More Google map Mashup fun - create a dropspot

Another fun Google maps application at dropspots.org - select a location and leave a dropspot.. pretty simple. Think of it as a sort of online scavenger hunt where you can explore drops. Leave a drop at any location.. maybe its your business card, a tip, a photo, or ?? Pretty cool and fun See my dropspot at http://dropspots.org/find?q=80525

Forestry Geomatics specialist selected as part of NASA LDCM team

This out of NRCan and NASA as a Victoria BC-based forestry geomatics specialist earned his spot on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Science Team. British Columbia researcher Dr. Mike Wulder is the sole Canadian among 16 scientists and engineers advising the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the development and launch of a new “earth observation” satellite. FYI, the LDCM Science Team was set up by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with NASA - for related info see http://ldcm.usgs.gov/intro.html & www.pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/eosd/cover/index_e.html.

Movement on Freeing Canadian Geospatial (GIS) Data and the free data policy

This comes out of Natural Resources Canada today...  Experts and other users of digital topographic data will no longer have to pay to use digital versions of government maps and data. The Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced that as of April 1, 2007, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) began making its electronic topographic mapping data available to all users free of charge over the Internet.  The new no-fee access policy applies to data that is solely owned by NRCan. This policy builds on an earlier initiative (www.GeoBase.ca), which in 2003 provided free access to various co-owned federal, provincial and territorial topographic data.

Google Announces KML Search via Google Maps and My Maps - create your own mashup in seconds

This interesting tidbit comes via way of the Google maps developer weblog (http://googlemapsapi.blogspot.com). Simply put, using google maps users can now search through the directory of Global listings of KML files using "maps". Along with this is word of a new feature called MyMaps -- My Maps, is a new feature that makes it quick and easy to create your own custom Google Maps just by pointing and clicking. Users can now easily add placemarks, draw lines and shapes, and embed text, photos and videos -- all using a simple drag and drop interface to create personal maps to share and store. Create your own personal maps by visiting http://maps.google.com/help/maps/userguide/index.html and getting some pointers from the tutorial. For more info see also http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/map-making-so-easy-caveman-could-do-it.html -

Below is a quick and dirty first attempt at saving my own map (think your very own mashup in seconds!) All you need is a google account and the know-how to use Google maps.. quite simple really. Notice the "KML" upper left so you can easily save your map as a KML... cool! All your maps can be quickly saved in your "My Maps" for viewing and sharing.


See Official Google Blog: Map-making: So easy a caveman could do it

Tele Atlas gets a new look

Been to teleatlas.com lately? Check it out as there's a whole new look. Of interest are some prominent pointers to developer resources and partner programs. There's also a very visible link for people to report map changes and feedback on their data. Here's some details from the company regarding the facelift...

Updated Tele Atlas design, messages, and content communicate a strong leadership company position.

Translation and localization (to be launched shortly) will make it easier for you to do business with us and demonstrate our continued partner commitment.

Additional resources complement and enhance your sales and marketing efforts.

Improved partner lists and success stories by market segment enable visitors to find you more quickly and easily

See http://www.teleatlas.com

 

Oil & Gas event to change venue and date

Heads up... GITA has just announced that the venue and date for the annual Oil & Gas conference will be changing. The event typically takes places in mid-late September in Houston, TX. This from GITA -- Due to circumstances beyond our control, GITA's 2007 GIS for Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition will have a new date and location. We appreciate your patience as we finalize new details. Stay tuned or mojnitor http://gita.org/events/oil_gas/07/index.asp for details

H1B visa cap (for technology professionals) reached on first day

This item from USCIS is of interest to any technology company seeking to sponsor foreign employees on the very popular (and controvercial) H1B visa. From USCIS... "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008). USCIS will use a random selection process (described below) for all cap-subject filings received on April 2, 2007 and April 3, 2007. USCIS will reject and return along with filing fee(s) all petitions received on those days that are not randomly selected." Note: the H1B visa is commonly used for technology companies in order to sponsor skilled labor. The job must be fore a specialty occupation and the peritioner must hold a degree. At the root of the problem for many is the fact that the cap on these visas is 65,000. Perhaps something that should be looked at is that 70% of the applications and visas issued go to workers from one country (India) and even more consufing is a new visa called L-3 that provides for a whopping 20,000 visas that are issued only to professionals from Australia! WOW - see the official announcment at http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/H1BFY08Cap040307.pdf

Navdog enables mapping any event that has a geographic location - and its free

Have you heard of NavDog yet? It's a cool social networking map service for listing any event that has a geographic location. Navdog is a clever social mapping application that enables users to search and locate events and other local happenings. Users are requested to setup a simple profile and login sequence and setup their "home" location. Once created, the user then simply logs in and local events are presented. Browse events, register as a member, create a list of saved events, add and create your personal event listings. At first glance it seems very useful for sharing information about a concert, sporting event, open house etc... however, think a bit more and you can provide details of real estate listings, or maybe full conference details and schedule... savvy users are even providing coupons and other promotional material with their listings.. .cool! Best of all, the application is free. Detailed info on this app can be found in this write up (some comments provided from the creator)  - see http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/11198/55/ or jump directly to navdog.com

 

New features workshop for AutoCAD 2008

This interesting and clever presentation shows users and would-be users of the latest solutions from AutoCAD (i.e.. 2008). New features are categorized and each new option is presented along with animated graphics to show you exactly how to activate and use the new functionality. Pretty slick! See http://www.autodesk.com/us/interactiveoverviews/demo/autocad2008_nfw/index.html

LizardTech offers a deep discount on GeoExpress

Just picked up on this promotion being offered up by Seattle-based LizardTech... Now through April 30, 2007 they  are running a GeoExpress promotion. When you purchase 1 copy of a GeoExpress encoding bundle or GeoExpress Unlimited, you will receive a FREE copy of GeoExpress Tools (a $1,500 value) OR a FREE floating license (a $1,000 value). To take advantage of this limited offer, contact a sales representative at 1-866-725-5211 or 206-652-5211 or blast an email to geosales @ lizardtech.com or jump to lizardtech.com (Source: LizardTales newsletter)

Nokia releases SDKs to ease the pain for C and Linux developers - migrate with ease to S60

For mobile application developers and those creating LBS apps this is huge! If you develop application and program in C or Linux then your gonna love the new SDKs just released by Forum Nokia. The Open C plug-ins have been developed to ease the migration pains typically experienced by developers looking to port their apps to a mobile environment. The tools enable C and Linux developers to port their apps to the Symbian OS (think World's most popular mobile OS) all without any need for special programming skills etc...  This comes from Nokia... "By making the Open C SDK Plug-In available, Nokia is helping to greatly broaden the potential pool of developers who will be essential in creating compelling applications for the next generation of smart phone devices," said Lee Epting, vice president, Forum Nokia, Nokia's global developer program. "Because Open C libraries are built on open-source projects, developers who need to design and implement large application bases to run on several operating systems, will now find it easier to write portable code for Symbian OS based devices. The increase in developer productivity from Open C will drive exciting new opportunities for S60 application development" For more info see http://www.forum.nokia.com/openc or see the full announcement at http://www.lbszone.com/content/view/1804/2/

New release of Live Maps provides performance updates, more 3D, RSS support and more

Yesterday, according to the VE blog, a new release of Live Maps was launched. Among the new feature items are a bunch of bug fixes, performance improvements and enhancements to existing functionality. Enhancements found in the latest update include:
Firefox support for 3D mapping
Ratings and Reviews of Business Listings
Subscribe to a Collection via RSS
Area Calculations and Drawing Enhancements
Traffic and Driving Directions Enhancements
Address-Only Geocoding
For developers, V5 of the Virtual Earth Map Control will be released in the near future.
For more see http://virtualearth.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!2BBC66E99FDCDB98!8495.entry or jump directly to Live Maps at http://maps.live.com/

A few comments and observations from CTIA Wireless

CTIA Wireless 2007 – there’s no doubt about it, content is still king… however, simplicity and ease of use are indeed “the killer app”. That was the message presented in sessions, demonstrations, panel discussions, and meetings at North America’s recent wireless industry convention. Some of the key impressions I took away from the event include the following:

- mobile content is king and the industry (and users) are craving more mobile content – in particular entertainment.

- Application developers have plenty of opportunities, although the competition is brisk. Simple to use, intuitive applications are what people want. Make it functional, entertaining, useful, and simple.

- Location-based services and applications are hot and in demand. Think about it, there were more than 340 entries in this year’s North American LBS Challenge. Looking to get your LBS app on a device? Think social networking, community building, entertainment, and gaming… these appear to be the LBS services that are of greatest interest (to carriers and end users)

- GPS-enabled devices are coming on strong.

- Developing applications for a variety of handsets, operating systems, and languages is still a challenge. It’s still quite amazing to see many applications that have been created to run solely on one application or even one device.

These are but a few of the topics that stuck out in my mind after taking in 3 days at CTIA. Here’s more samplings of items that got my attention and may get you thinking about the direction you want to take as you develop apps and services for the mobile space heading into 2008.

China – explosive usage – 25 new customers every second

US usage at about 75%

93% of mobile users surveyed by mywireless.org are satisfied with current service provider

68% believe government regulation on wireless will make services more costly

The new killer app… ease of use. Bringing together the 3 screens.

Demand for speed and data. Usage of data apps for business has soared $7.2 B usage in 2006… data usage is exploding. Today 1 in 5 users uses data. 45% of youth are mobile data users.

Mobile banking is also coming on and is in high demand.

48,000 hotspots in 79countries around the Globe.

40% of population frequently look for directions on web

Note: local search is expected to grow 282% in next 5 years. Great as only 15% of cell phone users use data services.

A tip to Developers, avoid navigation services (saturated) maybe look at social networking or location-based games as an option.

Location isn’t a service, it’s a service enabler!

Favorite tagline from the event... without the L it's just BS! (Source: Tele Atlas)

Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability in North America

Here's some details of an interesting event I ran into on an EDU discussion list... Presented by: Linda Mortsch, Environment Canada -- The Working Group II contribution to the "Climate Change 2007" Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, www.ipcc.ch) will be released on April 6, 2007.  The report assesses the latest literature on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.  The North America chapter outlines how climate change affects freshwater resources, ecosystems, coastal zones, natural resource sectors, human health, communities, tourism, energy, industry, and transportation.  The chapter also examines adaptation practices, options, opportunities, and constraints.  Key findings will be presented by Linda Mortsch, the Canadian Coordinating Lead Author of the North America chapter.  Her presentation will be prefaced by Dr. Donald Lemmen (Natural Resources Canada) and Patti Edwards (Environment Canada), who will provide an overview of the report's Summary for Policymakers. Event details - Friday, April 13, 2007, 1:30-2:30 - Camsell Hall, 588 Booth Street, Ottawa

2006 NAIP county mosaics - 2-meter data in MrSID format

A data reminder for those in need of aerial photography. 2006 NAIP county mosaics are now available on the GIS Hub file server.  This is 2-meter data in MrSID format. To see the data simply jump to  http://www.nd.gov/gis/mapsdata/download/ and then click on the 'NAIP Aerial Photography' link in the 1:12,000 section to access this data.

The National Earth-Information Initiative

An interesting initiative has been brought up by a group led by William B. Gail, director of strategic development within Virtual Earth, Microsoft Corp. Billed as The National Earth-Information Initiative - it builds on the NRC's Earth science decadal survey , recently published to guide the nation’s Earth observing satellite program. From the article, the initiative would encompass well-defined and measurable outcomes. It would: 
-  examine the entire flow of Earth information from collection through use and offer means for improving the structures and processes associated with this flow; 
-  propose modifications to governmental structure, ideally identifying a single organization or entity responsible for coordinating multiple civil Earth information agencies and activities; 
-  define the scope of this leadership role and the evolved roles of the affected agencies; 
-   establish processes for performing the contributing functions, a reporting scheme for reviewing them and advisory processes for more effectively integrating the knowledge of the academic and private-sector communities;
-  identify breakthrough opportunities for deriving scientific and societal benefits from observations, based on emerging technologies that facilitate more rapid decision-making and widespread sharing of information, and propose means for integrating these into Earth information processes.
Details covered in this article over at SpaceNews - http://www.space.com/spacenews/archive07/MacauleyGailLaneoped_0402.html

Openwave misses the boat on LBS spotlight

Maybe I missed something but last week at the Navteq LBS Challenge I noted that there were several apps powered by solutions from Openwave (www.openwave.com) including the PocketCaster GPS app that was selected as the grand prize winner. What was a little off though was that all the major sponsors (ESRI, deCarta, Autodesk, Nokia, and Openwave) appeared to have reps in attendance and even had literature strategically placed on tables.. makes sense. However, on one table with an Openwave logo there was a holder with no brochures, no nothing. Perhaps there was an openwave rep in the room but if there was he/she was hard to locate... pretty strange, particularly since their solutions powered several apps. Perhaps a press announcement will hit their website soon although as of today there was nothing.. talk about missing the boat!

NuPower ViDEO+ rechargeable battery Pack for the iPod Video - 80 hours of music!

Something of interest for you iPod "power" users... The NewerTech slim NuPower ViDEO+ rechargeable battery Pack for the iPod Video is available for review.  It has the lowest priced/longest battery life on the market for only $49.99 and extends iPod run-time for a whopping 80 hours of music listening or 16 hours of video viewing – or over 5 three-hour movies on just one charge! See  http://www.newertech.com

Google Maps / Google Earth updates New Orleans imagery - Hanke comments on decision

An interesting start to the week as Google's John Hanke offers up an explanation on the recent outcry concerning the company's decision to use pre-Katrina imagery in Google Maps. If you haven't followed the story (we commented as did many others), users recently noticed (and freaked out about) that Google was serving pre-Katrina images. The problem is that many in New Orleans feel that this was hiding the fadct that the rebuilding has taken place at a snails pace, if at all. Today, Google's Hanke has provided his explanation - also, he notes the imagery was updated in Maps and Earth on Sunday evening See details here - http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/about-new-orleans-imagery-in-google.html

A useful tutorial on how to write a press announcement

I know, I've mentioned this one before, however, it never seems to get old. this useful document on how to write a press release is very clear and makes loads of sense. If you issue news and need to help then this is an excellent read. IT never seems to amaze me that news releases continually come my way, many of them often have one or more of the following problems: no clear point (ie. make sure you really have an announcement), no contact info provided, no website www listed, using ALL CAPS (this drives me nuts!), using subjective catch phrases (yaya, we know how great you are), sent as a PDF or ZIP file (ASCII txt works very well). See the tutorial at An H-1B is an alien coming temporarily to performservices in a specialty occupation. See http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release