Access 97 is still a popular choice for databases (especially in archaeology!) but the default ArcGIS 9.2 geodatabase is in Access 2000 format and cannot be opened in earlier versions of Microsoft Access. It is possible to create a geodatabase that can be used by both programmes. Create a blank database in Microsoft Access 97 and save it to the location where you want your geodatabase to be stored.

I finally got around to a bit of a site re-design last night- it’s a fairly straightforward modification of the original light theme, and sorts out a few issues I’d been having with custom php and text widgets. Actually, I should confess that I’m a complete loser when it comes to the design part of web-design, so I got my web-designer hubby to help with it. Thanks Barry! Those of you that tend to visit only through your rss reader won’t, of course, be able to see any difference, so if you fancy popping around for a look at the new design, come on in, I’ll put the kettle on.

Archaeology magazine (courtesy of my new colleague Joseph) has an article on archaeological evidence for the first ever historically recorded zombie attack, in Hierakonpolis in Eygpt, 3000BC. The article explains that: n 1892, a British dig at Hierakonpolis unearthed a nondescript tomb containing a partially decomposed body, whose brain had been infected with the virus (Solanum) that turns people into zombies. In addition, thousands of scratch marks adorned every surface of the tomb, as if the corpse had tried to claw its way out!

For all you linux n00bs out there just getting into compiling and installing programmes, this is really handy when your compilation fails and you’ve just watched reams of text scroll past with no chance to read what it says. Basically it records the I/O of a command line session into a log file for later perusal. Before entering your command in the terminal, type: script yourscript.log At the end of the session, press:

Well, it doesn’t seem like a whole month has passed since FOSS4G. but it’s nearly halloween so I guess it must have done. Here in Lancaster things have been mighty hectic, with office moves and related changes (I now know a lot more about VOIP phone systems than I ever wanted to). It’s only this last week where I feel like I’m actually back in the saddle and doing real work again.

Danny DeVries has a great post about the tribes of FOSS4G. So great in fact, that I shamelessly copied his title. His post looks at FOSS4G from the point of view of an interested outsider, and this helps him give a “1000ft” perspective on the interactions between the various “tribes” that are difficult to see at ground level (when you’re heavily involved in doing your particular thing). His closing paragraph is worth reading all by itself as a “why” for open source software and interoperability.

In which I finally learn how to add a dynamic blogroll to my blog… Those people who read this blog via the website rather than by rss (hi there!) will no doubt be pleased to know that I’ve finally added a blogroll to my site, listing some of the many other blogs that I like. I held back from creating a static blogroll using the built in wordpress tool, because the sites that I like pretty much change daily, and it seemed like there should be a way of reflecting this using google reader’s public pages option.

There’s an article on the All Points Blog that goes into more detail about the potential support for PostgreSQL/PosGIS in ESRI products. The caveats to this are listed below, and I have to ask- what’s the point guys? It will only be in Enterprise ArcSDE- so you’ll need ArcGIS Server Enterprise Basic as a bare minimum, and of the windows products it will only work on Server 2000/2003. So- if you have loads of money to spend on your GIS you’ll be able to use PostGIS- but not if you don’t have thousands to spend.

So- the last day of FOSS4G for 2007- roll on 2008 in Cape Town (must start saving). Definitely a resounding success! For me today, the theme was GeoFOSS as a) a business and b) as a community. For the first case, there were several presentations by geospatial consultancies on doing GeoFOSS as a business- what makes for best practices and so on. This seems to suggest a certain maturity in the discipline-an idea that was picked up by Adena Schutzberg of Directions Magazine in her review of the conference at the close.