbowden: pramsey_: but Obama looks to be a *very* long way from being a socialist, at least from this far away. I suspect we may not have the same idea as to what a socialist is?
20:41:00 pramsey_: I'm teasing, tbowden.
20:41:32 pramsey_: America is a long way from Eugene Debs these days.
20:41:35 tbowden: but to put socialist and obama in the same sentence seems to me to be an alternate reality
20:41:46 tbowden: even for a joke...
20:41:52 pramsey_: Major republican campaign theme, dude.
20:41:56 pramsey_: Hence the joke.
20:41:58 tbowden: oh, ok
20:42:11 tbowden: that explains the alt reality!
20:42:24 pramsey_: Palin: "Now is not the time to start experimenting with socialism."
20:42:32 tbowden: ( pushing the joke further? )
20:46:25 pramsey_: Can
20:46:32 pramsey_: Can't get a rise out of an american.
20:46:47 pramsey_: Anyone want to talk about religion? How bout that pope?
20:46:52 tbowden: lol!
20:46:56 pramsey_: everyone is so circumspect
20:47:22 pramsey_: in 2004, I was in St. Louis on business on election day. everyone was so circumspect.
20:47:40 : * tbowden now knows ( enough ) about Eugene Debs.
20:47:55 pramsey_: Google is a miracle, isn't it?
20:48:18 tbowden: though I'm a long way from understanding the US voting system ( too complicated for google? ;- )
20:48:47 pramsey_: First they showed the lines in Ohio, from a helicopter... it went like 500 yards!
20:48:53 pramsey_: But then they showed a sample ballot.
20:48:58 mleslie: An aussie that can't understand the US system? That sounds absurd.
20:49:09 pramsey_: First page, federal, state, local races, maybe 15-20?
20:49:28 pramsey_: Then second page, ballot initiatives, 5-6 each with 2-3 paragraphs of explanation.
20:49:43 pramsey_: It's not really the same order of magnitude.
20:49:57 pramsey_: I whipped through voting in under 5 minutes this time around.
20:50:16 pramsey_: No line, hey, howya doin', here's my id, great, ballot, check the ONE name, in box, bye!
20:50:37 gsherman: pramsey_, voting in american elections eh?
20:50:39 pramsey_: Having to do every level of government and a box full of initiatives in one go... no wonder.
20:51:04 bitner: /me voted at lunchtime took about 5 minutes
20:52:00 pramsey_: well it's easy when you're voting a straight socialist ticket, bitner. : )
20:52:11 bitner: well, yeah, duh
20:52:15 pramsey_: just spit on the ballot and stuff it into the box : )
20:52:28 : * bitner did vote for a green
20:54:06 pramsey_: Minnesota has gone downhill since you got rid of your wrestler.
20:54:17 tbowden: Nope, I don't understand. Never had to wait in line for more than 5 minutes. Able to vote at any polling station in the state. Never more than 5 mins from a polling station in the metro area at least. Electoral commission maintains up to date rolls that are rarely in dispute. Only *two* ballot papers ( house of reps & senate ) and maybe a referendum question or two. Local, federal and state are all separate events ( thank god! ).
20:54:38 bitner: we've got a major freakshow ( not my district ) making it back into the house
20:54:40 bitner: bachman
20:55:11 pramsey_: the one calling for investigations of unamerican members of congress?
20:55:22 bitner: that would be the one
20:55:27 pramsey_: sweet!
20:55:40 bitner: mn is a state of much juxtaposition
20:56:02 pramsey_: Here's a thought experiment. Try to figure out what the Italian ( or Canadian, or German ) equivalent of "un-American" is.
20:56:38 pramsey_: There really isn't one. It's actually a meaningless word. It's like calling someone an "asshole".
20:56:51 : * tbowden doesn't understand this un-American thing. Some pollies here in AU tried the un-Australian tag and ended up being roundly condemned for the concept.
20:56:56 mleslie: Quebecois?
20:57:02 bitner: we're definitely special
20:57:17 mleslie: Doesn't have the same connotation though.
20:57:38 bitner: don't the aussies and canooks still have official ties to the queen of some sort?
20:57:53 pramsey_: She's our head of state.
20:57:57 tbowden: Yup. Keeps things simple
20:57:59 pramsey_: Sort of.
20:58:03 pramsey_: Hrm.
20:59:01 pramsey_: OK, wikipedia has the "answer", as always: The monarch appoints the Governor General on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister, after which the Governor General maintains direct contact with the monarch
20:59:05 bitner: alrighty, long day -- night fellas, I am proud to leave you with a slightly less anti-world america
20:59:20 pramsey_: And the governor general is the head of state. I don't know what that makes the queen.
20:59:26 pramsey_: Sleep well, bitner.
20:59:29 mleslie: Figurehead.
20:59:37 tbowden: keeps the power away from the pollies and in the hands of someone who is much too refined to get her hands dirty using it.
21:00:20 tbowden: the queen is head of state, the governor general is her rep and takes her place in her absence ( which is almost always ).
21:00:36 pramsey_: sold, to tbowden.
21:03:54 tbowden: off to pick the kids up from school. Most interesting discussion thank gents.
21:05:06 pramsey_: ciao
21:05:19 pramsey_: God Bless Australia.