My first computer was an 8-bit Netronics ELF II with 256 Bytes (yes, BYTES), that ran an RCA 1802 CPU at 1.76 MHz (yes, MegaHertz). It didn’t have any external storage and provided a hex keypad for input of Machine Language (yes, Machine Language – not even assembly language) programs. Suffice it to say, I […]
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An Interview with Stan Lee
Back at the turn of the century I found myself as the Editor of a Vancouver Technology Magazine called, Computer|Sense. It was just something I decided to do on the side for fun… and, as it turned out, it was incredibly fun. The highlight of my stint there was interviewing Stan “The Man” Lee, creator […]
Smallworld GIS Version 5 Performance Tuning
One of the most frequently asked questions I’ve heard regarding Smallworld 5 (SW5) is, “why does starting a session take so long compared to version 4?” It’s a fair question and one that has some complex answers. So I’m going to explain some of the reasons and provide basic tips on how to improve start […]
How to Generate Random Numbers in Smallworld GIS
I have some good news and some bad news. What was that? You want the bad news first? Okay… There is no way to generate truly random numbers outside of quantum physics. But what about rolling dice? Nope. Rolling dice only appears random because we can’t measure all the various physical factors that produce one […]
A Magik Blockchain
I’ve written quite a few articles about using Functional Programming (FP) with Magik on this site, and provided detailed code examples. However I haven’t yet put together an entire FP application. So let’s do that now. But rather than follow the same-old-same-old and write a standard GIS app, we’ll hook into one of the hottest […]
How to Run GSS Locally without Docker and Kubernetes
GeoSpatial Server (GSS) is an industrial-strength application that provides service-based integration technology for Smallworld products. Part of what puts the, “strength,” in, “industrial-strength,” is the fact it is deployed using Docker containers managed and orchestrated by Kubernetes. However deployment can be a complicated affair, and in many cases we simply want to develop services without […]
Virtual VMDS in Smallworld GIS
Starting in version 4.3, Smallworld GIS images/sessions can use a virtual VMDS by passing the -vvmds flag. For example: d:\smallworld\core\bin\x86\runalias.exe -vvmds -a d:\smallworld\cambridge_db\config\gis_aliases cambridge_db_open This is useful when you want to be able to restart from a known state without having to use checkpoints. It’s also extremely helpful when doing work with Alternatives. If, for […]