Free USGS DRG data downloads from Libre and the Internet archive... download away!

Remember the USGS DRG map ransom project that "freed" the data, making these data freely available for public download? Well, its been some time and it seems that the data are indeed freely available for all. I surfed around a bit this AM and wanted to remind any of you GIS techs and managers that are STILL paying for these free data to consult this finne resource as an alternative. Data are available from a coulpe of locations and served up via http or ftp download. You can browse by State from the following locations: http://libremap.org/data/ - the libre map project UIorhttp://www.archive.org/details/maps_usgs - the Internet archive

Google Sketchup models wanted and sketchup 6 released

Google is looking for the hottest models on the planet. They can come from any city in the world, and they can be any height, but they must be interesting to look at, well-made and lightweight. The company needs models constructed with Google Earth and Google SketchUp to help build out the 3D Warehouse (Source of inspiration: Google Blog) See http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/super-models-wanted.html - see also http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ - speaking of Sketchup, did U know that the company has just released SketChup 6! See http://www.sketchup.com

MapGuide Open Source update on linux

I just stumbled onto an interesteing read over at linux.com - seems the publication has shown an interest in the development of Mapguide open source. In the article, Andy Morsell, the founder of Spatial Integrators is interviewed provides a recap of his company's experience with Mapguide OS and how they are using the open product to help clients like SpokaneMaps to deliver web-based mapping solutions... nice! See the article here - Related links: http://www.spokanemaps.com/; https://mapguide.osgeo.org/mapguide; http://www.spatialgis.com/

Its a cell phone, its an iPod, its a computer.. no, its an iPhone!

Apple releases the iPhone... do you want one? Finally the wait is over... enter the iPhone... aka. the iPod / cell phone / multi-media computer. We've all been hearing about it forever and it finally got released today by Steve Jobs at the Annual Apple lovefest. Now many of you know that I'm big on the symbian OS and Symbian S60 smartphones (ie. Nokia N80, N93, 6682, E62, Sony Ericsson 950i, etc...) and the new iPhone really doesn't do anything that these devices don't already do, however, given the Symbian OS' lack of penetration in the US and the pathetic attempt at selling these devices by the carriers the iPhone may infact be a huge hit. IT will all depend on the sales channels and given the US' current love for anything by Apple you can expect some big things for this device in North America... don't expect this puppy to be used in Europe though... there's no way they will take down Nokia's dominance in this space. The iPhone obviously supports music and that will be big sellign feature. Some of the other pluses for the device will no doubt be the bundled solutions (google search, Yahoo! etc, Google maps, Safari web browser...), WiFi, Bluetooth, Qwerty keyboard (do people really want this on their phone??), Huge screen (3.5 inch), and the ease of synching with your PC... this is Huge. Here's some info from the official blurbage... iPhone will be available in the US in June 2007, Europe in late 2007, and Asia in 2008, in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac. iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through Cingular’s retail and online stores. Several iPhone accessories will also be available in June, including Apple’s new remarkably compact Bluetooth headset. See more at www.apple.com/iphone/keynote

Coming Soon, a new FREE GIS data product from the USGS, EROS, and NASA... TerraLook

TerraLook consists of a collection of JPEG images created from ASTER images from the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center and Landsat Orthorectified images from the USGS EROS archive. images are user-selected, geo-registered, simulated natural color bundled with footprints of the images and standards-compliant
metadata that describe the collection. Each collection will be delivered as a single zipped file. TerraLook products will be available at no charge, and may be selected and ordered through the USGS Global Visualization Viewer (GloVIS) - See http://glovis.usgs.gov/.