#209 DIGTECH Tablet Program

Still Using Paper? Your Clients Aren't 

We live in a modern age of tablet mobile computing, yet, many archaeology and environmental firms are still recording field data on paper forms and then spending countless hours digitizing them in the office. Now, there's an easier way!

Tech doesn't have to be expensive

Scientists, archaeologists included, employ a number of expensive recording instruments and licensed software to accomplish their goals. These products are great for what they need to do, but the cost is prohibitive for many cash-strapped CRM Firms. There are simpler and cheaper ways to incorporate digital technology into your projects, saving up to 80% of your time in the office, and 80% of your digitizations costs.

Tablet computers come in a variety of sizes and price points. You can get an Android tablet for as little as a couple hundred dollars or go high end and get an iPad for $500 to $800 dollars. DIGTECH is working on an all-in-one archaeology application, but, in the mean time there are some great, cost-effective, third-party applications that are easy to use. 

Much of the cost associated with setting up your tablet for field use comes when project managers who are inexperienced with tablets and setting up forms try to get them ready. At s billable rate of, say, $85 per hour, a project manager can spend several days trying to figure everything out. That could cost the firm over $2000!

DIGTECH personnel are experienced and familiar with both the Android operating system and Apple's iOS operating system. We can set up a tablet for field recording, complete with forms for as little as $200 total cost.

Check out the DIGTECH Tablet Program on our website. Call or email us with your needs and we’ll work out a solution that is right for you.

With a reasonable deposit, we would consider renting tablets and accessories on a limited basis. Call us and we’ll discuss the details and work something out.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you in cyberspace!

#208 Blogging Carnival: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

From Doug's Archaeology Blog: At this year’s SAA conference there is going to be an amazing Blogging in Archaeology session [which I'm chairing, incidentally]. It has been a few years since there has been one. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the session and I know a couple of other archaeology bloggers who can’t either. My way of contributing is to widen the participation by hosting a blogging carnival (what’s a blogging carnival, click here) on archaeology and blogging. This was done for the last blogging session by Colleen and this is inspired by her work.

The Good

I've been blogging for a little over 2 1/2 years now and for the most part it's been really positive. Through the blog I engage with thousands of people on a weekly basis. As a result of the blog I've published a book, started a podcast, and enhanced my business.

The Bad

The one big downside with writing a blog is that you don't seem to receive many comments. Comments are the lifeblood of a blog. They keep you going and let you know that real people are out there. Nearly everyone involved in this blogging Carnival has said this exact same thing so I know I'm not alone here. I wish the different blogging sites, I use Squarespace, had a way to indicate that someone read the post, and, actually read it all the way through to the end. If you're not going to leave a comment, I’d at least like to know that you read the whole thing. Unless you're writing a journal, most of us write blogs to relay some sort of information or to help people out in some way. If it feels like we're talking to the wall then we can get disheartened and stop writing altogether, which has happened to a lot of people.

The Ugly

I've been fired twice for social media infractions, which is close to the title of my upcoming paper I’m giving for the blogging archaeology session at the SAAs in Austin this year. The first time I was fired was for a post I wrote about two months after starting my blog . I wrote the post regarding a project using publicly available information that I found on the client’s website. To begin with, my employer and I we're not exactly a good fit. They were stuck in the past and I was moving towards the future. Suggestions from all employees were routinely dismissed and there was no atmosphere for innovation and change. So, it really came as no surprise that I was fired as a result of a blog post. They said that I had violated confidentiality agreements that I signed when I was hired. I have to disagree on that point. I didn't say anything in the blog post that wasn't available on the Internet.

The second time I was fired was for writing a tweet. I know it’s not blogging, but, we’re really talking about social media anyway. I tweeted that I was on a mine. I tagged the mine in the tweet and my employer apparently saw it. It surprised me that they were even looking at Twitter and, I found out later, my tweets were the only ones they were looking at. My employer knew why I had been dismissed from my previous job and were probably worried that I’d do the same thing again. They were also questioning me about several blog post that I had written regarding projects I was on with that company. Again, I had used publicly available information and even showed them the posts before posting them. They didn't question them then and only later did they suggest that I change something or suggest I take them down.

After I wrote the tweet where I tagged the mine that I was working on, I found out that the company signed a seven page confidentiality agreement with the mine saying that they would never discuss anything on the mine or any projects associated with the mine. No one told us about this agreement.

The Solution

So, why are companies so afraid of bloggers and social media? Some would say that they're afraid looters will find the sites that are blogged and tweeted about. This is a valid concern. Bloggers, tweeters and people posting on Facebook and Instagram need to be aware of location information in posts and photographs. This includes mountain ranges and skylines that could potentially identify sites. Also, in some cases companies do sign agreements from the clients saying that they will not discuss anything regarding the client or the client’s products. If they would only ask, it's possible that the clients would relent and let companies discuss, at least partially, some of the projects they are on regarding the archaeological science involved. It never hurts to ask.

I also think that most archaeologists, and especially people working in the office, are completely ignorant about social media and its power. Some of them actually think that they're doing some good by publishing obscure reports that languish in a BLM field office for the next 50 years and never get seen by anyone but fellow archaeologists. They don't realize that the general public would appreciate even a mention of some archaeology on land that they own, BLM land, and would love to have any information about. They don't realize that as archaeologists we are not only the gatekeepers of this historical information but we are also the trumpeters of this information. We are the ones responsible for telling the public about it.

So, I would invite everyone reading this to ask their company about the company’s social media policies. They’ll likely refer you to the employee manual, which you signed, and say this is how we feel about social media. Don't stop there though. Ask them if there is any information that you can you give to the public. Ask if you can start a public, or, company blog or if there's anyway that information about sites can be given out. Tell them you'll spearhead this movement, that you'll start the blog, and that you'll show them everything that goes on it before goes out. Show them other company blogs from around the company. Let them know that this is already being done and that no new ground is being charted here.

I have one more comment regarding commenting on blog posts. I get roughly 300 to 500 unique visitors for each one of my posts. Actually, that’s for every day of my blog. Many people don't actually even go to the website to read the blog. They instead prefer to use a blog reader to read all the blogs. If you happen to be sitting in front of a computer and can actually go to the site, even if it's just to say, “good job” or, “you suck” or, “write something better next time,” please do. Comments show us that somebody is listening and that someone is paying attention. This will make bloggers write better material, be more consistent, and engage people in conversation.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the blogesphere.

#207 Podcast Donations!

For the 24th episode of the CRM Archaeology Podcast, which will be available on Monday, December 30, 2013, I’ll be cutting together some segments and interviews from the past 23 episodes. It’s a common podcast ploy to relieve the panelists from recording during the holidays. Hey, we didn’t start it!

I wanted to let everyone know what goes into making the podcast. First, I bought a new microphone so you can hear my scratchy, non-radio, voice more clearly. Every “um”, “uh” and “so” are heard with unwavering clarity. You’re welcome.

Second, I had to upgrade my Squarespace-based website to allow for additional pages and podcast streaming. That’s the big cost here. It’s not cheap to get something that is reliable and is always up. Unlike some other web hosting providers.

Finally, all the panelists take valuable time out of their busy schedules to bring you quality advice and commentary every two weeks. I’m not even talking about the four to six hours I spend editing every show.

So, if you like what you hear and want to support us a little so we can keep bringing you great shows, hit the donate button! If we get more than it takes to run the show we’ll funnel that money into other enhancements for the podcast. Maybe a video podcast too.

As an incentive, everyone that donates ANYTHING will get a special compilation episode of the Tom King CRM Regulatory segments. There will be the three covering the history of the major regulations in CRM and a fourth, un-aired segment that continues the theme.

Also, everyone that donates will be put into a virtual hat and a random number generator will unceremoniously pick one unlucky soul that will receive one of the very few advance copies I get of my forthcoming book, “Field Archaeologist’s Survival Guide” (Left Coast Press 2014). The book will be out around April and you’ll get your copy as soon as I get them.

To recap, everyone that donates will get the special Tom King episode of the podcast. One poor, unfortunate, soul will get a copy of my book. It’ll be signed in 10YR3/4 glory with the dirty end of my trowel.

Thanks for donating and I’ll see you in the field!

#206 Brian Green: Why Science Matters

On Thursday, December 5, I went to the free Discover Science Lecture Series at the University of Nevada, Reno. This is a wonderful series. In the past I've seen Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye (I first saw Bill Nye as "Speed Walker" on Almost Live in Seattle back in the early 90s) and Michio Kaku. For this academic year there are two other speakers yet to present (Alan Krause and Robert Ballard). I'm looking forward to them!

Brian Greene is a professor at Columbia University. Read about him on his home page and on Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge.

Why Science Matters

This was my first time hearing Greene speak and I was hoping for some great string theory discussion, similar to his several books. I've read all of them and wanted more of the same. When I saw the title I figured the lecture would be more about science advocacy and teaching. Those are worthy subjects, indeed, but I'm hearing a celebrity scientist for the first time and I want to hear the top hits! Well, I wasn't disappointed.

The talk began with Greene briefly stating that science education and science literacy are beneficial to everyone. It makes us better able to understand the news of the world concerning things like climate change and fruit fly research. A populace educated in science will naturally be better critical thinkers and will ask the important questions before making an informed decision. He also stressed the importance of questioning established scientific claims because they aren't always right on the mark.

Greene went on to illustrate his point using three stories from the world of science. Now I get my string theory! I won’t go into them, but the stories were about famous scientists going against conventional wisdom because they thought the theory didn’t make sense. Newton and gravity, Einstein and relativity, and multiverse string theory. Good stuff.

I just have to talk about the latest research about black holes and multiverse concepts for a moment because it was really interesting stuff. I’m relaying this a week later, off the top of my head, so if I get something wrong, well, dammit Jim, I’m an archaeologist, not a theoretical astrophysicist!

So, black holes. Nothing that goes in ever comes back out again, right? Sort of. First, Hawking radiation dissipates a black hole so something does actually get out. But, that’s not what Greene is talking about. He says that when a trowel, for example, goes into a black hole, the information that could “re-make” that trowel is stored at the event horizon. The trowel is destroyed in the black hole (or sent through a worm hole which is an entirely different discussion). The information to create the trowel, however, is on the event horizon.

Here is another way to think of it. The event horizon is two dimensional. It’s flat. The trowel is three dimensional, like us and everything around us. The 3D trowel is sent into the black hole and the information to create it is stored as 2D. Think of those shiny foil holograms that have been around for a while. When you look at them just right they look like a 3D image. That image is created from 2D information.

Why is this important? It has to do with dimensions beyond the usual three. If 2D information can be projected as a 3D image, then, 3D information should be projectable into 4D. So, 4D should be projectable into 5D, and so on. It’s a possible way for us to see into extra dimensions. We just need to figure out what type of projector to use. Amazon? Bezos is smart, but not that smart. We’ll have to wait for Elon Musk to invent it.

Implications for Archaeological Theory

The talk was called “Why Science Matters”. Why does science matter? It matters because if you don’t have a solid science background you’ll have a difficult time asking the right questions about things around you. Science isn’t always right. It’s usually more right than most things, but, sometimes a theory needs some tweaking. The same is true for long-held archaeological beliefs.

For a long time archaeologists thought, based on existing evidence, that North America was settled shortly after the end of the last ice age. That date keeps getting pushed further and further back as more solid evidence is found. Here’s another example. Paleoanthropological phylogenetic trees are re-written every time something new is found. Each time, the scientist in question says we’ve found a new human ancestor and this time we’ve got it right! Yeah. Not so much.

Concepts in science are constantly in flux. Every day brings new discoveries and new information. We should all be looking at what we think we know and ask, “is there a better way?” Or, “do I really understand this?” Don’t assume that what you read in that book or that paper is absolute fact. Ask questions and test your own hypothesis.

If you get a chance to see Brian Greene speak, take it. He’s a great, dynamic speaker and you won’t be disappointed.

Now back to your regularly scheduled archaeology posts.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the Verse!

#205 Why NOT to Start A Business

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Historic site southeast of Eureka, Nevada.

Over the last year I've heard, and seen, a few comments on reasons to start a business. Usually, people are envious and say that they'd like to start a business because they don't want to work for someone else, or, because they are tired of looking for a job, or, because they can't get hired by anyone. Only one of these is a good reason. I'll let you work out which one. Of course, it's not the only reason you should do it.

Don't start a CRM firm if you don't want to do something different. If you're going to start up a firm just like the ones you've worked for then you'll just be more of the same. Don't do that. If you have a novel new idea, or a great management style, or something that is different, will foster good will and friendship among employees, and will make people want to work with you then go for it! 

Now I'll just talk about one reason listed above for why not to start a company: because no one else will hire you.

First, I'll talk about my last job and why I didn't immediately seek out further employment. My last company was, and is, going through some tough times. I can't really put a finger on exactly why they were going downhill, but, it certainly stemmed from management issues and a project manager or two that didn't know how to actually manage projects or people. Those things alone will sink a company. I'm not sure why I was laid off first, but I was. The reason given was that I didn't fit the direction the company was going. That must have been because they were going down, apparently. I couldn't agree more. I wasn't happy with the massive ethics violations that I was trying to fix from within anyway, so, I wasn't too upset. Within the next four months they laid off much of the rest of the staff.

At that point, I'd been in CRM for about eight years and had seen the good and the bad in a number of companies. I've always thought that there could be a better way. I'm also 38 - well 37 at the time - and I'm not getting any younger. So, I decided to finally take the plunge and start my own company. I never did look for work or send out a single CV or resume. I simply wasn't interested in working for anyone else.

My company is, and will never be, like all the rest out there. Browse my blog for the numerous posts about the type of company I have.

No one in their right mind would start a company just to give themselves a job!

Starting a company is a long, involved, stressful process. I'm still finding out things I should be doing that I'm not. No one tells you what organizations you should belong to, what licenses you actually need, where to find projects, how to get paid for those projects, and how to just make sure everything is running smoothly. I've made a ton of mistakes over the past year. Through this blog I've tried to relay my mistakes so someone else wishing to do this can save a few headaches.

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Also, if I started this company just to give myself a paycheck then I'm a pretty crapy employer. I've paid myself a total of about $5,000 this year. That equates to approximately $2.84 an hour over the past 11 months. What a dick. I did all this because I believe in what I'm doing, not because I needed a job.

I wanted to write this post to start a conversation about the business of archaeology. If you started a business, why did you do it? If you started, then stopped, why? What about archaeology as a business in the first place? Have we cheapened the science by taking it out of the hands of universities and commercializing it? Should all arch firms be non-profit so they don't succumb to the "constantly grow" philosophy of modern capitalism? If you have an answer to one of these questions, please comment on the actual blog post. That way we can have the conversation in one place, rather than on five different social media sites. If writing a comment on the blog is too tedious, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field!

#204 Fine or Permit?

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This post is in response to a great blog post over at Northwest Coast Archaeology entitled, “Controversy at Cherry Point site WA, 45WH1”. Go check it out.

The NCA post is regarding a Lummi Nation territory site in northern Washington State, near Bellingham. That’s close to the Canadian border. The part I want to talk about is where the developer for a major coal port decided to bulldoze the area and drill core-samples without authorization from anyone. Apparently they’d never thought to read the Army Corps’ Appendix C. Recently, the developer was taken to court and fined $1.6 million. My guess is, that’s nothing compared to the costs, and eventual profits, of the port itself.

Forgiveness or Permission?

Let me back up a bit before I continue. When I was in the Navy, I worked for a guy that “knew how to get things”. He didn’t steal, per se. He just “re-allocated”. As far as he was concerned, if another department, or squadron, had what he needed and couldn’t get, for one reason or another, he took it. The excuse was that it all belongs to the U.S. Navy and they’ll just get a new one. This was my first exposure to the phrase, “It’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission”.

I’m hearing it a lot more lately, and not just from morally questionable people that “have been known to acquire things from time to time” (bonus points for naming that movie in the comments). It’s being said, by their practices, by engineering firms, development firms, and anyone that is frustrated by the regulatory process they have to go through prior to development.

Permits for Land with Sensitive Resources

The news article linked above, and in the NCA post, quotes one of the lawyers in the court case about the drilling at the Cherry Point site as saying, “that way if they get their permits someday, they’re ready to build right then” (emphasis added). There are so many things wrong with that statement. 

First, I’d like to think there was just a disconnect at the project management level and that the sub-contractor hired to bulldoze the site and drill core samples really thought they had permission to do that. Maybe they acted alone or maybe the project manager higher up gave them permission thinking it would come any day. Or, maybe they really just didn’t care and figured the fines would be less than the delays in waiting would cost. Maybe I’m living in a dreamland where every one is good and the world is just. (Comments about the last statement will be deleted! Just kidding. No, they will.)

In the quote, I emphasized “if”. That’s a crucial word. They might not have been given permission to put the port in there, although that’s not likely. They might have been required to do more work on the cultural resources first. Who knows? Now, it doesn’t matter. The site is partially, if not totally, destroyed. So, is the problem with greedy developers, a miss-understanding of the relevance of cultural history, or the regulatory process in general?

Greedy Developers

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In a perfect world, everyone would be honorable and do the right thing. While some people might strive to that ideal in their personal lives, at work they often have impossible deadlines and unrealistic expectations to achieve. Everyone has a boss, even if it's just their company's investors. 

Many development projects run into the hundreds of millions, and billion, of dollars. Paying $1.6 million in fines is a drop in the bucket. They spend that in one hour. Fines might give injured parties some solace, but the cultural resource is still damaged, and, thanks to the arrow of time, and the absence of a working Tardis, can't be fixed. 

I do believe, though, that most people have good intentions on an individual level. When taken on the corporate level, though, not so much. In short, corporations can be bastards.

Relevance of Cultural History

Everyone likes watching the History Channel and Discovery, right? Well, everyone but archaeologists and historians. We know the story behind the drama. Corporations are staffed by people, though. It stands to reason they like the same things everyone else likes. So why don't they often see the cultural resources they are about to destroy, or already have, as historically important as Egyptian Tombs or any street corner in Rome? 

I think the reason is that we have failed to communicate the cultural significance of the small sites we see every day and take for granted. The reason many sites in the west are not talked about often comes down to confidentiality. Either the BLM, the client, or both often require a level of secrecy related to location and types of sites. This concept is past it's time. 

Most of the sites we find in the west are recorded in their entirety during the Phase 1 survey. There is no reason we shouldn't be able to talk about them in public settings. Of course, locations should remain a secret, but the general information about the area can be given. With agencies and clients, however, it's often an all or nothing policy. If CRM firms would start including outreach in their proposals, maybe the importance of these small sites would trickle down to the general public, and more importantly, the people at these corporations making all the decisions.

Regulatory Process

The regulatory process, from beginning to end, is complicated, confusing, and needs to be considerably updated. Tom King has made a career out of just trying to explain it to people and companies. I won't attempt to go into detail here, suffice it to say that the process encourages companies to take short cuts because the penalties for doing so are often cheaper than proceeding down the regulatory path.

Take Action!

What can we, as field technicians, crew chiefs, and project managers do to get the word out about these sites? For one thing, talk about your job. Start a blog. Write a book. Be excited to tell people you're an archaeologist. It's a great and fascinating job and people love hearing about it. Don't tell them about all the weeks of shovel testing where all you found was an old shoe. Don't tell them about the hours upon hours of driving to and from project areas. Emphasize that one great project, or that awesome artifact you found. We all have one. Get energized! Get fired up! Shout out your love for this field from the roof tops! Maybe then people will start to get the picture.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!

#203 Veteran-Owned Small Business

As of November 27, 2013 Digital Technologies in Archaeological Consulting LLC is a certified Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB). What the heck does that mean, how do you get certified if you're a veteran and a business owner, and what will it mean for DIGTECH? Read on for stimulating answers.

Veteran-Owned Small Business

To be counted as a VOSB a company has to meet two primary requirements: it has to be small, and, it has to be at least 51 percent owned by a veteran or veterans.

Whether you count as a small business depends on the NAICS codes (North American Industry Classification System) you associate with your business. The ones DIGTECH uses — 541620, 541690, and 541720 — puts the small business threshold for my company at $14,000,000 a year. That means I'm counted as a small business if I do less than $14,000,000 a year in business. To me, that's a bit absurd. It makes nearly every CRM firm that is not a massive engineering company, or a huge environmental firm, a small business. So much for competition.

The business also has to be 51 percent owned by veterans. If you're the only owner then that's easy. If you have a partnership and one of you isn't a veteran then you have a sticky situation. The veteran needs to have the controlling stake of at least 51%. If you have three or more people, it gets trickier. You can each have 33.3 percent, but, two of you had better be veterans. See how that works? If there are multiple owners, the total ownership of they're veterans needs to be at least 51 percent.

Why Do It?

A number of federal contracts come with a requirement to give a small percentage of the contract to VOSB and SDVOSB (same thing, but for service-disabled veterans) companies. For anyone familiar with losing federal jobs to veterans because they get extra points on the application, this should be familiar. This is the same thing, but for companies. Well, it’s a little different, but it’s the same concept.

In short, do it. It can’t hurt, and in fact, can only help your company. Also, it lets clients know that you served your country. That’s something to be proud of, regardless of your political affiliation.

What’s the Process?

First, go to the Veteran’s Information Pages website (www.vip.vetbiz.gov). For some reason I get a security warning on my Chrome browser every time I go there. It’s legit, though. Click on “Register” in the upper right-hand corner. Once you go through all the pages of information, you’ll have to upload a number of documents. Trust me when I say this. It’s a lot. If there is a document requirement that doesn’t apply to your business for some reason, you’ll have to upload a letter of explanation (LOE).

I started this process back in September. Most of the documents required didn’t apply to my business since it’s knew and I haven’t done much business yet. So, I uploaded a lot of LOEs. After the first submission, you’ll eventually get an email from the VIP people telling you exactly what you did wrong and what they need clarification on. The people that look these over try to make sure that your package is perfect before they submit it for evaluation. It took me three or four rounds of writing and re-writing LOEs before my application was submitted. The guy that kept calling me was very patient, even when I wasn’t.

Once the application was submitted it only took a couple weeks before I was “verified”. Now I can put the VOSB logo on my business cards, website, and capabilities statement. Keep in mind, this process is entirely free. Well, you have to serve your country for four plus years and give up your Constitutional rights for a while. Aside from that, it’s free!

I hope this helps. Go get your certification and let me know if you did it in the comments. Are you a business owner that went through the process? Tell everyone about how it went for you in the comments.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!