Jesus rides beside me
He never buys any smokes

Westerberg 19:84

Cercana Systems LLC - From Archive to Map: Processing Geospatial Data with Claude Cowork by Cercana

cercanasystems.com/2026/04/from-archive-to-...

Twenty Years, Part Two Note: This post is the second in a four-part series leading to the 20th anniversary of this blog. I was recently at a conference that was primarily focused on climate risk. One particular panelist caught my attention when talking about analyzing vulnerabilities by first creating a digital twin and then using an AI model to analyze vulnerabilities to a structure and assess their impact.

New tools arrive with new vocabulary and new claims of rupture. What changes less is the work underneath. Context, judgment, and stewardship are the center of gravity beneath rapid technical change. I write about it here.

Spatial Analysis with Claude, Part 2 Following up on my previous post, I built a new Claude skill to take advantage of the increasing wealth of data online in cloud-native formats like GeoParquet. Given that DuckDB can read from such sources in place, I built the skill to use it to perform spatial analysis tasks on specified data sets. Here is an example using data in the…

Spatial Analysis with Claude, Part 2

Following up on my previous post, I built a new Claude skill to take advantage of the increasing wealth of data online in cloud-native formats like GeoParquet. Given that DuckDB can read from such sources in place, I built the skill to use it to perform spatial…

RFC 1, OGC, and the Long Arc of Technical Stewardship When Steve Crocker published RFC 1 on April 7, 1969, he did not present it as doctrine. He described tentative agreements, open questions, and a document offered in expectation of reaction (Crocker, 1969). That posture matters. It is a reminder that stewardship and governance were not late additions to shared technical infrastructure. They were part of its identity near the beginning.

RFC 1 is a reminder that governance and stewardship were part of shared technical infrastructure from the beginning. In geospatial, that same long arc runs through standards work like GeoJSON, STAC, and OGC Simple Features, and it matters even more as AI builds on inherited structure.

Always a good day when a new issue of @bittersouth.bsky.social arrives

Cercana Systems LLC - Cercana Executive Briefing — Week of March 28–April 3, 2026 by Cercana

cercanasystems.com/2026/04/cercana-executiv...

On the treadmill: 4 miles, sub 10:00 pace, last mile sub 8:00. First time for both since prior to last year’s eye surgeries.

Cercana Executive Briefing — Week of March 28–April 3, 2026 152 feeds monitored. Published April 3, 2026. Executive Summary The most consequential development this week was the publication of the CNG Geo-Embeddings Sprint report, which moved earth observati…

This week’s geospatial executive briefing points to something larger than product news. Standards work around EO embeddings, renewed national governance efforts, and growing defense-sector scrutiny all indicate a period of geospatial infrastructure evolution.

cercanasystems.com/2026/04/cerc...

I will lay a map on the counter and start rolling a d20. Wherever it is on the map when I first make a saving throw of 18 or better is where I’ll go.

And I’m Out I have decided that, in the next phase of my career, the most advanced spatial analysis I will perform will be deciding where to park this baby. AI is taking over the entire industry anyway, so I thought I'd use it to make a conceptual rendering of my food truck/semi-retirement plan. The actual truck is a different make and model but will mostly look like this. It should be ready in about six weeks from today. Happy April Fool's Day.

And I’m Out

I have decided that, in the next phase of my career, the most advanced spatial analysis I will perform will be deciding where to park this baby. AI is taking over the entire industry anyway, so I thought I'd use it to make a conceptual rendering of my food truck/semi-retirement plan.…

Cercana Executive Briefing — Week of March 21–27, 2026 142 feeds monitored. Published March 27, 2026. Executive Summary The clearest story of this week is the merging of two narratives that have been running in parallel: sovereign AI and geospatial int…

Our latest geospatial executive briefing is up!

cercanasystems.com/2026/03/cerc...

Shortening Translation Distance I spent the first five years of my career, from 1993 to 1998, doing mostly AML programming. There was also some AutoLISP, MapBasic, Clipper, and Avenue during that time, but it was mostly AML. In hindsight, that was a fortunate place to begin. I had no real exposure to GIS or geography in college, and AML turned out to be a very effective way to build that knowledge.

Shortening Translation Distance

I spent the first five years of my career, from 1993 to 1998, doing mostly AML programming. There was also some AutoLISP, MapBasic, Clipper, and Avenue during that time, but it was mostly AML. In hindsight, that was a fortunate place to begin. I had no real exposure…

Geo Roadshow 2026 Over the next several months, I will be making the rounds on my 2026 geo-conference schedule, with stops at FedGeoDay, State of the Map US, and FOSS4G North America. These are not just events I plan to attend. They are communities I have been involved with in different ways, and each one represents a part of the broader geospatial world that I care about.

Geo Roadshow 2026

Over the next several months, I will be making the rounds on my 2026 geo-conference schedule, with stops at FedGeoDay, State of the Map US, and FOSS4G North America. These are not just events I plan to attend. They are communities I have been involved with in different ways, and…

FedGeoDay is now on ALL your favorite platforms! Follow us for updates on #FedGeoDay2026 — April 22–23 at US Census Bureau HQ. Keynotes, workshops & networking with federal geo leaders. Register: fedgeo.us #GIS #Geospatial #OpenData #FedGeoDay #FedGeoDay2026 #OSGeo

Twenty Years, Part One In 1993, at the very start of my career, I was a newly minted AML developer working on a data automation project. A good bit of the industry’s energy at the time was focused on digitizing vast amounts of geospatial information that still existed in analog form, including mylar, paper maps, and other physical artifacts, so it could be brought into GIS and made useful.

Twenty Years, Part One

In 1993, at the very start of my career, I was a newly minted AML developer working on a data automation project. A good bit of the industry’s energy at the time was focused on digitizing vast amounts of geospatial information that still existed in analog form, including…

Hey y'all. @fedgeoday.bsky.social is on here now. The next FedGeoDay is April 22-23, 2026 at the US Census Bureau in Suitland. MD. Follow the account to for announcements and registration info.

O’Connor, even.

I don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, but I do have Sinead O’Conner on a loop all day.

Our hardware store had someone outside handing out small slices of “pizza pi.” Why a hardware store? Who knows? But it was fun.

Liking Claude Cowork so far.

"Field of Dreams" hits a little harder after your father has passed away.

Sovereignty and Open Source Open source geospatial tools are good. I have been making some form of that argument for most of my career, especially on this blog. The mature projects are equal to or better than their proprietary alternatives. The communities that build and maintain them represent some of the best technical talent working in this space. None of that has been enough to reliably move the adoption conversations that matter.

Sovereignty and Open Source

Open source geospatial tools are good. I have been making some form of that argument for most of my career, especially on this blog. The mature projects are equal to or better than their proprietary alternatives. The communities that build and maintain them represent…

Yep. So many permutations…

The Siren Song of Global Identifiers Recently, a proposal submitted to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) set off a thoughtful discussion within the open geospatial community. At issue is the idea of a global identifier system for real‑world geographic entities, which is something that would make it far easier to align data across the many datasets practitioners work with every day. The discussion that followed, including comments from the OpenStreetMap Foundation, is not unusual for infrastructure standards.

The Siren Song of Global Identifiers

Recently, a proposal submitted to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) set off a thoughtful discussion within the open geospatial community. At issue is the idea of a global identifier system for real‑world geographic entities, which is something that would…

509 BCE - Roman Republic established

46 BCE - Julius Caesar named Dictator for Life

27 BCE - Roman Empire begins with Senate declaring Octavian as Augustus

476 CE - Fall of Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Senate convened through all of this.

People matter more than institutions.

I had to take most of last year off due to eye surgeries. It’s been hard getting back.

We’ve added a daily briefing feature to GeoFeeds. geofeeds.me/briefings

When the leopards are busy eating their own faces, let them continue.

When Geospatial Is Consumed at AI-Scale In February 2026, Gary Gale published a brief post describing a problem that, on its face, looked mundane. A volunteer‑maintained mapping project called Vaguely Rude Places had experienced an abrupt surge in traffic. Daily requests jumped from the low thousands to the hundreds of thousands. There was no corresponding spike in public interest, no viral event, and no new feature release.

When Geospatial Is Consumed at AI-Scale

In February 2026, Gary Gale published a brief post describing a problem that, on its face, looked mundane. A volunteer‑maintained mapping project called Vaguely Rude Places had experienced an abrupt surge in traffic. Daily requests jumped from the low…