02.10.2014 05:19 · Notes · travels, meetings
After a long break, I’m going to the QGIS developer meeting again. This time in Germany.
I’m in Boryspil now, almost two hours before boarding… Wi-Fi is not very good here: one 15-minute session, then you have to reconnect.
26.09.2014 08:28 · Notes · osgeo
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), besides developing free GIS software, pays great attention to educational and scientific work. In particular, together with the ICA and ISPRS, OSGeo supports the formation of laboratories and research centers around the world (the so-called ICA-OSGeo Laboratory Network). The goal of this initiative is to promote and encourage educational, research, and other activities related to free GIS and open geodata.
The first (and so far the only) scientific and educational OSGeo laboratory in Ukraine and the former USSR was created on the basis of the Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology Department of the Faculty of Geography of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
09.08.2014 13:04 · Notes · osgeo
From now on, I am an OSGeo Charter Member and an OSGeo Advocate. The first and, so far, the only one in Ukraine.
05.08.2014 10:02 · Notes · visa, travels
Last week I was in Kyiv applying for a German visa. It turned out that the process is not as complex and scary as it is said over the internet.
First, I checked the information published on the German embassy website and found out that:
What is important is that in the case of an application via the visa center, documents can be submitted either in person or with the help of an authorized representative, while applying via the embassy is only possible in person. I chose the second option — applying through the visa center. Firstly, I have to travel (to Kyiv or another city) anyway. Secondly, the number of available time slots at the embassy is much lower than at the visa center. Thirdly, application processing will be faster in the visa center. And lastly, when applying through the visa center, you can order delivery of the passport by courier service. So I checked train and bus schedules and chose the visa center in Kyiv: it should be more or less comfortable timing, and there is no need to stay overnight.
Next, determine the purpose of the trip and download a list of required documents, a visa application form, and, in the case of applying through the visa center, a consent for personal data processing. Then collect all the required certificates and other documents. Luckily, a notarized translation to German is not needed to be more precise:
Translation of Ukrainian documents is optional and not subject to notarization.
At least, this is the response I received to my question.
The sample of the visa application form is in German, but it can be filled out in Ukrainian, except for the name, surname, and place of birth. Although I filled it out in German. If you have to contact your bank to get a statement of account, make sure that the stamp is present not only on the certificate but also in the statement itself.
That’s pretty much all the preparation.
I arrived in Kyiv and spent some time finding the building of the visa center: formally, the visa center is located at Frunze street, 60. But to find it, one needs to turn to Zavodska street first and walk about 100 meters. Actually, under number 60, there is not only the German visa center but about 10 of them. There are Canada, Poland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, all Scandinavian countries… Neat houses surrounded by a common fence.
The visa center’s website contains information about security measures: electronic devices (including mobile phones) are not allowed, bags and backpacks are not allowed, and so on. In fact, it’s not all that bad. You can bring your phone, but the security guard will ask you to turn it off. As for backpacks and bags, there are some luggage storage facilities. But I don’t know if it’s like that in all centers.
The documents were accepted quickly: I had an appointment for 9 a. m., but was already free at that time. This is despite the fact that I was 19th in line.
Actually, why am I talking about it. I just received a package with my passport, and there is a new visa in it.
28.03.2014 18:35 · Notes · qgis, meetings
The 11th QGIS developers meeting, held in Vienna (Austria), has finished. This time, the hackfest took place under the umbrella of a larger developer meeting — OSGeo Code Sprint 2014.
The activity of the participants was at a traditionally high level, and there is no sense or possibility to describe everything. Among the most notable things from an end-user prospective are:
There were also discussions about:
Hackfest:
07.04.2011 09:41 · Notes ·
I was tidying up and found some long-forgotten cards in my drawer
Now I don’t even know what to do with them. It’s a shame to throw them away, but there’s no time to play and no one to play with.
27.03.2011 16:34 · Notes · books
A few days ago, at the suggestion of a friend, I read “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach. It’s a wonderful thing, I’m still under the impression.
Highly recommended if you haven’t read it yet.
08.02.2011 11:54 · Notes · qgis
The weather is not good today. It’s thawing. Everything is melting, it’s damp and foggy. Normally, you would not want to do anything in weather like this, except maybe lie around with a book or watch a film. But no…
Since I did not get any feedback on the new tool in GdalTools for several days, I did some tests myself. After finally making sure that it works, I submitted the patch and wrote to Giuseppe. Since r15135 there is another tool available in GdalTools — gdaltindex.
I’ve slightly improved the symbology import/export patch (I wrote about it a few days ago) and submitted it too. Waiting for feedback now.
Then I started to improve the usability of the import/export dialogue of PostGIS and WMS connections. I decided not to bother with a patch (the changes are not that big) and cheekily committed everything directly to trunk.
I finally went into a frenzy and fixed a long-standing and nasty bug in RasterCalc, extended the set of available comparison operators and started updating the documentation.
P.S.: and I’m still in no mood anyway.
11.01.2011 17:16 · Notes · qgis, gource
Nathan has published an interesting video showing 8 years of QGIS development.
The video was created using Gource, detailed explanations of the process can be found on Nathan’s blog. Each cluster of files represents a directory, and branches show the directory hierarchy of the source code.
31.12.2010 11:58 · Notes · recap
With this post I’ll try to summarise the past year.
Last year I changed jobs twice. I left the area where I had been working for more than 6 years - the land registry. Then I worked for some time in a software company developing a trading platform for the Forex market. I had to learn the Ada language as the trading server was developed in this language. Despite the new field and new tools, I did quite well, although there were some difficulties. But I wanted something else…
This area is best described by the title of E. M. Remarque’s famous novel “All Quiet on the Western Front”. There is nothing to add.
The OSM (OpenStreetMap) project has gained worldwide recognition. In addition, Microsoft has given the project access to raster data from its Bing Maps service. Unfortunately, I am not yet involved in the OSM community, but I am very pleased with the development of the project.
ESRI has opened the Geodatabase API, Shapefile is still alive.
GIS are pawing their way into the mobile device market.
QGIS is evolving: improved new symbology, raster calculator, QGIS MapServer, many new useful plugins. I have developed and released a few new plugins and continue to improve existing ones. QGIS User Guide was translated into Russian.
This year I was unable to attend the QGIS developer meetings in Pisa and Wrocław. It’s a shame and a pity.
Party of Regions won majorities on most regional and city councils as well as most of the mayoralties.
It’s been 10 years since school and 5 years since university.
On the desktop, I switched from Slackware to Debian testing. There is a dual-boot to Windows XP, as I need it sometimes, e.g. to build QGIS and/or test some bugs (the power of the computer does not allow comfortable use of virtual machines).
Basically, this is the year I gave up dancing. Most likely, for good.
Happy New Year!