Arbmatic

Your Elvis and you should be dead?

Do you mean instead of big kids?

I have just been sold cakes for Children in Need by two delightful kids, apparently they made all the cakes themselves and have mad over £400 today!! To of you out there who have done something for those less fortunate than yourselves I salute you. We can all learn a great deal from a childs view of the world.

I am an outsider looking in but deal with the concerns on a regular basis. My observations are these. 1) Who are these bodies representing to? If it is government then, they will always have less impact than more science (I use the term loosely) based organisations such as the Forestry Commision. If there was weight from other scientific organisations such as Universities then these would be taken into consideration, but there is a lack of targeted research in Europe that is arboriculture specific, so forestry will always have the upper hand. 'Trade Organisations' are always seen as second tier, behind research and independent bodies. Perhaps even third tier with the advent of the online petitions. 2) There is nothing wrong with having many bodies within the same industry, all other industries have many bodies representing different aspects and views, but there lies the arboriculutral problem. All organisations trying to be everything and fighting to be the most important. 3) Europe. Most environmental bills and law comes in some shape or form from Europe these days and have done so for decades. So instead of looking inwardly, the arboricultural industry should look outwardly.There is no point in worring about things like Chartered Status and inwardly thinking ideas when the next update to European Environmental Laws will severely restrict your working practices. 4) Every day the same old things comes around, I can't get rid of my wood chip, my fuel bill is too high, what is this fungus, etc, etc. A trade organisation that represents its members would worry about these things first, and then look at the wider issues. Any house must have deep, firm, foundations. Also there is currently too much distance between the trade organisations and education and research. It worries me that some of the best training is offered outside of the education sector (I still think some of the organisations do a good job). There is a proud tradition in this country for education in colleges and universities, just as students should be encouraged to take up training and qualifications, academics should be encouraged to get involved in arboriculture. 5) What do they offer. If an organistion only offers you tea and cake and a posh looking badge, then unless you like tea and cake, don't bother. The only badge you should need is your qualifications (however humble) and a big list of references from happy customers. The rest is down to educating the public and encouraging us all to keep learning, which is where trade organisations can help. And I mean proper training with certification, program plans etc. 6) Personally I think you are already members of the best trade organisation, ARBTALK!! There are some very important people dip into this site from time to time and with good reason. I think I am going to put ATM on my cv (Arbtalk Member) from now on. Good on yer Steve and keep it up.

Its on this site. Under special offers, howbig.

That sounds like a challenge?

Just downloded the tree name app. Simple but effective.

If you read books/ consult gurus on this subject you will get all kinds of responses but they all subscribe to some simple basics that can be applied here. 1. What ever you do you should always have more offers of work that you can handle (you don't have to flog yourself doing the work, but you will always have choices!). In this way you can either a) pick and choose the jobs you want to do; b) employ sub-contractors, or c) expand. 2. If you don't have more work than you can handle then you probably a) are not offering a good service b) pricing too high compared to competitors c) offering too low a price (look like a cowboy) d) are not well known enough (nobody can find you) e) not offering services people want. 3. Analyse your business if you do-not subscribe to 1. Then you need to find out why! For 2) If the answer is a) then get training or advice where necessary. If the answer is b or c) then adjust your prices. If the answer is d) then advertise. If the answer is e) then diversify. Do, not invest in capital equipment until you have the market to sustain it. If you are diversifying/expanding, do the marketing first, book in the orders, and then invest in the equipment. The person at the top of your business should go through this process at least once a week (if they have other commitments), but some should do it almost daily. Do not waist money on business advisers, they will only tell you what it in this posting, but do ask companies how they can help with actioning some of these answers, i.e. how can I get my company noticed, how can can I diversify, how can I get training.

I was just interested if anyone had bought one of the Blackberry Tablet PCs and what they thought of them?

Apparently it is not just android, it is Blackberry apps, Windows7 and ISO devices.

I want an app that tells me where my car keys are!!

Had an e-mail, apparently howbig are offering a good deal on Android app development for businesses. So if you have an idea you want to get up and running there might be an oportunity.

Another video has gone up, this time on Soil Texture. The bit I like is it shows you how to read those darned triangular charts. Same link as above Enjoy

A couple of links to look at https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html And Free on-line GIS data format and coordinates converter Of course you can always convert to jpeg and work with a plan viewer as well.

I promised one or two people that I would write this so here goes. In terms of using mapping data, nearly all the mapping data commonly available is open source these days, including the OS. In fact the OS openly encourage the use commercial use of their map data. There are one or two exceptions and it is always worth checking. The most common file formats are ESRI Shape Files, Raster (most commonly Tiff Files) and Some form of Text File (ASCII files usually). These can be loaded into most commonly available free GIS systems like Google Earth. The non-image files like ASCII and ERSI Shape are best loaded by converted to a kml file structure using one of the free online tools like Shape2KML. They can be converted back using, KML2Shape. Even if people are using other GIS systems and send you files from MapInfo AutoCAD etc there are free online converters. So you can in effect decide which system you like best and stick with that and work in data from other sources by using data converters. The Free version of Google Earth is now open source as well so there are now only a few license restrictions based on the degree of use but even we haven't reached the kind of limits they talk about. Google's business model now seems to be one of developing Googe Earth Pro to make people want to buy a licence for that, rather than restricting Google Earth. So why is kml becomming popular? Well the easy answer is that it is easy to use with Java Script, which is what Android uses. and also xml which both iSO devices and ANdroid can use, so there is cross platform compatability. This is a bit technical I now and I have tried to make it understandable but if you have questions fire away.

Sorry, I have just seen what the predictive text did to my posting hope you get the idea though

Hi everyone I would like feedback on this one please. I have noticed a growing number of postings on trying to find a waste site. I have a spare few hours this weekend so I have an idea. You people be interested in a file you can local into Google Earth or any other browser that shows where composting sister get area located. If anyone wants their site address on me telling me location (coordinates) if possible contact detailed to be put on file and the type of waste you accept. Approximate capacity would also be good. This would all then be freely available. Enjoy

OK you can get a bracket from Jessops that holds the two cameras firmly. It is actually a flash bracket and you need a spare camera screw. Comes in at just over £10. I would personnaly fix it with some gaffer tape as well but that is just me. Google stereoscopic distance measurement TO find out more

Just hardly a thought, if you have two old digital cameras kicking around you could use them. They don't have to be the same camera.

Accuracy: the OS use this method to. correct their laser data. It us a direct method rather than a reflected method. Durability, I hmethodd my digital camera for 10 years. Quick: you take two photos. Better: you get a photographic record. Also if you area starting out and don't have much cash what is £100 worth.

Sorry just found a cheaper camera on line so make that less than £40! Stereoscopy is the field if you are interested. Enjoy

The computer tracking system is developmental and may see the light of day some time in the near future, but you can set one up yourself (without the screen projector) if you know how to plug cables and install software. It is pretty straight forward and if you have a mobile phone dongle and a wifi adapter at home you just need to power adapters, which cost about £50 from Maplins (cheaper online) The drone is just a bit of fun and I'll get some pictures once I can figure out how to fly the darn thing.

Nice one! Don't try it at home though!

Well it isn't a lazer range finder, it is actually more acurate. It does soound a bit Blue Peter though. What you need it two cheap digital cameras a stiff piece of steel plate and some gaffer tape. Unless your maths is pretty good you will need some software as well. You can do it all in for around £60 inc vat. What you need to to is gaffertape your two cameras side by side keeping them both in the same focal plane with the steel plate and the gaffer tape. You can then take sets of stereoscopic photos, You will need to calibrate the camera pairs and you will need to be able to make measurements in the photos, hence the software need. But the calibration would take around 20 mins and you can pick up the measuring softawre for around £20. The cheapest fixed lense cameras are actually best for this and you can pick them up at a well know supermarket or online for between £20 and £30 each. If this interest you pm me and I can send you more details. No charge, all free, no catches, just a bit lengthy thats all so wont fit on this site.

Just to let you know I just had confirmation that I am getting a hover drone that I can attach a video camera to for aerial inspections, it's over £10,000 so I need to get a grip on how it works first but when I get some video of trees I will post it. It is supposed to be for buildings etc not for trees, before anyone asks. Now I wonder if it would pick up a chainsaw:hmmmm: Enjoy