Fall does not arrive with leaves. It arrives with latency, pop-up reminders, and professors who post the syllabus three days late and still expect you to be early. There is no chill in the air. Only dread. The kind that smells like old textbooks and tastes like stale coffee. I return to battle. Again. Another graduate program. This time in
Tag: GIS
Look, I’m not here to sell you anything. I’m not sponsored. I don’t get a commission. In fact, if Esri ever sent me a free sticker, I’d frame it out of shock. But here’s the deal: we use Esri. Not because it’s cheap. Not because it’s perfect. But because when you’re running GIS for a public utility, local government, or
When I created this earthquake risk map for Assignment 4 of my GIS course, I wasn’t just pushing polygons—I was illustrating potential disaster zones. Using data from heavy hitters like USGS, Esri, and NOAA, I mapped out where the United States literally stands on shaky ground. What’s On the Map? This map, titled “Earthquake Risks in the United States,” visualizes
When the world shut down in 2020, most people were panic-buying toilet paper. I, on the other hand, was busy making maps. Not just any maps—quantitative thematic maps that could tell a story more compelling than any infographic ever could. Armed with ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, and a nerdy love for cartographic detail, I created a visual narrative of California’s
Let me take you back to the Before Times—specifically December 2019. I was at a Cityworks user conference, not expecting much beyond some coffee, vendor booths, and maybe a few maps. But then it hit me: We could be doing way more with GIS. Like, actually use it to improve operations—not just stare at dashboards. That moment changed everything. I
So, you’ve decided to dive into GIS. Welcome to the realm of spatial joins, polygons that don’t behave, and shapefiles that somehow still exist in 2025. It’s exciting, overwhelming, and occasionally soul-crushing. But don’t worry—there’s a beacon in the geospatial fog, and his name is Matt Forrest. This guy? He’s the real deal. GIS pro, Field CTO at CARTO, and
Alright, buckle up. We’re about to talk about the one programming language that network engineers swear by, cybersecurity folks can’t live without, and GIS admins eventually come crawling to when they realize ArcMap isn’t going to automate itself. Yes, we’re talking about Python—the duct tape of the digital world, but way more elegant and less sticky. “But Why Python Tho?”
(Yes, this 2023 YouTube video is still smarter than half your LinkedIn feed in 2025) By now you’ve probably seen every GIS tutorial this side of TikTok. Explainers in Comic Sans, videos with clickbait titles like “10 Secrets ArcGIS Pros Don’t Want You to Know.” Nonsense. Empty calories. Data visualized, yes. Brain cells? Not so much. Then there’s this gem
Sysadmin. Network guy. GIS nerd. Database whisperer. Zoom host. Coffee runner. You ever look at a problem and think, “Whose job is this?”And then realize — oh right — it’s yours. Welcome to the chaotic, caffeine-fueled world of being a solo IT department. I don’t just wear many hats. I’m running a whole hat store. My official job title? Unclear.
I left the Philippines in 2013. Since then, I’ve lived in the U.S., discovered the joy of functioning public libraries, and gotten spoiled by tap water you can actually drink. But even after more than a decade away, my screen still lights up with poverty maps of the Philippines—every shade of red feels personal. It’s as if the map knows