GISWiki.NEWS.Reader

Blogs

1 2 3 ... 20

All Points Blog

Good News for GeoEye: Google Exclusive Deal for High Res GeoEye 1 Imagery

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 4:32am CEST

Tags: google

The news popped Thursday night. Of course the bird is not in the sky yet (it launches next week) and the imagery won't be available for another 45- 60 days. But after that assuming all is well with the satellite and receiving stations, Google will add the .41 meter to Google Maps and Google Earth.

No word on the price tag, but it should be a good deal: the deal stipulates the imagery not go to any other on-line mapping websites. And, if it matters, Google's logo is on the rocket.

- Reuters

James Fee GIS Blog

GNOCDC Repopulation Map - Now With Google Street View

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 12:37am CEST by James Fee

Tags: gis

We’ve just rolled out the latest update to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC) Repopulation Google Maps application. Thanks to Matt Priour figuring out how to add the Street View imagery to our New Orleans Repopulation Map, you can now not only see where people are coming back to The Crescent City, but the rebuilding efforts from the street level.

Repopulation Indicators for New Orleans

The map is powerful because you can look at the address counts by block between June 2005 and June 2008 and see how many people are returning to New Orleans. Of course you can pan over to the Lower Ninth Ward and see neighborhoods that are struggling to recover, but overall much of the city has recovered substantially. What is unique about this map is the source of the data. Getting accurate counts of the population of New Orleans has been difficult, but as this Wired article mentions, “Junk Mail to the Rescue”. Now the Google Street View imagery has been very good at helping see the reasons why changes have occurred after Katrina. The aerial imagery of New Orleans was taken on March 2006, near the low point of the recovery. If all you ever use to see the recovery of New Orleans is the Google Maps or Google Earth satellite imagery, you are many of the changes that have occurred more than two years since those images were taken. Even the Google Street View imagery is a year old which can distort realities on the ground. The USPS repopulation data is updated monthly so it is actually the most relevant data in this mashup application.

While some areas are still struggling to recover...

...rebuilding in New Orleans continues

What the Valassis data is great at documenting the recovery at a macro level, and the Google Street View data helps you analyze the results on a macro level. Being able to visualize the recovery this way gives you a great appreciation for how much work has been accomplished and how much more there has to be done. Unfortunately there was no “Marshal Plan” for the recovery, but progress has been made and hopefully tools such as this Repopulation Map will help further the rebuilding of New Orleans.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with Denice Warren Ross, deputy co-director of the nonprofit Greater New Orleans Community Data Center and Joy Bonaguro on this project. Their vision of how they wanted this data presented to the community was to make it as simple as possible to use. The ability to take data created in ESRI ArcGIS Desktop and serve it from Amazon’s S3 and integrate it with Google’s simple visualization tools (Google Maps and Google Street View) created a map that tells quite a story and is so much more useful than the PDF maps that existed before Katrina.

Also, one thing to keep in mind is August 29th is the 3 year anniversary of Katrina’s landfall in New Orleans. The GNOCDC’s Katrina Index is a great way to see where the recovery of New Orleans is, three years later.

Hurricane Gustov continues to head toward the Gulf Coast so everyone please be careful in its path.

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

wikiloc - share GPS tracks via Google Earth

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 9:29pm CEST

Tags: google Earth

A clever app enabling users to upload and share GPS tracks via Google earth. Wikiloc brings together those who store their GPS tracks and enables upload and sharing via Google earth - reminds me...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

All Points Blog

Sprint to Offer Localized Services via WiMAX - including Autodesk LS

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 2:45pm CEST

Tags: Autodesk

Sprint's OHMTM WiMAX mobile broadband is poised to launch in Baltimore in September year. It's high speed wireless, basically, but, it "will be largely location-centric, explained Rick Robinson, vice president of XOHM Services. Were creating a new dimension to online presence, making points of interest near your current location easy to identify and access. This geobrowsing effect provides location context and will give XOHM members a richer personal broadband experience when theyre mobile.

I read this as: this service is more "LBS-y" than say your iPhone with AT&T service. Perhaps; for now the list of app and platform providers is quite familiar: uLocate, Yelp, Accuweather, OpenWave, Google... One is a surprise to me:

Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael, Calif., will provide a standards-based interface and geospatial services, such as addresses, ZIP code and city/state information, to enhance location within the XOHM network.

I think that means the Autodesk Location Services platform will be available for developers. We've not heard much from Autodesk's LBS corner for a while, so this is good news.

- press release
Clever marketing from "Navtec"

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 2:20pm CEST

Tags: navteq

I was minding my own business doing some news searches this morning when a sponsored ad appeared next to my Google search.

Navtec? That's not how you spell it! It's now NAVTEQ but back in the day was NAVTECH. Must be some scammer playing on the name to get folks to buy their... Ooops. The link takes one to navigation.com, the URL NAVTEQ has for its map update store.

I'm so naive.
Next Phase of GPS-based Mobile Gaming?

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:40pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Despite all the hoopla, GPS-enabled mobile games have not exploded. But Wayfinder, a GPS services provider, says the time has come and they will enable the great games. How? By providing an API to their gaming platform to forum members on September 30.

- TechRadar
- press release
Web GIS vs. Web-enabled GIS

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

I can't say I'd run into the latter term until today in the Ionia Sentinel-Standard (Michigan). The term is in the headline and throughout the "we're getting Web-enabled GIS" story. Allied Information Solutions will create the system at a cost of $20,000 plus $5000/year maintenance. I wondered if the consultants, AIS use the term? I found two webpages that might relate to the company one was a placeholder listing three offices, the other was "under construction."

So, I look at Clinton County's site, noted in the article as being up and running with Web-enabled GIS. I found this page which uses the terms:
On-Line Mapping Service and On-Line Mapping. That said the text confirms "This is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) application brought to you by Clinton County, MI. It was designed by PlanSight LLC using ArcIMS."

I'm thinking this won't be sorted out anytime soon!
Poizner Pushes "Pay as You Go" Insurance for California

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Steve Poizner is currently the insurance commissioner for California. Before that we knew him as founder Strategic Mapping and SnapTrak. Word is he may run for governor in 2010. For now, though, he's pushing for an option for insurance that would be tied to actual mileage, one that would ideally drop miles travelled and thus air pollution. Thirty other states already have this option. Oh, and no GPS is allowed; it would invade privacy. Odometer or other device readings would be used to confirm mileage.

I'm not sure I follow the logic:

The Environmental Defense Fund estimates that if 30 percent of Golden State drivers participate in this new form of voluntary coverage, the state could avoid 55 million tons of carbon dioxide between 2009 and 2020 -- the equivalent of taking 10 million cars off the road. This would save an estimated 5.5 billion gallons of gas and $40 billion dollars in car-related expenses.

Is the logic, "If I pay more to drive more, then I'll drive less?" That's working "somewhat" with the recent high gas prices. How can they know it'll take 10 million cars off the road? Here in Massachusetts I get a break because I drive fewer than 5000 miles/year. How much lower would my rate be on such a plan (we don't have one here). Would I drive even less? I doubt it, but I'm the first to say that lifestyle issues in my compact city are very different than those in much of California.

- San Francisco Business Times
Predications/Insights from Jeff Holden, the CEO of Pelago (Whrrl)

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Social Networking

[on the future] - One is that Amazon ( NSDQ: AMZN) will become a hardware company and the second is something he's banking on?that Apple's ( NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone will evolve from a niche device to one that gains double-digit market share.

- [on what distinguishes Whrrl] "Foot-streaming" is the reason why Holden believes that they can demand high rates for their ads. Foot-streaming is the act of tracking where people go using GPS: "You are able to say people?who go to these places?also go to these places." Sound familiar? Amazon does that all the time, by showing people what other people buy when they buy a particular book. "This has never been done in the physical world."

- [on competitors] Loopt is like candy because you can see where your friends are, and with Yelp, likely only 1 percent of the audience is really engaged, he says.

- mocoNews.net

Mapperz - The Mapping News Blog

BBC Extreme Weather (in Windsor)

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 9:30am CEST

Tags: Map

BBC Extreme Weather (in Windsor) 232 degrees in Windsor's was a slight error on the BBC Weather Map this morning... Blame the Gremlins Screenshot and news...

Map and GIS News finding blog. With so many Maps and GIS sites online now it is hard to find the good from the not so good. This blog tries to cut the cream and provide you with the newest, fastest, cleanest and most user friendly maps that are available online. News has location and it is mapped.

All Points Blog

Podcast: Storage and Management of Spatial Data on an IBM System z Mainframe

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 6:11pm CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: IBM

In this interview, we speak to Dan Wardman, Vice President for Information Management Software and Frank Butt, Manager, DB2 for z/OS Query Runtime, tech search and spatial support for IBM. Our topic is "The storage and management of spatial data on an IBM System z Mainframe". Spatial support is an important feature available for DB2 9 for z/OS as it provides the capability to store and retrieve spatial data from any application via standard SQL. We also discuss applications as well as IBM's relationship with ESRI.
Subscribe to Podcast RSS

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

For more information about IBM's spatial solutions you can download a whitepaper on this topic or visit the IBM website.

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

Ogle Earth

Magnetic bull

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 5:41pm CEST
So somebody wrote a press release yesterday about Google Earth Magnetic Cows, but it sounded so silly that I decided to go for celebratory end-of-panorama-trip cocktails instead of dirtying my blog with it. Imagine my surprise to see it hit the interwebs with a vengeance today, but the greatest surprise of all was that only one blog so far, The Earth is Square, has reported this "news" skeptically. [I just noticed Google Earth Blog is also skeptical:-)]

The bottom line: It's entirely possible that cows have a magnetic sense, but we're not going to find out about it by looking at Google Earth. What possible fallacies might there be? I came up with these in, oh, a few seconds:
- What cow? Have you ever seen a cow on Google Earth? Are you sure? Most of Google Earth's imagery is not in high enough resolution to let you discern cow from car from tent from bear. And you certainly can't tell which end is up, so to speak. In any case, your sample population of successfully found cows is bound to be miniscule compared to the total population.
- Now cow? The imagery in Google Earth is exclusively taken on cloudless days — or we wouldn't have had the imagery. Are we sure the cows weren't using the sun to align themselves, say to maximize solar exposure in winter and minimize it in summer? As the best satellite photos are taken when shadows are at a minimum, i.e. noon, that alone would lead to aligned cows.
- Stupid cow: Cows are walking stomachs. If they hit a fence while grazing, they will move along it. At most, this study tells us that fences have a slight preponderance to point North-South — and fences are even harder to see on Google Earth than cows.
So what happened? Either this story is an elaborate hoax, or it isn't and these scientists are just not very good, or the story has been reported inaccurately. It's a cow toss as to which of these explanations is the right one, but I suspect hoax, in part because of the study's claim that it could discern a predispostition in cows for magnetic north over true north – a difference that is miniscule in most places on Earth. It doesn't help that you have to pay the US National Academy of Sciences $10 to read the paper — that's the price of a cocktail here in Stockholm, one which I'm about to go buy.
Comments (5)

All Points Blog

Remote Sensing Predicting Grape, Wine Quality

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 3:19pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

French wine consultancy body ICV and Infoterra are partners in a service that provides small scale data on vineyards. From information such as water stress and grape composition it can predict the quality and quantity of grapes some 6 weeks before harvest. That in turn can save money and help distribute the "good grapes."

- Reuters
Toyota Grant to Fund Environmental Literacy Education with Geotech

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 3:09pm CEST

Tags: education

The grant ($300,000) goes to Lehigh University (I spent a summer there in high school) to build professional materials for teacher and curricula for middle school environmental literacy.

The program will rely on geospatial information technologies (GIT) to help students analyze information and data on three core topics: energy, climate change and the impact of human activity on the environment. Issues such as urban and suburban sprawl, water resource usage, pollution, and ecosystem management will be included in the curriculum.
...
The WELIM [Web-enhanced Environmental Literacy and Inquiry Modules] initiative is a pilot program that directly addresses both concerns simultaneously using GIT. The technologies, which range from handheld GPS systems to Web satellite imagery, help students explore geography and collect data while becoming more familiar with their environment.

- press release
Ubisoft Studies Terrain Technology; To use GeoEye Imagery in HAWX Game

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Ubisoft's team for Tom Clancy's HAWX air combat game did its homework: it visited USGS and EROS "to understand the concept of topographical 'underpinning' to create a realistic representation of the earth."

Then it decided to use GeoEye imagery in the game, including shots of Rio de Janeiro, Cape Canaveral and the Middle East.

The game is expected in 2009.

- The HD Room
Off topic: UK Ad Czars Take Down Misleading iPhone Ad

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 2:35pm CEST

Tags: Apple

The ad is aimed at showing off the power of the iPhone: "The ad showed the internet navigation prowess of the iPhone, with images zooming in on a weather forecast for Cape Town and a map of how to get to Heathrow airport."

The complaints, two complaints, questioned the voice over: ""You never know which part of the internet you'll need ... which is why all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone." They claimed without Java and Flash support, this is not true. Apple responded saying it could not support ever possible 3rd party app and that it meant to suggest that access was available to websites, not to all functions. The Advertising Standards Authority felt it was misleading and ordered the ad removed. The sites shown in the ad, Apple confirmed, don't use Java or Flash.

- Guardian (include video of the ad)
URISA's Caribbean Conference Sponsors

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 1:59pm CEST

Tags: Conferences

Did you look at the list for the event happening this week?

In addition to Cayman Land Info, sponsors include International Land Systems, HP/KirkISS, RE/MAX, the Cayman Islands Real Estate Brokers Association, Cayman National Bank, Scotia Bank and exclusive telecoms sponsor Digicel, as well as a range of related organisations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Wow banks and real estate interests are sponsoring a GIS conference. Excellent!

- Cayman Net News
Quote of the Week

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 1:37pm CEST

"Only 45 percent of street addresses and the continents populated areas are mapped. This presents a problem when it comes to developing GIS."

Derek Clarke, chief director of the surveying and mapping unit at South Africas ministry of land affairs, quoted in an article in IPS News reviewing the challenges for GIS in Africa after this week's Map Africa meeting in that country. Perhaps there'll more discussion of the matter at the FOSS4G and GISSA events are held together, in Cape Town in September.
OGC and OSGeo to Play

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Open Source

Here in the duldrums of August comes the news (press release) that OGC will be participating in the FOSS4G conference this fall in South Africa and the focus will be on a memorandum of understanding between the two bodies. The details of the MOU are not detailed.

Some (most? all?) OSGeo projects do indeed implement standards (OGC's and other's), though that's not required to be an official OSGeo project. That said, per the release it's pretty important.

The two organizations agree to expand collaboration and promote the synergy between open standards and open source software in the geospatial domain. The OGC, founded in 1994, is the world's leading industry organization for geoprocessing standards used by the world's providers of geoprocessing software. The OSGeo's goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led open source geospatial software projects, most of which depend on open standards like those from the OGC.

OGC, per Carl Reed writing in GeoWorld in 2007 doesn't endorse either open source or proprietary licensing.

The OGC doesnt care if software are proprietary or open source. Our goal is that OGC standards help make geospatial or location-based content and services ubiquitousto improve the ability of decision makers to address the many pressing social, environmental and economic issues they face.

Whats important, from the OGCs point of view, isnt the purchasing and licensing details of software products, but their adherence to a shared, open, non-proprietary system for communicating geographically.

OSGeo may need to update its FAQ which includes this statement about the relationship:

What is the relationship between OSGeo and OGC?
There is no relationship between OSGeo and OGC. OGC is a organization for creating GIS standards, while OSGeo is an organization for promoting open source GIS work. That said, a number of parties/individuals in OSGeo work with OGC standards, and vice versa. It is also an explicit goal of OSGeo to support and promote standards, including OGC standards.

Mapperz - The Mapping News Blog

Orange Unlit Tour Map

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 9:28am CEST

Tags: Music

Orange Unlit Tour Map A Live Music Map Mashup. "Unlit is a mixture of a gig and party, free and open to anyone, which takes place in people’s houses around the world." Very 'Flashy' Orange Unlit...

Map and GIS News finding blog. With so many Maps and GIS sites online now it is hard to find the good from the not so good. This blog tries to cut the cream and provide you with the newest, fastest, cleanest and most user friendly maps that are available online. News has location and it is mapped.

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

WOW GIS technologies at the ESRI user conference

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 4:03am CEST

On the floor at the ESRI user conference. It’s always a flurry of activity and it’s always one of my favorite things to do at the UC… browse the exhibition hall floor and see all the great new apps...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

All Points Blog

Last Guy Imagery: Just Imagery

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 3:17pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Patience pays off... I've been reading about The Last Guy a new Sony game for some time. The premise: you are the last person on earth and need to fend for yourself against monsters through desolate cities. The big deal for geo types: it uses real imagery. Now, I'd read it was Google Maps imagery, Google earth imagery with no confirmation from Sony. Now, Wired makes it clear, it's just some good aerial and satellite imagery. Oh, and the game is out August 28.
Fwix: Your Local Feed

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 3:04pm CEST

Tags: Social Networking

Ars Technica interviews the CEO of Fwix an app that aggregates feeds for specific cities (26 now). Darian Shirazi is an ex-FaceBooker. The app, for now is Web-based, but an iPhone version is coming. The big "feature" for now is the ability to comment on a feed item. The feeds themselves involve jobs, events, news, etc. filtered from sources like "New York Times articles, Yahoo Upcoming events, Orbitz deals, Craigslist posts, Indeed job listings, Brightkite social network updates, geotagged Flickr photos, and even videos from YouTube and Vimeo." It's like FriendFeed for a city - but someone else, not you, picks the feeds. The business model is advertising based, but will be tied in time not just to geography but the specific feed.

A quick look at the Boston feed didn't excite me. The real key will be filtering down this massive "city life stream" to one's requirements.
Cows Sense, Line up On Earth's Magnetic Field

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 2:14pm CEST

Tags: google

Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and his team determined that cows and deer tend to align along the invisible lines when grazing or sleeping. The original work was aimed at determining if people do so, by looking at camp sites in Google Earth. Instead, they found cows that followed the "rules." The why and how are not yet known.

- NPR
- Abstract (fee for article) in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences
MapQuest Beta

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 1:28pm CEST

Tags: MapQuest

Continuing on its "too little, too late" strategy, MapQuest has tinkered with its home page. The team has updated the maps which now appear on the front page! Further the interface looks more, well, Google Maps-like with Traffic and Gas Buddy in buttons top right. Forms have been updated so you can toggle between a "key in" and "paste in" form. (Not sure why there can't be one for both...)

Bottom line: if you love MapQuest, these enhancements will be nice, if you use something else, these enhancements don't matter at all. For now the enhancements are on the "beta" site, but you can toggle back to the old one for comparison. Full details on the MapQuest blog.

Other reviews: Webware, Mashable
Podcast: The Olympics and Geographic Education?

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: education

With this past weekend's Beijing summer olympics closing ceremonies the event goes into hibernation for another four years. What will we recall? Phelp's eight swimming golds? The Chinese taking more golds than another other country? A first olympic gold medal for Mongolia (in Judo)? Perhaps. But will anyone following the games say they learned a bit more about the world, about geography.

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.

James Fee GIS Blog

License Microsoft Virtual Earth Imagery for Your Maps

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 11:14pm CEST by James Fee

Tags: gis

ESRI and Microsoft announced that Virtual Earth would be available through the ArcGIS Online Premium Service a couple weeks ago and today Microsoft took that announcement one step further.

Starting today you can license Virtual Earth UltraCam (proprietary) aerial photography without having to license the Virtual Earth platform. This is great for offline use, wrapping your own client or creating an interface that allows for deeper zooming than the VE platform does today. You can purchase the photography through 2 vendors - Mapmart and i-Cubed.

Of course ESRI users will probably prefer to use the ArcGIS Online service (given how easy it will be to integrate into your existing projects), but now everyone has the same access and the freedom to use any software (Photoshop, Illustrator, gvSIG, MapInfo, AutoCAD, etc) they wish.

The only caveat is that this is the UltraCam imagery, not everything so you may not have anything available if you live outside of 200+ cities that have coverage. Of course if you do have it available, then there isn’t anything better as UltraCam blows away everything else. Microsoft’s purchase of Vexcel has really been very smart for them and this is what you can do when you own the data. I can buy UltraCam imagery for Tempe, AZ for about $4,000 from MapMart.

You can't afford one yourself, but you can use the data captured from it.
ESRI ArcGIS Explorer Build 500 Released

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 8:38pm CEST by James Fee

Tags: gis

Catching up a little from last week, I missed the news that AGX Build 500 was released. This release isn’t the Build 600 that some have been looking for, but does add the ability to work with the new updated ArcGIS Online, including the premium services (Microsoft Virtual Earth). The update is available from ESRI’s servers.

All Points Blog

Location Privacy: Are you over it yet?

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 8:02pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Seems like we don't hear much anymore about location privacy. In an op-ed piece today in the Wall Street Journal, L. Gordon Crovitz thinks we "got over" the concerns we had about many privacy issues. He cited several areas of privacy concerns that seemed to have vanished. For example, he cites an AOL study in Britain that found that 84% of people said they would not reveal personal income information online but that 89% of them willingly did. He provided a litany of other examples such as the fact that Amazon "closely records our choices of books" and that Google "scans emails to deliver relevant ads" as well as electronic tolls that record our location.

These digital examples ignore some of basic things that have always been around. Your name and address, for most of us, are in the phone book. If you gave out your business card, we know where you work too. Adding in the digital information such as profiles on LinkedIn or Facebook, you have probably listed your place of business, past associations, clubs, etc. So for about 90% of your day, just about anyone can find where you are. If we add in your travel time, your location is likely recognized by your cell phone. If you have a "friend finder" application...game over...we know where you are.

So, let's not offer faux concern over Internet privacy when we so willingly give and want people to see some of our private lives. And let's not cower behind the pretense of total location privacy when we desparately want the most accurate GPS-enabled mobile device. Can you say, "location-based advertising..."anyone, anyone? We let our guard down so easily and the online and mobile tools are there begging us to do so.

Crovitz cites Lawrence Friedman's book, "Guarding Life's Dark Secrets," and wraps up his editorial quoting Friedman who says, "If the nineteenth century was a world of privacy and prudery...then the twenty-first century is the world of the one-way mirror, the world of the all-seeing eye."

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

Denver DNC city guides

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 7:19pm CEST

Tags: Local Search

Those wandering around Denver for this week's DNC might be able to make use of some local city guides... Wcities has just come out with a Denver guide containing over 150 Points of Interest including...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Shozu upgrade or ???

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:53pm CEST

Tags: mobile

Looks like Shozu is undergoing some maintenance... recall Shozu is an amazing resource enabling mobile users to upload images, video, email, txt or what have you to virtually any popular social...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
EveryBlock adds Seattle, Boston, and DC

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:47pm CEST

Tags: mashup

Looks like EveryBlock is still growing, now with the addition of three more cities to the portfolio (that's 8 in total) . New additions this week are Boston, Seattle, and DC. Recall EveryBlock is an...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

All Points Blog

MapQuest adds Citysearch to Results

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:13pm CEST

Tags: MapQuest

MapQuest has partnered with Citysearch to add its content (reviews, menus, photos) to results.

- MapQuest Blog
- via Search Engine Watch

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

Google Gears 0.4 API update

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:02pm CEST

Tags: google

In case you missed it last week, google announced the release of Gears 0.4 API which allows you to build applications that can "do new and exciting things" based on your users' location. See more in...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Trulia real estate mashup gets updates, but how good is this information?

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 4:48pm CEST

Tags: real estate

How much trust can we have in mashups? That's always a good question, particularly as web20 services like Zillow, Trulia and others are becoming commonplace for the consumer. But where does the data...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Situational Awareness at the Democratic Convention (DNC) in Denver

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 3:40pm CEST

Tags: dnc

Well, it's finally here... the DNC. For us in Colorado we've been hearing about it for well over a year and now. Now, after all the planning, it's time to put the plan into action. Indeed there was a...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

All Points Blog

Google Gears Geolocation API

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 2:09pm CEST

Tags: google

Announced on Friday, but not really popping until today, is the Google Gears Geolocation API. Gears is a browser plug in used to make Web apps run when not connected to the Internet.

What, then is this API?

Per PC Mag it's "a platform designed to provide Web sites with location-based information without the aid of GPS." That said it can tap into GPS, cell-tower triangulation, or your computer's IP address to determine location and then "pass it on" to an application. So far, lastminute.com, a travel site and Rummble, a social networking site has used the API which runs on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and IE Mobile.

Google states that it will not store location information, but users need to check with the sites they visit about their policies. Users are prompted the first time a site asks for a location. Here's the Google announcement on the Gear blog.
Scot Military Leader Not Keen on Communications/Mapping for his Soldiers

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 2:03pm CEST

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Borton is the commanding officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (5 Scots) currently on duty in Afghanistan. He is dismayed at the communications tools provided by his country: range is poor and batteries short making the devices good candidates for being "off" when perhaps needed. Their solution is called Bowman: Better Off With Map And Nokia.

- Daily Record (UK)
Quote of the Week: Keys to Success

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 1:28pm CEST

Keys to Success, from the Crawfordsville, Indiana online GIS intro page:

REMEMBER Layers are called layers because they lay on top of each other. Make sure the layer you want is visible and there isnt another layer covering it up.

REMEMBER be patient, you CANNOT mess anything up, if you do you can always back out of the site and start over, no harm done.
Satellite Damage Assessment For Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, Georgia (as of 22 Aug 2008)

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

Tags: Remote Sensing

Check it from ReliefWeb. "Damaged buildings have been identified with WorldView-1 and Formosat-2 satellite imagery acquired on 19 August 2008 at a spatial resolution of 50cm and 2m respectively."

Mapperz - The Mapping News Blog

The Future of Paper Maps? Here Now?

Posted: August 24th, 2008, 1:41am CEST by Mapperz

Tags: maps

The Future of Paper Maps? Here Now? The video shows different content (layers/scale) of the map when the angle of paper map is adjusted. Will 21st technology save the decline in paper maps? [A...

Map and GIS News finding blog. With so many Maps and GIS sites online now it is hard to find the good from the not so good. This blog tries to cut the cream and provide you with the newest, fastest, cleanest and most user friendly maps that are available online. News has location and it is mapped.

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

The Google Maps Olymic Medal tracker map

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST

Tags: google maps

A slick but simple Google map enabling users to monitor the Olympic games medal standings. Grab the code and embed on your website also... see here. Please visit www.GISuser.com for even more...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The GeoEye Launchpad website

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 8:08pm CEST

Tags: Satellite

GeoEye has just today announced a new website for those of you wanting to keep tabs on the launch of GeoEye. The company also has a redesigned website, developed by BrainSpark Media. See the...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Global Mapper rolls out R 10

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 8:00pm CEST

The popular Global Mapper tool has been updated to R 10 today. Notable new features include: - Added support for importing ESRI personal geodatabase (MDB) files. - Added support for importing and...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

All Points Blog

OpenStreetMap in Shapefiles

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 7:07pm CEST

I don't speak German to get the scoop from the data provider (readme is here), but I believe you can download shapefile versions of much of the European OpenStreetMap data from GEOFABRIK. It carries the same CC Share Alike License.

via Geospatial Reddit

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

Words for the device maker - keep it simple

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 5:42pm CEST

Tags: mobile

Isn't funny how sometimes the smallest, simplest things can make such a huge difference. We always hear of people searching for the elusive killer application or killer device. Take the iPod for...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The fake iPhone lines... WTF?

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 5:13pm CEST

Tags: mobile

Nice move on the part of Orange to try and lure consumers into shops to snatch up the latest iPhone.. the company is actually paying "actors" to line up in front of some 20 stores to create a sense...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Are you having iTunes or iPhone woes?? You likely are not alone

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 3:37pm CEST

Tags: iphone

Seems that problems just keep on plaguing Apple device users. It seems these days that if you fire up your iTunes and connect an iPod you simply don't know what's going to happen.. will you be able...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

All Points Blog

Another Geo Startup Funded in Mississippi

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 1:25pm CEST

Spatial Information Solutions Inc. (SIS) is based in Starkville, Mississippi; it received the first New Venture Development investment, $100,000 from the Mississippi Seed Fund. Recipients must have a cash match from accredited investors to obtain funding.

The company is working on commercializing "map accuracy enhancement software technologies. Note that this is not from the looks of it a Web 2.0 nor negeo company. Still, I think the company needs a website; I could not find one.

- Starkville Daily News
Sci Tech University Builds GIS Software Intro for Civil Engineers

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

Tags: google

The National Science Foundation is giving the Missouri University of Science and Technology a $500,000 grant "to make Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software available to students in laboratory environments."

Part of the grant has faculty members "designing a comprehensive learning system to introduce civil engineering students to the software."

The news story from the school include the obligatory Google Earth quote:

Its like Google Earth only you can customize and analyze spatial data, says Dr. Ronaldo Luna, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri S&T.
Podcast: Outdoor Gear Purveyor REI Presents on the Company's New User-generated Maps Campaign

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 12:33am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: lbs

REI's Rico Simpkins, Online Community Development Manager, speaks about the past, present and future of REI. Up until now, REI's Internet presence has been merchandise-based. REI's new goal is to bring the community they foster in their stores, to the Web, part of which is getting users to share vacation information such as user-generated maps of their travels. In Rico's words, he wants to develop an "online" community that gets people "offline."
Subscribe to Podcast RSS

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

Ed. Note: The Web 2.0 Mapping and Social Networks Group is about sharing, teaching, learning and networking around current and future Web-based geospatial and social networking applications and technology. The group meets regularly on the third Tuesday evening of every month at Google in Silicon Valley, CA. Back Five Productions and Endpoint Environmental LLC are the producers of the Web 2.0 Mapping and Social Networks Meetup Group podcasts, which are sponsored by Directions Media.

Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info.
GPS Impacts to the Portable Device Market: An Update

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 10:10pm CEST

Tags: gps

I attended a webinar today conducted by Park Associates on how GPS is influencing the portable device market and specifically the personal navigation device (PND) market. As we are constantly being asked how big any particular segment of the geospatial and LBS martkets are, I wanted to share some of their insights with you:
Continue reading "GPS Impacts to the Portable Device Market: An Update"
What Level of Detail Do You Want to See from Maps in the Media? Take the poll...

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 9:01pm CEST

CNN lead the way with fairly substantial usage of Google Maps during the U.S. presidential primary elections. With the general election coming up, how can the news media make it better? More geographic detail? More real-time information? Take the poll at our new Map Hawk blog.
Olympic BMX Course in 3D

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 7:20pm CEST

Tags: media & maps

We had a reader ask if any of the AEgis Technologies 3D models of the Olympic venues had actually been shown during the broadcasts because they had not seen any so far. Scott Allman from AEgis provides this response:
Continue reading "Olympic BMX Course in 3D"

Mapperz - The Mapping News Blog

Transport for London - Cycle Maps - New!

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 6:23pm CEST

Tags: google Map

Transport for London - Cycle Maps - New! Transport for London first by using Google Maps for showing Cycle Parking and best routes. Routes preferences: Cycling on quieter roadsCycling near to busy...

Map and GIS News finding blog. With so many Maps and GIS sites online now it is hard to find the good from the not so good. This blog tries to cut the cream and provide you with the newest, fastest, cleanest and most user friendly maps that are available online. News has location and it is mapped.

All Points Blog

Autodesk U.S. "Sale"

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 3:15pm CEST

Tags: Autodesk

Ralph Grawbowski explains the why. The details are here. AutoCAD Map 3D is on the list; MapGuide Enterprise is not.
Multimap Execs Take on Top Roles at Microsoft

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 3:03pm CEST

Tags: microsoft

Recall that Microsoft acquired UK mapping company Multimap last December. Back in May, Multimap B2C General Manager Jim Cruickshank was appionted Microsoft EMEA director of mapping, local and shopping. Word today that Multimap CEO Jeff Kelisky hs been tapped to be General Manager of a new Commercial Search unit, which covers Live Search cashback, MSN Shopping, local, consumer mapping, Virtual Earth and mobile. It's beginning to look like Microsoft grabbed Multimap as much for its tech and data as for its people.

- Paid Content via

GISWiki.NEWS.Reader » Blogs

Feeds

Blogs

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 4:32am CEST

Tags: google

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 12:37am CEST by James Fee

Tags: gis

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 9:29pm CEST

Tags: google Earth

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 2:45pm CEST

Tags: Autodesk

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 2:20pm CEST

Tags: navteq

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:40pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Social Networking

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 9:30am CEST

Tags: Map

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 6:11pm CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: IBM

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 5:41pm CEST

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 3:19pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 3:09pm CEST

Tags: education

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 2:35pm CEST

Tags: Apple

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 1:59pm CEST

Tags: Conferences

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 1:37pm CEST

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Open Source

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 9:28am CEST

Tags: Music

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 4:03am CEST

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 3:17pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 3:04pm CEST

Tags: Social Networking

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 2:14pm CEST

Tags: google

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 1:28pm CEST

Tags: MapQuest

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: education

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 11:14pm CEST by James Fee

Tags: gis

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 8:38pm CEST by James Fee

Tags: gis

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 8:02pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 7:19pm CEST

Tags: Local Search

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:53pm CEST

Tags: mobile

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:47pm CEST

Tags: mashup

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:13pm CEST

Tags: MapQuest

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 6:02pm CEST

Tags: google

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 4:48pm CEST

Tags: real estate

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 3:40pm CEST

Tags: dnc

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 2:09pm CEST

Tags: google

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 2:03pm CEST

Posted: August 25th, 2008, 1:28pm CEST

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

Tags: Remote Sensing

Posted: August 24th, 2008, 1:41am CEST by Mapperz

Tags: maps