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The Simpsons Tackles Cell Phone Tracking

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:08pm CEST

Tags: Satellite Navigation

Last night's new episode of the cartoon series has Bart longing for and eventually receiving a cell phone. Unknown to him initially, Mom Marge turns on the tracking feature. Then Bart cleverly has the family track, well, something else. It's a clever episode and I found it fun to try to identify the technical slips in the presentation (that might be fun for a technology class, too). Also fun: the cartoon implementation of a Google Earth-like "zoom to the location of interest" tool used throughout the story.

Podcast: Digital Cities-A Vision for 3D Modeling and Visualization in Local Governments

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:48pm CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: Autodesk

Autodesk has been a pioneer in 3D visualization for the past 10 years and almost every aspect of government infrastructure can be designed as a 3D model for planning and developing purposes. And, once constructed, these models can be used for operating and maintaining these assets. Autodesk is aggressively moving forward because the benefits of this technology are so exceptional. And now, with the acquisition of 3DGeo, Europes leading 3D visualization software solution, Autodesk has been able to accelerate their strategy to help the worlds cities create their next generation base maps as a 3D interactive models. [Podcast sponsored by Autodesk.]
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Beat Credit Crunch: Don't Use Satnav

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:32pm CEST

Tags: Satellite Navigation

While many GPS vendors are touting how GPS can save gas and money, the UK's Mirror suggests just the opposite.

And dont rely on sat navs look at a map too. They can take you the longest way round or get you lost, making your journey more complicated and expensive.

That from Quentin Willson, the motoring editor.

ESRI Latin America to Grow by 40%

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: ESRI

Business News Americas reports that Jack Dangermond predicts a 40% growth rate for ESRI in Latin America. Dangermond was in Santiago, Chile for the Latin American User Conference. While Dangermond acknowledged the challenging economy, he felt encourage there were more people looking to GIS for design and sustainability.

Google Positive About MapMaker India

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: google

Within weeks of its launch, tens of thousands of Indians have filled in details of their cities, towns and villages, many of them previously blank spaces in even the most up-to-date atlases. The technology, which is being extended to other information-deficient regions, such as Africa, is widely viewed as the future of map-making and is on course to be worth billions for Google in advertising revenues.

- The Times

AGI Has Live Satellite Images of Earth?

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

That's what an article in a Pennsylvania paper suggests. The article highlights a visit of former New York Governor Rudy Giuliani and his visit to Analytical Graphics, Inc. while supporting a local Republican candidate for Congress.

Giuliani spoke to a large group of employees and later answered questions from the media in a conference room with a live picture of Earth projected on a wall screen from an AGI satellite 64,000 kilometers in space. Unlike Google Earth, which projects pictures that could have been taken years ago, this was in real time.

With the flick of a mouse, a camera zoomed in on New York City until the former mayor recognized his house.

I suspect there was some confusion about what was being shown.

- DailyLocal.com

What Google Learns About You via its Mapping Apps

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: google

Dr. Dobbs Portal (Journal) provides an article based on Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You? a book coming out later this month by Greg Conti. Conti is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the U.S. Military Academy (aka West Point). His premise in the article:

You face significant risks from both your use of these services and the content they contain. This article analyzes the information you disclose when using mapping and imagery services, including how your use of these tools discloses locations of your home, employer, family and friends, travel plans, and strategic intentions, and discusses how data mining can easily link seemingly disparate groups of people based on their interest in common locations. It also covers the risks inherent in the content itself, including camera-equipped cars capturing continuous streams of high-quality street-level photographs, collaborative analysis of satellite imagery, and your inability to trust the veracity of the images themselves.

Frankly, it raised a number of issues I'd not considered.

Communication, not LBS, Solves Local Problem for Kawasaki

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: lbs

So, what do you do if you were on Coronado Island and realized you'd forgotten your MacBook charger? Guy Kawasaki twittered his need and location and within 8 minutes had a loaner from a follower or friend of a follower. Now, he's famous and has 20,000+ followers on Twitter, but there was no fancy GPS needed, "just" communication.

PistachioConsulting via FIR

Podcast: NAVTEQs Mapping Positioning Engine (MPE): The Heartbeat in the CarMapping in Every Vehicle

Posted: October 4th, 2008, 5:37pm CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: lbs

In this podcast, we talk about NAVTEQs Mapping and Positioning Engine or MPE. The MPE, a subset of the NAVTEQ database that is coupled with a microprocessor assembly, including a GPS chipset, was designed to support a variety of applications that assists the driver of a car or other vehicle to, for example, reduce gas consumption. It is more or less an alternative to a navigation system that is cost effective enough to go into most all vehicles regardless of price. According to Bob Denaro, NAVTEQ's vice president of advanced driver assistance system, it's "a heartbeat in the car."
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Quote of the Week

Posted: October 3rd, 2008, 1:22pm CEST

Tags: education

"There's a long way to go, but at least we now have a colour coded map."

Editorial in the Independent(Ireland), highlighting how a GIS-built map shows needed school places for 2015, but not how to get them built and funded. The editorial is titled, "Funds required, not fancy maps." Here's an article about the map, with alas, no map, nor link to the map.

Meeting Halfway

Posted: October 3rd, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Reader Pedro shared a site he uses quite a lot: MeetWays.com. The idea is to find a spot halfway between two locations to meetup. You key in both addresses and the type of spot at which you want to meet (coffee place, pizza, etc.). It ideally provides the "exact" halfway point (crow flies? road miles? time? I can't say - the help link failed) on a Google Map and local points of interest that match your needs.

I was not impressed with the results of my search for a spot between my house and the local ESRI office where I used to work. It provided an address far west of both locations as the "half way point." Further, when I searched for a "coffee" place, all of them were close to either my location or the office location.

Here are a few more to test out from Free Geography Tools.

Podcast: Google Hearts Tele Atlas, Tagging the Real World

Posted: October 3rd, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: google

Note: Technical difficulties prevented distribution of the podcast on Tuesday. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Last week Google announced it would use only Tele Atlas data for its mapping applications, effectively dropping NAVTEQ, now owned by Nokia. Is there a data war? Or perhaps a browser war? Also: Microsoft reveals its vision for a tagged real world even as a Japanese company shows off its implementation of that vision. Is it time for real world geotagging? Our editors tackle these questions in this week's discussion.

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Read the show notes

Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info.

Off Topic: Print any web page "nicely"

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 8:01pm CEST

Webware features PrintWhatYouLike.com, a free site that allows you to pick and choose which parts of a website to print (the map, text, etc.) and what to leave out (Flash ads, blank space, etc.). From what I can tell you can't "work on" the site once its URL is added into the dialog box at printwhat youlike.com, but there is a bookmarklet that also you to use the tools directly on a page that already has the map of interest.

Sounds like this may be as useful to me as Jing has become.

Xconomy Interview with Locale

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 4:06pm CEST

Tags: google

Locale is a Boston-based group, one of 10 winners in the Android Developer Challenge. The app uses location to change parameters on a phone or even send a message to Twitter when the phone reaches a destination. The interview is pretty interesting and highlights what is becoming the clear difference between Andoid and iPhone apps:

X: Now that youve created this application for Android, have you thought about building something similar for other devices, like the iPhone?

CJ: We feel like Android is the first operating system to bring everything together that would make our application possible. Our application wouldnt even be possible on the iPhone right nownot for technical reasons but because of the restrictions Apple places in their SDK, where you cant run third-party applications in the background. Other platforms have their own limitations. The openness of Android creates an environment for applications that just arent possible on other platforms.

NGA's Murrett Responds to BASIC Concerns

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 3:57pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), told reporters yesterday that commercial imagery would become more important after the government launches its own satellites. He said:

"We are the single strongest supporter of the commercial remote sensing industry. It is absolutely integral to our success and is a fundamental building block for what we do as an agency. ...The point that people need to not lose sight of is what a huge chunk of our mission capability is comprised by the commercial remote sensing industry, and how we have programmed for and embedded it in our architecture in ways that are irreversible for many, many years into the future."

- Reuters

Quote of the Week

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 3:52pm CEST

Tags: Open Source

"It [open source software] is a positive disruption of the status quo."

- Peter Rieks, manager for Autodesk's geospatial products at FOSS4G in Capetown this week, as quoted in IOL Technology

Free Software Mag on OpenStreetMap

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 3:16pm CEST

It's a very positive article; too bad that throughout he refers to OpenStreetMapS.

NSF Grant to Map the Holocaust

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 3:06pm CEST

The National Science Foundation has awarded $430,000 to Alberto Giordano, an associate professor at Texas State University-San Marcos, and Anne Knowles, a geographer at Middlebury College in Vermont to conduct a two-year study focusing on four aspects of the Holocaust: the evolution of the concentration camp system, the deportation of Jews from France and Italy, life inside the Budapest ghetto and the death marches from Auschwitz. This will be first study of the topic using GIS tools.

- Austin American-Statesman

TomTom Shares at All-time Low

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 2:38pm CEST

Tags: Satellite Navigation

Yes, the economy is challenged and yes geo and tech companies are feeling it, too. But TomTom is a bit worse off: analysts fear it may have to "refinance its debt before end-2009 and as consumer spending slows." TomTom's debt is 1.3 billion euros which includes debts from the 2.9 billion it spent on Tele Atlas.

Share dropped to 10.88 euros, the lowest ever. For comparison, share were at 17.5 euros in May 2005 hit a high of 66.70 euros last October 29.

One challenge analysts note is that sat navs have never been tested in an down market - all the recent sales have been in "good times." It's hard for me to think getting a first or upgrading an existing device would be a priority in tough times - UNLESS vendors offer them as money saving gadgets to find cheap gas and create more efficient shorter routes. They'll need to start telling that story right away.

- Reuters

Florida's Efforts at Statewide GIS Coordination

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 2:26pm CEST

GovTech reports on Florida's efforts toward statewide GIS coordination. Of note:

- The state ranks 49th in its efforts for coordination based on NSGIC's rubrick
- The state has the most GISPs
- This is the fourth time the state has tried to develop a coordinating body

The ranking on the NSGIC list is incredibly important - not to put down the state - but to push for it to move up the ladder. The fact that a sidebar highlights the rubrick shows what NSGIC is doing to push forward on its Fifty States Initiative, that is, to develop coordination and ideally a state coordinator in all 50 states. I'm not sure if NSGIC publishes rankings, but if you want to help push your state forward you might want to see how well it does meeting the listed requirements.

A first for NZ: Virtual Earth Implementation

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 1:55pm CEST

Tags: microsoft

Computerworld New Zealand reports on what's thought to be the first implementation of Virtual Earth in that country. It replaces the recently unstable app for the Maori Land Information Base, but provides no new functionality. The "old" app is here and was last updated in 2000. The article reports the company that provided the technology has since gone out of business.

If I understand the article correctly an Oracle/open source solution as well as a Google one were explored before selecting Microsoft in part because of previous use of its tools. The site is not yet publicly available. It was developed by E-spatial of Wellington.

Modeling Wi-Fi Dead Spots

Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Wi-Fi

I'm not sure why this is not referred to as a model, but it sounds like one to me. The goal? Identify dead zones in Wi-Fi networks.

The technique identifies locations at which the network should be tested by combining wireless signal models with publicly-available information about basic topography, street locations and land use.

The app from HP and Rice University was detailed in paper that won top honors at the annual MobiCom 08 wireless conference in San Francisco recently . The good news: it's 90% accurate and reduces the number of locations that need to be tested to just 2%.

- ITNews Australia

- via Slashdot

Possible Effects of Fossett Found Near CA/NV Border

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 10:50pm CEST

The LA Times reports confirmation that at least one of the cards, a pilot's license, did indeed belong to Fossett. An article today provides pictures of the materials found and notes that as of last night some wreckage had been found. This morning comes confirmation that the wreckage is indeed from Fossett's plane.

--- original post 10/01/08-----

Reader Ken sent on info about a FOX News story of a reported find of what could be personal effects of Steve Fossett, the adventurer whose plane was lost in the Nevada desert last fall. No plane, nor remains were found despite many efforts by air, foot and satellite imagery. He was declared dead in February of this year.

A hiker, Preston Morrow, found three cards with Fossett's name and ten $100 bills near his home in Mammoth Lakes, California on Monday. Tuesday he returned with a GPS and found a red sweatshirt. The items at first look appear genuine and human and animal hair were found on the shirt. There was no siting of the plane wreckage. A new search is planned according to the article.

I for one hope this is the real deal and leads to more information. Since our coverage of this topic began last year, I am regularly stopped by friends and asked if there is any further news. I guess everyone wants closure.

Oracle Acquires Space Planning Software Firm

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 3:30pm CEST

Tags: Oracle

Oracle acquired UK-based Advanced Visual Technology which makes 3D space planning software for retailers.
It's product Retail Focus has tools to plan store floors and shelf space. There's an add-on product, Retail Focus Merchandiser, for 3D walkthroughs. It'll be part of Oracle's Retail application suite but it makes one wonder about future geospatial visualization options.

- C|net

Where is Spatial at MySQL?

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 2:52pm CEST

Tags: Databases

I regularly get the MySQL monthly newsletter and I always look to see what's up with support for spatial data. There is never much to be found. This month, there is an announcement about a call for papers for the 2009 MySQL conference. And in the list of suggested topics, I expected to see something about spatial. No such luck. The question is, why? Here is the leading open source database that supports spatial data primitives and not a word about it for their conference. Location technology and spatial data support is no longer sequestered to the back room. It's front and center in BI, LBS, and enterprise computing. It should be one of the key topics at the MySQL conference. I expect many attendees would want to know what's going on. Let's hope that Sun (now owners of MySQL) and O'Reilly (conference organizers) make an effort to include spatial in the future.

Text Message Scavenger Game Company Makes Money!

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 2:43pm CEST

Ok, it's not a lot ($25,000) but it suggests the five person company based in Boston is on to something. What does SCVNGR offer?

SCVNGRs shtick is running text-message-based interactive games for corporations, associations, and non-profits, using proprietary algorithms designed by two Princeton professors to efficiently direct large numbers of game players (or museum visitors, or anyone moving in space) through a series of checkpoints.

It sounds simple, but to avoid jam ups decisions about which teams are sent where for the next clue are developed on the fly. So, each time played a team would likely follow a different route. Also noteworthy: an upcoming free version anyone can use.
- Xconomy

"Tricorder" Prototype

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 2:22pm CEST

Tags: Sensors

I called it that. The folks who developed the software call it 'Real Space See-through Mobile.' It's just a prototype and comes from KDDI's R&D laboratory and Tokyo University and it being shown off this week at CEATEC in Japan this week. Here's what it is supposed to do:

Three acceleration sensors combine with a similar number of geomagnetic sensors and a GPS chip to work out exactly where the phone is and in what direction it's pointing.

Using some sort of digital voodoo, the software then uses OpenGL to draw on the screen what it has 'sensed' is in the immediate surroundings.

- Tech Radar
- TechOn

Another "GPS-caused" Accident Reveals Response Challenges

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 1:28pm CEST

Tags: Satellite Navigation

You can read the details but essentially, a driver, blindly following his satnav got stuck on the railroad tracks in Bedford Hills, New York and a train hit the car. No one was hurt.

Two items of importance fall out of the story:

(1) The driver called 911 for help instead of the MTA number posted at the crossing. The MTA number currently includes letters and numbers, perhaps making it more difficult to call when under stress. The MTA is considering changing it to all letters. That's probably a good move, but how are they going to get drivers (or anyone) who is panicked to call it over 911? The 911 operator who does receive such a call must then forward it to MTA officials sometimes losing precious time. In this case, the 911 call occurred one minute and the call from 911 to MTA happened in the next minute. That's not too bad in my book.

(2) This is scary: "The state Department of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles, the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration do not keep statistics on GPS-related traffic accidents." Why not? I think it's time someone did! An MTA spokesperson noted 4 accidents at that crossing since 2000; the last two involved GPS devices.

- LoHud.com

FOSS4G IRC Logs

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Open Source

Geospatial Reddit shares access information for IRC for FOSS4G currently going on in Capetown South Africa.

OsGeo IRC Logs can be found at ">here. It's a bit of a mess (IRC always seems that way to me!), but there are some tidbits and links to videos etc.

Bail Out Bill Vote Map

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

From the New York Times.

Cancer Maps in NY

Posted: September 30th, 2008, 3:55pm CEST

The AP is reporting that New York's Governor Patterson has signed legislation that will give residents information about the cause and location of cancer. The new bill "requires health care providers and the state to collect more data on cancer patients than the federal Centers for Disease Control mandates. The data will be used by the state to create maps of cancer incidence for the public."

Track Your Greenness Via Phone Courtesy Urban Sensing program at UCLA

Posted: September 30th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST

Tags: Sensors

The Nokia GPS-enabled phone app, PEIR, produces a Personal Environmental Impact Report. How? It tracks you (every 30 seconds) and when you upload the data it does its best to determine if you walked or drove (how would it know you were on a bus vs. your Hummer) and where you stopped (how would it know if it was Micky D's or the farmer's market if they were close by and the market was only running on Wednesdays?) The idea is simply to lower your score over time. The absolute values are not that meaningful says the lead. For now the app is in closed beta but is being shown off at NextFest, a Wired event. One planned feature? A tool to compare the greenness of different routes.

- Wired

TomTom Offers Quarterly Update

Posted: September 30th, 2008, 2:23pm CEST

Tags: Satellite Navigation

GPS Business News reports (exclusively, I find no confirmation from TomTom at this time on the Web) that TomTom will offer quarterly updates via its TomTom free desktop software for its sat nav devices. Prices begin at 39.80 for one year for one country for low end products (TomTom One, TomTom One XL) with higher prices for the higher end GO line, since those require more data (speed profiles). This is one way to start to monetize Tele Atlas. I wonder how users will determine if these upgrades are worth it over the free MapShare updates from fellow users.

Challenging Pictometry in New Jersey

Posted: September 30th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Some in southern New Jersey are not comfortable with the use Pictometry's oblique imagery for assessment.

"It's Big Brother," said [State Senator Jeff] Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic. "We're not supposed to be spying on people. When it gets to the point where we're doing aerial spying on people's lives, I've had enough," Van Drew said.

Van Drew is pondering a law to limit the uses of Pictometry.

Resident farmers in West Cape had their assessment challenged since the imagery didn't show as much acreage in pumpkins as claimed. Farmer Diane Rae explained "We don't grow pumpkins in March." The plan is to challenge the legality of the imagery's use.

- Press of Atlantic City

MetaCarta Unchained and Unbundled

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST

Tags: Local Search

Today, MetaCarta announced some new ways to access the "secret sauce" of their search engine technology and launched their Geographic Search and Referencing Platform (GSRP). The bottom line here is that they have "disconnected" some of the primary tools from the basic platform. In other words, you can separately license their API's but still have access to their geo-referencing engine. So, if you only want to use their geotagging or query parsings applications in conjunction with the underlying geo-referencing engine software developers will now be able to license them as they need them. In the past, the six modules (geotagging, query parsing, geosearch, location finder, save-search-notification, and document density) that comprised the MetaCarta platform were highly inter-related and did not work independently. The objective for MetaCarta is to enable more developers and clients who may want to geo-enable lots of location-based, Web 2.0 applications. MetaCarta is also transforming itself from not just a product company but to offering software as a service (SaaS). MetaCarta says more details will be out on that later this fall. What will be challenging for MetaCarta is offering their applications through a SaaS transaction model based on CPM, which may be appropriate for some news organizations who may want to develop a map indexing view like the one they have on their home page.

New Montana GIS Portal

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 7:01pm CEST

The initial release of the GIS Portal is focused on the needs of GIS professionals. For the general public, the Portal contains an on-line map viewer that anyone may use to view basic maps and air photos of any location in Montana.

"The initial data catalog includes 400 databases and over 200 sample maps from the collections of the Montana Base Map Service Center, the Montana State Library, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Flathead County," said [manager of the Montana State Library's GIS section Gerry] Daumiller. "During the next year, our staff will vigorously pursue other GIS data providers and help them add their data and maps to the Portal."

- Montana Business

WSJ on IP Geolocation

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 2:31pm CEST

The article reviews its use for marketing, compliance and fraud prevention. The usual suspects appear: Digital Envoy, Akamai and Quova.

Google Comes to Washington to Sell Cloud Computing to Feds

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 2:28pm CEST

Tags: google

The Washington Post reports on the new 18 person office in Reston Town Center aimed at educating and then selling to the feds.

Google wants agencies and the firms working with them to give "cloud-computing" a try. That means, for example, using Google Maps and Google Earth to visualize massive amounts of information, or using Google's search tool to organize internal data, and storing that information on Google's servers "in the cloud." The enterprise versions of the tools, which come with extra storage and security features, cost around $50 per user, per year.

I figured Google already had a sales office there.

Have LBS? Don't Need Post Codes

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 1:14pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Damien Mulley makes that argument regarding Ireland (which has yet to implement post codes) but it runs into a snag: An Post (the Irish post office) owns the best data about addresses and OSI (Ordnance Survey Ireland) owns the best maps of the country. And they won't share. If they do, there's no need for post codes.

- Times Online

TechCrunch: Apple LBS Social Networks Not Ready for Mainstream Usage

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Social Networking

Mark Hendrickson comes to that conclusion in The State of Location-Based Social Networking On The iPhone. Among the things that need to be enhanced: location updates in the background (Apple does not allow this yet), stability, ability to invite friends knowing they are supported handsets.

There's a round up of the six most popular apps including Moximity which headed to private beta last week. One differentiator: it's launching in one geography at a time. First up: hometown of Austin, TX. Also unique: the app pulls in your contacts from Facebook who are also on the service. There's more coverage of the company in its local paper.

Visa Commits to Mobile Launch on Android - including LBS

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: lbs

The first implementations will be for Chase cardholders. "The first applications will allow cardholders to receive notifications to their mobile devices about transaction activity on their accounts; obtain offers from a range of merchants; and use the built-in location-based technology developed by Google to map nearby merchants where they can redeem Visa offers and locate ATMs that accept Visa." Are we finally going to see the long talked about location-based offers?

- ITWire

The Microsoft Vision for Tagging Reality

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: microsoft

This demo was shown at the Emerging Technology Conference at MIT yesterday:

In what was perhaps a more compelling demo, [Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig] Mundie showed a video of a woman in Seattle looking at a live scene through the camera on an ultra mobile pc device. On screen, the client was pulling data from a web based service to tag items in the scene the names of buildings, the number of public transportation buses, information about how far away taxis were via GPS, etc. Thats the sort of useful, real world application that makes Microsofts vision of the future exciting.

Microsoft sees a bit of client-side computation, whereas Google sees a "dumb client" per blogger Josh Catone.

- SitePoint blog

Two Louisville Geo-Related Companies Look to Tax Incentives for Growth

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: gis Jobs

HelloMetro, based in Southern Indiana, is considering a relocation to Louisville, where it could expand, adding 15 jobs.

Spatial Data Integrations, a Louisville company, plans a new freestanding building. It would also add 15 jobs.

- Business First

Web 2.0 Hype Paper Wins Top Presentation at AGI

Posted: September 25th, 2008, 5:27pm CEST

Tags: Conferences

We just wrapped up the final session of the AGI GeoCommunity '08 Conference. I'll be providing more about key papers and ideas over the next few days. But I want to share what just happened because, frankly, it confuses me.

Before lunch Mark Bishop a product manager at MapInfo presented a paper titled "The Hype of Web 2.0." He did a terrific job of defining the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 complete with a picture of Tim O'Reilly and lots of examples of (non-map/non-geo) webpages. Toward the end there was a video of a MapInfo implementation of "slippy maps." AJAX is Web 2.0. The presentation was lively, though Bishop had to encourage audience participation (sort of ironic since Web 2.0 is about that!).

I was a bit antsy since the presentation didn't address geo (much) nor provide any specific suggestions regarding how geo could/should/would take further advantage of Web 2.0. Further, I thought we were all pretty set with understanding, if not implementing, Web 2.0 ideas, so I wondered how this presentation fit into this geospatial conference.

Apparently I was the only one who thought so. The presentation was selected by the entire attendee group as their favorite presentation. Perhaps Web 2.0 has been bandied about so much attendees needed a refresher course and this was it? Perhaps attendees never felt comfortable with Web 2.0 concepts and this was a first definition for them? Perhaps attendees keep their heads down doing their GIS work and don't think much about the technology ideas going on around them? Perhaps this is a difference between the US/UK interaction with technology? Perhaps "favorite" was interpreted in a different way than I did? Any other ideas?

AGI GeoCommunity 08 Keynotes - Day One

Posted: September 25th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Conferences

There was a triple header opening plenary for the AGI GeoCommunity 08 Conference being held in Stratford-on-Avon. Two private sector players, Microsoft and Autodesk, represented by Sean Phelan of Multimap, now part of Microsoft and Geoff Zeiss of Autodesk, bookended a presentation from Vanessa Lawrence of Ordnance Survey.

All three responded to the event theme: Shaping a Changing World. Phelan took a business perspective, providing some valuable insights for those looking at the economic realities of Web mapping in particular. Lawrence tapped into our, that is, the geocommunitys role, in this changing world as well as noting the current issues at OS. Zeiss focussed on the worlds infrastructure and the challenges it posses to the world and the geospatial community.
Continue reading "AGI GeoCommunity 08 Keynotes - Day One"

Vindigo Shuts Down

Posted: September 25th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: MapQuest

The company among other things developed MapQuest mobile but is best known for its mobile city guides. Thirty people were laid off.

- Moconews

Real-Time Intelligence Visualization-RTIV...new term for your consideration

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 4:13pm CEST

Tags: rfid

Real-time Intelligence Visualization (RTIV), as described in a recent ABI Research report, is a combination of various wireless technologies that can act as an integrated system and more importantly, "actionable business intelligence (BI)." These technologies include RFID, Ultra-wideband (UWB), and Wi-Fi, that are often used separately in certain real-time location systems (RTLS). The report suggest that, "These competitive, yet complementary wireless technologies, approaches, and solutions have historically been treated as independent silos, but they are now converging. In a growing number of end-user environments a combination of technologies is being used. For example, passive and active RFID may be used jointly for fixed and mobile asset tagging; Wi-Fi- and UWB-based RTLS solutions may be leveraged for hospital asset tracking; or a combination of GPS and active RFID may be employed for cargo tracking and security."

I'm not crazy about the term, but the concept, in principal, is sound and coincident with my views on where location intelligence systems are going. The convergence we are seeing in GIS/BI and with real-time data will form the foundation of location intelligent solutions. ABI Research suggests this is more RTIV.

UCrime Mashup Pinpoints Campus Crime...Just Slightly Off on Maps

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 3:57pm CEST

Back in August, UCrime.com launched a website/mashup showing crimes committed at selected colleges and universities around the U.S. The company shares data with SpotCrime.com, another online crime alert mashup. I found the site extremely useful and will benefit students interested in understanding the types and locations of criminal activity on campus.

The maps are Google mashups which is fine. As usual, I selected campuses with which I was familiar and the first one I went to was my alma mater, Rutgers University in lovely New Brunswick, NJ. However, the map was centered on Matawan, NJ, a lovely place in its own right, but definitely not New Brunswick. So, it took some repositioning to get to the RU campus. So, guys at UCrime.com, if you are reading this...please take note that you should center the map on College Ave. New Brunswick.

Reacting to BASIC Contract

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Seeking Alpha and The Space Review respond to the recent BASIC announcement.

Says Seeking Alpha, "I think that its obvious from where I stand that the government doesnt need to launch two of their own satellites to compete with what is already available. ...

As far as we are concerned as stockholders, even if this program is approved next year and satellites are launched by early 2013, it does not affect our current investment thesis with shares of GeoEye, especially now that GeoEye-1 has successfully launched, and is almost ready to start taking usable imagery."

The Space Review says we hoped for more from commercial imagery companies. "There was never any real possibility that, by the end of this decade, dozens of privately-owned spy satellites would be orbiting the Earth selling their pictures commercially while exposing human rights violations and helping to send polluters and other environmental criminals to jail.

Instead, we have a modest number of highly sophisticated spacecraft and a slightly larger number of relatively simple ones, mostly devoted to governmental purposes, above all military."

ESRI on Twitter

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: ESRI

ESRI is expanding its presence on Twitter. Recently I've found:

ESRI
ESRIUC
ESRIEDUC
esridevsummit

Check them out by adding those names to [www.twitter.com] for example [www.twitter.com]

Just as it's blog proliferation required an index, ESRI will soon need an index page for twitter.

Nokia "Indoor GPS" Public Implementation Coming this Year

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 11:12am CEST

This was demoed last year and coverage suggests such technology will be useful for finding seats in sports stadiums, parked cars, or specific stores in malls. Nokias already prototyping the app in 40 of its own buildings. Mapping of public places is also underway.A commercial trial will launch later this year at a shopping mall in Helsinki aimed at, hopefully among other things, figuring out how it can make money. It'll be in Nokia's Beta Labs, too.

- Nokia Conversations

New Poll on Map Hawk - The Media and Remote Sensing

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 9:02am CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Most all TV news stations now augment some of their coverage with remotely sensed data such as from Google Earth. Does this use of imageryTell us what you think at Map Hawk...the blog that "watches how the media uses maps."

LBS Advertising by Backpack: Thumbs Down

Posted: September 23rd, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

I totally get advertisements in the backseats of cabs and in elevators. You are there with nothing better to do and ideally the advertising is location-related and thus relevant. The play by Pack Promotions I don't get. Pack Promotions equips individuals with GPS-tracked backpacks that provide static (outdoor, full sun I imagine) and video ads (best indoors or at night, per the website). Individuals wear these at events or anywhere an advertiser wants to get out their message. After the promotion the advertiser receives a map of where the backpack went; not sure how they manage indoor tracking, if at all.

The problem as I see it is that the advertising space is too small to be effective for crowds. Moreover, how does the wearer engage (if at all, that's not clear) if people are looking at their backpack? This just sounds silly. It might receive the same response I saw to a fleet of three "Citizen Bank" branded Segways I saw on my local bike path a few weeks ago. No one seemed to care; they were too busy walking the dog, chatting to a friend (live or on the phone) or in my case, running.

In contrast, wrapping cars and buses in ads works. But those are large platforms that move around. And, it's not rude to watch a car or bus go by! I look forward to when the MBTA busses get wrapped for holiday promotions. My favorite to date: dressing up the busses to look like a dozen donuts!

- Pack Promotions

Old Poll, New Poll

Posted: September 23rd, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Poll

A few week back we asked for your reaction to Cloud Computing. 83 people responded.

34% Don't know what it is.
26% Will be significant in geospatial.
23% Is not yet stable/secure enough for geospatial.
17% Is just a lot of hype.
2% No opinion.

I suppose that explains the very high hit rate for this post.

Next up: your blog reading habits. Vote on the lower right hand side of our main page.

Podcast: Spatially-enabled Data Warehouse Appliances

Posted: September 23rd, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: lbs

This week two different vendors, Netezza and Teradata announced spatial extensions for their data warehouse appliances. Our editors explain the new offerings and explore what questions they prompt for geospatial practitioners and well as traditional database administrators. Is one of these solutions in your future?

Subscribe to Podcast RSS

Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")

Read the show notes

Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info.

Google Map Maker for India - Good Thing? Bad Thing?

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 4:19pm CEST

Tags: google

With Google's opening its Map Maker service for India, is this a good thing or bad thing? The Economic Times provides some details but also offers caution as any uploaded content becomes the property of Google and competes with services like OpenStreetMap which offers to share data through a Creative Commons license. The article raises the valid issue of that in countries that have an historically poor way of updating and distributing (even discouraging) digital map content whether this is the way to go. You can argue about whether Google is fostering economic development or just hoarding data for itself. After my visit to the country last year, I feel that the government is loosening its hold on some data sources. But whether data becomes the property of Google or not, some of it will be shared for public consumption regardless of the policy of the Indian government. Google has already run afoul of the Indian government regarding satellite imagery once before but it's getting harder to corale the masses who see the enormous value in better map data.

Wired's Survey Tracks iPhone 3G Speed and Data

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 4:04pm CEST

Tags: Apple

Wired Magazine asked iPhone users to participate in a study to test 3G speed and data entry. AT&T networking problems seem to be the issue than anything related to the iPhone itself. The survey is capturing upload and download speeds and the results are tracked on a Google map.

Drop.io Adds Location

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 3:41pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Drop.io is an application that lets users host text, pictures, audio, etc. for sharing on the Web in "Drops." Until now, those drops were named. Now they can be location-based using Drop.io Location. Details on use here.

One can set up and leave "material" in a drop associated with a location on a Google Map. It ties into Loki to use your current location, if you like. You can use the interface to search for or create drops. Once a drop exists you can "subscribe" to is via Twitter, e-mail etc. and receive alerts when its updated. Drops are Web and mobile friendly.

The review at Ars Technica suggests uses like LBS games, LBS advertising etc. I can't see an immediate use for it, but welcome another app to the world of geo.

NZ DigtialGlobe Imagery Service to Debut

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 3:21pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

The demo and eventual service from e-spatial and valuation and property information company Quotable Value won't be online until later this month, but the buzz is starting. The service will provide government access to the imagery acquired by the KiwImage project, "a joint government project which aims to provide government agencies with high-resolution Digital Globe satellite imagery of the New Zealand mainland, off-shore islands, the Ross Dependency (an area of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand) and selected South West Pacific Islands." The New Zealand Defence Force is data custodian.

The 10-plus TB of .5 meter imagery will be available to government players via the VueNZ service for an annual fee of NZ$70,000 (which includes 50Gb on which to store an organization's own imagery) and served up as ECWP, ImageX, ArcXML and WMS (OGC Web Map Service). The back end is Image Web Server (ERMapper's tool, now owned by ERDAS). A commercial service is expected as well.

First customers include: Australian property information provider RP Data and New Zealand Transport Agency.

- Computerworld

Follow the BBC Box

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 2:57pm CEST

Tags: Tracking

The BBC is interested in watching the globalization of the world's economy by sending a container box around the world for a year. Track the whereabouts at the BBC...the first contents of the box will be for those who like to imbibe in a dram or two of whiskey.

City of San Angelo, TX Webmap: No Fire Stations

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

I enjoy reading about new Web maps in the local papers. It's interesting to see what's highlighted about the app. In the City of San Angelo TX I learned that while 50 layers of data are available, the location of Fire Stations is not included. There's no reason given for that omission. Nursing homes and 911 streets with speed limits are also not available. Water tanks and the treatment plan are available. The article does not note this, but its a Freeance implementation.

Also of note:

Attempts with free software [to develop an online website] were less than successful, but a $10,000 Homeland Security grant allowed the city to massively upgrade its mapping capabilities. The new software included the publicly available map, which updates in real time every time a city employee makes a change to any of the hundreds of maps stored on the city's server.

- GoSanAngelo.com

Google Maps and API Now on Same Data: Tele Atlas

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: google

I saw this via James who saw it via Mike Blumental. The original post is here. I tracked this to source to point out how tough it is to know all the places where Google makes announcements related to mapping.

As James and Mike and others point out, this appears to be an upshot of the NAVTEQ/Nokia deal. I suspect we'll see more "lining up" as Nokia moves further into geo-related pursuits. Tele Atlas owner TomTom is already pretty far into geo.

It's the Economy...& Jobs, Stupid

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 10:44am CEST

Tags: education

Is your head reeling from the economic and financial crisis? Mine is for sure. The turmoil certainly comes at a coincidental time to our hosting of our first Jobs and Education webinar tomorrow. We understand that our industry is relatively stable and growing because of the ability to create efficiencies and offer unique perspectives and provide analysis that enhances revenue opportunities. However, there is still a need to educate the workforce on what types of employees companies are seeking and what educational institutions are offering with respect to training and degree programs. We are fortunate to be able to have panelists with extensive experience in job training and education including:

Dean Howell, GISjobs Australia - International Job Opportunities

Rich Serby, GeoSearch - U.S. Job Opportunities

Dr. David DiBiase, Penn State Univ. - Online Training for GIS certificates and degrees

Dr. Fred Limp, Univ. Arkansas - on interdisciplinary geomatics degree programs

Michael Johnson, ESRI - jobs in software development, training, marketing, and more

Brian Samolyk, Zymac - Executive Recruitment and jobs in LBS

We hope you will join us...click the link below to register for this free webinar:

[https:]]

Traffic by Cell Phone Movement Biz Funded

Posted: September 19th, 2008, 3:35pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Atlanta-based cell phone tracking for traffic data firm IntelliOne sewed up $14.5 million in investments to bring it product to more markets. Currently only a available in a few markets in the US. the plan is contracts in 18 countries by December 2009 and a contract with a major U.S. cellular service carrier by years end. Those without GPS in their phones will be able to use the service.

- Atlanta Business Journal

Mobilize LBS Panel Summary

Posted: September 19th, 2008, 2:59pm CEST

Tags: lbs

GigaOm provides the summary of comments from Skyhook, Google, Yahoo titled "Location, Search and Context: The Noise and the Opportunities" at the one day event. The key idea: location is not an app in itself, its an enabler for apps. I agree. The intro suggests the "walk by a coffee shop and get a coupon" is tired. Commenters point out that it can't be tired if no one has yet seen it! Conclusion: we are in the early days (still).

More coverage from Vator
more coverage from CIO

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Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:08pm CEST

Tags: Satellite Navigation

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:48pm CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: Autodesk

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Tags: lbs

Posted: October 4th, 2008, 5:37pm CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: lbs

Posted: October 3rd, 2008, 1:22pm CEST

Tags: education

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Posted: October 3rd, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: google

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Tags: google

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Tags: Remote Sensing

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Tags: Satellite Navigation

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Tags: microsoft

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Tags: Wi-Fi

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Tags: Oracle

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Tags: Databases

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Tags: Sensors

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Tags: Open Source

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Tags: Sensors

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Tags: Satellite Navigation

Posted: September 30th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST

Tags: Local Search

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Tags: google

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Tags: lbs

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Tags: Social Networking

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: microsoft

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST