The Internet and you….

People would be amazed if they knew how little of the programs they use, they actually use. This actually applies to most things we do. I have been driving my car for 3 years now, and last week while listening to my iPhone through the stereo my phone began ringing. I hit the answer button while moving it to my head, and the voice on the other end began talking….through my speakers. Three years, and I had no clue I could do it. now I have to go find the owner’s manual and figure out how to do it again, but that is another story.

The point is, we often times do not do things we need to do because we think we can not. Scratch that, we often times do not do things we need to do because we never ask if we can. When looking at field data collection software for example there are two main 3rd part programs in use in the U.S. today, SurvCE & Survey Pro (Survey Pro is not really a true 3rd party program any more but for the sake of this post we shall assume it is).

It is not uncommon to find someone who has used one of these at a previous job now working a different job using the other. Many times I will get the call asking how to do something, which is good because we are here to answer those questions. What is not good is when they spend hours trying to figure it out and then spend even more time trying to get around it. What is even worse is they go to the boss and tell him the program they are using is broken or lacking in capability and if they will buy him this program it will save them money because he can now get his job done in a timely fashion.

As one who loves to try new things I really dislike that approach. As a business owner, I like it even less. I have already spent good money for this application or device and now I have to replace it because it does not work?

So, what do we do? How do we find these things? You would be amazed at the information on the internet today. Not only from manufacturers, or resellers, but from users as well. The quantity and the quality of the information available today is both overwhelming and impressive. I really encourage people to make themselves available to it. Follow me on Twitter for example and then follow some of the people I follow…there is a good reason I am following them! Look for blogs like this one, and get creative with where you look for information, you will be surprised with what you find.

I am going to hide a nugget in this blog post to prove that point. If I wanted to calculate a curve in the field using Carlson SurvCE, there are two methods for doing it. Many users may have no clue you can do it, so they call back to the office and ask for someone to calculate it another way instead of them doing it on the spot themselves. This short video shows you two methods for doing this in SurvCE, both easy, and both effective.

Licensing Schmicensing…

We have all installed software at some point in our lives right?  I would be willing to bet there is a very small number of people who have actually read through the End User License Agreement (EULA) when installing.  All EULAs have the same clause, “Break this contract and we will take all of your assets (present, past and future), we have rights to your first born, your name, etc…  Only install ONCE!”

They can’t do that, can they?  No, they can not take your first born child, and in fact they may not even want your children, but they do want THEIR money.  Software companies are really pushing hard to prevent software piracy, and with U.S. losses in 2008 estimated by the B.S.A. to be around $9.1 billion dollars it is easy to see why.

The typical EULA states that you are granted use of a license of software and are permitted installations for only as many computers as you have licenses, anything outside of that is a breach of the EULA/contract and can put you in a pretty tight spot.

There are some exceptions to this though with programs like Carlson, Autodesk and others offering “laptop” or “home use” installations.  Do not mistake this to mean that you are permitted two installations per license.  The EULAs are very specific on how this second computer install is supposed to work.  From the Autodesk EULA for example:

You may Install and Access, solely within Your Territory, one (1) additional copy of the Software on a second Computer provided that:

(i) such second Computer is owned or leased by You (and not by another person, such as Your employee, if any);

(ii) such second Computer is either a portable Computer or a nonserver Computer away from Your usual work location;

(iii) the additional copy of Software is Accessed solely for the purpose of enabling You (or Your employee, if any) to perform work while away from Your usual work location;

(iv) the original and additional copy of the Software are used only by the same person, and only one (1) of the Software copies is Accessed at any one time; and

(v) both copies of the Software are Installed and Accessed exclusively with the copy protection device (if any) supplied with the Software.

Software companies understand that we are not all confined to an office or a cube 40 hours a week.  Often times we need to work remotely on a computer that is not our normal computer, and they have accommodated for that without forking over more dough.  But should you step over that line and install your single license on a few of your other computers the penalties can be far worse than the cost to be legal to begin with.

As of December 1999, the U.S. copyright law provides for the recovery of damages for civil copyright infringement. Recovery includes payment of up to $150,000 per infringed work, destruction of illegal copies, and payment of attorney fees and costs. The law also allows the government to prosecute copyright infringers and provides for criminal penalties, including fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to five years.

I will never get caught though, right?  The EULA often times states the right of the software company to audit your licensing.  I have heard various stories over the years about disgruntled employees leaving or being let go reporting companies for piracy.  Like cheating the house in Vegas, software piracy is just not worth it.

Read your EULAs to find out about benefits like the “second computer” clauses, and make sure you have the right number of licenses for every one using the programs.  There are many methods to determine compliancy, and I will be happy to assist in any way I can.

Carlson SurvCE 2.5 finally released.

The newest version of Carlson Software’s popular data collection software – Carlson SurvCE 2.5 – has just been released. Two years in production, with incremental updates along the way, Carlson SurvCE 2.5 is a free upgrade for Carlson customers already using SurvCE 2.0 and newer.

Featuring hundreds of additions and improvements, Carlson SurvCE 2.5 works with more brands of Total Stations and GPS receivers than any other data collection software on the market. New instrument drivers added for Total Stations and GPS receivers include: CST Berger, Foif, GeoMax, Hemisphere Crescent and Eclipse, Javad receivers, Leica Flexline, NavCom 2110, Ashtech ProMark 500 and ProFlex 500, Sokkia GRX1 and Stonex S9 GNSS and Orion.

SurvCE 2.5 is available now in more than a dozen languages, with several more about to be released. These include: English, Spanish, French, French (Canadian), Portuguese, Czech, Dutch, simplified Chinese, Korean, Greek, Italian, Polish, Hungarian and more.

SurvCE 2.5 has six new and expanded Roading Routines: Template Grade Tables, Grade Staking, Multiple Centerline Routine, Dynamic Template Ditches, the display and staking of pipes in cross section, and one-step Screen Selection of Sections from Polylines.  All alignment-based staking can now be conducted at interval or real-time, at any location, with cut/fill and station/offset reporting.

Those upgrading to SurvCE 2.5 or moving over to this versatile and popular data collection software will find new stakeout commands for building extensions following alignments observed in the field and for building pad relocation by frontage and side-line offsets. The Advanced Occupation command allows for both resection and backsight averaging using least squares analysis on all types of backsight observation (angle only to towers, angle/distance to prisms, etc.). In addition, SurvCE 2.5 has point symbols and supports .dwg files directly.

Quick Links Part 1

In a CDS recent newsletter we highlighted the Draw by Example command found in Carlson Software. What if we wanted to make that command more readily accessible, say as a short cut? This command and others can be added to the right-click short cut menu inside of AutoCAD. In short you simply edit the CUI file, adding the commands you want to the short cut menus. To see how it is done, watch the video below.

How far behind can you afford to get?

For years I have heard or otherwise experienced the old “let’s make do with what we have” answer to the “should we upgrade” question. I think many people don’t upgrade because they don’t want to rock the boat, or they follow the old adage, “If it aint broke, don’t fix it”. I can agree with that to an extent. It is hard to justify the down time often associated with technology upgrades when what you have is working and you are being productive.

But how productive are you really, and what are you missing out on? In the past being a little behind may not have been such a big deal. But today more companies are bidding for work, prices are more competitive, and more companies are utilizing the advances in technology it is more important than ever to make sure you are taking advantage of what is out there.

Now this does not mean I think you should rush out and buy the latest copies of software and hardware on the market and everything will be perfect, but I do think you should take more time really looking at what is out there and seeing how it can make a difference for your company. Be more open minded as you look too, and don’t just look at the dollar signs out the door, look at the potential productivity increases and money savings down the road.

With things such as HiDef Scanners, 3d modeling software, Machine Control, high precision GPS, Real Time GPS Networks, and mobile computing solutions more readily available than ever before this is the time to start moving ahead of some of your competition and catching up to others.

Look at GPS for example. In the past you purchased a base receiver and a rover and let’s say you spent $45,000. That system gives you the ability to have a single crew running GPS with, depending on the radio configuration you purchased, an effective range of say 1-5 miles. The crew shows up on the site and sets up the base (tri-pod, batteries, cables, etc…) and then fires up the rover and is off surveying within 10-15 minutes of showing up on the site.

Now, let’s look at a Network configuration. In every region there are different networks available and all come with different options and availability so explore the options as some of these networks are relaxing their requirements and allowing rovers of different brands to work in their network. Now instead of a base rover system we can purchase either a single rover or two rovers and reduce the price either substantially or significantly. Along with the decrease of the price we have now moved our effective range from a few miles to double digits. This all depends on the cell coverage and other factors but we can realistically be surveying 15-20 miles from the nearest base. Plus now when I show up to a site I hop out of the truck and put the receiver on the rover pole and fire up my collector and I am surveying in less than a minute.

This is a great example of advantages of moving from an old technology to new technology and increasing productivity and reducing overall costs. With more brands on the market than ever before those new technology costs may even be less than you think. Check out receivers from Altus, Leica, Sokkia, Topcon, and Trimble and compare specs and prices and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what is available.