Christine L. Grahl

When you look at an annual market study like POB’s Salary & Benefits Study, it’s easy to take the numbers at face value.

December is a time for reflection. It’s an opportunity to review the accomplishments and challenges of the past year, and to look toward the coming year with optimism and purpose.

Increasing the efficiency of transportation corridor surveys requires the right tools applied in the right way.

In Metro City, the fictional setting for the 2009 computer-animated film Astro Boy, robots handled everything, from cooking and cleaning to construction and child care. The humans, presumably, had better things to do.

On August 22nd, the LAS Working Group (LWG) of the ASPRS Lidar Division released a draft proposal for version 1.4 of the LAS specification for review. Based on the LWG operating protocol, the revised draft was first circulated among the core group through email, with revisions made until everyone within the LWG was in agreement.

In September, Gen. William L. Shelton, commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, along with Anthony J. Russo, director of the National Coordination Office, Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) at NOAA, and others testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces regarding the potential impact of the proposed LightSquared broadband network on GPS related to national security.

In 2008, author David Hughes uncovered The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made. Near the top of the list was John Carter of Mars, based on a 1917 novel written by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story features an American Civil War veteran who is mysteriously transported to Mars (also known as Barsoom), where he is drawn into an epic battle between the planet’s inhabitants.

The outlook seemed to be brightening. Despite the continued economic turbulence, signs of recovery appeared to be on the horizon. Surely things are finally getting better! I thought. As I began talking to people, I was initially disappointed.

As Hurricane Irene churned toward the Eastern seaboard in late August, preparations were already under way in state emergency operation centers along the East Coast.