Maxime Lenormand

Minds Behind Maps

A Earth Sciences , Science and Mathematics podcast

#26 in Earth Sciences · 🇩🇰 #37 in Earth Sciences · 🇩🇪

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About the show

Maps Are Everywhere. These are conversations with those building them.

Newest episodes

My Favourite Books of 2024 - MBM79

Jan 7, 2025 40 min

On every Minds Behind Maps episode I ask guests for books they've read they think are worth sharing. This time I'm sharing with you the books I read & recommend from my 2024 reading. ShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Utopia For Realists (Amazon Affiliate)The Capitalist Manifesto (Amazon Affiliate)The New Breadline (Amazon Affiliate)Jean Martin Bauer on MBMThree Body Problem Trilogy (Amazon Affiliate)When the Heavens Went on Sale (Amazon Affiliate)Ashlee Vance on MBMInto the Wild (Amazon Affiliate)The Little Prince (Amazon Affiliate)Night Flight (Amazon Affiliate)My conversation with Jed Sundwall on Techs on TextsTimestamps(00:00) - Trying something new today (00:37) - Utopia For Realists (02:23) - The Capitalist Manifesto (11:44) - The New Breadline (15:59) - Three Body Problem Trilogy (21:42) - When the Heavens Went on Sale (25:36) - Into the Wild (32:16) - The Little Prince & Night Flight (37:46) - Conclusion Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterRead Previous Issues of the Newsletter

How Bloomberg's Data Scientists use Satellite Images for Reporting: Krishna Karra - MBM78

Dec 16, 2024 57 min

Krishna Karra is a data scientist & report for Bloomberg, having used machine learning & satellite images for reporting. Recent stories from him & his team include mapping refugee camps in Rafah & exposing illegal ship oil transfers in the middle of the Ocean. Sponsor: Beemaps by HivemapperGet access to high quality, fresh map data at https://beemaps.com/minds Use promo code MINDS to get 50% off your API credits through Dec. 31 2024 About KrishnaTwitterLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Bloomberg: The Clandestine Oil Shipping Hub Funneling Iranian Crude to ChinaBloomberg: A Detailed Map Shows How Airstrikes and Refugees Reshaped RafahHow Radar Satellites See through Clouds (Synthetic Aperture Radar Explained)National Land Cover Database (NLCD)What Ukraine Has LostGraves in Suda by Joe MorrisonJean Martin Bauer on Minds Behind MapsBooks & Podcast:Overstory by Richard Powers (Affiliate Link)Ezra Klein ShowTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (00:34) - Sponsor: Beemaps (01:51) - Krishna describes himself (03:27) - Example stories: Illegal Oil transfers (05:29) - Stories are the goal (07:07) - Why publish the data set? (12:24) - How Journalism has and hasn't changed (14:04) - How data changes a story (18:23) - Putting the datasets together (20:37) - Conveying trust (24:07) - Showing the limitations of the data (26:11) - Why is journalism important for satellite data? (30:14) - News room process (32:57) - Building custom tools (38:19) - Timeline of a news story (39:47) - What Krishna has learned as a data scientist in a news room (40:49) - Stories that have stuck out (42:57) - Different ways of showing the data (44:19) - Krishna's wishlist (51:12) - Book & podcast recommendation (53:16) - Paid podcasts & media (55:19) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

How Ex-Vox Video Producer Phil Edwards thinks about Maps to tell stories - MBM77

Nov 23, 2024 1 hr 36 min

Phil Edwards is a video producer who worked at Vox for nearly 10 years, and now runs his own Youtube channel exploring the history of businesses, and lately has been using more and more maps. We go over one of his latest videos, “The Secret Economics of Google Street View” as a case study of how Phil thinks about maps to tell stories. We also talk about journalism on Youtube, and the business behind running a Youtube channel today. Sponsor: Beemaps by HivemapperGet access to high quality, fresh map data at https://beemaps.com/minds Use promo code MINDS to get 50% off your API credits through Dec. 31 2024 About PhilTwitterPhil's BlueskyPhil’s YoutubeShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Phil’s trivia siteGeoGuessrPhil’s video about Google Street ViewBook & Podcast recommendations:3 Scientists & Their Gods by Robert Wright (Affiliate Link)The Evolution of God by Robert Wright (Affiliate Link)On the Edge by Nate Silver (Affiliate Link)Freakonomics podcastAcquired PodcastMy conversation with Ashlee VanceWild Wild Space documentaryNeoHoogTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (00:52) - Sponsor: Beemaps (02:08) - Who is Phil Edwards? (03:13) - What does a Video Producer do? (04:29) - Chosing topics & stories (06:38) - Maps in video production (10:14) - Bringing a different element to maps stories (12:15) - Explaining Complicated Things (15:49) - Case Study: Google Street View Video (20:07) - Geoguessr (23:03) - Story & Journalism on Youtube (27:25) - Stories that Phil wants to work on (30:54) - Importance of visuals (34:58) - Learning Curve in Mapping & Animation (40:26) - Balancing Scientific Rigour and Story (49:53) - The Business of Youtube (54:09) - Choosing to scale or not (59:14) - Creating "content" (01:01:56) - Authenticity (01:05:00) - Valuing High Quality Journalism (01:10:18) - Succeeding on Patreon (01:13:46) - Creators that Phil admires (01:16:56) - Books & podcasts Recommendations (01:28:54) - R...

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All episodes

My Favourite Books of 2024 - MBM79

Jan 7, 2025 40 min

How Bloomberg's Data Scientists use Satellite Images for Reporting: Krishna Karra - MBM78

Dec 16, 2024 57 min

How Ex-Vox Video Producer Phil Edwards thinks about Maps to tell stories - MBM77

Nov 23, 2024 1 hr 36 min

What Hyperspectral constellations have to offer: Pixxel’s example - Awais Ahmed #MBM76

Nov 1, 2024 1 hr 20 min

Awais Ahmed is the co-founder & CEO of Pixxel, a company building a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites. Unlike “traditional” cameras, these satellites can see across hundreds of bands, opening up a lot more applications. We talk about the engineering -and funding- required to pull this off and how Awais manages a company between India (where Awais is from) and the US. But that’s just the 1st part of the interview. Then we talk about his vision for the company, which goes way, way beyond sending imaging satellites. Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob About AwaisTwitterLinkedInShownotesAwais’s personnal websitePixxel’s 3 phase visionMaxar HD machine learning upscalingBook & Podcast RecommendationThe Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch (Affiliate Link)Profiles of the Future by Arthur C. Clarke (only found it in ebook here, Affiliate Link)Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction (01:09) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:34) - Awais describes himself (03:46) - Pixxel (05:07) - What is hyperspectral? (10:36) - Spacial, Temporal & Spectral Resolution tradeoffs (18:01) - Hardest part of building satellites (22:58) - The resolution spotlight (28:38) - Image Quality Rabbit Hole (30:42) - The tricky part of raising money (38:52) - Awais has a big, big vision (50:42) - Likeliness of Awais's vision within 10 years (54:14) - Working between India & USA (59:04) - Personnal investing (01:01:20) - Importance of Reading (01:05:36) - Sci-Fi & History (01:08:33) - Book recommendation (01:10:43) - Awais in space? (01:11:54) - Pushing the boundaries of humanity (01:13:14) - Optimism in a cynical world (01:19:11) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

The Ex-Uber Data Scientist Who wants to simplify Data Science with Serverless Computing: Sina Kashuk

Oct 15, 2024 1 hr 8 min

Sina Kashuk is the co-founder & CEO of Fused, who wants to make iterating & deploying in Python faster with serverless computing. We break down what that actually means, why it matters and what data science workflows could look like over the next few years. This also isn’t Sina’s first company, a few years ago he started Unfolded.ai, focused on making visualisations for data scientists faster. The company was acquired by Foursquare in 2021. Sponsor: Beemaps by HivemapperGet access to high quality, fresh map data at https://beemaps.com/minds Use promo code MINDS to get 50% off your API credits through Dec. 31 2024 About SinaTwitterLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. My blogpost joining the teamUber’s H3 tiling gridFoursquare acquires UnfoldedAWS LambdaMy conversation with Ib GreenFused.ioBook & Podcast recommendationAwaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins Affiliate LinkI’m pretty sure you can find Minds Behind Maps by yourself if you’re hereTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (02:38) - Sponsor: Beemaps (03:55) - Hacking (06:07) - Fused.io (07:23) - Why run your algorithm in the cloud? (10:06) - Serverless computing (12:40) - Optimizing for iteration speed (18:52) - Breaking Fused into smaller parts (23:27) - "User Defined Functions: UDF" (31:08) - How do you make money? (31:56) - Why start companies? (42:41) - Convincing people to use your tools (49:44) - Speed isn't all: Train / Plane analogy (54:36) - Going beyond geospatial (57:33) - Building a team (59:54) - Podcast/book recommendation (01:01:11) - Building a Long Term Vision (01:06:59) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Meet the man trying to build a 20cm 3D map of the world: Andrew Peterson - #MBM74

Sep 15, 2024 1 hr 55 min

Andrew Peterson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Array Labs, with a simple mission: Mapping the whole world in 3D, at 20cm in near real time. We peel the layers as to what it takes to get there: the engineering that’s required, how to build a constellation to do that, how you fund such a project. Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob About AndrewLinkedInArray LabsShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. My 20min video explaining radar satellite imagesFind USGS 1m LiDAR data across the USY CombinatorMy episode with Ashlee VanceMy episode with Brian McClendonAlbedoBook & Podcast recommendationSpin Selling by Neil Rackham (Affiliate Link)AcquiredTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:08) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:34) - "Being a Recovering Engineer" (03:15) - Mapping the world in 3D (09:59) - "Near Real Time" (15:46) - Applications will only use what's available, by definition (18:15) - Why use radar for 3D images? (22:23) - The coolest Space Shuttle mission, period (27:19) - Tradeoff between resolution & coverage (36:26) - Building cheap radar satellites (39:46) - Array Labs's image resolution (45:10) - A GPU Analogy (50:34) - A story of image processing & computers (56:07) - Array Labs today (57:57) - Let's talk $$$ (01:06:38) - Low barrier to entry: Comparing XRay & MRI (01:12:09) - Why stop at 10 satellites? (01:15:50) - Focus (01:19:53) - Max & Andrew's 1st chat during covid (01:23:22) - Subscription model for satellite images? (01:32:50) - Convincing the rest of the world your idea is worth something (01:43:58) - Engineer to Founder (01:47:30) - Book & Podcast recommendation (01:51:06) - Array Labs's next 4 years? (01:53:45) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Jamie McMichael-Phillips: How We're Planning to Map All our Oceans by 2030 - #MBM73

Sep 2, 2024 56 min

Jamie McMichael-Phillips is the Director of the Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to map all of the world's oceans, by 2030. For context, in 2024, we’re at 26.1%. This is conversation is about why, how we get to 100% and why it’s important in the first place. Sponsor: SatCamp SatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder Colorado AboutBio on Seabed 2030 websiteLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Seabed 2030 Project (You can check out their interactive map here)GEBCO Grid2024 Seabed 2030 ProgressPoint NemoBook & Podcast Recommendations:The Deepest Map by Laura Trethewey (Amazon Affiliate)Seabed 2030 PodcastTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:04) - Sponsor: SatCamp (02:55) - Jamie Describes Himself (03:53) - State of Ocean mapping in 2024 (06:19) - Difficulties with mapping the ocean (08:22) - Why map the seabed? (10:24) - What does mapping the seabed actually mean? (15:01) - Comparing Land & Sea mapping (18:55) - Seabed 2030 is a policy project (20:42) - Incentives to map the oceans (24:05) - If we've only mapped ~25%, what does the 75% other look like? (27:49) - What are the coarse measurements for the ocean right now? (29:31) - How we actually map the seabed (33:14) - Patches of unmapped areas of the ocean (35:38) - Getting there by 2030 (38:21) - How much has already been mapped? (43:00) - Maps as Human Knowledge (45:27) - Jamie's most anticipated, yet unmapped, area (48:03) - Public Engagement (53:01) - Book/podcast Recommendations (55:04) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

[Bonus] Books, Tech & Life: A Long conversation with Jed Sundwall

Aug 31, 2024 2 hr 4 min

Check out Jed’s Techs on Text podcast Jed has also been on Minds Behind Maps before. We talked open data, AI, and the role of books for people building things

Jean-Martin Bauer: How the World Food Program tackles Hunger - #MBM72

Aug 22, 2024 1 hr 32 min

Jean-Martin Bauer has been working at the World Food Program for over 20years, and the author of the “The New Breadline”. Most recently he was the Country Director for Haiti, in charge of helping make sure the country doesn’t run out of food. Sponsor: SatCamp SatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder Colorado About Jean-MartinLinkedInJean-Martin’s book: The New Breadline (Affiliate Link)ShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. WFP working with Mbala Pinda producersMasters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain (Affiliate Link)Jordan Habinger episode about Haiti’s ongoing situationBook & Podcast recommendationThe one-straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka (Affiliate Link)Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Affiliate Link)FiveThirtyEight podcastsTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:15) - Sponsor: SatCamp (03:42) - Haiti's past 2 years (05:57) - Day to day in a humanitarian crisis (08:17) - Jean-Martin's ties to Haiti (18:27) - Stats versus Stories: The picture of a starving girl sparking uprise (21:30) - The Origins of Hunger (27:31) - Impact of Covid on Food Security in the US (35:05) - Europe's current food supplies after WWII (40:11) - Why write a book? (42:56) - Who is your book for? (45:22) - Finding local Solutions (53:39) - Creating a resilient food supply (55:33) - Technology is not the silver bullet (01:01:23) - Advice for Young Engineers & Data Scientists (01:05:28) - What's next for Jean-Martin (01:12:04) - Social Media Outreach (01:19:08) - Optimism (01:23:49) - Defining Acute Hunger (01:25:37) - Book & podcast Recommendation (01:31:07) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ashlee Vance: The Man telling us the Stories of the New Space Industry - #MBM71

Aug 7, 2024 1 hr 21 min

Ashlee Vance is a Tech Journalist, the author of Elon Musk's 1st biography in 2015, the host of "Hello World" on Youtube and the author of "When the Heavens Went on Sale" as well as the accompanying documentary "Wild Wild Space" following 4 New Space companies. We nerd out on rocket companies, 1 rogue NASA administrator, and the time I got to meet Vladimir Putin years ago. Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob About Ashlee: TwitterBloomberg ProfileShownotes(Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.) Ashlee's books:When the Heavens Went on Sale (Affiliate Link)Elon Musk biography (Affiliate Link)Wild Wild Space documentaryHello World with Ashlee Vance on YoutubeNPIC book by Jack O'Conor Book & Podcast Recommendation:Sonic Wind (Affiliate Link)Cocaine & RhinestonesTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:33) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:59) - Ashlee Describes Himself (06:12) - Chasing weirdos around the world for a living (11:22) - The man shaking NASA in the 90s (16:18) - Following Chris Kemp & the beginnings of Astra (24:30) - Planet co-founders: Will & Robbie (28:58) - Needing to convince investors (31:34) - Will satellite imagery ever get mainstream? (34:50) - A tangent on the US Spy satellite program (36:47) - Starlink (38:28) - Privatization (48:43) - Space Industry outside of the US (55:23) - Russia's aerospace pride: The time I met Putin (59:18) - What's on Ashlee's radar (01:01:42) - People or Companies? (01:04:01) - Documentary Reception (01:05:08) - The business of documentaries (01:08:27) - YouTube (01:12:45) - Book/podcast recommendation (01:16:08) - No iPhone? (01:19:38) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Luke Fischer: Who would want to start a Satellite Image Marketplace? SkyFi - #MBM70

Jul 20, 2024 1 hr 34 min

Luke Fischer is the Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi, a company that we'll describe in a few ways in this episode, but boils down to an Earth Observation marketplace. We talk about Luke's 20 year time in the military before getting into startups, why Luke is bullish on their approach and many more Sponsor: SatCamp SatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder Colorado AboutTwitterLinkedInSkyFiShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy Gabe -unit economics- DominocieloBill PerkinsDie with ZeroSilicon Valley No RevenueBook & Podcast recommendationsFreedom’s Forge (Affiliate Link)BigDeal by Codie SanchezTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (00:50) - Sponsor: SatCamp (02:41) - Luke describes himself (04:21) - Getting into the satellite image industry (07:13) - Risks starting a company (10:16) - Don't start a marketplace (18:22) - Racing to get customers (23:08) - What is the Product in all of this? (25:00) - What is the product that SkyFi needs to build today? (28:17) - Who is this for? (33:08) - Biggest pain points (37:44) - The market's view of Earth Observation businesses (45:00) - Pivoting from the military (51:28) - Hiring (59:12) - Raising big, early (01:02:08) - Predicting the industry in 2.5 years (01:09:05) - Consumer market? (01:14:24) - Health & family (01:26:05) - Community while all Remote (01:30:25) - Book & Podcast Recommendation (01:33:09) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ben Strong: We have Foundation Models of Earth, now What? Earth Index - MBM#69

Jul 11, 2024 1 hr 5 min

Ben Strong is the Science & Machine Learning Lead at Earth Genome, an NGO working on the intersection of data, science & digital design. Most recently they've been working on Earth Index, an application built on top of Earth embeddings from foundation models. This conversation is the "so what" of Earth foundational model Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob AboutLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Ben’s blogpost on NDA sequencing for the EarthEarth GenomeEarth IndexBook & Podcast recommendationDemo Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Affiliate Link)Risky BusinessTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (00:46) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:12) - Ben introduces himself (03:28) - "DNA sequencing" for Earth (13:37) - Not building another Foundation Model (18:06) - Earth embeddings: So what? (21:49) - What does locally finetuned mean? (25:48) - Invite only for now: Why? (29:31) - Journalistic applications (31:59) - Yet another tool for finding images? (35:09) - Deciding what to work on (38:35) - Designing for simplicity (44:14) - So, why hasn't Google made this? (51:18) - Funding (59:54) - Book & podcast Recommendations Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ib Green: Browser based visualisation rendering - MBM#68

Jun 1, 2024 52 min

Ib Green led the development of 3D visualisation tools like for example Uber’s deck.gl and is now working at Foursquare, after having started Unfolded, which Foursquare acquired. During this conversation we touch on how browser based visualisations are changing This episode is supported by all the people on PatreonAccess Behind the Scenes and support the podcast by joining too! AboutLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Kepler.glDeck.glFoursquareKyle BarronPeak MathTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (00:41) - Support the podcast on Patreon (01:43) - Ib describes himself (02:33) - How lb got to where he is today (07:47) - Uber's need for visualization tools (15:11) - Why do companies build open source tools? (17:46) - Open source to open governance (23:41) - Starting a company (26:31) - How Unfolded generates revenue (28:28) - Nerding out on browser based visualization tech (35:11) - Client side rendering challenges (39:27) - Competing against the smartphone (41:38) - Looking ahead (47:43) - Book & Podcast recommendations (50:24) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

What does a Foundational Model of Earth look like? Clay Foundation: Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño - MBM#67

May 24, 2024 1 hr 25 min

Bruno Sanchez is the Executive Director of the Clay Foundation, which just released their v1 of a “Foundational Model of Earth”. We talk about what that means, building open source & non profits and can’t help but draw parallels to the not-so-open anymore OpenAI. Previously Bruno was the Program Director of the Microsoft Planetary Computer Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob ShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. ClayGithub repoWebsiteMy previous interview with BrunoBook & Podcast recommendationA Thousand Brains by Jeff Hawkins (Affiliate Link)Bad Therapy by Abigael Shrier (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:59) - Sponsor: OpenCage (03:39) - What is a Foundational Model? (08:45) - Foundational Task (11:00) - Embeddings, and why they matter (13:49) - Comparing to compression algorithms (16:57) - What do embeddings enable? (19:50) - Finding the Relationship between data (24:16) - Implementation of monitoring all the data - I believe this is where you're going with the question (25:44) - Implementation details (27:52) - Validating a foundational model (33:49) - Earth is a "limited problem" (42:47) - Funding as a non-profit (47:53) - Raising enough philanthropic funding (53:02) - A Litmus test for open projects (56:26) - Future predictions (58:01) - Transparency/privacy (01:00:53) - Commercial data (01:03:36) - Openstreetmap (01:05:49) - Updating foundational models (01:12:17) - Clay model v2? (01:13:43) - Dataset to embedding size comparison (01:14:41) - Model v2 - continued (01:16:45) - Difference working at a non-profit vs a corp (01:20:27) - Book & Podcast recommendation (01:24:01) - Support the podcast on Patreon! Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

How to Map Mars (to Land Rovers) - Fred Calef III - MBM#66

May 1, 2024 1 hr 15 min

Dr Fred Calef III has the unofficial title of "Keeper of Maps" at NASA JPL, he's the Lead Mapping Specialist for most of JPL's Mars Rover missions, most recently that being Perseverance & Curiosity. But to land -and navigate- a rover, one needs maps, and Fred makes them. Sponsor: Nimbo by KermapTry out Kermap's monthly mosaic viewer Nimbo for yourself Support the podcast on Patreon About FredTwitterMastodonShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. VICAR Github repo (Video Image Communication & Retrieval)Mars 2020 Rover: Terrain Relative NavigationAiry-o crater7 Minutes to MarsMMGIS (Multi Planet Geospatial Information System)Github RepoMars Rover Location MapBook recommendations Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Affiliate Link)The Martian by Andy Weird (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction (00:48) - Sponsor: Nimbo by Kermap (02:23) - How would you describe yourself? (03:18) - Keeper of the Maps (05:04) - What it takes to map Mars (10:21) - Deciding where to put (0,0) (12:33) - Current accuracy of Mars mapping (14:01) - 150m / pixel: How do you find anything? (18:14) - Rover cameras on the ground (22:39) - Creating detailed maps for the Rover's automation (26:07) - How would we be navigating on Mars if we send people there? (31:20) - Comparing to the early days of car navigation (34:15) - Using a compass on Mars (36:13) - Mapping tools (48:54) - Has every image of Mars been seen by at least 1 person? (53:37) - Mars doesn't change that much (56:45) - More strange difference between Mars & Earth (01:00:53) - Mapping other celestial bodies (01:05:04) - Missions or mapping projects that Fred is looking forward to (01:06:10) - Book/podcast recommendation (01:10:06) - One last question: Mars time (01:13:19) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Creating the most used map animation tool: GEOLayers - Markus Bergelt - MBM#65

Apr 15, 2024 1 hr 25 min

Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob ShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. GeoLayersgeolayers.appJohnny HarrisMarkus’s cameo in a recent videoSearch PartyFeltProcreate dreamsJason Boone’s episodePodcast recommendation: Syntax.fmTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (02:26) - Sponsor: OpenCage (03:52) - Markus Describes himself (04:29) - GEOlayers in simple terms (05:50) - From Motion Designer, to Map Animation Developer (07:51) - The team behind GEOlayers (08:20) - How does a Motion Designer turn into software engineer? (10:45) - Tricky nature of Map Animation (13:10) - OpenStreetMap (14:57) - Markus before and after diving into GIS (17:01) - Map projections (20:01) - Business Model & Funding (24:08) - Self Funding (26:38) - Being your own user (27:37) - GEOLayers used on Youtube (30:23) - Working with creator, example of Johnny Harris (32:20) - Paid Support (33:33) - Focusing ones time on what you enjoy doing (35:11) - Making a web app (42:35) - Subscription models (46:34) - Expectations in modern software business models (49:22) - High tech barrier to entry (55:01) - Inspiration from 2 other projects (01:05:32) - The future of GEOLayers (01:07:21) - Local vs Web based software (01:16:13) - Marketing & Social Media (01:20:50) - Book/podcast recommendation (01:23:18) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Volodymyr Agafonkin: The Story of Leaflet, Building the Simplest Mapping Library & Life in Ukraine

Apr 1, 2024 1 hr 11 min

Volodymyr Agafonkin is the creator of Leaflet, an open-source JS mapping library started in 2008 that is used pretty much everywhere on the Internet today. We end up nerding out on what makes building simple open source software & rendering maps online tricky but also so endlessly interesting. Volodymyr lives in Ukraine, a country shaken by a war for the past few years, which we also talk about. Sponsor: Nimbo by KermapTry out Kermap's monthly mosaic viewer Nimbo for yourself Support the podcast on Patreon About VolodymyrTwitterLinkedInWebsiteShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. LeafletMapbox blogpost on adaptive map projectionsCloudMadeHow Simplicity Will Save GISBooks & PodcastsThe Storyteller by Dave Grohl (Affiliate Link)My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee (Affiliate Link)Reply All podcastSearch Engine podcastHeavyweight podcastTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:50) - Sponsor: Nimbo (03:26) - Volodymyr Describes Himself (04:22) - The story behind Leaflet (13:31) - Cloudmade Backstory (16:42) - From closed software to open source (23:43) - Maintaining high quality code (27:56) - Cloudmade today (31:21) - Leaflet, funding, sustainable (35:09) - Raster vs Vector maps (41:34) - Map projections (46:36) - Current main challenges to mapping (50:52) - Future of Leaflet (51:54) - Leaflet and Ukraine (01:05:39) - Book & Podcast recommendation (01:09:35) - Support the podcast on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Qiusheng Wu: Building & Sharing Open Source Software - MBM#63

Mar 15, 2024 1 hr 0 min

Qiusheng Wu is an Associate Professor in Geography, an active open source contributor behind projects like geemap, leafmap or segment-geospatial also sharing tutorials on his popular Youtube channel. Qiusheng has a desire to teach, share and lower the barrier to entry to geospatial, all things I'm always curious to talk more about Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob About QiushengTwitterLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. KaggleGoogle Earth EngineQiusheng’s Youtube channelQiusheng’s GithubBook & Podcast recommendationGeospatial Data Analytics on AWS (Affiliate Link)MapscapingTimestamps(00:00) - Introduction (00:35) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:01) - How would you describe yourself (03:47) - Developing Open Source Software (06:46) - Lowering the barrier to entry (10:39) - Quisheng's story (18:39) - Getting Involved in open source (22:16) - Google Earth Engine (25:48) - Skepticism around closed platforms (32:31) - Teaching Skepticism (34:16) - Is open source free lunch? (36:51) - Why create tutorials? (41:35) - Video over any other format (45:42) - Pushing students to market their projects (48:52) - Teaching in multiple languages (53:18) - YouTube analytics (55:35) - Book/Podcast Recommendation Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ryan Abernathey: Taking Scientific Computing to the next level - MBM#62

Mar 1, 2024 1 hr 7 min

Ryan Abernathey is a Climate Scientist, open-source software developer and the CEO & co-founder of Earthmover, a company trying to simplify how scientific computing is done. Ryan also co-founded the Pangeo project in 2016, one of the major efforts to build better tools for scientific computing today. Sponsor: Nimbo by KermapTry out Kermap's monthly mosaic viewer Nimbo for yourself About RyanTwitterLinkedInGithubShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. PangeoXarrayZarrEarthmoverERA5Books & Podcast recommendationCrossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore (Affiliate Link)The Data Stack ShowTimestamps(00:00) - Introduction (00:45) - Sponsor: Nimbo by Kermap (02:20) - Ryan describes himself (03:11) - From Oceanography to data infrastructure (06:11) - Building an Company around Open Source (13:33) - Product (16:28) - The current Earth Observation data stack (20:39) - Issues with today's approaches (30:30) - Zarr (33:30) - Friction with new technology (38:23) - Climate science vs geospatial (44:48) - Different sciences make different assumptions (47:17) - Modeling Level of Details (59:50) - Book & Podcast recommendations (01:05:37) - Support the podcast on Patreon! Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Gilberto Camara - Brazil's Fight Against Deforestation; Politics & Open Data - MBM#61

Feb 15, 2024 2 hr 19 min

Gilberto Camara was the director of INPE, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research from 2005 to 2012, working there 35y in total and leading the use of satellite imagery to fight deforestation in Brazil, leading to what Nature declared “One of the biggest environmental wins of the 2000s” Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob About GilbertoTwitterBlogShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Landsat 1MODISLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s current presidentMy interview with USGS’s former Director Barbara Ryan1992 Rio declaration (particularly Article 10)BBC ‘Yes Minister’Nature article on Brazil deforestation initiativesBooks & Podcast recommendationsThe Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi (Affiliate Link)The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age by Manuel Castells (Affiliate Link)Robin Cole’s satellite-image-deep-learningCode & Other Laws of Cyberspace by Lawrence Lessig (Affiliate Link)Techno-Feudalism by Yanis Varoufakis (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction (01:14) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:40) - Gilberto describes himself (04:14) - Deforestation wasn't always a priority: Brazil in the 80s (07:50) - INPE (Brazil's National Institute for Space Research) (11:13) - Landsat (23:15) - Forest Land doesn't have monetary value (24:14) - Mapping Deforestation Doesn't Magically Solve Everything (28:35) - Incentives (38:06) - Open Data was the only way (38:51) - Not everyone likes open data (42:11) - The first real-time deforestation alert system (46:43) - From data to actual enforcement (55:15) - Avoiding False Positive Deforestation Alerts (01:00:48) - Misunderstood Accuracy in Remote Sensing (01:07:52) - The roles of current geospatial tools (01:15:43) - Brazil made Landsat images openly available before the US (01:20:31) - Getting Things Done (01:33:51) - Private remote sensing companies (01:49:50) - The right tool & the right da...

Thomas Ager: The Essentials of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) - MBM#60

Feb 1, 2024 1 hr 21 min

Thomas Ager worked for 30y at the National Geospatial Agency on Radar satellite images and recently released ‘The Essentials of SAR’ a book breaking down Synthetic Aperture Radar for, as he puts it, “non electrical engineers” Sponsor: PlanetFind more about accessing Planet's high resolution & high frequency images About TomLinkedInHis book: The Essentials of SAR (Affiliate Link)Also available in MandarinShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. My Interview with Iain Woodhouse: Understanding Radar Satellite ImagesTom’s interview on Project GeospatialMapping London’s deformation70cm mapping of the MoonBook (and poem!) recommendationWho Is Fourier? (Affiliate Link)Project Geospatial: https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectgeospatialFern Hill by Dylan ThomasTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:13) - Sponsor: Planet (02:28) - Tom describes himself (04:13) - National Geospatial Agency (05:46) - Why should anyone care about radar images? (09:52) - Why not just fly plane? (10:54) - SAR in the 80s (23:14) - Finding early use in SAR (27:09) - Skepticism in new tech (30:09) - Phase (35:32) - Bringing poetry to physics (42:01) - The most astonishing element of SAR (48:41) - Future of SAR (51:51) - The next step (56:49) - The language issue (59:45) - Tom's book (01:02:46) - Tom's book dedication (01:04:49) - Teaching (01:07:40) - Getting NGA's approval on the book (01:09:09) - Doing what people tell you not to do (01:11:34) - Machine Learning in SAR (01:15:55) - Book & Podcast recommendation Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Brian McClendon: The Story of Google Maps, Pokemon Go & Keyhole - MBM#59

Jan 15, 2024 1 hr 40 min

Brian McClendon was one of the earliest investors & later VP of Engineering at Keyhole, which got acquired by Google in 2004. Brian become VP of Engineering and led Google Geo, overlooking the development of Google Earth & Google Maps. He also worked at Uber & is now at Niantic, which you might know for thri most popular app: Pokemon Go Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API Geomob About BrianLinkedInNianticShownotesNever Lost Again by Bill Kilday (Affiliate Link)Brian’s University of Kansas course: “Startups Rasing Money”@Home Network (Wikipedia Page)Keyhole Inc (History of Google Earth Wikipedia)Google EarthI think you can find a link to Google Maps on your own :)Nicaragua border storyBooks & Podcast3 Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Affiliate Link)Marketplace podcastTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:16) - Sponsor: OpenCage (02:42) - Brian describes himself (03:33) - Getting into computer graphics (05:15) - From engineer to building companies (08:06) - The Beginnings of Keyhole (12:42) - EarthViewer demo (14:33) - Going through rough times (21:00) - What made Keyhole so unique (25:56) - How much of Keyhole's work is still in Google Earth? (32:08) - Borders are hard (37:20) - Changing borders (43:15) - Google's rationale for spending so much on mapping (45:37) - Use for Google Maps vs Earth (47:22) - Google Earth Engine (51:16) - Earliest Google Earth Image (52:20) - Working at Uber (57:03) - Self-driving (58:30) - Project Ground Truth (01:04:01) - Where is self-driving today? (01:10:29) - Trains vs Cars (01:14:15) - Niantic (01:17:07) - Future predictions (01:19:28) - Glasses over phones (01:21:05) - The next iPhone moment (01:23:33) - Using Tech to get people outside (01:25:57) - Teaching (01:28:11) - The need for tech companies outside the Bay Area (01:30:21) - Remote work (01:34:59) - Recommendations to students (01:36:10) - Book/Podcast Recommendations Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite images...

Ariel Seidman - Taking on Google Maps, Crowdsourced mapping & Crypto - MBM#58

Jan 1, 2024 1 hr 39 min

Ariel Seidman is one of the co-founders of Hivemapper, a company building a map through selling dashcams & paying contributing drivers with the aim of competing with Google Maps. Ariel has a long history of mapping, working on Map & Search at Yahoo in the mid 2000s. Sponsor: PlanetFind more about accessing Planet's high resolution & high frequency images About ArielTwitterLinkedInHivemapperShownotesElon Musk by Walter Isaacson (Affiliate Link)Econ 102 with Noah Smith: https://www.youtube.com/@ECON102PodcastTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (02:29) - Sponsor: Planet (03:43) - Ariel describes himself (05:59) - Steve Jobs influence (07:30) - Leaving Yahoo (11:32) - Importance of owning the collected data (14:15) - Hivemapper (25:53) - Incentivizing contributions (30:42) - So, Why crypto? (33:23) - Public distrust of crypto (39:16) - Building trust with contributors (46:40) - Regulations & Privacy (51:14) - Turning images into maps (01:06:04) - Customer base (01:16:26) - Bike support? (01:19:11) - Most interesting users (01:22:31) - Future predictions (01:26:10) - Collaborating with car manufacturers (01:27:47) - Book & podcast (01:31:51) - Changes in Journalism Support the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Best of 2023: 12 Conversations About Maps, Satellite Images & Tech - MBM#57

Dec 15, 2023 1 hr 25 min

It's the end of the year, so time for Christmas sweaters & looking back on the year through 12 conversations ranging from advice for people wanting to build things, discussing academia & companies, thinking about the roles of maps in the world and many others. Support the podcast & my work on Patreon Listen to the full episodes mentioned today:Harold GoddijnSean GormanCan DurukJames KillickMila LulevaIain WoodhouseJed SundwallJavier de la TorreEste GeraghtyRenny BabiartzHongwei LiuSteve BrumbyTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:15) - Consider Supporting my Work on Patreon (02:49) - Harold Goddijn - Advice for Ambitious People (09:41) - Sean Gorman - Not Everyone needs to code (14:26) - Can Duruk - Making Maps Fun (19:32) - James Killick - Why Apple Got Into Maps (33:00) - Mila Luleva - Academia & Private Sector (38:33) - Iain Woodhouse - Teaching Satellite Image's Military History (46:48) - Jed Sundwall - ChatGPT's impact on Open Data (57:10) - Javier de la Torre - Policies are 10 years behind the science (01:00:10) - Este Geragthy - The Story behind John Hopkins Covid Dashboard (01:05:23) - Renny Babiartz - The Nuance in Communicating Findings (01:11:48) - Hongwei Liu - Indoor Mapping (01:15:58) - Steve Brumby - Maps Against Greenwashing (01:24:26) - Outro Support the podcast on PatreonMy satellite image introduction videoMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterMax edited this episode this time so... follow me!

Jason Boone: Animating Maps for a Living, Working with Johnny Harris & Joining a Tech Startup - #MBM56

Dec 1, 2023 1 hr 37 min

Jason Boone runs the Boone Loves Videos YouTube Channel with nearly 100k subscribers, teaching people visual effects & map animations. This led him to work with some of the biggest YouTubers out there, including Johnny Harris. We talked about running an online business teaching people map animations, using maps to tell stories and Jason's recent dive into tech startups. Sponsor: PlanetFind more about accessing Planet's high resolution & high frequency images AboutTwitterLinkedInJason’s Youtube channel: Boone Loves VideosShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Jack JoyceJohnny HarrisGoogle Earth StudioThe Origins of European Imperialism by Johnny Harris“How Johnny Harris rewrites history” by Present PastMapalEvery Frame a paintingBook & Podcast recommendationVagabonding (Affiliate Link)This American Life Documentary SeriesRange by David Epstein (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction (00:44) - Sponsor: Planet (01:58) - How would you describe yourself (04:22) - Jason's path to becoming a YouTuber (12:43) - Documentary itch (15:43) - Maps! (21:30) - Geo layers (24:07) - Leaning into a niche (27:40) - Getting the data you need to tell a story (32:02) - Working with Johnny Harris (36:49) - Telling Stories (40:37) - Travelling through maps (43:05) - Joining a tech startup (43:16) - Felt (45:22) - Income as a freelancer (54:54) - Helping others get jobs (56:09) - A story of respecting Johny Harris (59:52) - Tech Startups (01:03:04) - Youtubers also run startups (01:05:14) - Current YouTube landscape (01:06:54) - Do I need film school? (01:10:16) - One hit wonders of YouTubers (01:13:32) - YouTube algorithm (01:15:06) - Jason's relationship to analytics (01:16:50) - Advice for content creators (01:20:57) - Embracing a niche (01:24:25) - Family privacy (01:30:51) - Book & podcast recommendation (01:36:20) - Behind The Scenes available on Patreon Support the podcast on PatreonMy satellite imag...

Javier de la Torre: From Biologist to Entrepreneur, How Maps Help Preserve Biodiversity & Hosting Conferences - MBM#55

Nov 15, 2023 1 hr 22 min

Javier de la Torre started a Biologist Researcher, went on to start Vizzuality and later Carto where he is now. Javier works at the intersection mapping, software based companies & geospatial. He is also one of the founding members of the Tierra Pura Foundation focused on mitigation and adaptions tactics to climate change. Sponsor: FeltCheck out their QGIS Plugin to easily share your QGIS projects About JavierLinkedInTwitterCartoShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. VizzualityAl Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth documentaryTierra Pura FoundationAndrej Karpathy’s tweetGeospatial + AI Javier talk at Spatial Data Science ConferenceBook & Podcast recommendationFreakonomics PodcastThe Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (00:53) - Sponsor: Felt (02:19) - Javier Describes Himself (03:49) - Curiosity as a driving factor (07:16) - From Researcher to Starting a Company (14:42) - Policy is 10 years behind Science (18:04) - Solving the Worlds Biggest Problems (21:01) - Focusing on a single problem (27:38) - Carto (31:29) - Commercial viability as a key to success (39:00) - Buiding a company vs Doing the work (43:01) - So, why host a conference? (47:52) - Online vs in person community (51:13) - Geo and AI (55:46) - English is the ultimate programming language (01:05:03) - Will SQL survive? (01:13:00) - The valuable skills in a post-AI world (01:17:29) - Book/podcast - Support the podcast on Patreon - My video on an introduction to satellite images - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Hongwei Liu: What It Takes to Actually Map the Indoors, Hard Work & Finding the Right Things to Work on - MBM#54

Nov 1, 2023 1 hr 47 min

Hongwei Liu is the CEO & Co-Founder of MappedIn, a company focused on indoor mapping. I know a lot about what it takes to map the outdoor world, but little about what’s required to map indoors. That’s what this conversation is about. Episode Sponsor: SkyFi Get high resolution imagery easily, with prices up front on SkyFi.com About HongweiLinkedInTwitterShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. MappedInMaker, their free new iOS appMy conversation with James Killick3D Gaussian Splatting Github repositoryHongwei’s blogHow I got into startupsMy video on how satellite images workBook & podcast recommendation:Hardcore HistoryThe Catcher in the Rye (Amazon Affiliate)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction (01:03) - Sponsor: SkyFi (02:13) - Hongwei Describes Himself (04:45) - "Accidentally" Starting a company (08:15) - Solving a technological vs a people problem (10:21) - Starting a business as students (13:45) - Sales is about convincing people (17:50) - Continuing to experiment (21:42) - What does it actually take to map the indoors? (26:32) - Maps vs Models (28:01) - Why do we even need good indoor maps? (34:58) - An indoor approach to Tesla's mapping (41:04) - All Privacy aside, what would it take to automate indoor mapping? (45:39) - Making a free mapping app (48:25) - Product vs Sales lead companies (01:02:12) - "Only the paranoid survive" (01:06:15) - AR/VR (01:09:35) - Hongwei's hard work ethic (01:11:05) - Unconventional path (01:16:42) - Difficulty of finding your own lane (01:21:38) - Grinding for the people that coming after (01:25:21) - Faith (01:28:45) - Visiting China (01:34:50) - Misunderstandings through language (01:40:22) - Leveraging the internet (01:43:16) - Book & Podcast Recommendations (01:45:29) - Consider supporting me on Patreon - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his...

Sean Gorman: Startups, Coding Isn't for Everyone, Finding What (& with whom) to work on - MBM#53

Oct 15, 2023 1 hr 45 min

Sean Gorman is currently on his 4th start-up, Zephr, working on improving smartphone location. Previously he worked on 3D mapping (acquired by Snap), mapping fibre optics infrastructure (and caught the NAS's attention as a grad student). I was recently in Colorado and got to spend a few days with Sean, at the end of which we recorded a conversation about building great teams, finding what to work on and building businesses around maps Sponsor: Felt Try out collaborative online mapping with Felt Check out their Youtube Channel for walkthroughs of their latest features About Sean TwitterLinkedInShownotes Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. We recorded this conversation right after SatCamp, that we mentioned a few timesMatthew Ball EssaysZephrBook & Podcast RecommendationsRadiolabHard ForkNew York Times DailyMalazan Book of the Fallen 01: Garden of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Affiliate Link)Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (00:48) - Sponsor: Felt (01:53) - Sean Describes Himself (05:22) - Accidentally becoming an entrepreneur (11:36) - Ending up in front of the NSA as a grad student (25:33) - Propelled into starting a company as a grad student (30:45) - Not Everybody has to code (35:40) - Base, Hits or Bunts: A Baseball Analogy to start-up exits (41:15) - VC vs Angel investing (45:02) - Deciding what to work on (59:25) - Building a library of ideas (01:02:35) - Sean's current project: Zephr (01:11:05) - Smartphone location information isn't that good (01:18:51) - How do you solve the trust problem (01:26:33) - Advice for people wanting to build things (01:29:39) - Building a Good Team (01:33:35) - Gravitating towards small teams (01:37:37) - Predictions on the AR market (01:40:15) - Podcast/book recommendation - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find m...

Harold Goddijn: The Full Story of TomTom, Selling Millions of Devices, the impact of the iPhone & mapping today - MBM#52

Oct 1, 2023 1 hr 27 min

Harold Goddijn is one of the co-founders & the CEO of TomTom. TomTom has pivoted many times, from it's beginnings making PDA software in the early 90s, stumbling onto map applications, building its own hardware to millions of devices sold in a day, to its current form today. TomTom is a fascinating company in the mapping industry and I'm excited to share a conversation with the person leading it all, Harold Goddijn. Episode Sponsor: SkyFi Get high resolution imagery easily, with prices up front on SkyFi.com About HaroldLinkedInTomTomShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. PsionTomTom GoThe Overture Maps FoundationMy interview with Mark Prioleau the Executive Director of OvertureBooks & Podcast Recommendations:Napoleon: A concise biography from Davis A. Bell. (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction (00:58) - Sponsor: SkyFi (02:07) - Harold describes himself (03:49) - Being an entrepreneur (06:53) - TomTom in the early days (11:26) - Why get into mapping in the early days? (17:41) - Technical hurdles to mapping (21:06) - The not-so-smooth relationship with data providers (25:55) - The 2000s down turn (28:52) - Launching TomTom Go (30:11) - From a downturn to sudden growth (33:31) - Going IPO without raising capital (35:18) - 2008 was a rough year (41:40) - Pivoting the company (45:35) - What is TomTom today? (47:42) - The challenges of making maps today (53:04) - Working with car manufacturers (56:44) - Products for entreprises vs consumers (01:00:53) - One map to rule them all? (01:05:12) - How does TomTom make money while providing a free map? (01:07:07) - Why collaboration with Meta, Amazon & Microsoft? (01:08:04) - What is Harold excited about for the future? (01:12:27) - Mapping attracts many people (01:14:59) - Appreciating beautiful maps (01:16:03) - Advice for entrepreneurs (01:22:55) - Book/podcast recommendation - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcas...

James Killick: Why Did Apple get into Maps? (And how they got there) - MBM#51

Sep 15, 2023 2 hr 0 min

James Killick worked at Apple from 2013 to 2022 on the Maps team and has worked in mapping for the past 40 years. I've been wondering why Apple has gotten so much into Maps; Google makes sense to me, they're just the same ad business as search, but on a map. So, why -and how- did Apple get into Map? Sponsor: Felt Try out collaborative online mapping with Felt Check out their Youtube Channel for walkthroughs of their latest features About JamesLinkedInTwitterShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Map HappeningsTim Cook apologises for Apple Maps (2012)The Underlying Angst of Google Maps and Apple MapsBook & podcast recommendations:Build by Tony Fadell (Affiliate Link)Daring FireballDitheringLex FridmanTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:15) - Sponsor: Felt (02:20) - James Describes Himself (04:37) - Car navigation in 1985 (12:25) - Etak's customers (14:33) - Analog Maps (22:22) - From Analog to Digital (29:07) - MapQuest's business model: Ads on a map (32:36) - MapQuest after the Dot Com Bubble (41:28) - The Origins of Apple Maps (45:04) - Shortcomings with Google's data (46:29) - Apple wanting full control of their own maps (47:36) - Justifying the costs of owning everything (51:11) - A Rocky Apple Maps launch (54:24) - James's role joining Apple in 2013 (59:45) - Indoor mapping (01:02:29) - Crafted vs automated approaches (01:06:38) - The OpenStreetMap approach (01:10:56) - Contribution vs Curation (01:15:09) - So why does Apple have Apple Maps? (01:19:25) - Would Apple move towards more advertising? (01:27:41) - Anti-consumerism in Apple's products (01:29:39) - Shortcomings of Google's model (01:31:51) - Apple Maps reviews (01:34:51) - Incentivizing contributions (01:41:08) - Michelin Stars comparison (01:46:36) - Apple's Spatial computing (01:52:11) - Books/podcasts (01:57:19) - James' blog: Map Happenings - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read P...

Aravind Ravichandran: From Images to Actions: An Introduction to Earth Observation - MBM#50

Sep 1, 2023 1 hr 32 min

Aravind Ravichandran is the founder of TerraWatch Space, where he does consulting and strategy with the goal, in his words, to demystify Earth Observation. This is an introduction to the 5 layers Aravind identifies as making the Earth Observation industry. Aravind writes one of the most popular newsletter gathering the latest news and featuring deep dives analysing the industry. We also hosts a podcast -albeit on pause at the moment- so was the perfect person to discuss Earth Observation at a high level. Episode Sponsor: SkyFi Get high resolution imagery easily, with prices up front on SkyFi.com About Aravind TwitterLinkedInTerraWatch spaceAravind's NewsletterAravind's podcastShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. This conversation is based around Aravind's State of Earth Observation deep diveAravind's previous appearance on Minds Behind MapsMy interview with Andrew BlumSentinel HubMy interview with Grega, the founder of Sentinel Hub on building a platform for satellite imageryGlobal Forest WatchForest Pulse: The Latest on the World's ForestsESA WorldCover Land Use Land Cover mapFlight Radar 24Book & podcast recommendationsTo Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink (Affiliate Link)The Weather Machine by Andrew Blum (Affiliate Link)The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg (Affiliate Link)How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates (Affiliate Link)Lenny's podcastTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:00) - Sponsor: SkyFi (02:10) - Explaining Earth Observation from scratch (03:57) - Why do we need satellites in the first place? (05:43) - Why not use ground measurements? (08:22) - What happens after satellites take images? (11:55) - 5 Layers of satellite imagery (12:24) - Layer 1: Data (13:50) - Layer 2: Platform (18:35) - A Streaming App Analogy to Platforms (20:55) - Layer 3: Analytics (23:10) - Edge Computing (24:37) - Layer 4: Insights (28:12) - Layer 5: Application (31:42) - What is TerraWatch? (39:15)...

Steve Brumby: Governments Need Better Maps, Impact Observatory, Descartes Labs & National Geographic - MBM#49

Aug 15, 2023 1 hr 44 min

Steve Brumby is the founder & CTO of Impact Observatory, a company working on providing rapid land cover maps anywhere on Earth. He puts it as wanting to provide "the maps the US takes for granted, all around the globe". Steve was also a co-founder & the CTO at Descartes Labs and worked at National Geographic. --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Steve Brumby TwitterLinkedInShownotesAlexnet WikipediaImageNetProf Fei-Fei LiRoadrunner supercomputerIBM's Cell-based Roadrunner is world's fastest (2008)Mediations: A Requiem for Descartes Labs by Mark Johnson2015 Bloomberg article on Descartes Labs Corn predictionImpact ObservatoryPromptpod podcastTrue Names by Vernor Vinge (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:37) - Sponsor (03:17) - How would you describe yourself (04:07) - Academia vs Entrepreneurship (05:21) - The urge to implement (12:03) - The rise of Deep Learning in Computer Vision after AlexNet (17:24) - Making a Dataset Equivalent to how much a Human Eye Sees (18:50) - A SuperComputer made of PlayStation 3s (22:17) - Descartes Labs (28:25) - Working at National Geographic (41:06) - Rate of Innovation in different organisations (47:53) - The Cost of Raising Venture Capital (53:30) - Difference between Impact / Angel and VC investors (01:00:17) - Impact Observatory (01:04:45) - Working with the United Nations & US Government (01:13:47) - Greenwashing (01:19:59) - Trust in government/private company (01:22:01) - Validation work (01:28:08) - Communicating Uncertainty (01:30:20) - What are you excited about (01:37:27) - Book/podcast Recommendation (01:41:17) - Googling as the early prompt engineering - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Robert Cheetham & Dan Pilone: Building Businesses that Last, Bootstrapping & Acquisitions - MBM#48

Aug 1, 2023 2 hr 20 min

Robert Cheetham is the founder of Azavea, founded all the way back in 2000 and Dan Pilone one of the founders of Element84, started in 2010. Recently Element84 acquired Azavea to expand from large scale computing to also analysis. I wanted to talk to Robert & Dan about why they went for an acquisition and why now, if both companies had both been around for so long. Both companies also have not taken outside investment, which made this acquisition all the more interesting Support the podcast on Patreon About Dan & Robert Dan's LinkedInRobert's LinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Element84AzaveaDan's Previous Appearance on Minds Behind MapsB-Corporation CertificationBook & Podcast RecommendationsThinking In Bets by Annie Duke (Affiliate Link)Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Affiliate Link)Mike Duncan: History Of RomeMike Duncan: RevolutionsEnlightenment Now by Steven Pinker (Affiliate Link)The better Angles of Our Nature (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (03:05) - How would you describe yourself? (04:26) - What is Element84 today? (08:13) - History of Element84 (10:43) - From Landscaping & Japanese Studies to Starting a Software Company (24:57) - What prompted Robert to start a business (29:00) - From Solo Entrepreneur to Building a Team (32:56) - From Desktop GIS to Developing Open Source Tools (42:09) - Building Companies that Last (53:43) - Why a B-corp? (01:01:53) - What is a B-corp? (01:07:39) - Why An Acquisition? (01:29:42) - What does the future look like for Element 84? (01:41:16) - Balance Long Term Thinking with the Urgency of Climate Change (01:49:56) - Beyond Geospatial? (01:56:39) - Deciding on a Company Strategy (01:59:57) - What are Robert & Dan Excited about for the Future? (02:14:28) - Book and podcast Recommendations - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter X...

Este Geraghty: The Importance of Mapping Diseases & Health - MBM#47

Jul 15, 2023 1 hr 24 min

Dr Este Geraghty is the Chief Medical Officer at Esri, a former Deputy Director of the California Department of Public Health and a certified public health professional; so the perfect person to talk about how we map diseases, health and all the support around medical care. Este also wrote a book about the learning of mapping applied to covid, which we discuss. Support the podcast on Patreon --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Este - Twitter - LinkedIn - Esri Profile ShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Ensheng (Frank) DongJohn Hopkins Covid map (discontinued)Lauren GardnerEste's book: Learnings from Covid-19 (Amazon Affiliate)Bill Gates Ted Talk: The next outbreak? We're not readyBook & Podcast recommendations:Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner (Amazon Affiliate)Public Health Podcast Network by Dr April MorenoTimestamps (00:00) - Introducing Este (02:52) - Este describing herself (03:25) - How do you describe the work that you do? (05:43) - Why work in Health? (08:22) - How has being a practitioner helped you? (11:19) - Communication in public health (13:53) - Open data vs privacy (16:47) - Anonymising data (18:41) - Geography vs GIS: Is there a difference? (19:39) - The Power of Visualising Data (21:39) - The Covid Map viewed Trillion of times (26:28) - Open data, why not also use open tools? (28:23) - Learnings From Covid-19: Este's Book (32:01) - Contact Tracing (36:35) - Role of private sector (40:42) - Prevention is Hard (45:30) - Has Covid made it easier to Advocate for Public Health (48:11) - Funding Going Down as Covid Slowly Stops (50:52) - End of the Covid Dashboard (51:52) - Keeping a Positive Mindset (55:58) - Este's current preoccupations (58:21) - Satellite Imagery (01:01:45) - One Health (01:03:46) - Clim...

Can Duruk: Felt, Making Maps Fun & Collaborative - MBM#46

Jul 1, 2023 1 hr 21 min

Can Duruk is the co-founder & CTO at Felt, a company working on bringing maps to the browser. In Can's own words they want to make maps fun and collaborative. Think of Felt as the Figma or Notion of Maps. Episode Sponsor: satellite-image-deep-learning newsletter To keep up with all things satellite images & deep learning, follow Robin Cole's newsletter here About Can TwitterLinkedInShownotes (Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books) - Felt - Check all the shownotes on a Felt map - Westchester Land Trust - The World Bank using Felt - Bicycle & Pedestrian planning - QGIS & Felt - Read Margins, Can's newsletter Book & Podcast Recommendation: Captialisn'tNotes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen (Affiliate Link)My Dad Wrote a PornoTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:37) - Sponsor: satelitte-image-deep-learning (02:26) - Can Describes Himself (03:30) - What is Felt? (04:11) - Making Maps Fun (and Why That's Important) (06:27) - Building Something the Feels Fun (09:21) - Why Maps Specifically? (13:30) - The Story of Felt (15:13) - Working with First Responders (18:04) - Making Maps Collaborative (21:37) - Unexpected Technical Problems (25:34) - Dealing with User Input Data (29:09) - Browser-based mapping (34:27) - Figma set the stage (35:21) - Anything that can be built on the web ultimately will (36:25) - Technical Details of Building Felt (43:18) - Where does the name come from? (44:43) - felt.com (46:34) - Target audience (52:42) - Can's Favorite Felt Use Cases (54:38) - Shownotes brought to you by Can (55:16) - Make maps for everyone (56:57) - Having a vision (58:19) - QGIS partnership (01:03:13) - Writing Online (01:06:27) - Can's Twitter (01:08:25) - Languages (01:09:49) - Thinking Differently in Different Languages (01:11:06) - Coming to the US (01:12:31) - Does Felt work in multiple languages? (01:15:30) - Book/podcast recom...

Zhuang-Fang Nana Yi: Satellite Imagery to Solve Local Problems - MBM#45

Jun 15, 2023 1 hr 22 min

Zhuang-Fang Nana Yi is a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Regrow, though today's conversation is about her story from going to school not speaking the language, to mapping rubber tree plantations and ultimately using global satellite imagery methods to solve local problems. Support the podcast on Patreon --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Zhuang-Fang: LinkedInTwitterShownotes Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Qiusheng Wu's TwitterZhuang-Fang's artBook & Podcast recommendations:The Alchemy of Air by Thomas Hager (Affiliate Link)Know My Name by Chanel Miller (Affiliate Link)No Filter by Sarah Frier (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (02:17) - Sponsor: OpenCage (03:57) - Conversation Begins: Zhuang-Fang presents herself (07:34) - Nana's Story (13:01) - Going to a Chinese school without speaking Chinese (17:57) - From wanting to be a doctor to geography (22:57) - Picking up English (28:27) - Working with Limited English (30:20) - Rubber Trees: A Geopolitical Tool (36:35) - Working with Local Governments (38:24) - Process for change (42:38) - Navigating financial incentives (47:32) - International collaboration vs Chinese gov (55:41) - Work as a data engineer (58:20) - On the ground vs Satellites (01:01:06) - Data alone doesn't lead to action (01:02:28) - Art (01:09:55) - Art in China vs US (01:12:23) - AI Art (01:17:38) - Book & Podcast Recommendations - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Jed Sundwall: Making Open Data Actually Accessible (in a world with ChatGPT) - MBM#44

Jun 1, 2023 1 hr 31 min

Jed Sundwall is the Executive Director of Radiant Earth, and formerly worked on creating AWS's Open Data Registry, starting by putting Landsat images and then other Earth Observation datasets on the cloud. Radiant Earth is an NGO focused on making geospatial data more accessible, specifically for Machine Learning applications. Support the Podcast on Patreon to prevent ChatGPT from ruining traffic to these conversations, taking over the world and crushing all of humanity; or just because you like my work, that's fine too About Jed LinkedInTwitterRadiant EarthShownotes Genome Aggregation DatabaseCommon CrawlAmazon's Open Data RegistryThe Naive Origins of the Clouds Optimized GeoTIFFRadiant Earth Announces New Initiatives to Accelerate Sharing of Earth Science Datacogeo.orgStack Overflow Will Charge AI Giants For Training DataChatGPT is the fastest growing app in the history of Internet applicationsThe end of the English MajorBook & Podcast recommendations:Seeing Like a State by James C Scott: (Affiliate Link)Analogia by George Dyson: (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:36) - Patreon (05:40) - From Humanities to Tech (06:45) - Marketing (09:39) - Amazon (14:01) - AWS's business rationale for hosting free data (17:16) - History of Amazon Opening Up Data (18:39) - Common Crawl (23:09) - How Earth Observation became a big part of AWS's Open Registry (25:09) - How Cloud Optimized Geotiffs Started (29:56) - Increasing adoption worldwide (31:26) - How Sentinel ended up on AWS (33:26) - Challenges working with non-American companies (37:17) - What does open and free actually mean? (42:24) - Marketing Open Data (43:39) - CERN opening up their data... and nobody knows how to use it (46:18) - Copernicus Program (49:16) - Work at Radiant Earth (52:43) - Mission statement (01:00:59) - ChatGPT is Changing the value of Data (01:03:58) - Twitter (01:07:09) - Census Data Would be easier to get if we could pay for it (01:11:33) - Search Engine Optimization for ChatGP...

Marc Prioleau: The Overture Maps Foundation: Do We Need a New Open Mapping Project? - MBM#43

May 16, 2023 1 hr 38 min

Marc Prioleau is the newly appointed Executive Director to the Overture Maps Foundation (at the date this episode comes out). Overture was originally announced in December 2022, founded by Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and TomTom, with the goal of providing a open map data. That sounds a lot like what OpenStreetMap set out to achieve... so why start something new? Marc has some answers to that question, and it isn't his first time thinking about the future of mapping Support the podcast on Patreon --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Marc LinkedInTwitterOverture Maps FoundationShownotes Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Overture Maps FoundationSegment Anythingsegment-geospatialTackle the monkey firstBooks & Podcast recommendationsNever lost again by Bill Kilday (Affiliate Link)The Good Fight podcastTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:42) - Sponsorship: OpenCage (03:22) - Conversation begins (06:10) - From Chemical Engineering to Mapping (09:00) - Early Days of GPS: Innovating despite Limitations (11:02) - Having a Long Term Vision (13:12) - Science Fiction as a Tool to Imagine the Future (14:07) - Defining the Overture Maps Foundation (17:56) - But OpenStreetMap already Exists, why make something new? (22:54) - Artist vs Merchant Analogy (27:23) - Companies already are involved in OSM (30:38) - Users don't care how their map was made (33:05) - The face of updates keeps increasing (35:22) - 10 years ago you'd be lucky to have an Estimated Time of Arrival (40:06) - Overture's value: Data or Tools? (44:32) - New tools: Example of Segment Anything (46:35) - Why a Foundation rather than a For Profit? (51:28) - Open means wider adoption (51:28) - Open means wider adoption (55:07) - Google & Apple aren't a part of Overture (59:22) - There are precedents to map "domination" (01:03:18) - Making Decis...

Grega Milčinski: The Story of Sentinel Hub, EO Browser & Sinergise: Making Free & Open Satellite Imagery Actually Accessible - MBM#42

May 1, 2023 1 hr 17 min

Grega Milčinski is the founder of Sinergise, the company behind Sentinel Hub & EO Browser which recently got acquired by Planet. While the deal of the acquisition isn't closed just yet at the time of publishing, we discuss the story behind Sinergise, how it's more of an engineering than remote sensing company and why they decided to get acquired. Support the podcast on Patreon --- Episode Sponsor: Steven Feldman Geomob podcastJérémy Garniaux - MapstodonMappery.orgMy favouriteSteven's favourite--- About Grega: LinkedInSinergiseShownotes Planet to acquire SinergiseHorizon EuropeEO BrowserSentinel PlaygroundPostcards from SpaceBBC article using Copernicus imagery to track Penguin coloniesTwitter thread breaking down how lost hiker was foundBook recommendations:Ready Player One by Cline Ernest: (Affiliate Link)Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (02:05) - Sponsor: Steven Feldman (03:16) - Conversation Begins, Grega Describing Himself (04:51) - Addressing the recent acquisition by Planet (07:27) - A Physicist Who Didn't Finish his Studies (12:28) - The Origin Story of Sinergise (23:12) - How Copernicus Data Got Managed by Sinergise (27:05) - Sinergise's ties to agriculture projects (30:27) - Machine Learning (34:32) - Sinergise's 2022 revenue (36:09) - Sentinel Hub's business model (39:27) - Sentinel Hub's Value is Easy Access (42:09) - Marketplaces are hard (49:30) - The story of EO Browser (55:24) - EO browser as a marketing tool (57:46) - Grega's favourite Sentinel Hub Use Cases (01:00:52) - Community & Hosting Competitions (01:04:31) - Money Talk: Bootstrapping (01:08:08) - Why Get Acquired (by Planet) (01:12:28) - Book/podcast recommendation - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Mila Luleva: Why Would a Bank Care About Satellite Images? (Spoiler: It's Carbon Credits) - MBM#41

Apr 15, 2023 1 hr 13 min

Mila Luleva is the Head of Remote Sensing at Rabobank, the 2nd biggest bank in the Netherlands. Specifically she works on the Acorn Initiative which aims at supporting small holder farmers transition to more sustainable agriculture practices by selling carbon credits for the biomass these farmers produce. Carbon credits are a messy, complicated and often times controversial topic, all of which I wanted to ask Mila about. --- Episode Sponsor: Geoawesomeness Read their 2023 Global Top 100 Geospatial Companies List --- About Mila: LinkedInRabobankShownotes Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. RabobankProject AcornAcorn methodology for Quantifying Carbon BenefitsBook & Podcast RecommendationSteve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson (Affiliate Link)Jay Shetty PodcastTimestamps (00:00) - Introduction (01:29) - Sponsor: Geoawesomeness (02:14) - Conversation begins: Mila Describes Herself (04:10) - Mila's Motivations (05:50) - So why does a Bank care about Satellite Imagery? (10:01) - Some of the Bank's Inner Workings (12:08) - The Acorn Initiative (16:00) - Small Holder Farmers (17:46) - Carbon Removal Units (20:09) - Monoculture & Agroforestry (22:57) - The Farmers Financial Incentives (26:37) - Scale of the Acorn Initiative (29:15) - Biomass Estimation (the reason for satellite data) (32:26) - External Certification (35:51) - The Challenge of Segmenting Small Farm Parcels (42:51) - Hiring & The Team (45:54) - Mila's Role (47:50) - Banks Still Need to Make Money (53:35) - Quality (55:52) - Navigating the Carbon Credits Scandals (59:09) - Leaving academia (01:02:59) - Open Source & Transparency (01:06:28) - Slow Nature of Peer Review (01:08:49) - Book & Podcast recommendation - Support the podcast on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Renny Babiarz: Exposing China's Nuclear Testing - MBM#40

Apr 1, 2023 1 hr 48 min

Renny Babiarz is a former Analyst at the NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) and the VP of Analysis & Operations at AllSource Analysis, a company focused on providing geospatial Intelligence investigations. One of the angles of Renny's work is better understanding China's Nuclear testing using satellite imagery, Open Source Intelligence methods & location data. --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- Support the podcast on Patreon About Renny: TwitterLinkedInAllSource AnalysisShownotesAllSource2021 NPR Report “A New Tunnel is Spotted At a Chinese Nuclear Test Site”Jeffrey Lewis InterviewWashington Post Chine Nuclear Missile Silo ArticleRenny's bookBooks & Podcast recommendations:The RealignmentMaking Sense by Sam HarrisIndustry (could not find it!)China Built the Bomb by John W Lewis & Litai Xue (Affiliate Link)Flipping the tables, Max's book & podcasts:Lex FridmanJoe RoganKanye West on Lex Fridman“La Horde du Contrevent” by Alain Damasio (Affiliate Link)Timestamps (00:00) Introduction 02:51) Conversation starts: Renny's Journey with the NGA (12:45) AllSource's work (15:55) Defining Open & Proprietary (18:42) Deciding which Analysis to publish (23:12) Researching China's Nuclear Program (29:43) How Projects Get Started (34:39) Starting from Known Areas of Interest (37:50) Automating Change Detection (42:20) The Importance of Communicating Nuance (48:13) Misinformation vs Disinformation (51:21) The Hard Execrcise of Social Media Communication (55:21) Twitter (57:08) Sources & 'Peer Review' (01:03:19) Working with Outside Analysts (01:10:03) Teaching Geospatial Intelligence (01:13:09) Teaching Soft Skills & Communications (01:18:33) Renny's book (01:23:52) Importance of staying hands on (01:27:59) Micromanaging (01:30:23) Book and podcast recommendation (01:35:32) Flipping the tables: Max's Book & Podcast recommendation - Support the po...

Kuo-Yu 'Slayer' Chuang: Leveraging Taiwan's Unique Infrastructure to Support Disaster Response - MBM#39

Mar 15, 2023 1 hr 56 min

Kuo-Yu 'Slayer' Chuang is the co-founder of GeoThings, a Taiwanese company leveraging SMS to share GPS location, images & any useful information for disaster response. He was also on the board of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team; and has focused on applying mapping to supporting humanitarian endeavours mostly in Asia. --- Episode Sponsor: GeoAwesomeness & UP42 EO Hub Geoawesomeness UP42 --- Support the podcast on Patreon About Slayer: TwitterLinkedInGeoThingsShownotes: Cell Tower data source (used in the intro animation): OpenCellidGeoThingsCrisisMappersAsian Development BankOpen GeoSMS StandardHOT: Humanitarian OpenStreetMap TeamITRI: Industrial Technology Research InstituteLineBook Podcast (and games) recommendations:BBC PodcastsXbox Game PassTimestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:20) Conversation starts: Slayer describes himself (07:47) Tech, Preparation & Emergency Situations (12:18) Deciding what to work on (16:56) From Idea to Application (22:03) Focusing on Humanitarian Applications (26:17) Apps are only useful if people have phones (31:42) Mobile App or SMS? (33:30) Aggregating data (Command center) (36:25) Dealing with Sensitive Data (40:25) Emergency phone notifications (42:27) Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (48:54) State of OpenStreetMap (& open source) in Taiwan (53:44) Language barrier in Open Source & Programming (58:26) Line, the most popular app in Taiwan (01:05:55) Tech literacy (01:11:06) Taiwan's jump directly to mobile (01:16:22) Social Enterprise Company (01:19:40) The Incentives of a Social Entreprise (01:24:19) GeoThing's Business Model (01:27:46) Long term support (01:36:42) Geopolitics of working in Taiwan (01:47:57) Book/podcast (& games) recommendations (01:52:04) Sidetrack conversation on Xbox's business model (01:54:49) Launching a Patreon - Support on Patreon - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Benjamin Grant: Generating Awe and Using Satellite Images to Inspire Millions - MBM#38

Feb 1, 2023 1 hr 27 min

Benjamin Grant is the founder of Overview, which started as a project of sharing 1 satellite image per day on Instagram, now to an audience of nearly 1.5 million. It has since turned into books, exhibitions and collaboration with huge brands like Louis Vuitton; all in an effort to showcase Earth using satellite images. --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Benjamin: Overview's websiteDaily Overview on InstagramLinkedIn Shownotes Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Overview by Planetary CollectivePlanetary Collective's TwitterBenjamin's Books on Amazon (Affiliate Links)Timelapse (2020)Overview: A New Perspective on Earth (2016)Books & Podcast recommendations:Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman (Affiliate Link)Lex Fridman's podcast Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 03:01 Conversation begins: Benjamin describes himself 04:42 What is Overview? 06:50 The Origin Story of Overview 21:43 The serendipitous value of unexpected software use 25:20 Is it Photography or Curation? 32:23 Talking about Climate, without being Doom and Gloom all the time 36:24 Overview's Access to Images; Partnerships & Collaboration with image providers 50:01 Thinking of satellite images like a photographer 54:10 The Louis Vuitton collaboration 01:00:53 Financials: How does a business like Overview run? 01:04:47 Using anything else than optical? 01:09:50 Having a specific audience in mind when sharing something 01:14:17 Changing formats in social media 01:18:28 Feedback from people following Daily Overview 01:21:57 Books and podcast recommendation 01:25:15 Benjamin's collaboration offer to the industry Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Iain Woodhouse: Understanding Radar Satellite Images - MBM#37

Jan 15, 2023 1 hr 54 min

Iain Woodhouse is a Professor of Applied Earth Observation at the University of Edinburgh, the author of multiple books & course on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and one of the best people to explain radar remote sensing with decades of experience teaching but also working in the industry. --- Episode Sponsor: GeoAwesomeness & UP42 EO Hub Geoawesomeness UP42 --- About Iain TwitterLinkedInBlogIain's current course on Earth Observation at the University of EdinburghShownotes Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books. Introduction to Microwave Remote Sensing (Affiliate Link)Echoes in Space MOOC by ESAHow Earth Observation Ends: or, Everything you wanted to know about typing pools but were afraid to ask.Earthblox101 Tips for PhD Students: (Affiliate link)Book & Podcast recommendationThinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Affiliate Link)Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (Affiliate Link)Harvard Business Review Podcast Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 02:03 Conversation Begins: Getting Into Earth Observation 07:30 Remote Sensing in the 80s 10:25 NASA's Inspirational Power 13:47 The Moment Iain Knew He Wanted to Become An Educator 16:10 Free Education 19:11 Explaining SAR from the beginning 24:56 The 'Intuitive' Way of Understanding SAR 29:08 The Most Interesting Aspects of SAR 37:20 Comparing Optical to Radar 40:17 SAR's Military History 45:48 Military Contracts Subsidise Commercial SAR 49:35 The Impact of New Space on SAR 52:41 The trendline of SAR 57:41 What most excites Iain in Earth Observation today 01:01:44 Earthblox 01:03:57 Who is Earthblox for? 01:05:33 Earthblox's business model 01:08:37 Open Source & Closed Platforms 01:13:58 Closed Platforms in an Educational setting 01:20:04 Typing Pools: Automation Is Coming 01:30:30 Having a foot in Academia & Industry 01:35:59 The Importance of Art 01:40:51 Fostering creativity for scientific people...

2022 Recap: Best Moments From Conversations this Year - MBM#36

Jan 1, 2023 1 hr 16 min

As 2022 wraps up, I wanted to bring some of the most insightful moments from conversations over the past year: 12 clips from 12 conversations. --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:32 Steve Coast: The Next Thing that would Blow Up Openstreetmap 06:39 Barbara Ryan: How Landsat Became Free & Open 17:52 Jeffrey Lewis: Calling Out the Invasion of Ukraine an hour before it happened 23:47 Arjen Vrielink: Using Remote Sensing to Prevent Deforestation 32:07 Indra Den Bakker: Finding Product Market Fit with Satellite Image Analytics 37:49 Jeff Crusey: How Venture Capitalism Works (Applied to Earth Observation) 44:01 Mo Islam: Why Investors Don't Quite Understand Earth Observation Just Yet 50:46 Kevin Pomfret: Why Law Makers Don't Understand Geospatial 54:50 Andrew Blum: Concerns About the Privatisation of Weather Forecasting 58:32 Hamed Alemohammad: Difference Between Google Earth Engine, Microsoft Planetary Computer & AWS 01:03:47 Catherine Nakalembe: Food Security is More than Food in Stores 01:10:00 Jean Martin Bauer: We Need More than Knowing Where Food is Needed 01:15:10: Conclusion Links to full conversations: - Steve Coast - Barbara Ryan - Jeffrey Lewis - Arjen Vrielink - Indra Den Bakker - Jeff Crusey - Mo Islam - Kevin Pomfret - Andrew Blum - Hamed Alemohammad - Catherine Nakalembe - Jean-Martin Bauer Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter

Andrew Blum: Understanding How We Predict the Weather - MBM#35

Dec 15, 2022 1 hr 32 min

Andrew Blum is the author of 'The Weather Machine', which provides a history & global overview of how we predict the weather, from the data collection to forecast modelling. His book came out in 2019 so we also discuss the current evolutions & changes since its release. --- Episode Sponsor: GeoAwesomeness & UP42 EO Hub Geoawesomeness UP42 --- About Andrew: Website Twitter Shownotes: Andrew Blum's books The Weather MachineTubesMicheal Lewis, author of the Big Short Book & Podcast recommendation Tomorrow & tomorrow & tomorrow by Gabrielle ZevinThe Carbon CopyWind of ChangePatrick Radden Keefe Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:50 Andrew Presents Himself 03:46 Difference between author and journalist 08:14 Choosing What to Write About 12:35 The Goal of Writing a Book 14:34 The Importance of Going on Location 17:04 The Duality of Talking About People / Facts 20:12 Initial Email Outreach is takes a lot of care 25:37 Weather Is International Yet Competitive 27:52 Bringing An Outsiders Perspective to Understanding the Weather 32:55 Being Knowledgeable is Simply Asking Better Questions 37:36 The Difference Between Facts, and how we Find those Facts 41:13 The Need for Separating Building & Owning 45:10 Feedback on the Weather Machine, a few years After its Release 51:52 The Dangers of Privatising Weather 01:01:11 How Good do we Actually Need Forecasts to be? 01:05:23 Weather is THE mainstream Earth Observation application 01:09:00 Data Inequality in Weather Forecasting Quality 01:14:44 How Much Does it Cost to run the Weather Machine? 01:18:15 Tips on Writing & Editing, for non-writers 01:21:44 Advice for the Scientific Community 01:27:21 Book/podcast recommendation Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Hamed Alemohammad: Open Machine Learning for Satellite Imagery - MBM#34

Dec 1, 2022 1 hr 22 min

Hamed Alemohammad was the previous Executive Director of the Radiant Earth Foundation, a Non-Profit focused on building open machine learning tools & datasets for satellite imagery through projects like the ML Hub & STAC, Spatio Temporal Asset Catalog. --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Hamed - Twitter - LinkedIn ShownotesLandCoverNetPaperML Hub datasetsRadiant Earth FoundationData DrivenClark names inaugural director of Clark Labs: Center for Geospatial AnalyticsBook RecommendationAtomic Habits by James ClearTimestamps 00:00 Introduction 03:01 Hamed's Interest for Earth Observation 08:53 Joining the Radiant Earth Foundation 10:25 What is the Radiant Earth Foundation? 12:14 Why a Non-Profit? 15:34 Finances & Incentives: Where does the money come from? 19:10 Choosing to focus on Machine Learning; ML Hub 26:43 Capacity & Community Building 30:42 Only a 10 people team 34:44 Comparing to Google Earth Engine, AWS & Microsoft Planetary Computer 41:01 Making Decisions & Measuring Progress in a Non-Profit 44:12 Machine Learning Competitions & Kaggle 48:22 Challenges of Working with External Organizations 51:19 Building Models is Sexy but only a small part of Machine Learning 55:55 Who is the ML Hub build for? 57:59 From Researcher to Executive Director 01:01:37 What does being on the Board of Directors Mean? 01:06:18 Hamed's Journey from Iran to working in the US 01:11:03 Advice for people outside the US & Europe 01:15:46 The limitations of English for a truly worldwide reach Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Mo Islam: The Space Industry is Changing, So Is How It's Reported On - MBM #33

Nov 15, 2022 1 hr 26 min

Mo Islam is the Co-Founder & CEO of Payload, a Modern Media Company build around a daily newsletter reporting on the Space Industry. --- Episode Sponsor: GeoAwesomeness & UP42 EO Hub Geoawesomeness UP42 --- Shownotes: - Subscribe to Payload! - Pathfinder, their podcast - Crowdfunded SpaceX round of investment - Book & Podcast Recommendations - Engines that move markets - The Portal, Episode with Peter Thiel - For All Mankind - Payload's space-themed playlist Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 03:34 Episode Begins: From Banking to Space Media 07:41 Deciding to start a Newsletter 12:19 Doing to Media what Happened to New Space 14:21 Deciding to Focus on 'High Value Readers'' 19:50 Getting Feedback 21:52 Payload's Target Audience 31:21 Earth Observation 35:33 Challenges of Reporting on Technical Fields 38:18 What Is Worth Reporting On 43:05 Earth Observation is Tough for Investors 50:18 Information Over Opinion 55:04 What Happened to the Earth Observation SPACs 59:35 Predictions: Earth Observation companies Getting Acquired 01:01:58 Would Google or Facebook buy an EO Company? 01:05:19 Other Forms of Media & TikTok 01:09:11 The Media Funnel 01:13:27 Focus & Analogy With Software Products 01:15:34 Payload's EndGame 01:18:10 Books & Podcast Recommendations 01:22:59 Music & Other Arts Around Space 01:24:24 Pathfinder Spotify Playlist Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Daniel O'Donohue (#2): Building Mapscaping: the Biggest Geospatial Podcast, Finding What to Do in Life & Mentorship - MBM #32

Nov 1, 2022 1 hr 36 min

Daniel O'Donohue is the host of the Mapscaping Podcast, the biggest geospatial podcast out there. Over the past 5 years and 180 episode Daniel has talked to hundreds of professionals in the geospatial industry. This is his 2nd time on the podcast, since last time the podcast has grown, he's become a close friend, and recently quit his job --- Episode Sponsor: OpenCage Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to! --- About Daniel: TwitterLinkedInShownotesMapscaping podcastMy interview with Steve CoastThe million follower instagram account that only shows satellite imagesPodcast Recommendations:AkimboHidden BrainPodcast AddictFountainOvercastTimestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 03:17- Daniel's Evolution Over the Past Year 06:16 - Why Daniel Quit His Job 14:40 - Learning from Past Experiences 16:46 - Stay Motivated Over the Long Run 19:25 - Deciding To Show Up As A Professional 25:24 - Authenticity 28:49 - Editing Is Caring 30:09 - Behind The Scenes of Steve Coast's Interview 34:20 - Packaging Ideas & The Burden of Understanding 38:55 - A Piece of Unsolicited Advice 41:53 - Mentorship 45:30 - What Daniel Gets Out of Mentorship 49:04 - What I Get Out of It 52:41 - Finding Mentorship in Your Career 56:14 - What's Next For Daniel & Mapscaping? 01:01:55 - Hiring 01:07:35 - Having Been An Employee Helps Hiring 01:13:56 - Marketing in Geospatial 01:20:58 - The Million Follower Instagram Account About Satellite Images 01:25:25 - Getting Better at Communicating 01:28:20 - Daniel's Twitter Isn't His Name 01:31:48 - Podcast Recommendations 01:33:29 - Youtube is The Biggest Podcast Player (Or Is It?) Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Joshua Stevens - Visualising NASA's Satellite Imagery - MBM #31

Oct 15, 2022 1 hr 0 min

Joshua Stevens is the Lead Visualiser at NASA's Earth Observatory. Him & his team works on making satellite imagery more accessible to the general public by making visualisation of common imagery like Landsat or MODIS. --- Episode Sponsor: Geoawesomeness & UP42 EO Hub Geoawesomeness UP42 --- About Joshua: TwitterLinkedInWebsiteShownotesFEMANASA Earth ObservatoryTom PattersonBook & Podcast Recommendations:Radio LabThematic Cartography and Geovisualization Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction 02:46 - Conversation Begins: Joshua Presenting Himself 04:52 - From Photography to Computer Science 06:14 - Joshua's Current Role: Lead Visualizer at Nasa Earth Observatory 07:04 - Why are Visualisations Important 08:25 - Is it Important that the Public Understands Satellite Imagery? 11:50 - Graphic Design & Scientific Data 16:35 - Storms: Visualisation Example 18:20 - Deciding where to look at, which Stories to Tell 22:18 - Collaborations: Governmental Agencies & Media 27:20 - Accessible Designs: Colour-blindness 31:47 - A Tangent on Data Formats: NetCDF & GeoTiff 37:34 - Teaching 38:54 - Tools & Methods 42:42 - Interactive & Online Media driving different Visualisations 46:41 - Satellite Data in the Movie & Ad Industry 48:43 - Interactive Data 51:02 - Advice for People Working with Scientific Data 54:20 - Writing & Being Present Online 55:35 - Favourite Visualisations 57:46 - Books & Podcast Recommendations Feel free to reach out! - Website - My Twitter - Podcast Twitter - Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter - Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

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Podcast details

Created by: Maxime Lenormand
Status: Inactive
Latest episode: Jan 7, 2025
Episodes: 82
Release period: Every two weeks
Avg. episode length: 1 hr 30 min
Explicit: No
Language: English

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