From my desk to yours…
mumble | delegate | ponder
What a year. I am humbled by the support for this little newsletter. Subscriptions allow me to travel to conferences with tiny budgets for engaging speakers, explore new software, and extend trips to meet many of you while on the road.
I want to use this year-end post to share a few things that I have listened to, watched, or purchased that have provided exceptional value in how I think and move forward with the work that I am grateful to pursue. I will keep it to 3 things with the more techy stuff shared over on Open-Source Solutions for Geospatial Analysis or SQL and the City in the next few days.
Grateful to have recently celebrated my 60th birthday I need to let you in on a little secret. The Huberman Lab podcast. I could have picked any episode to share with you but I know what a hard year it has been for many of us. I turn to this podcast on long runs and always return motivated, smarter, and ready to make those fine tuned adjustments to improve the quality of my life on both a professional and personal level.
As an author myself, sharing a good read is vital. Open Space* is an important book on so many levels. Somewhere along the way we humans became extricated from our environments. We are objects over here, and the environment is something happening over there.
I think we have forgotten our place in the cosmos and among nature. Did you know that only about 1/10th of your cells are human? The rest is microbial and dust from the universe.
But bless our little cotton socks humans like to think in boxes. Each box represents its own myriad of red tape and bureaucracy not to mention how intertwined all of these goals actually are in the real world.
A good story is more powerful than looking at complex problems piece by piece. What is more sustainable in our world than caring for a newborn baby and providing for maternal health? Clean water, safe housing, agriculture (how about those pesticides?), quality education, good jobs — all of the SDG boxes exist in this picture below.
My transition from the world of medicine and the pharmaceutical industry toward geospatial/location intelligence began with visualizing the earth. Zooming into communities and explaining to medical research hospitals how their patient outcomes were impacted by the built infrastructure.
Google Earth Studio has resources for non-GIS professionals to be curious. You request access and within 24 hours — boom, you are in.
The power of showing landcover change and the impact of cobalt mining from satellite imagery cannot be overstated.
A bonus selection for my running colleagues. Every 500 miles of running I toss a pair of sneakers in the trash.
Yes there have been efforts to recycle but I am skeptical if the practice is effective.
This year I switched to a new sneaker:
“Sharing the same values was a strong motivation to start this project. We agreed that we need a new way of thinking and acting in relation to our environment and Outdoor activities,” explains Kilian Jornet. “We want to be very honest on how we produce the equipment and on the role the company wants to play for the society and the environment. This means transparency and working to avoid overconsumption by building products that are durable. To have a minor impact on the environment, we need to work with various materials and explore different designs. It’s a long and difficult path but that’s what motivates me and the team to start this project.”
I hope the twinkly lights of the season bring you joy, peace, and remembrance.
Please also care for yourself with mercy and gratitude.
