Fortunately, for many years, the water and wastewater industry did not experience too many breaches on the digital front. But a few years back, the Stuxnet virus showed up and our digital innocence was shattered. When this happened, I was somewhat surprised because of the lack of previous attacks, but I never really heard how it…
Category: Public Works
The F-word, contractors, and women
What I've come to realize over the course of my career is that there are some male contractors who will accuse engineers/inspectors who are women of using the F-word in an effort to discredit them or get them into trouble. And I think the recent reaction to the use of this word by a U.S. diplomat…
The Game is On – FHWA is Seeking Your Input on Smart Cars
The USDOT and several other transportation agencies around the nation have been paying close attention to the emergence of the smart car. Over the last few years, they have funded research in this technology and studied how to integrate it into the existing system. And now, they are reaching out in several ways to share…
Winter Weather Safety – Resources for Braving the Storm of 2014
Central and eastern sections of the U.S. have experienced snowfall and in some areas record cold over the last day or so. In a few locations, the temperatures have been so low that it has become dangerous to even be outside. However many government workers who provide essential services like police, fire, and snow removal still…
Happy New Year 2014
Happy New Year to all of our readers. We hope you had a great 2013 and await an even better 2014. First we want to thank all of you for stopping by throughout the year to check out the site. We are also very appreciative for those who offer their thoughts and ideas and for…
Merry Christmas – Happy Holidays in 3D
Over the last few months, I've been working a lot more in Unity3D to develop my skills in creating 3D environments. While the purpose of doing so is to create 3D visualizations of designs or 3D learning aids, today I've used the program to set up a 3D Christmas/Holiday Card for everyone. So whatever your…
Employers, Schools, Social Media, and You – An Update
It has been about a year and a half since this blog first discussed (link here) how some employers and public schools were forcing employees and students to allow unrestricted access to their private social media accounts. We also pointed out the risks associated with those actions. At the time, there had not yet been a…
Using GIS to Assist in Recent Illinois Tornado – Related Emergency Response
Recently in Illinois several communities unfortunately experienced extensive tornado damage. And over the last week I've seen several GIS-related efforts set up to offer information that could be helpful to those working to recover and rebuild. Below are a few quick summaries of these efforts: OpenStreetMap According to their website, OpenStreetMap is "a free, editable map of the…
Mobile App for ADA Requirements in the Right of Way
Over the last week, we worked on setting up a basic mobile app to display the requirements from the 1991 ADA Law that relate to facilities in the right of way. For the content, we used the requirements and some of the graphics from Chapter 6 of the ADA Toolkit for Local Government. When it was…
3D ADA Toolkit for Local Government in Unity 3D
A couple years ago I put together an unofficial 3D version of the ADA Toolkit for Local Government. It was based in an immersive environment anyone could visit and experience as an avatar or digital representation of themselves. Normally the ADA Toolkit is only available as an online, primarily text-based document. So I figured the ability…