I've been playing with a crossword generator. There are a number of them out there. Let's try this one. Ideally I'd like to put one out every Sunday. Let's see how I do.
Let me know of themes you'd like to see in the future.
(if you're reading this on your reader of choice you'll likely have to click over to the blog to see the puzzle...sorry!)
If the puzzle doesn't load in the browser, click on the link below.
Thanks for puzzling and I'll see you in the field!
Readers of this blog may be aware of the ongoing, although recently ignored, series I have called the Shovelbums Guide. Search it on this page just to the right of here if you want to see some of the posts. Well, I’ve thought for a while that those posts would be a great resource for CRM Archaeologists, especially those new ones entering the field every year.
UPDATE: Bill will have this book for free on Amazon from July 26 to July 30. Pick you your copy and put your review in the comments!
CRM Archaeologist, author, founder of Succinct Research, and podcaster on the CRM Archaeology Podcast, Bill White has a new book out! This is another great resource that every archaeologist should own. Even non-archaeologists will get some great information from this eBook.
The book is available on Amazon for about $5 as an eBook. Save it to your smartphone or tablet so you can access it whenever you need to.
With a great layout and organization this book helps you recognize where you can improve your existing resume or can help you create one from scratch. Bill talks about, not only what makes a resume attractive to employers, but, also how to design your resume so it actually has a higher profile when job search software is used. There are certain buzz words and other words that you can put in your CV to ensure that the screening software your future employer is using puts your CV in the "call" list.
Even if you've been a CRM archaeologist for many years you can still benefit from the information in this book. Download it and keep it as a reference for when you need your next job.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field!
A small business is defined by the amount of “receipts” a year the business does and by the number of employees the business has. By these definitions all but the largest engineering firms in archaeology are small businesses. That being said, I’m truly running a small business. Not just one that’s small on paper.
Here are some of the lessons I learned last week and some of the things I had to deal with. I’m not complaining or making excuses, in case anyone thought I was. What I’m doing is just documenting my process so others can learn from my mistakes and successes.
Car Rentals
Unless you own a truck already then you’re likely going to have to rent one. That’s not as bad as it sounds since the cost of the rental is included in the contract so the client is paying for it. From what I’ve seen companies charge the client similar daily rates for vehicles they own and that are paid for. My philosophy is that if the client is paying for it, whether it's owned or rented, why should I worry about upkeep and maintenance? Might as well just let the rental company pay for the upkeep and I can take out a new vehicle every time. That ensures that your client is not going to be paying for your crew to stand around while you try to fix your 20 yo truck that you got a "really good deal" on. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Four Wheel Drive
When getting a rental, make sure you are very specific as to what kind of vehicle you need. If it’s a pedestrian survey off a busy highway you might only need a sedan or an SUV. Save your money and get a fuel efficient car. Most of the time in the West we need 4WD vehicles because we’re always driving on back country gravel roads. I always turn on the 4WD when I’m on a gravel road because I feel the vehicle is more responsive and more stable with it turned on. Some people don’t do that because they feel that if they get stuck while the 4WD is on then they have nothing to turn on to get out of it. I feel that if you’re a good driver you won’t get stuck. Well, you're less likely to get stuck. I never have and I’ve driven thousands of miles of sketchy roads.
On my last project I asked for a 4WD vehicle just in case we needed it. The company asked if I’d take an SUV. I told them, sure, as long as it has 4WD. When I got there they had a Jeep Patriot waiting for me. It was a 2014 with 1,400 miles on it. Pretty nice. Well, the vehicle was not a 4WD. I was in a hurry, though, and I didn’t check. It almost got us in trouble on a couple of steep hills. Luckily, I know how to drive and we made it up. It was touch and go for a while, though.
Reports
Yeah. Reports. As a “small business” I’m responsible for the report template, the report content, the background information, the research design, NRHP recommendations, the management summary, the recommendations, the references cited, the graphics, and the printing. So, everything. I don’t mind, for sure, I just have to plan for that. If I get a couple projects in a row it can quickly get out of hand and I won’t have time to finish. Time management is very important.
GIS
So far I haven’t had to use a GIS consultant. I have access to at least 40 companies and people that just do GIS. Since I’ve only had small projects, though, I’ve tried to do the GIS myself. It’s only bit me in the ass once. The Lit Search project I did had way more GIS than I’d planned. Most of the time for that project was taken up creating maps. It didn’t help that I couldn’t get a map saved in QGIS and when I had to change one little thing I had to go back and recreate the entire map. It would have helped if I’d not made the mistakes in the first place, obviously, and if I’d learned how to save a completed map within the program.
An Army of One
What I’m getting at here is that I’m currently doing everything myself. In a way it’s very liberating. I have no bosses and no one to be responsible to except myself. That’s an amazing feeling. It’s also incredible terrifying. I have no one to help me and no one to bounce ideas off of. Well, that’s not true. Linked In has proven very helpful for asking questions.
I’m not above asking questions either. I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t know everything, despite what my over confident demeanor might suggest. In the words of the douche bag real estate agent in the movie American Beauty, “In order to be successful, one must project an image of success”. True story. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions from people that are willing to answer them.
Tell me about your small business mistakes and successes. We can all learn from each other.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!
The first field project for DIGTECH was only a couple days and my only crew member was my wife. It was fun and efficient, nonetheless. This was also the first time using the Samsung Galaxy Camera in the field.
The Project
This was a unique project. It’s an annual project and I’ve actually done it before. In fact, I was the last one to do it. It was the last project I did for my last company before they laid me off. Actually, they laid me off within 15 minutes of getting back to the office. I hadn't even unpacked my field gear yet. Luckily for them I’m supper efficient and had already completed the letter report. So, what is the project?
Figure: Arborglyph on one of the sites. Common amongst Basque sheepherders.
There are three historic sites located on a mine’s property in northern Nevada. The sites are under the jurisdiction of one of the Forest Service offices here in Nevada. The Forest Service doesn’t want the sites damaged by mining activity or any other activity. So, to keep the mine honest they require an archaeologist to go out and take pictures of the sites on an annual basis.
When I did the project last year I was given a three-ring binder with the previous year’s letter report, the site records for the three sites, a map showing where the spots to take pictures were, and the photos from the year before. We walked around to each point, which were also on the GPS, matched up the photo orientation with the previous year’s photo, and took a picture. We also recorded the current GPS point coordinates.
It was somewhat frustrating trying to carry around that binder and having to flip through it and find the photos. It didn’t help that my company didn’t put the photos in order either. I’m not sure what order they decided to put them in but the photos, which were numbered P-1 through P-38, were in some sort of random order. That’s what happens when you have the office secretary do your photo pages. She doesn’t know what went on out there and just put them in in the order they are listed on the photo log. That was an on going problem at that company and no one seemed to care. I’d better not get off on that tangent or we’ll be here forever.
The Project - Digitally
This time out I had the information from last year and the year before, since they never bothered to check my personal computer where I had it stored. I created maps with the photo points in QGIS and then PDF’d them. I also had the previous photos as PDFs and the site records as PDFs.
As we approached each point on the GPS I would look at the photo on my iPad (caution: corporation being mentioned) and get the orientation just right. While I was doing that my wife was starting a new record in the photolog using the Momento App on the Samsung Galaxy Camera. She had already updated the form to reflect her initials and the site number so those were already entered. She didn’t have to do the date either because I had that set to automatically enter when you open a new record. After taking the picture right in the app she entered the description, orientation, coordinates, and photo number. It was easy to type on the back of the camera with her thumbs and she said that utilizing the words that the Android operating system automatically generates greatly increased her efficiency.
As we took photos I used iAnnotate on the iPad to check off the photos that we took both on the photo pages from last year and on the maps of the photo points for this year. It was a windy day but we didn’t have a single scrap of paper blow away, get dirty, or get ripped up in a binder. Awesome. Welcome to archaeology 2.0!
Importing Information
There are a number of ways to get the database out of the Momento App on the camera. You can export the database as a CSV file and then access that using a file manager app and by plugging the camera into the computer. You can also transfer that file to a micro SD card in the camera, pull out the card, and insert it into your computer. If you have an internet connection you can send the file and the photos to a Dropbox account, email, Evernote, an FTP server, or a variety of other services.
Figure: The merge form for photo pages. The page is a table and the lines are only there so you can see that. For the final form the lines are removed. Using a table ensures that everything is uniform and in its place.
One problem with the Momento export is that it doesn’t export the photographs with the file. It just exports the file name it assigned to the photograph. The file name Momento asigns has nothing to do with the camera and includes the date and time. I had to get creative with my text import into the photopage word document I had set up.
I was using MS Word for the photopage. My template is essentially a table with a placeholder for the picture and cells down the right side with merge fields for the mail merge from the CSV file. In order to be able to insert the right picture I insert the photo name from the Momento database as well. I delete that after putting in the photo.
Since I use placeholders for the photos all I have to do is drag the photo in from the directory. The photos are already sized and have the appropriate outline. That’s the benefit of using a placeholder.
Lessons Learned
It looks like this method is going to work and saves a lot of time in the office. One advantage to merging from a CSV file is you can sort by any column first, then import. For example, you can sort by site number and move only one site at a time.
The camera is going to work out too. Probably any camera running the Android operating system will work. I chose the Samsung Galaxy Camera because of the large, easy to type on, screen on the back. Also, it takes amazing pictures.
Well, that’s it. If you use mail merge or have tried other Android cameras, let me know in the comments. If you think I’m an overstuffed jackass, let me know that too.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!
OK. I posted back in #181 about a Google Hangout book club idea that I had. I asked for interested people to comment on the blog. Well, so far I’ve received a total of...ZERO comments! Help me figure out why.
I can think of a few reasons. First, and the most obvious, is that no one is interested in the book. That’s very much a possibility. I found the book at the Grand Teton National Park Visitor Center and didn’t know much about it. After reading the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads it seemed like a good book to read. Since I’m constantly busy and don’t often make time to read I thought I’d set a schedule and include others in on the discussion. Oh, and the forty or fifty blogs I read every week take up my time. Damn blogs! I’m into chapter three and so far it’s pretty good. I like reading history from an alternate perspective and not much is written about the European conquest from the Native American point of view.
Another reason for the lack of participation could be that people are just too busy during the summer. A number of my readers are students and students might not want to continue reading after a year of intense reading for school. On the other hand, a number of my readers are CRM archaeologists. They like to read all the time. But, they might not have access to a solid internet connection while in the field and feel they can’t participate.
I guess another reason could be that people don’t want to buy the book. It’s a few bucks and students are always strapped for cash. CRM archaeologists are notoriously broke as well. When you include shipping, assuming you’re still reading on paper, then the cost just increases.
A final reason could be that NO ONE READS THIS BLOG! Maybe all my page hits are just bots. Or Google. Well, that’s not it.
Seriously though, I’d like to do a Google Hangout book club. So, if anyone wants to suggest a book to keep up with during the summer suggest one in the comments! As scientists and professionals we need to keep the reading up and read stuff constantly! Even if you are reading constantly right now it helps to discuss the book with others.
So, once again, suggest a book! Or, if you still want to do this one I can push back the Hangout date a few weeks. I originally scheduled the hangout for July 2nd but that can be moved. Let me know!
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!
(Note: I've received a weird and bewildering amount of criticism for this post regarding the mention of "Apple" and other corporate logos. If you've ever read a tech blog then you know you have to mention the hardware and software used or it's meaningless. This post was simply intended to mention that backups and cloud servers can save your ass in the short term. I'm not endorsing any particular system or method. Do what works for you. On to the post.)
Thursday morning I opened up my computer, like I do most days, and sat down to see who the NSA was listening too, what craziness the Texas School Board was trying to promote, and how many faith-based laws conservatives were trying to force on everyone. So, pretty much a normal day in America.
I’d stepped away from my computer to get some coffee and when I came back it was on the login screen. Must have restarted. So, I logged in and the desktop came back normally. I decided to run Disk Utility and “repair permissions” just to make sure everything was still running smoothly. The program said it couldn’t complete the task because there was an error and that I’d have to reboot into a special disk utility program to continue.
Before I go on, I have a 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 750GB hard drive, and 16GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 memory.
So, I used the boot screen disk utility and it gave me the same error. Said there was a problem and that I’d have to boot from a backup or a disk. Shit. I tried to just restart the computer so I could do some online research. Wouldn’t get past the spinning wheel of death prior to the login screen without shutting itself down. Damn.
I took the computer to the Apple store since they will usually help you with your Apple products even if you didn’t buy them there or if they are out of the warranty period. They ran a diagnostic on it and the hard drive failed it. That was pretty much it. Hard drive failure. It cost me $200 to have it replaced.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Why am I not more pissed?
First, hard drives, or anything, really, don’t usually fail on Apple computers. I have a 2007 13 inch MacBook that runs 24 hours a day in my library. It is there solely to wirelessly connect to our 2TB external hard drive and give us access to the movies, TV shows, and other media we have stored on there. It allows those things to be displayed on our Apple TV. So, I’m not mad at Apple. Things fail.
Second, I had everything backed up and/or stored in the cloud.
Time Machine Backup
My primary line of defense goes back to that 2TB external hard drive. I use an Apple App called Time Machine (comes with every computer) to wirelessly back up my data every hour or so. It doesn’t do a full backup every hour, just the changes from the last one. That allows me to go back in time on a single folder and restore files I deleted months ago. I have just under 500GB of data on my Mac and the backup takes up about 350 GB thanks to compression.
The Cloud and All It’s Silver Linings
Also, ALL of my business data, templates, reports, references, accounting, logos, whatever, is stored on an upgraded, 100GB, DropBox account. When I get a little more money I’ll probably switch to Carbonite. Haven’t done that yet, though.
I also have a massive amount of data and notes stored in Evernote. I use Evrnote for keeping track of business contacts, business development, and a variety of other things. I also have a few things stored in Google Drive but I don’t use it much since it’s only 5GB.
Well, I picked up the laptop yesterday morning at 10am when the store opened. I was home by 1015 and I started the restore process. Since I restored it from the time machine backup over my wifi network it took about nine hours. If I’d done it while plugged in to the drive it would have taken half that time. However, I needed the day to catch up on blog reading and to do a little research so I let it run.
When the restore finished I looked through my computer. Everything was exactly how I’d left it. Even the desktop wallpaper was restored. I had almost 7,000 songs in my iTunes App and they all came back too. Although, the songs came back because I subscribe to iTunes Match from Apple. All of my songs, including ones they don’t sell, are stored on Apple servers for me to access from any device anywhere in the world.
I also had over 12,000 pictures from the past 10+ years in my Aperture App. They all came back too.
For years I’ve been telling people to back up their stuff because you never know. Well, since I use Apple products this is the first time I’ve ever had to use a backup. I’ll admit that I was somewhat skeptical and didn’t really know how much was going to come back. I thought that maybe just the user data and some app data would come back but that I’d have to do all the software upgrades from the past two years again or that I’d have to re-download software that I’ve installed. Nope. It’s all just there.
So, store as much as you can in the cloud and have a backup. The only thing I’d change about my set up is that my primary backup is in my house. Ideally it should be somewhere else just in case the house burns down. Of course I’d still have my cloud data so I’d be fine, but, it would be nice to have the backup. That’s what Carbonite does for you. It’s an online service that you backup your computer to. It’s not cheap, but, it’s better than losing everything.
OK. Time to prepare for the CRM Archaeology Podcast Episode 10 recording and get some more coffee with Bailey’s! I can do that because my computer is just fine…
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!
