Google maps API version 1 shut down on November 1

This update comes recently from the Google maps API blog (http://googlemapsapi.blogspot.com/2006/10/revision-266-of-maps-api-v2.html)... API version 1 planned to be shut down as of November 1. What this means is that there may exist some incompatibilities between v1 and v2 so developers of gmap mashups should take note - see http://www.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/upgrade.html#Incompatibilities. According to Google Maps API Product Manager Brandon Badger, improved performance will be realized by ceasing to support and sut down v1... "the benefits will outweighthe transition costs". So, if you happen to notice a mashup after November 1 that isn't performing correctly you might want to contact the developer

get your pictures in to Yahoo! Time Capsule

Got some time on your hands? - You might want to participate in the Yahoo! Time Capsule... "For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio — even drawings — to this electronic anthropology project. This is the first time that digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes. And by November 8, a mosaic of revealing snapshots will be sealed and entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., officially taking its place in history." Check it out at http://timecapsule.yahoo.com/capsule.php

Update on The Atlantic Coastal Information Portal (ACIP)

An updated data link... The Atlantic Coastal Information Portal (ACIP)
is an online catalogue of geospatial data. ACIP is Atlantic Canada's
window on the GeoConnections Discovery Portal, which enables the
discovery of and access to geospatial data for Canada - in particular,
Newfoundland. The resource was formerly known as the Atlantic Coastal
Database Directory and can now be found at http://aczisc.dal.ca/acip/ -
be sure to check out the search for data option!

Webcast: Leveraging GIS in the Field

Here's some details of a Webcast that may interest you - Leveraging GIS in the Field. This webcast will show how your organization can benefit from GO! Sync Mapbook with Redline and Inspection Extension and Redline Analyst, a straight forward redline management extension to ArcGIS. October 26, 2006 @ 9:15 am Pacific  - see http://www.tadpoletechnology.com/gsd/html/gosyncevents/

visual analytics - advanced prototypes were unveiled

At a recently attended event involving visual analytics, a number of advanced prototypes were unveiled in the field of data mining, visualization, ontology, and interrelationships between structured and unstructured, spatial and non-spatial information. The overall intent is to develop systems to detect “signal in the noise” associated with national and homeland security. Clearly, as was evidenced by university, government, and private enterprise, GIS systems have become core components of these applications, expressing the spatial component of information as part of the overall visualization applications. Global projections, including Google Earth, NASA’s Wordwind, ESRI’s ArcExplorer client, and custom applications, were prevalent as well. However, out of all of the applications this author observed and interacted, the most impressive application involved the efforts of the University of Washington’s exploration into the convergence of GIS and VR (Virtual Reality). Seventeen years ago, the concept of utilization a spatially-enabled database as a data engine for VR constructs was a significant idea, but the computing challenges and VR HMD (Head Mounted Display) requirements were significant. Entire, large rooms of computers were required to generate, sustain, and allow for successful interaction within a Virtual World (VW). However, sitting at a simple table with one computer, modified HMD, and the willingness to achieve GIS integration with VR, the UW researchers demonstrated the ability to be immersed in the spatial information. In one instance, it was possible to engage in a high-resolution satellite image of a major urban area, visualize identified target threat features, experience near real-time sensor messaging, and other components through the VR interface. This is achieved through a novel application of VR HMD tracking and the projection and calibration of the geospatial scene onto a small white-board held by the user. The white-board has predefined focal points that are used to tie the spatial image projection into a coordinate space for VR perception. This is no small achievement. Moving beyond plasma screens, touch-tables, stereoscopic screens and glasses for 3D, the GIS-VR integration developed by the University of Washington team in association with other partners represents a next-generation level of geospatial experience. You, the observer, are placed literally into the geospatial data construct in real-time, and experience both 3- and 4D capabilities with the integration of the sensor messages broadcasts from the urban environment. Equally impressive is to review the progress that has been made in VR technology to able to experience this geospatial construct without a massive computing center and the requirement to generate the geospatial features as simulacra. The experience was with actual spatial data as derived from remote sensing, GIS, and spatial sensor messaging (XML-based as SOA). Seventeen years after this author discussed the integration of VR and GIS, significant achievements have been made. The spatial database has evolved as a viable data source for VR worlds, ushering in a new day in advanced visual analytics and the cognitive processes associated with geospatial perception.
-- Posted by - Alex Philp, GCS Research

GISuser using Google Custom Search

I've been messing around a bit more with the new Google custom search today and have created a custom search page for the GISuser website search results. You can access the search page HERE... please feel free to contribute GIS related websites to be included in the search spider. Only GIS-relevant websites please... enjoy! Once i have a bit of time I have a few hundred excellent resources to include!

Google AJAX Search API and Google custom search

Google has released a number of APIs for some sexpanded search capabilities this week. A new AJAX search API is one app available but perhaps of more interest is the availability of the Google custom search - a highly customizable option for putting search on your website. Include your favorite sites and exclude competitors etc... nice! See http://google.com/coop/cse/overview - I've been messing with it for a little bit and have added a custom search to GISuser.com (see the bottom content area of most pages. Its pretty basic to start but hopefully it will evolve if time permits! The optional annotations are very cool, essentially enabling users to build and maintain their own search engine.. imagine uploading all your wesbite paramters from an OPML file or other tab delimited file. Also very cool is the use of the Google Marker. I've now added this to my toolbar so whenever I hit a website that I'd like to include in the GISuser Google Search utility i simply add it to the growing list.. nice!

Metrobot's unique linear street maps a mobile mapping alternative

This is a cool map search utility, designed for mobile users. The Metrobot search engine is distinguished by its unique mapping concept which depicts businesses that occur on either side of individual road segments. The maps provide additional information including businesses listings and business web page links for each road segment. The roads in a Metrobot map are displayed in a straightened and aligned manner. Users can traverse the complete road network of an individual city by clicking on intersecting road links. Someone planning a trip to a specific location can easily see the businesses that are located nearby the destination. Definitely a cool concept and best of all its optimized for mobile devices too! See http://www.metrobot.com - for some suggested searches try the suggest a street function at http://www.metrobot.com/loc/streetidx.htm

Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk Design clash with Microsoft Internet Explorer 7

From the In case you missed it department.... With people "considering" updating their IE web browser to the latest and "greatest" you have to wonder how often this topic is going to come up in the near future! This update comes from the Beyond the paper blog... Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk Design Review are not compatible with the Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. These three Autodesk applications use HTML as part of their menuing interfaces and are impacted by Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 operation. Uninstalling Internet Explorer 7 and reverting to Internet Explorer 6 does not restore Autodesk functionality, because the supporting libraries from the Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate are left in place. (Source: http://dwf.blogs.com/beyond_the_paper/2006/10/autodesk_produc.html)

A mobile device suggestion - the new nokia 6133 and heads up on myFaves from T-Mobile

A tip on a suggested mobile rate plan you might be interested in (USA). T-Mobile has a number of plans that may be useful to those of yo looking for GSM coverage. Most recently, the company announced they are selling the new Nokia 6133 (a very cool multi-media device strong on mobile entertainment features ie. music, video, etc... But, something about T-Mobile you not know about is their myFaves solution whcih provides users with unlimited calling to 5 preselected numbers... not a bad deal! Here's a few specs on the phone if your interested.

Key features of the Nokia 6133 phone include:
- Folder design with push-to-open button
- 1.3 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom
- Video capture and playback
- 2.2 inch 240 x 320 pixel QVGA display supporting up to 16 million colors
- Music player (supports MP3, AAC. AAC+ and eAAC+ formats)**
- Bluetooth® wireless technology
- Hands-free speaker
- Voice dialing, voice commands and voice recorder
- Vibrating alert
- Video ringtones (separate additional download charges apply)
- Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE
- Dimensions: 3.61 x 1.88 x 0.79 inches (at largest points), 3.95 ounces

ArcGIS 9.2 Database Replication - Free web Seminar

New ArcCatalog and ArcMap functions in ArcGIS 9.2 that can be used to replicate geospatial data across the enterprise will be demonstrated next week during a free ESRI live training seminar on the Internet in November. ArcGIS 9.2 software, set for release later this year, uses a utility called geodatabase replication to help users copy data and manage the replicas for distribution within their organizations. Introduction to Geodatabase Replication at ArcGIS 9.2 will appear on the Training and Education Web site at www.esri.com/training on November 2, 2006, at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. Pacific standard time.

Some CAD / DWG conversion tools

Just an FYI... if your interested in testing the waters with some CAD translation tools, AnyDWG offers up some free downloads of a number of utilities including DWG to DXF, PDF, and DWG converters. They also have a DWG to image converter to Batch convert DWG and DXF files to TIF (TIFF), JPG (JPEG), BMP, GIF, PNG, TGA, PCX, WMF and EMF - more info at http://anydwg.com/downloads.html

the definitive retro CAD newsletter, almost 500 editions strong

I tell ya, I have to give Ralph G. some credit... cranking out almost 500 weekly editions of his CAD newsletter.. kudos. What's amazing though is that in the entire time Ralph hasn't changed a thing... I guess if it aint broke don't fix it eh! The upFront.eZine has become a must read for the CAD user / CAD technogeek over the years, however, wouldn't you think that the early 90s text formatting would eventually change?? I like the publication but I'm anxiously waiting the day that it comes full fold and enters the new millenium and gets a new look, new design, facelift... or something... anything ;0) Keep up the good work Ralph - see http://www.upfrontezine.com/

Autodesk university bookmarks for the bloggers

Are you heading to AU this year (that's Autodesk University in case I've lost you). To stay informed of AU happenings from the blogosphere the following are some great resources to bookmark.
Between the Lines from Shaan Hurley is a great generic AutoCAD blog... perhaps THE premier Autodesk blog - http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines
Beyond the Paper is all about DWF - http://blogs.autodesk.com/beyond_the_paper
Between the Poles is another fine resource (although the author has yet to link to my AnyGeo blog!) - see http://blogs.autodesk.com/between_the_poles
One of my favorite reads (although not strictly GIS focused) is Lynn Allen's Blog - http://blogs.autodesk.com/between_the_poles
Heidi's AutoCAD Insider blog is also very informative - see http://heidihewett.blogs.com/
finally, how about the official show blog - see http://auol.wordpress.com/ - great idea... every event needs their own official blog.
The only thing missing is an official show tag... how about AutodeskU06?
Fyi, yours truly will be at AU once again (I think this will be number 8) - I'll also be blogging from the event in Vegas so AnyGeo (gisuser.blogspot.com) is also a good AU blog to bookmark!

event info - THE MAP DESIGNERS

FYI, an interesting event.. wish I could be there! November 17th, Glasgow - For the first time in the UK, and probably worldwide, this seminar  will  bring together cartographic designers, and designers from the  world of  media and GIS, to discuss how to make maps effective, exciting, irresistible and ...readable. Anyone who commissions maps, or who is involved in the making of maps, whether from GIS data or the imagination of the artist will be welcome at 'The Map Designers' seminar.  The seminar is designed for architects, surveyors, tourism, foresters, utilities, earth scientists, cartographers, graphic artists, and government; in fact every branch of society that uses or creates maps. We would especially like to welcome students from Scotland, the North East and further afield, with our incredible deal - £15 for a once in a lifetime  seminar! This amazing concessionary price is also open to all on proof of eligibility, i.e. unemployed, retired, BCS  Associate Members etc... THE MAP DESIGNERS  at The Lighthouse Scotland's Centre for Architecture and Design, Glasgow -  17th NOVEMBER 2006