Thoughts - Since My Last Post
Bennet Island - Landsat Image N-54-75_20000 - A Partial View (1:44,260)
Bennet Island - EVS Precision Map - A Partial View (1:44,260)
So, Mr Minton, what have you been up to since July 30th, the date of your last post? Let me tell you...
1. I'm back at school. My day job is teaching middle school students social studies, science (physics) and religion. Teaching is always a challenge, however this year the challenge is two-fold. Not only am I teaching curriculum, but I'm doing 90% of the lessons using computers. This summer I installed 28 Dell GX620s in my class room with Windows XP Pro as my operating system. I have installed a number of open-source programs, the primary one being Open Office on each computer. The challenge is to teach my curriculum entirely within a digital world. After two weeks of school all of us are starting to get into a solid routine. My goal is to teach the students how to work with word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, mapping, and various drawing programs to enhance their school work and to send them on into high school with an extensive set of software skills that will enable them to be both successful and competitive students at the next and future levels.
2. Yes, I am still working on mapping projects. All of them are in various stages of near completion. I am creating isobaths within the Caspian Sea. I am extracting them from Russian topographic maps from 1:100,000 scale for the -5 to -10 meter isobaths and 1:500,000 scale topos for all other isobaths. These isobaths are considerably different in appearance and, hopefully, considerably more accurate than the ones available at the Caspian Environment Programme. I have completed all isobaths from -5 m to -150 m.
3. I continue working on Tuamotu Island maps. Also I am working on some far northern Arctic islands. Bennett Island is one of these Arctic islands.
4. This summer, I completed an EVS precision mapping project of the Falkland Islands. The entire island group was meticulously mapped for a client I've worked with in the past and I even made a few bucks for my work ($250 for 10 hours of mapping work). On my "for profit" projects, I only use Landsat ETM+ as my base imagery as the copyright restrictions enable one to use these excellent orthorectified image mosaics to generate "for profit" mapping projects.
5. I still dream of working as an island map maker full time and of earning a fair wage while doing what I love to do. However, my reality is also quite enjoyable, teaching, using quality technology, is a blast! I am invigorated as a teacher! And between 10 PM to 2 or 3 AM, I am a map maker. Isn't life swell?
Enjoy!
