$lon =~ m/^(\d{3})(\d{2}\.\d{4})/; ### grab degrees and minutes
$deg = $1; $min = $2;
$londeg = $deg + $min / 60.0; ## do the conversion
$londeg =~ s/^(\d*\.\d{8}).*/$1/; ## limit decimals to eight numbers
if($line_segments[6] =~ m/W/) { $londeg = -$londeg; }

SELECT t.tract FROM cshape t WHERE ST_Contains(t.geom, GeomFromText('Point( -73.965331 40.806129)')) = TRUE;

 tract 
-------
 0199

psql -Upostgres -d census_shapes -f tr36_d00.pgresimport

 select AsText(geom) from cshape limit 1;

MULTIPOLYGON(((-74.922368 44.960301,-74.917243 44.963743,-74.902403 44.947712,-74.901045 44.94551,-74.90028 44.944099,-74.898672 44.941034,-74.898415 44.940851,-74.898125 44.940097,-74.894169 44.935157,-74.893477 44.93416,-74.893223 44.933621,-74.89314 44.933076,-74.89314 44.932367,-74.890155 44.921848,-74.888541 44.916816,-74.887571 44.91426,-74.885153 44.911527,-74.88254 44.908058,-74.881842 44.898385,-74.886792 44.904059,-74.888457 44.905923,-74.892535 44.910287,-74.895901 44.913879,-74.89628 44.914283,-74.900616 44.918999,-74.90068 44.919068,-74.908067 44.926972,-74.908321 44.927241,-74.911828 44.930953,-74.912202 44.931349,-74.914032 44.933287,-74.919177 44.938664,-74.919808 44.939322,-74.920282 44.939845,-74.922369 44.942046,-74.924504 44.944292,-74.930209 44.950191,-74.931129 44.951419,-74.932078 44.95242,-74.934773 44.955263,-74.924425 44.959972,-74.922368 44.960301)))

SELECT t.TRACT
FROM cshape t
WHERE Contains(t.geom, GeomFromText('Point(-73.963956 40.808502)')) = 1;

ERROR:  contains:: operation not implemented - compile PostGIS with JTS or GEOS support

LDFLAGS=-lstdc++
./configure --with-geos=PATH

./mysqlgisimport --no-prj tr36_d00  -o foo

mysql -upb -p < foo

select AsText(tr36_d00.geo) FROM tr36_d00 limit 1;

POLYGON((-73.519309 45.006876,-73.452584 45.008767,-73.437371 45.009198,-73.411169 45.009655,-73.3883 45.010053,-73.367388 45.010417,-73.357332 45.010592,-73.352228 45.010681,-73.343124 45.01084,-73.350188 44.994304,-73.353355 44.990259,-73.353429 44.990165,-73.354633 44.987352,-73.354112 44.984062,-73.353716 44.982959,-73.352886 44.980644,-73.350218 44.976222,-73.345974 44.971764,-73.34474 44.970468,-73.339451 44.966433,-73.338734 44.965886,-73.338243 44.96475,-73.337906 44.960541,-73.339603 44.94337,-73.338482 44.924112,-73.338939 44.918194,-73.338979 44.917681,-73.339142 44.917447,-73.339534 44.916885,-73.396083 44.911148,-73.396627 44.913411,-73.450909 44.908153,-73.486053 44.904716,-73.507148 44.911338,-73.521172 44.911536,-73.520173 44.941891,-73.519375 44.97616,-73.519309 45.006876))

SELECT t.TRACT
FROM tr36_d00 t 
WHERE Contains(t.geo, GeomFromText('Point(-73.963956 40.808502)')) = 1;

+-------+
| TRACT |
+-------+
| 0315  | 
| 0205  | 
| 0203  | 
+-------+

I then tried to use CPAN, which I suppose is like Fink/apt-get, but just for Perl libraries. CPAN's ftp wouldn't work however, which may be a combination between using active vs. passive ftp. To fix this, I set

&rt; export FTP_PASSIVE=1

sudo perl -MCPAN -e 'install Bundle::DBD'

Can't load '/Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi- 2level/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle' for module DBD::mysql: dlopen(/Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi- 2level/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle, 1): Library not loaded: /usr/local/mysql/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient.15.dylib
  Referenced from: /Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi-  2level/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle
  Reason: image not found at /System/Library/ Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi- 2level/DynaLoader.pm line 230.
 at -e line 1
Compilation failed in require at -e line 1.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at -e line 1.

Gah.

#define rxPin 7
#define txPin 8
#define ledPin 13

//definitions for 4800 baud communication
#define bit4800Delay 188 
#define halfBit4800Delay 94 

//The type of message we want. Edit this for other forms of GPS data.
char wantedMessage[7] = "$GPRMC";

// thisMessage is a global variable -- I didn't want to deal with returning
// strings, as properly object-oriented it would be. 
char thisMessage[100];
boolean ledPinOn;

void setup()  {
  // define pin modes for tx, rx, led pins:
  pinMode(rxPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(txPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(txPin,  HIGH); //set transmit pin to high
  digitalWrite(ledPin,  HIGH); //turn on debug led  
  ledPinOn = true;
  
  // set the data rate for the SoftwareSerial port
  Serial.begin(4800); //4800 is the baud rate for EM306
}

int SWread()
{
  byte val = 0;
  
  while (digitalRead(rxPin));
  //wait for start bit
  
  
  if (digitalRead(rxPin) == LOW) {  
  //okay, so now that it's low
    delayMicroseconds(halfBit4800Delay);
    //wait for a tiny bit, then get data
    for (int offset = 0; offset < 8; offset++) {
     //iterate through bit mask.
     //Or, in other words, each bit is sent after a bit4800delay,
     //from MSB to LSB. get the first most significant bit, shift it left, etc.
     delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay);
     val |= digitalRead(rxPin) << offset; 
    }
    //wait for stop bit + extra
    delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay); 
    delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay);
    return val;
  }

}

boolean filterForMessage()
{
  int tempVal;
  int counter;
  char tempString[100]; //max string length is 100.
  
  tempVal = SWread(); //convert byte from GPS to character
  if(tempVal == '$') //if byte is a start of a new line 
  {
    counter = 1;
    tempString[0] = '$'; //add the dollar sign
    
    //while we're reading input, and the input isn't a newline (10 is ascii newline)
    while((tempVal = SWread()) && (tempVal != 10)) {
      tempString[counter++] = tempVal; //add current character to temporary string
    }
    tempString[counter] = '\0'; //end string with null char
    
    //now, do we want this line? let's compare the first 6 chars with wantedMessage.
    if(strncmp(wantedMessage, tempString, 6) == 0) {
      //if we do want this line, then copy the message into the global variable
      //so we can 'pass' it to the callee of this function.
      strcpy(thisMessage, tempString); 
      return true;
    }
    else
      return false;
     
  }
 
}
        
      
void loop() {
  
  //if our message matches our wanted message, print it out!
  if(filterForMessage() == true) {
    Serial.println(thisMessage); 
  
    // toggle an LED so that we can see that it's working
    // the LED will go on with every other proper message match
    if(ledPinOn == true) ledPinOn = false;
    else ledPinOn = true;
    digitalWrite(ledPin,  ledPinOn);
  }

}

So, let's look at the data. An example line:
$GPRMC,083739.000,A,3922.17xx,N,07640.02xx,W,0.38,32.39,210507,,*26
Clearly I'm not here right now or anything.

The reference manual for the NMEA standard details the RMC format in page 16. This page has it as well.

A bit of data parsing in Processing led to this code. String manipulation in Java is more awkward than I remembered -- I can't seem to be able to use 'split' well.

 boolean parseRMCData(String raw) {
    
    Date tempDate;
    
    String [] values = raw.split(","); //split values around comma
    
    if(values[2].equals("V")) return false; //status is invalid!
    
    
    //convert values into date. GAH! there should be a better way,
    //but split wasn't working properly.
    int h; int m; int s; int y; int mon; int d;
    h = parseInt(values[1].substring(0, 2));
    m = parseInt(values[1].substring(2, 4));
    s = parseInt(values[1].substring(4, 6));
    d = parseInt(values[9].substring(0, 2));
    mon = parseInt(values[9].substring(2, 4));
    y = parseInt(values[9].substring(4, 6)) + 100;
    
    timeDate = new Date(y, mon, d, h, m, s);
    //100 + y is done because y is two-digits, and the Date class
    //automatically adds 1900 to the year value. Adding 100 corrects this all.
    
   
    //// CONFUSING TIMEZONE CONVERSION COMING RIGHT UP
    
    // configure a SimpleDateFormat to recognize our certain format
    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("y M d H m s");
    
    // configure a time zone that is EST and with dst built in.
    
    // Base GMT offset: -5:00
    // DST starts:      at 2:00am in standard time
    //                  on the second Sunday in March
    // DST ends:        at 2:00am in daylight time
    //                  on the first Sunday in November
    // Save:            1 hour
    SimpleTimeZone stz = new SimpleTimeZone(-18000000,
                              "EST",
                              Calendar.MARCH, 2, -Calendar.SUNDAY,
                              7200000,
                              Calendar.NOVEMBER, 1, -Calendar.SUNDAY,
                              7200000,
                              3600000);
    
    // configure our SimpleDateFormat to recieve GMT input
    sdf.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT"));
    
    // make our SimpleDateFormat parse our date as GMT
    try {
      tempDate = sdf.parse(y + " " + mon + " " + d + " " + h + " " + m + " " + s);
    }
    catch (Exception e) {
      tempDate = new Date();
    }
    
    // convert SimpleDateFormat to EST with EDT
    sdf.setTimeZone(stz);
    
    // change display pattern of our format 
    sdf.applyPattern("E M/W/y H:m:s z");
    
    // convert the date to EST with EDT, and in our certain pattern
   print(sdf.format(tempDate));

   print("  |  Lat : " + values[3] + values[4] + "  |  Long : " + values[5] + values[6]);
   
   float  vel = Float.parseFloat(values[7]) * 1.852;
   println("  |  Velocity : " + vel + " km/h in the direction " + values[8] + " degrees from north");
  
   return true; //status is valid, of course
    
  }

#define rxPin 7
#define txPin 8
#define ledPin 13

#define bit4800Delay 188 
#define halfBit4800Delay 94 
//definitions for 4800 baud communication

byte val;
boolean ledPinOn;

void setup()  {
  // define pin modes for tx, rx, led pins:
  pinMode(rxPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(txPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(txPin,  HIGH); //set transmit pin to high
  digitalWrite(ledPin,  HIGH); //turn on debug led  
  ledPinOn = true;
  
  // set the data rate for the SoftwareSerial port
  Serial.begin(4800); //4800 is the baud rate for EM306
}

int SWread()
{
  byte val = 0;
  
  while (digitalRead(rxPin));
  //wait for start bit
  
  
  if (digitalRead(rxPin) == LOW) {
    
    
    delayMicroseconds(halfBit4800Delay);
    for (int offset = 0; offset < 8; offset++) {
     delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay);
     val |= digitalRead(rxPin) << offset; 
     //iterate through bit mask.
     //Or, in other words, each bit is sent after a bit4800delay,
     //from MSB to LSB. get the first most significant bit, shift it left, etc.
    }
    //wait for stop bit + extra
    delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay); 
    delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay);
    return val;
  }

}

void loop() {
  Serial.print(SWread(), BYTE); 
  if(ledPinOn == true) ledPinOn = false;
  else ledPinOn = true;
  digitalWrite(ledPin,  ledPinOn);
 
  // toggle an LED just so you see the thing's alive.  
  // this LED will go on with every OTHER character received:
  

}

output (but with no spaces between commas):
$GPGGA,062032.000,3922.1678,N,07640.0290,W,1,06,1.5,132.3,M,-33.6,M,,0000*6D $GPGSA,A,3,28,11,17,08,27,19,,,,,,,2.4,1.5,1.9*31 $GPRMC,062032.000,A,3922.1678,N,07640.0290,W,0.16,134.81,210507,,*11 $GPGGA,062033.000,3922.1678,N,07640.0290,W,1,06,1.5,132.3,M,-33.6,M,,0000*6C $GPGSA,A,3,28,11,17,08,27,19,,,,,,,2.4,1.5,1.9*31 $GPGSV,3,1,09,28,70,332,41,11,57,067,43,08,49,205,38,17,43,269,26*7D $GPGSV,3,2,09,27,29,187,29,20,14,122,,19,09,063,24,26,05,289,*7C $GPGSV,3,3,09,29,04,281,*44 $GPRMC,062033.000,A,3922.1678,N,07640.0290,W,0.18,139.48,210507,,*16

Now, to parse the $GPRMC -- the recommended minimum specific gnss data...

connector and arduino plugged into the breadboard.

Things aren't working! I tried connecting the GPS module to the connector. The red led lit up, then after a while started blinking, which according to the datasheet means that the position is fixed. Yay! That's great.

As for communicating with the EM406 chip via serial, it's not working. The arduino is supposed to communicate through serial, at 4800 baud, but I can't find the protocol online to request data. I swear that I found a series of timing diagrams on a pdf somewhere with the signals that have to go to rx and tx pins, but I can't find it now.

Benedetta Simeonidis was also working on interfacing the Arduino and the EM406. She seems to have got it working, but her code doesn't work for me. I tried my own code, which doesn't work either. Here's the code anyways.

#define rxPin 7
#define txPin 8
#define ledPin 13

#define bit4800Delay 188 
#define halfBit4800Delay 94 
//definitions for 4800 baud communication

byte val;
boolean ledPinOn;

void setup()  {
  // define pin modes for tx, rx, led pins:
  pinMode(rxPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(txPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(txPin,  HIGH); //set transmit pin to high
  digitalWrite(ledPin,  HIGH); //turn on debug led  
  ledPinOn = true;
  
  // set the data rate for the SoftwareSerial port
  Serial.begin(4800); //4800 is the baud rate for EM306
}

int SWread()
{
  byte val = 0;
  Serial.println("waiting for start bit");
  
  while (digitalRead(rxPin))
  {
    Serial.println(digitalRead(rxPin), BIN);
  }
  //wait for start bit
  
  Serial.println("done waiting");
  
  
  if (digitalRead(rxPin) == LOW) {
    
    Serial.println("rxPin is low");
    
    delayMicroseconds(halfBit4800Delay);
    for (int offset = 0; offset < 8; offset++) {
     delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay);
     val |= digitalRead(rxPin) << offset; 
     //iterate through bit mask.
     //Or, in other words, each bit is sent after a bit4800delay,
     //from MSB to LSB. get the first most significant bit, shift it left, etc.
    }
    //wait for stop bit + extra
    delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay); 
    delayMicroseconds(bit4800Delay);
    Serial.println("got data");
    return val;
  }
  Serial.println("rxPin is not low");
}

void loop() {
  Serial.println("started loop");
  Serial.print(SWread(), BYTE); 
  if(ledPinOn == true) ledPinOn = false;
  else ledPinOn = true;
  digitalWrite(ledPin,  ledPinOn);
 
  // toggle an LED just so you see the thing's alive.  
  // this LED will go on with every OTHER character received:
  

}

The point at which things get stuck is at

  while (digitalRead(rxPin));
  //wait for start bit

Where can I find that datasheet??