GISWiki.NEWS.Reader » Directions Magazine

Directions Magazine - Top Stories

1 2

Product Review: MapInfo Professional Version 9.5

Fetched: September 4th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

MapInfo Professional version 9.5's new features include ease of use and data access enhancements, .NET support and a new license server. Those and some other goodies planned for a November maintenance release are explored in this review from Paul Amos. He's especially pleased with the new MapCAD tools for editing and tools for users to provide immediate feedback on the product and suggested enhancements. If you've not had a look at MapInfo for a while, this is a nice round up of what's new.
Baltimore Mayor-Turned-Governor Expands GIS Throughout Maryland

Fetched: September 3rd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

What makes a good politician? Sometimes it is good personal skills, sometimes it is good leadership, and sometimes it is a clear vision. Martin O'Malley, governor of Maryland, has all of those - and he also has an understanding of how and where technology can support a political agenda. Read this exclusive interview conducted by Editor-in-chief Joe Francica when he sat down with the governor at the ESRI UC this past August 3rd.
Podcast: Eye-Fi Produces Fascinating New GPS-enabled Digital Camera

Fetched: September 3rd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

This podcast provides a look at a new GPS-enabled digital camera memory card that instantly uploads pictures to your online map of choice. Ziv Gillat, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Eye-Fi, discusses why the technology is useful for backpackers who want to capture their travels both on digital images and a map.
Podcast: The Democratic Convention's Texting Map

Fetched: September 2nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

It's not news that the Obama campaign has been a great user of technology up to this point. Last week, at the Democratic National Convention, the campaign used live maps to engage, enable and incite its supporters. We look at what was so special about this use of maps, why it worked and how the basic idea might be used elsewhere.
Tracking Hurricane Gustav

Fetched: September 1st, 2008, 5:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Maps from a variety of sources provide coverage of Gustav
Driving Business Value with Geographic Business Intelligence

Fetched: August 28th, 2008, 4:31am CEST

Tags: Article

VF Corporation, the world's largest apparel company, believes in location intelligence. It's using the technology to learn what consumers want in each geographic area. Then, by feeding demand, VF can enhance profits. Learn how VF worked with SRC to boost the bottom line by tracking 10,000 retail locations, more than 100,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) and 200 lifestyle variables.
Podcast: The Olympics and Geographic Education

Fetched: August 26th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

With this past weekend's Beijing summer Olympics closing ceremonies the event goes into hibernation for another four years. What will we recall? Phelps' 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?
Podcast: Outdoor gear purveyor REI Presents on the Companys New User-generated Maps Campaign

Fetched: August 22nd, 2008, 5:21am CEST

Tags: Article

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."
Pacific Team Delivers GEOINT in Paradise

Fetched: August 21st, 2008, 4:47am CEST

Tags: Article

For some, "duty" in Hawaii means sun and fun. For others, especially those working for the NGA, it means watching out for cyclones, tsunamis and terrorism. The NGA team supporting the U.S. Pacific Command has an extremely high operational tempo that contrasts sharply with the relaxing atmosphere of the Hawaiian Islands. The NGA Support Team provides flexible, in-depth and predictive, regionally focused geospatial intelligence analysis to the Joint Intelligence Operations Center and Special Operations Command Pacific and the 7th Fleet.
Olympics Provide Showcase for 3D Geospatial Models

Fetched: August 20th, 2008, 3:26am CEST

Tags: Article

Amid the gold, silver and bronze of the Beijing Olympics is TIN ... that is, triangulated irregular networks, used to create the terrain models that you see during NBC's televised coverage. High resolution satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe and visualization software from AEgis Technologies helped to create both the terrain and Olympic venue building models that viewers see on TV. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica went behind the scenes to get the details about the mapping and visualization technology that created these incredible graphics.
Podcast: Why is Autodesk Up in a Down Economy?

Fetched: August 19th, 2008, 7:02am CEST

Tags: Article

Our editors ponder Autodesk's quarterly expectation-beating revenues. The company reported solid growth around the world even as gas and food costs remain high. Just what is the company doing right and what can we extrapolate to geospatial companies in particular? Also, a look at Autodesk's recent acquisition of 3D, standards focused company in Germany.
Western Australia's SLIP Enabler Transforms how Government Uses and Shares Spatial Information

Fetched: August 14th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

The Shared Land Information Platform (SLIP) has transformed the way the Western Australian government uses and shares spatial information. SLIP uses Internet technology for linking agency systems to create a single online access point to real-time land and property information from more than 200 datasets within 19 agencies. This article highlights the technology behind SLIP and its benefits to the region and beyond.
Three Takeaways from ESRI UC 2008

Fetched: August 13th, 2008, 7:08am CEST

Tags: Article

By the third day of this event, Adena Schutzberg was getting the sort of questions she's come to expect at large geospatial gatherings: "What was the theme?" "What did you see?" "What was the event about?" This year she found three key ideas of note.
Notes from the ESRI UC 2008 Exhibits Floor

Fetched: August 13th, 2008, 7:08am CEST

Tags: Article

The 2008 ESRI User Conference Exhibits cover a huge part of the San Diego Convention Center. Our editors share their finds and observations among the many booths of hardware, software, data and services companies.
Podcast: A GIO for DOI: Implications and Questions

Fetched: August 12th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Last week Secretary Kempthorne announced plans to appoint a Geographic Information Officer, or GIO, for the Department of the Interior. After having a week to ponder the announcement, our editors raise some practical and political questions about the position and who may fill it.
ESRI UC Exhibits: Three Small Companies and Their Clever Ideas

Fetched: August 11th, 2008, 5:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Adena Schutzberg made it a point this year on a pass through the exhibit hall to speak to companies with which she was not familiar. She found a bumper crop of small companies with unique ideas about how to use the cloud, build out 3D models for free, and really communicate 3D information.
GeoWeb Conference: A High-Level Overview

Fetched: August 8th, 2008, 7:47am CEST

Tags: Article

Korem's JS Turcotte attended the GeoWeb 2008 Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia organized by Galdos Systems recently and offers this overview. The conference focuses on the merging of GIS technologies, methods and applications with the Internet. Approximately 350 people attended the conference, ranging from the traditional GIS crowd to newbies using tools such as Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth to geo-enable their Web sites or applications.
ESRI UC: Technical Keynotes

Fetched: August 7th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Adena Schutzberg reviews two technical keynotes: "A Framework for Implementing GIS on the Web," presented by Clint Brown, and "ArcGIS 9.4, the Road Ahead," presented by Damian Spangrud.
Five Questions with geoVues VP of Sales and Marketing, David Powell

Fetched: August 6th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

The downturn in the economy is impacting retailers due to increasing costs for both transportation and raw goods. Editor-in-Chief Joe Francica asked geoVue Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Powell about the technology solutions available to retail and real estate executives who, as a result of this downturn, are facing declining patronage and revenues.
Podcast: LBS Infrastructure Market Predicted to Grow to $2.2 Billion by 2013 by ABI Research

Fetched: August 6th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

In this interview, Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Dominique Bonte, Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation for ABI Research in London, England. ABI Research released a report (July 2008) stating that Location Based Platforms and Infrastructure Licensing Revenues would reach $2.2 billion by 2013, sizable growth from that of today which ABI estimates at only $111 Million. Francica spoke to Mr. Bonte to get more information on the LBS infrastructure market specifically.
Podcast: ESRI UC Morning Plenary - Our Take

Fetched: August 5th, 2008, 8:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Our editors review the morning plenary at the 2008 ESRI User Conference. The main focus included enhancements in ArcGIS 9.3, 3D, imagery and announcements from Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of Interior, who stole the show.
Kempthorne Announces that 35 Years of Landsat Data Available Free

Fetched: August 4th, 2008, 5:31am CEST

Tags: Article

Speaking at the ESRI UC Senior Executive Summit in San Diego, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, announced that the 35 years of archived Landsat data will be made available over the web free to the public by the end of the year. Read more and listen to Editor-in-chief Joe Francica's interview with Secretary Kempthorne and USGS Director Mark Myers.
Primer: GeoJSON

Fetched: July 31st, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

The GeoJSON format has "made the big time" in some sense as the final specification is complete and Safe Software announced full support for it. This "for non-programmers" short essay answers key questions including; What is it? Why is it special?
A Sense of Place En Route

Fetched: July 31st, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Usually we associate "sense of place" with a point or an area. But what about applying it to a linear feature like a road, trail or path? Adena Schutzberg ponders the issue.
Podcast: How to Read Microsoft's 3D Effort with trueSpace

Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

This week Microsoft announcedthat its recently acquired trueSpace 3D model creator is now free and models created with it can be uploaded as collections to Virtual Earth. What does that say about what Google, Microsoft and the geospatial community think about what tools and data are required for today's maps?
The View from Here: Confidence, Hearsay and Easy-to-Use GIS

Fetched: July 24th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Why is GIS still so hard to use in 2008? Is it the software providers who are responsible or is it the users? It has something to do with confidence and hearsay, suggests Adena Schutzberg. The good news: she's optimistic about the future for GIS users.
Podcast: MISO and ESRI: Current Status and the Future

Fetched: July 22nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

"MISO" stands for Microsoft, IBM, SAP and Oracle, the big enterprise players in the market today. All have a toe or more in GIS, but all also have a tie to ESRI. What's the state of those relationships and what new players also want and need to hook up with the big E? Our editors explore these questions and toss in a few other letters, G, A and B into the alphabet soup.
Safe Software and WeoGeo Announce the Next Step in Geospatial Cloud Computing

Fetched: July 21st, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Today Safe Software and WeoGeo will announce a partnership to bring spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) technology to the cloud. Adena Schutzberg is confident there will be more geospatial applications running the cloud in the near future.
Online Registration - How Location Helps Strike the Right Balance for Retailers

Fetched: July 21st, 2008, 3:34am CEST

Tags: Article

Did you ever wonder how websites use those tidbits of information you may leave on their websites, such as a ZIP Code or your age range? This article from Nielsen Claritas explains how with just a bit of information, offered in response to a fair trade, retailers can understand and serve their online and off-line visitors better.
Webcasts of Geospatial Web Services 2008

Fetched: July 18th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

The Geospatial Web Services workshop at Centre for Geospatial Science, University of Nottingham held June 16-17th, 2008 had an interesting twist: a live webcast. More than 300 viewers followed the presentations over two days. Organizer Dr. Suchith Anand of the University wants to share the content as he believes "technologies like webcasting and podcasting will help in widening participation of GIS research conferences and events for the benefit of the society at large."
Podcast: Interview with Safe Software and WeoGeo on Cloud Computing

Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Safe Software and WeoGeo are partnering to bring spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) technology to the cloud. Not sure what the cloud is? Not sure how geospatial technologies can take advantage of it? Safe's president Don Murray and WeoGeo's CEO Paul Bissett tackle these topics and prepare you for your future in the cloud.
What I Learned Moving to a Mac

Fetched: July 16th, 2008, 8:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

When you attend a conference are you seeing more people with Macs? Unlike a few years ago when Mac users were either hip programmers or not so tech-savvy folks, more and more regular computer users are going Mac, both in and outside of geospatial. Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg joined the group back in March and thinks back on those three months to share what she's learned. While she appreciates what the Mac can do, the real revelation how her computer use has moved to the cloud.
July 2008: The Current Housing Market

Fetched: July 16th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

The predominant development in 2008 is not growth, but decline - the fallout from the downturn in the housing market. There are still areas of growth, pockets of prosperity to report; however, there are few areas untouched by the decline of the housing market and the ensuing credit crunch. ESRI's chief demographer, Lynn Wombold, takes a close look at the current housing situation in the context of demographic factors.
Podcast: You are a Sensor

Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Clever researchers have determined that you, even without a portable device can be an effective geographic sensor. This week we explore examples of how individuals, sometimes along with their electronic gadgets, can act as effective sensors for disease or natural disaster. Our editors share some proven techniques and explore how this type of data collection might play out in the future.
Podcast: Tracking Fleets...On Land and Water - An Executive Interview with Pointer Telocation's Israel Ronn

Fetched: July 11th, 2008, 2:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

In todays executive interview podcast we spoke with Israel Ronn, General Manager of Pointer Telocation's products division. Pointer Telocation is based in Isreal and is a supplier of Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and asset management solutions for fleet management and they are working with G4S Telematix S.A. of Greece to provide tracking technology for live coverage of a series of Mediterranean sailing races. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Mr. Ronn about the event and about Pointers technology.
SERVIR Viz: A 3D Data Access and Visualization System for Mesoamerica

Fetched: July 9th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

The challenge may sound familiar: deliver geospatial data hosted remotely at many different locations via one access point to many different levels of user. The goal may also soud familiar: share, disseminate and visualize across eight countries, with multiple languages and in some areas, limited infrastructure. But, more than likely, you've not yet heard about the solution: SERVIR, the Regional Visualization and Monitoring System for Mesoamerica, which extends from southern Mexico to Panama, including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT) developed a key part SERVIR Viz, a free, easy-to-use data access and visualization framework for geodata built on NASA's World Wind. Three team members give us a tour.
Advanced Geospatial Intelligence Enhances Commercial Imagery

Fetched: July 9th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Advanced Geospatial Intelligence or AGI, applied to imagery is what we'd likely call "image analysis." It describes techniques "to look beyond the visual information depicted in the image." For the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NGA, that has two key implications: more intelligence and the ability to create and then share unclassified products with partners for a variety of uses. Kensey Liebsch of NGA explores the present and future of the analysis and the core imagery.
Podcast: Web Mapping Platform Migration

Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 4:41am CEST

Tags: Article

Last week Ask.com moved off its longtime mapping platform to Microsoft's Virtual Earth. What are the practical choices these days for those who want mapping as part of their portals? Has customization and a unique look and feel been overshadowed by a few strong hosted solutions to which everyone will eventually migrate? Our editors sort out the options and trends and end up using the "c" word - commodity.
Skyhook's XPS 2.0 - Location Solutions for Truly Converged Devices

Fetched: July 2nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

For a cell phone user living in a deep urban canyon, a GPS signal is often difficult to obtain and if you are indoors, nearly impossible. Location determination often requires other means if a clear GPS signal can't be acquired. Assisted GPS provides a backup to a clear line of sight based on triangulating cell tower locations but sometimes the accuracy falls short for some applications. Since its inception, Skyhook Wireless offered the ability to triangulate position based on a database of Wi-Fi hotspots to help solve both problems. Now, the company is offering a way to incorporate all three location determination technologies to solve the problem of indoor positioning and improving accuracy.
Retailers Go IP Geotargeting - Turning Internet Clients into Foot Traffic and More

Fetched: July 2nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

It's not enough anymore to just have a good supporting website to capture additional retail sales. The Web experience for individuals not only needs to be customized for the retailer's "frequent buyers" with regard to their buying preferences, but can now be specifically targeted based on their location, as well. Ace Hardware is using Internet Protocol (IP) geotargeting technology to immediately recognize its Web traffic to create a nearly hyperlocal experience for its Web visitors. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica explores the technology with executives from Digital Element and GSI Commerce.
Podcast: Location Determination Goes Hybrid

Fetched: July 1st, 2008, 5:10am CEST

Tags: Article

Skyhook announced a hybrid location determination software solution that can tap into GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell towers to locate devices. What does that mean for knowing where you are anytime, anywhere? Is this step forward accompanied by an increased sense of location privacy comfort? Our editors explore the new technology and offer a suggestion for tackling the privacy bugaboo.
Naming Names

Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 8:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

On Monday, Nokia reported it would acquire Plazes for an undisclosed sum. Plazes is reasonably well-know in the geospatial arena for its location-tagged messaging offering. Outside our community, Plazes' geospatial focus and clever location-related name didn't necessarily come into play in reports about the acquisition. Adena Schutzberg explores how the media understands this small, but increasingly important company, and what it says about the terms the geospatial community holds dear.
Mapping It All Out: FEMA's GIS Program Has Positive Impact On Moss Point Recovery

Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 5:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

When the average person thinks of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its role in the recovery of a community after a disaster, images of the initial response usually come to mind; a man in a FEMA shirt sitting at a table signing residents up for disaster assistance, an assembly line of workers unloading bottles of water from a truck and handing them to waiting disaster victims or, perhaps, a FEMA official joining local, state and national leaders on a tour of the disaster area. The aforementioned imagery provides a relatively narrow perspective of FEMA's functions and responsibilities. A great example of the lesser known roles of FEMA's assistance comes through the GIS program.
MapInfo 9.5 - Under the Hood

Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 6:42am CEST

Tags: Article

Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Moshe Binyamin, MapInfo Professional Product Manager, about some of the features announced in the release of MapInfo Professional 9.5. The product was released on June 11.
MapInfo 9.5 Under the Hood

Fetched: June 25th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Moshe Binyamin, MapInfo Professional Product Manager, about some of the features announced in the release of MapInfo Professional 9.5. The product was released on June 11.
Five Questions with Susan Marlow About Parcel Datasets

Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Smart Data Strategies has been in the parcel / land records business for 20 years. In the last year or so, parcel data has become an incredibly hot topic. Today, several large commercial companies are in the process of building a national parcel dataset. Adena Schutzberg asked Susan Marlow, CEO of Smart Data Strategies, about parcel data.
Five Questions (Plus One) About Korem's Mapworkspace

Fetched: June 18th, 2008, 6:33am CEST

Tags: Article

In May, Korem launched a website aimed at MapInfo Professional users that allows them to share their workspaces and associated files. Adena Schutzberg asked Korems vice president and CTO, Jean-Sébastien Turcotte, about the product.
Podcast: Who is #1 in GIS...and Does It Really Matter?

Fetched: June 17th, 2008, 8:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Who's #1 in GIS? How big is the GIS market? Is the impact of Google affecting the sales of GIS vendors? These questions are asked all the time and the answer is...nobody really knows. But more to the point, does it really matter? With the fragmentation of the geospatial technology market during the last few years, it is difficult to place a number on the total size of the market, despite the best efforts of market research firms. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica lays out a framework for the sectors of the geospatial market and what really needs to be considered when trying to size the market...but as importantly, why the numbers today are irrelevant.
Podcast: Exclusive Interview with Judson Green, president & CEO, NAVTEQ

Fetched: June 12th, 2008, 4:20am CEST

Tags: Article

In an exclusive interview, Judson Green, president and CEO of NAVTEQ spoke with Directions Media Editor-in-chief Joe Francica about a broad spectrum of topics related to the growth of the location-based services market and the ability of NAVTEQ to address an exploding market for digital map products. Green spoke of the opportunities for NAVTEQ not just in terms of its current ability to serve a variety of market segments but provided some insights in what may be possible in the future with NAVTEQ data. "Don't think of our map going into a nav system in the front seat of the car; think of our map going into the engine of the car to help drive the car ... and therein you find dozens and dozens and dozens of applications which would fundamentally improve the safety of the car, the productivity of the car, the efficiencies, and we think that's a very exciting area," he said. Green, once the president for Walt Disney Attractions, now has the challenge of sorting through the opportunities that range from real-time dynamic content to advanced driver assistance systems.
Serendipity in News and Travel

Fetched: June 11th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Are you the type who grabs the latest cell phone with GPS? Or upgrades to the latest tools for tracking your hiking expedition or bike ride? Not all geospatial professionals are geo-gadget people. Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg isn't one when it comes to satellite navigation devices - she doesn't have one. In this editorial she explains the choice in one word: serendipity. She puts it this way: "It's my contention that if you follow a track too closely you are not open the wonders you may find along the way."
Podcast: Speedy Browsers for Web Mapping ... Which Ones Are Faster?

Fetched: June 10th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

It's always about speed. In the early days of geospatial technology, the argument was about getting things done faster with speedier computers: VAXes, mini-VAXes, and those "wiz-bang" 486 PCs! Now the discussion has changed. With geospatial solutions being delivered by Internet-based mapping programs some of the bottleneck with speed is tied up in browsers. Is Internet Explorer faster than Mozilla? What browser best renders maps and which is tops in security? Editor Joe Francica explores the options.
The Open Geospatial Consortium: Fostering a Climate for Collaboration

Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

The OGC is best known for creating standards, but one of its great contributions is as a forum for collaboration. In this article, John Olesak of Northrop Grumman Information Technology TASC highlights how organizations come together and enhance efforts including national spatial data infrastructures and the global spatial data infrastructure. He explains that "collaborative environments are difficult to achieve and maintain over time. OGC has a proven track record of keeping a balance between a structured steady course and the rapid adaptation and assimilation of new ideas."
Seven Questions about Contigo's New Mobile Items Monitoring Patent

Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Contigo received a patent earlier this year for monitoring the locations of mobile items. The patent is not linked to a specific location technology, meaning it applies to existing and perhaps future technologies. Editor-in-Chief Joe Francica asked company representatives to share insights on the implications of this patent for the company's existing fleet tracking and future solutions.
Podcast: Wither Paper Maps in a World of Satellite Navigation?

Fetched: June 3rd, 2008, 2:31pm CEST

Tags: Article

This week the California State Automobile Association announce it would end its production of road maps due to falling demand. The slack will be picked up by the national Association. At the same time police and response organizations are warning the public and their staffs to keep a paper map on hand. What is happening to paper maps as GPS devices become part of our daily lives? Editors Adena Schutzberg and Joe Francica share their thoughts.
Five Questions (Plus One) About TRF and the New Version of PolicyMap

Fetched: June 2nd, 2008, 2:30am CEST

Tags: Article

GIS has long been used in development and redevelopment efforts. The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) updated its PolicyMap online application which serves organizations and individuals interested in redeveloping and revitalizing neighborhoods. Maggie McCullough, TRF's director of PolicyMap explains the project's vision, technology and business model in answering our questions.
Operations Meets Analytics at Pitney Bowes MapWorld '08

Fetched: May 30th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

To understand how MapInfo and Group 1 Software, both divisions of Pitney Bowes, will be positioned going forward, an attendee of MapWorld 2008 need only observe the trade show floor. Joe Francica explains.
Issues and Ideas from the New York State Geospatial Summit 2008

Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 4:47am CEST

Tags: Article

Did you ever attend a regional GIS conference that really was not about the region's GIS or even about the work you do day to day? Adena Schutzberg did; she spoke at the New York State Geospatial Summit, an eclectic event held in the wilds of New York State. It's a small, all-plenary event designed to get geospatial professionals to think outside their daily work "boxes." The 2008 edition did just that as she explains in this event wrap-up.
Podcast: (Geo)technology 2008 - Findability, Accessibility, Portability

Fetched: May 28th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

This week Adena Schutzberg offers a condensed version of the presentation she gave last week at the NYS Geospatial Summit, in Skaneateles, NY. It focuses on the challenges of finding, accessing and moving Web-based content both geospatial and otherwise, and highlights some technologies and tools addressing those challenges. She also looks into the future and predicts what she expects to see in these areas in the coming months and years.
NSDI Implementation Strategies

Fetched: May 24th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

"What are the strategies to implement NSDI?" Asmat Ali asserts no consolidated documents exist at the moment to answer that question. In this paper he reviews only socio-technical approaches to implementing NSDI, highlighting the Rainbow Metaphor Approach and the Public Private Partnership Approach. Neither approach alone offers all the potential benefits, but each brings key elements to the table.
Five Questions About Avencia's Sajara

Fetched: May 21st, 2008, 8:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Avencia launched a new version of its Web-based digital asset management (DAM) software, Sajara, earlier this month. Why are consulting firm offering products? How is the revolution in online mapping changed demands on digital asset management? We posed these and other questions to company president and CEO Robert Cheetham and the Sajara team.
Five Question About Avencia's Sajara

Fetched: May 21st, 2008, 8:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Avencia launched a new version of its Web-based digital asset management (DAM) software, Sajara, earlier this month. Why are consulting firm offering products? How is the revolution in online mapping changed demands on digital asset management? We posed these and other questions to company president and CEO Robert Cheetham and the Sajara team.
Podcast: ESRI and Google Offer New Solutions for Finding and Using Geospatial Data

Fetched: May 20th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

At last week's Where 2.0 conference held in Burlingame, California, Google's John Hanke and ESRI's Jack Dangermond shared the stage to describe their updated vision for making ESRI's users' geodata and services more usable across the Web. Our editors describe the key points in this technological and business handshake and explore its implications.
Addressing Fire

Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 8:31am CEST

Tags: Article

England's fire services are tapping into many location technologies to get the right information to the right people at the right time. Many partners have come together to outfit vehicles across the region with Mobile Data Terminals complete with data from the National Land and Property Gazetteer. Carl Hancock explains how it all comes together.
Business Globes 1.0

Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

What is it you like about Google Earth, really? Satellite images or the "zooming" factor? The ability to use the "globe" to grasp a much wider perspective has implications for how businesses can manage their multinational operations. Joe Francica explores "business globes" that will be created specifically for organizations or industries, and how they might support a better view of a corporate ecosystem from a geographic perspective.
Podcast: Four Technologies That May Soon Impact Geospatial - Are You Ready?

Fetched: May 13th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

The editors look outward to find technologies that will impact how geospatial products and practices will change in the next 12 to 24 months. Some of the suggestions are already appearing in cutting edge products, others are not yet implemented in geospatial solutions, but we expect them to be soon.
The LI 15 Minute Update: Short Conversations with Geo Technology and Data Providers Part 2

Fetched: May 9th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg challenged exhibitors and attendees to provide updates on their organization's latest news and products in just 15 minutes. She shares a sampling of interesting tidbits from WeatherBug, WeoGeo, Seisan, MapQuest and Quova in part two of a two-part article.
The LI 15 Minute Update: Short Conversations with Geo Technology and Data Providers Part 1

Fetched: May 8th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg challenged exhibitors and attendees to provide updates on their organization's latest news and products in just 15 minutes. She shares a sampling of interesting tidbits from Tele Atlas, Europa Technologies, Ubisense and Microsoft in part one of a two-part article.
Location Intelligence 2008: Maturing Market Players Look for New Relationships

Fetched: May 7th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Directions Media hosted the fifth annual Location Intelligence Conference last week in Santa Clara, California. Adena Schutzberg shares how a location-savvy audience reacted to the possibilities for indoor location tracking, discusses a lightning panel, and details BP's work implementing location intelligence across the entire 100,000 person company. She also offers up the key themes of the event.
European Mobile Mapping Trends

Fetched: May 7th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Where is Europe compared to the rest of the world with location-based services? What cultural differences suggest a preference for "locate services" or "friend finders" versus turn-by-turn navigation that is a staple of the U.S. market for LBS? And why does the word "free" raise skepticism in some parts of Europe? Michael Fisher explores some of these difference and adds his own forecast for location-based advertising.
Podcast: Why is it so Hard to Sell Geospatial Technology to the Enterprise?

Fetched: May 6th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Senior executives from leading technology companies, speaking at our Location Intelligence Conference last week shared that the entire value proposition for spatial enablement is a "push" to the market rather than a "pull" or demand for the technology. Our editors ask: Are we doing an adequate job of selling the technology to more of the people who will eventually implement geospatial tools with other IT solutions? Why is it still so hard? What are we not doing well? Will it take another "Google Earth" to push the technology deeper into corporate computing or a new crop of graduates to be more geospatially enlightened?
Top Ten Things I learned at LI 2008

Fetched: May 5th, 2008, 4:01pm CEST

Tags: Article

Location Intelligence 2008 provided a glimpse into some of the technology trends shaping the industry. Conference Chairman Joe Francica provides a quick takeaway on his observations of the event and the conversations he had with attendees. The conference took place last week in Santa Clara, CA.
GCI Sells Maptech

Fetched: April 30th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Maptech, a company known in geospatial circles for its Terrain Navigator Pro and Pocket Navigator map applications, but even more well-known in marine circles for its paper and electronic marine navigation tools, quietly went on the block earlier this year. Adena Schutzberg takes a look at the company's interesting past and its expected future.
Podcast: Do You Think Spatially?

Fetched: April 29th, 2008, 7:17am CEST

Tags: Article

An interactive session at a recent regional GIS event prompted our editors to explore how we are trained in GIS, and how and if we use spatial thinking in our day-to-day work. Are we just pushing buttons and following recipes or are we truly using the underlying ideas of how people, places and things behave in space? Does it matter if you are trained in geography vs. GIS vs. another discipline? What does the future look like for those skilled (or not) in spatial thinking?
17th Annual GIS SIG Draws Genesee/Finger Lakes Region Geospatial Users to Tackle Local and Universal Challenges

Fetched: April 28th, 2008, 3:32pm CEST

Tags: Article

Adena Schutzberg has argued in the past that you can learn as much (or more) at a regional GIS gathering of a few hundred than at a multi-day event of several thousand. Case in point: the 17th GIS Special Interest Group Conference serving the Genesee/Finger Lakes Region of New York state held last week. Not only did neighbors learn what neighbors were doing, they also were forced out of their comfort zones to explore topics outside geospatial technology and at its heart.
Satellite Imagery Production Grows Up: Land Cover for Local Governments

Fetched: April 24th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Earth Day 2008 has just passed providing solid evidence citizens and governments are turning their attention to all things green. Local governments are hearing the call of green as well and often look to acquire a land cover dataset to understand what's on the ground within their geography. Until recently such a dataset was the result of a one-off negotiation with an aerial firm and/or a imagery analysis specialist who could turn the image into land cover polygons. But there's a new game in town that takes advantage of high resolution satellite imagery and accelerated feature extraction, making land cover data more accessible for even the smallest towns. Adena Schutzberg explains how three companies have come together to introduce land cover datasets for the Chicago area next month, hoping to tap into the pent up demand.
Pitfalls of SDI's Hierarchy

Fetched: April 23rd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

A spatial data infrastructure model must serve many constituents. Asmat Ali, the Assistant Director of the Survey of Pakistan, explains how the data may be developed by corporate, local, state, national, regional or global interests, and each potential creator imbues them with different characteristics "due to different needs at these different levels." That, he suggests, presents a potential pitfall, which he aims to address via a new SDI hierarchy model for federated nations.
Cost-effective Information Interoperability for All-Hazards Events in Spite of Decreasing Preparedness Funding - Part Two, The Solution

Fetched: April 20th, 2008, 5:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Ric Skinner follows up on last week's article describing the environment of diminishing all-hazards preparedness funding, with a vision for a solution. He offers the concept of the "Disaster Management Interoperable Information System" (DMIIS) that would provide participating towns, agencies and other resources with a cost-effective capability for enhanced situation awareness, disaster response, resource request and allocation, and a collaborative environment for training and exercises.
Cost-effective Information Interoperability for All-Hazards Events in Spite of Decreasing Preparedness Funding - Part One, The Environment

Fetched: April 17th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Emergency management agencies are expected to do more with less. The scope of responsibility is increasing at the same time as budgets are decreasing - and are likely to decrease even more sharply as federal and state agencies cut funding. Ric Skinner describes the environment and need in part one of this two part article, presented here. In part two, he will review a potential solution for how agencies can become better prepared for "all-hazards" events by implementing a cost-effective information interoperability solution.
Product Review: Maptitude 5.0

Fetched: April 16th, 2008, 5:28am CEST

Tags: Article

Caliper Corporation's Maptitude has a reputation for being a powerful, easy-to-use desktop mapping program. Version 5.0, released early this year, should turn a few heads according to reviewer Michael Cline. He suggests that GIS professionals will find more advanced analytical capabilities that take Maptitude beyond a simple mapping tool. Users will also like the low cost offering, which includes some functions unavailable in more expensive packages.
NGA and Mongolia Map New Horizons

Fetched: April 14th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has had an exchange and cooperative agreement with Mongolia since 2004. What's in it for NGA? The opportunity to collect gravity and elevation data over the country, gain access to the latest country maps and geographic names database, to name a few. What's in it for Mongolia? Access to NGA base data for mapping, use of loaner GIS workstations, training and more. There's an interesting "win win" situation going on as NGA helps develop geospatial capabilities in this fast-growing democracy on the other side of the world.

GISWiki.NEWS.Reader » Directions Magazine - Top Stories

Feeds

Directions Magazine - Top Stories

Fetched: September 4th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: September 3rd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: September 3rd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: September 2nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: September 1st, 2008, 5:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 28th, 2008, 4:31am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 26th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 22nd, 2008, 5:21am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 21st, 2008, 4:47am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 20th, 2008, 3:26am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 19th, 2008, 7:02am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 14th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 13th, 2008, 7:08am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 13th, 2008, 7:08am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 12th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 11th, 2008, 5:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 8th, 2008, 7:47am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 7th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 6th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 6th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 5th, 2008, 8:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: August 4th, 2008, 5:31am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 31st, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 31st, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 24th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 22nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 21st, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 21st, 2008, 3:34am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 18th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 16th, 2008, 8:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 16th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 11th, 2008, 2:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 9th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 9th, 2008, 5:30am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 4:41am CEST

Tags: Article

Fetched: July 2nd, 2008, 5:30am CEST