"The Arc of My GIS Career"

The Arc of GIS career has brought me to some exciting places. Back in college, Grass was my gateway. I partook of it happily in the warm (Unix) Sun and was hooked. Alas, I eventually got distracted by the flashy look of Idrisi. This didn’t last too long as I soon ran off with a Surfer. Eventually fate brought me the opportunity to hop aboard a big ship called ESRI for a good ten years. I have to say it was generally pretty smooth sailing with loads of amenities, however, I still ran across more than a few of those darn stowaway bugs on board.

Older and wiser, I’m now expanding my horizons some more. The recession has brought me Manifold reasons for discovering new territory, not the least of which is cost of (ahem) living. And since the internet is really the best place to be anymore (forget fixed coordinates, I can be everywhere!), I’m taking a Quantum leap, an OpenJUMP into becoming an online MapServer, GeoServer and MapBender. Got any favorite 'places' you recommend I visit? I'd love to hear about them! Hope to see you along my route – I’ll be delivering lots of MapInfo on the Interwebs...

Bon Voyage and Amein!
Kelly Sparks, GIS Guru and Certified Map Geek

“Heaven, Hell, and GIS Demos”

There once was a super GIS salesman that travelled the world with a great 'it can do everything' GIS demo (but the real stuff was vaporware). He sold it to lonely GISers and made lots of money. One day while dashing through an airport on his way to clinch another mega deal he dropped dead of a heart attack. At the gates of Heaven he was judged. He had lived a borderline life and was given the option of Heaven or Hell. He could look into the doors of each and choose. As he opened the door to Heaven, wonderful harp music played, be saw people floating on clouds and all was bright and white. Next he opened the doors to Hell and saw people drinking beer and dancing to rock and roil music. Everyone was partying. It was just like his first year at college. When he met with his Maker again, he said: 'Heaven is great and wonderful, but the other is more my style'. 'Think carefully', he was told, but the other was his wish. As the doors of Hell opened for him, the intense heat hit him and he was pulled in. He stood before the Devil and saw pain and sorrow everywhere. He shouted at the Devil: 'Where is the party and beer?' 'The Devil laughed: 'That was the demo, this is the real thing'.
-As seen at www.GISNuts.com and www.mainstreetgis.com