Construction inspectors are responsible for making sure a project is built correctly and meets plans and specifications. Over my 25 years of inspecting, I have had jobs where this is easy because the contractor and his crews are committed to meeting all of their obligations. However, I have occasionally had a worker on a jobsite…
Category: Government in the Metaverse
We Are Public Works Network
Visit We Are Public WorksLast month, the American Public Works Association (APWA) launched an online network for those of us working in the public works industry. Since beginning late in February, WEAREPUBLICWORKS.ORG has grown to over a hundred members. And even though APWA launched the site, you don’t have to be a member of APWA…
Your Social Media Journey Begins Here
So how many times have you tried to convince your friends and colleagues that they should be on Twitter or LinkedIn? Are you the person making the rounds in your office showing everyone Second Life and trying to convince them of the benefits of virtual worlds. I know I am one of those people shouting…
Lose the Politician
While I don’t normally like to touch too strongly on politics in any article or blog I write, I saw something today on the GovLoop site (posted by Andrew Krzmarzick) that is so potentially life-changing, you need to see it. This very short video presents a thought-provoking and powerful message about how government is and…
Who’s Leading the Charge to Web 2.0?
Today I read a recently released white paper, Government 2.0: Building Communities with Web 2.0 and Social Networking. Overall, I thought the paper did a good job summarizing much of the ongoing, online discussions and research on this topic. However, I sensed an underlying attitude that concerned me as a government employee. This unspoken, read-between-the-lines…
Civil Engineering in the Virtual World
For the past two years, I have been exploring Second Life as a potential tool for civil engineers, public works professionals, and local government. Now, thanks to Silverwing Benoir, a friend of mine from Second Life, I will have the opportunity to present what I have discovered, try to offer some insight into future applications,…
Visualizing the ADA in 3-D
Tired of trying to get a curb ramp built that meets the ADA? Instead of photos of your kids are you carrying around pictures of a compliant curb ramp to show the contractor? Join the club – ever since the curb ramp section of the ADA was finalized, sidewalk design and construction have never been…
The Personal Rapid Transit Revolution
As the world searches for an answer to reducing the use of fossil fuels, cities are starting to look to the personal rapid transit (PRT) system as a potential solution. Lately, MISTER, a Polish-based company, has gained increasing notice for their innovative PRT system. MISTER is an acronym for Metropolitan Individual System of Transportation on…
Conferences, World of Warcraft, and Professional Achievement
Lately my mind has been preoccupied with thoughts of conferences (going to GreenBuild 2008), public works and engineering, World of Warcraft (WoW), family, and social media applications. With all that jumbled up inside there, it was inevitable that these subjects would start bumping into each other. One of these collisions involved this idea: “Blizzard wants…
Bumping into the DOT
As a civil engineer, the federal agencies I visit online are usually the DOT, EPA, and FHWA with an occasional click over to the USGS. Upon my entry into Second Life, I searched for these agencies within that virtual world and found nothing. The only federal agencies that had made it into the virtual realm…