All posts by James R. Nicolau IV
The Many Facets (and Faces) of Surveying
Surveyors have traditionally done a variety of essential and interesting work—and they continue to do so. We’ve asked surveyors from various work disciplines what inspires them. To get an idea of where we are going, it’s important to stop and take a look at where we have been. This rings especially true for those of...
Mentoring Teaches Questioning: What’s So Great About That?
xyHt has featured many articles about mentors and mentoring before now! But— Why do we need mentors? It is definitely not because some third party randomly mandates it. Mentors and mentoring are a practical need for companies and for employees. Most often when I hear the topic of mentoring come up, it’s from employers who...
Easy 3D
A surveyor tests software solutions from an innovative Canadian firm for managing, processing, navigating in, and visualizing large 3D data sets. When do you have enough software? Is it when you’ve finally reached the ability to perform a software program’s base use that drove you to purchase it in the first place? Or is it...
Professional Service or Commodity?
A Surveyor’s Thoughts on the QBS Process Editor’s Note: This month’s installment of Field Notes was submitted by James Nicolau IV, PLS, on the merits of using the quality-based selection (QBS) process to select surveyors for construction-staking services beyond where it is required under the Brooks Act (Public Law 95-582). When the QBS process is...
Protecting Your Eyesight – at Your Desk
I use special glasses to reduce eye strain in my screen-centric workplace. The geospatial industry has evolved greatly over the last decade, and with the current evolution of our systems this trend shows no sign of slowing down. We are seeing more and more of what has traditionally been considered fieldwork being brought into the...
The Surprising HP Z2
A CAD designer reviews the HP Z2 workstation Editor’s note: Unless you’re looking in specific computer trade publications, you might not run across reviews of new PCs or workstations. The halcyon days of PC development in past decades and the battles for “bigger and more powerful” have given way to steady (but relentless) improvements. So,...
