pantone801

Bridge to Brisbane

// August 6th, 2007 // No Comments » // Map Stuff, Work

Get a Map or Get lost team Gavin and Ed, the two runners of the teamPaul and Marjanne Rob at the top of the Gateway BridgeMarjanne Sky Lettering

Yesterday a contingent from Hema Maps entered the Bridge to Brisbane fun run in a team called “Get a Map or Get Lost”. The 12km route started at the Gateway Bridge toll plaza, traversed the Brisbane River across the Gateway Bridge and followed the river to New Farm Park. There was also a 4.5km option that started at Breakfast Creek and also finished at New Farm Park, this was the option that Al, Shelly & the Little Mappers did. The team member with the best time was Gavin who finished the 12km run in a little over an hour.

I recorded the 12km route as a KML file on my Nokia N95 using Nokia Sports Tracker which can be downloaded here and viewed in Google Earth.

Heading Home

// March 28th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Travel, Work

I am heading back to NZ next week for 10 days. I have a few days of business in Auckland, and then am heading to Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North with Greg and Doug for Easter on Mums yacht for four days. I am then heading back to Auckland and flying to Wellington for a few days of meetings down there.

Finally Home

// March 25th, 2007 // No Comments » // Travel, Work

I spent Friday at a forum in Sydney called the BRW digital media leaders forum. The content was fantastic, and I have come away with a better understanding of where the web is going, and how to make some money from it.

The trip was a bit of a disaster because on the Brisbane to Sydney leg, the plane ascended to it’s cruising altitude very quickly and I ruptured an ear drum from the sudden pressure change, it was one of the most painful experiences I can remember. I then arranged for the hotel to call a doctor to have a look at it, and she advised me not to fly home that night and to see an ENT specialist.

So I canceled my flight and Gavin booked a train that leaves Sydney at 7am, and arrives in Brisbane at 9.30pm (with a coach transfer at a small town called Casino). The Swiss hotel where I was staying was booked out so I found an internet cafe and booked a night at the Mannor House Boutique Hotel on Flinders St.

I then spent the evening at St Vincents hospital and saw a ENT Specialist who said it was OK for me to fly because the drum is ruptured the pressure would not affect it. So I then got Mark to book me a morning flight and canceled the train.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel, and the manager suggested I sit and have a coffee while I wait for the cab to take me to the airport, as I was about to start my coffee the Taxi arrived. The Taxi driver then forgot to start the meter because he got all excited because I looked like his long lost Italian friend. At the airport I bought another coffee, and headed to the waiting lounge to enjoy it. As I was about to take a sip they announced that we were boarding. Then this cow from Qantas confiscated my coffee because I was not allowed it on the flight, she also tried to take my box of Krispy Kremes off me too, but I was not having any of that! Also a guy behind me with a baby managed to get his coffee past her because she was too busy going ga-ga at the child.

The plane then taxi’d down the runway and then after a long wait headed back to the terminal because of technical problems with their navigation unit (I could have loaned them my GPS). After an hour wait we eventually took off, and I still had not had a coffee.

I arrived home an hour later than planned, Mark picked me up and we went directly to Brown Dog for our usual Saturday morning breakfast, and one of the best coffees I have ever had, made by Christian, who got a Kirspy Kreme in return.

New Job

// March 19th, 2007 // No Comments » // Work

It is all official… as of the 1st of April I have a new job with the compnay I currently work for. The new role is a multifunction role where I will be the Production Manager for Hema NZ, and also the Project Manager for New Media, and I will also be responsible for the person who is being recruited to replace me in my current role.

Tomorrow is my birthday too- and this is a great birthday present.

Presscheck in Adelaide

// March 14th, 2007 // No Comments » // Map Stuff, Travel, Work

Last week I was in Adelaide press-checking a series of 4 touring maps. I arrived in Adelaide on a red-eye flight Thursday AM, and as per usual the printer were running behind schedule so I had to spend the morning entertaining myself. The after lunch the press-checking began, and it went on to the week hours of next day. To make things worse, I was really run down and tired after Mardi Gras, and had an infection in my left eye. The press check went really well and the maps looked great.

After that i cabbed back to my upgraded suite hotel room for a few hours kip, woke up, the infection had hopped over to the other eye. I checked out, and headed back to the printers in the morning for the final presscheck. And a coffee with the print rep.

The afternoon was spent touring the beautiful Clare Valley McLaren Vale wineries with my friend and fellow cartographer Pam. Which is always fun. But I wish I had more energy. I lost my sunglasses at the airport and then headed home on an evening flight with a screaming child behind me. Thank god for noise-cancelling headphones and iPods.

I was really stuffed when I got in, and headed to be and did not wake until 1pm the next day. I am not as young as I used to be… but then when I was younger I would always sleep in till 1pm on a Saturday.

What am I working on?

// February 25th, 2007 // No Comments » // Map Stuff, Work

This map is a map that is going to be displayed in a convent run by the Canossian nuns. I have used the National Geographic Executive World map as a base. National Geographic created the pacific centred version of this map exclusively for Hema Maps, and it looks great. The brief form my client was to create a large map (3 metres wide) with a time-line showing the places the Canossian Nuns have been to. The heading is done with a font called Bible Script which is quite appropriate. I think they plan to put some LED’s behind the map highlighting the countries the nuns have been to, I personally think that will look a bit tacky, but the customer is always right eh?

Progress… Bars

// February 21st, 2007 // No Comments » // Map Stuff, Work

It is 9.30pm and I am at work which is really sad I know. But at this late hour I am sitting here watching progress bars in several applications and I am wondering many hours, or days for that matter of my life is wasted watching proress bars? There is not much I can do while waiting for my Mac… maybe I should be filing my nails, or even better, just going to a real bar!

Sarah – our receptionist at work

// December 14th, 2006 // No Comments » // Work

Sarah won an electric guitar and some clothing including the dress she is wearing in a competition fromt he clothing label Emily the Strange . This is probably the first time Sarah has ever worn a dress too.

Blisteringly fast

// November 10th, 2006 // No Comments » // Design, Work

I have made the leap and bought a new computer. My new Power Mac and is probably the fastest commercially available computer on the market. I have also fully pimped it out with two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors, 2Gb of memory (I will get more down the track, and the memory can expand her up to 16Gb), two 500Gb hard drives, and to finish it all off I have also bought a 24″ Dell wide screen monitor to view all the great graphics I plan to produce.
The whole bundle was pretty pricey, in fact i could have bought a motorbike, or another car. It takes two weeks to build and deliver- so stay tuned, I will post some unboxing pics soon.

Pictures, With Map and Pushpin Included

// November 4th, 2006 // No Comments » // Map Stuff, Work

Further to my post on geotagging. The New York Times has a great story explaining what geotagging is, how it works, and where it is heading.

The company I work for Hema Maps has an image database with thousands of images. Searching these images is very dogmatic, because the search is only keyword based. So if I want to search for an image of a place in NZ I need to know what the keywords for that image are. A far simpler way would be to select a geographical area, like Tongiriro National Park, and view all images that were taken within that area.