Discussion

GPS Makes Everyone a Surveyor
That's the claim made by John Boney, a retired engineer and city councilman in Butler Alabama, who surveyed a cemetery in Butler after the city was quoted a price of $30000 by a licensed Land Surveyor. Boney, who is not a professional surveyor received a letter of reprimand from the Alabama State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and land Surveyors. He made the statement that::

"PVC pipe made everyone a plumber," he said. (…)

The Perception of the Quality of Land Surveying Services
I was just completing my dental appointment when the conversation turned to technology. I was amazed that the tools and technology in dentistry are somewhat similar to those used in surveying, although at a much smaller scale. (…)

Land Surveying as a Profession
I remember well when I first received my license to practice Land Surveying. It was 1968, and I , at age 28 was the youngest Land Surveyor in St. Joseph County, Indiana. (…)

A Good Time to Call a Land Surveyor
KLSA News is reporting that Habitat or Humanity has apparently built a house on the wrong lot in Shreveport, LA. According to the City Attorney, lots 40 and 41 were sold to Habitat for Humanity and someone else owned Lot 42. However, according to claims by the owner of Lot 42, Habitat for Humanity built on two properties instead of two lots, which caused the mix-up. The complete story can be found on the KLSA website
I don't quite follow the logic, but I suspect she is indicating that perhaps Lots 40 and 41 were under common, leading Habitat for Humanity to believe that the combined lots were all in Lot 40, then assuming that the adjacent lot was Lot 41. (…)

GPS Vehicle Tracking for Record Purposes
When you use a motor vehicle for business, the IRS requires you to keep a written record of personal and business use. In the past, I have kept daily records showing business use, but not always showing detailed information regarding destination and any intermediate stops. (…)

Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting and Crafts Festival.
You might miss the notice of the 37th Annual Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting and Crafts Festival.as survey related unless you read the entire article appearing in the Lincoln Courier (IL) . But in addition to railsplitting and the bluegrass music, a presentation of some of the history of Lincoln as a Land Surveyor is included. (…)

A Fellow Surveyor Needs Your Help
Michael Porter is a Land Surveyor. He works for the City of Lawton, Oklahoma. (…)

Planetarium Program Useful to Land Surveyors
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. (…)

The Challenge of Surveying in Ohio
Surveying in Ohio is unlike surveying in any other State of the Union. As John E. (…)

U.S. Border Fence Protrudes Into Mexico
Boundary disputes aren't limited to disagreements between neighbors living in residential subdivisions. Apparently, part of the border fence built by the United States in 2000 was built along an existing farm fence and was discovered to be over the border by 1 to 6 feet. The fence is in New Mexico and the problem is explained as follows:

James Johnson, whose onion farm is in the disputed area, said he thinks his forefathers may have started the confusion in the 19th century by placing a barbed-wire fence south of the border. (…)

USGS Pilot Project Makes High-Quality Landsat Data Available Through Web
Copied from the news release.
As of June 4, 2007, the USGS will be releasing selected Landsat 7 image data of the United States through the Web (glovis.usgs.gov or earthexplorer.usgs.gov). (…)

Employee Non-Compete Contracts
Many employers use a non-compete contract to restrict or limit employees and former employees from working for a competitor, or from divulging trade secrets or other proprietary data. (…)

Website Revisions and Additions
If you haven't been around Land Surveyors Notebook for awhile you may not be aware of some of the new things on the website. If you have been a regular visitor you have probably already noticed some of the changes which hopefully make this a more valuable tool for your use..
Many additional references have been added to the links page, including some links to patents of some interesting survey related inventions. (…)

GPS Vulnerability - A Surveyor's Concern
For some time now, the US Military has been expressing some concern about the vulnerability of the GPS constellation. GPS was initially developed for military purposes, and today remains its most important use. (…)

Back to Work
After completion of the ALTA survey on the Apartment complex and returning from Indiana , then going on a 14 day Transatlantic Cruise aboard the Celebrity Millennium (which I still must document), attending to some personal business relating to the death of my mother while on the Transatlantic cruise, and finally participating in the 2007 Surveyors Cruise on the Carnival Glory, it is time to get back to the business of updating this website. (…)

Survey Fees - Hourly Rate or Value
In a discussion with one of my peers the other day, we came upon the topic of cut rate surveyors. We agreed that some will always do the work for less. (…)

Relative Positional Accuracy - A Discussion
The other day I wrote about Relative Positional Accuracy (RPA) discussions at the Transit Seminars "Procrastinators Special", where a rather bizarre methodology was presented. (…)

Procrastination and Continuing Education
If you have been a reader of this site, you probably know some of my views on continuing education. Indiana's policy was very restrictive. (…)

Sign-up and Get Email Notification of Site Updates
Sign up for email notiication of updates to Land Surveyors Notebook and never miss another post. It's easy and it will not produce any spam in your mailbox. (…)

New Look for the Website
I have been playing around with other templates on my test blog and found this theme which is more fitting for the "Land Surveyors Notebook". (…)