F16 Flight simulator within Google Earth - documentation provided

A few places are now exploring and reporting on the little documented feature available in Google Earth - a cool flight simulator. I saw details of this in an article on F16.net (see here) The features and instructions are indeed doumented by Google and anyone can easily fire up their jet and take-off on a cool journey around the planet. Check out the instructions via the Google earth docs - see here


Select your plane - options include an F16 or a single prop SR22

Pick a runway


Take off! A joystickk will likely make for a cooler experience!

Google Earth - the Software may be used by you and your employees

Maybe you saw this, maybe not... next time you download Google earth check out the newly revised EULA. Of interest is this reference to business users:

 

USE OF SOFTWARE; RESTRICTIONS

 

Use of Software. For an individual end user, the Software is made available to and may be used by you only for your personal, non-commercial use according to these Terms of Service and the Software documentation. For a business entity user, the Software may be used by you and your employees for internal use according to these Terms of Service and the Software documentation (individual end users and business end users are collectively referred to as “You” herein).

Source: http://earth.google.com/intl/en/license.html - thanks to reader Heather for reminding me about this one!

Wiki + photos + GPS = Cool! - Share your GPS tagged photos with GlobalMotion

GlobalMotion has just launched a new Wiki focused on real world places: www.globalmotion.com. GlobalMotion has focused on making the content creation process easy and fun, using the millions of geotagged photos out there on the web in a useful & fun way. This could be a very cool way to use and share your geotagged Nokia N95 GPS tagged photos. The app has a very cool UI that meshes a Google Maps position, overview map, your photo, and related information... all in a friendly wiki style

Some details on the app... GlobalMotion was started by Joost Schreve. Joost is an avid travel enthusiast. Joost hitchhiked on a sail boat from The Philippines to Hong Kong and then climbed with his skis above 8,000 meters in the Himalayas. He has always been into technology so he is marrying his two passions with his websites he started. A few other advisors to the company include: Hap Klopp, founder of North Face outdoor clothing and gear, as well as Per Enge who is a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University.

MapInfo now Pitney Bowes Software - a price hike to follow too

From the wire, Pitney Bowes Inc.. have announced today that its Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software and Pitney Bowes MapInfo business units, acquired separately, will combine into a single software company. The move is effective immediately, and the businesses will merge operations over the next several months. Also of interest to this announcement is a message I received from a Mapinfobusiness partner/reseller . It reads...
Pitney Bowes MapInfo will be implementing pricing adjustments to MapInfo Professional effective October 1st, 2007. MapInfo Professional offerings will see a 10% increase across all prices (new, upgrade and MATS). The current list price for MapInfo Professional is $1,495.00. On October 1st, 2007, the new list price for MapInfo Professional will be $1,650.00. For more on the company see www.pb.com

GIS Job listings are heating up - check out all the new leads!

I'm not sure what's up in the job area but our job board at GISuser is totally rocking the past couple of days (maybe people are cluing in to the free posting and its great value ;0) Anyway, there's about 20 new listings for GIs professionals including a Smallworld expert (contract), Intergraph contractor, Project leads, analysts, you name it. See http://www.gisuser.com/component/option,com_jobline/Itemid,132/

Manifold.net Release 8.00 Goes on Sale

Manifold, likely one of the cheapest and most powerful GIS systems you'll find has just announced the release of release 8. Interesting that after all these years there is still virtually NO marketing at all so unless you linger around on a manifold discussion list or perhaps sniff around a group where ":Dimitri" lurks - posting thoise infamous 10 page long threads promoting/defending the product - you likely haven't heard about this release!

 

From the company... The new release provides revolutionary increases in speed, spatial database capacity, integration with legacy geodatabases, a host of "crowd-pleaser" user interface improvements and the world's first GIS to run at teraflop supercomputer speed on the desktop using massively parallel computing - all delivered with famous, bullet-proof Manifold quality, the most reliable GIS ever!

 

And the sales pitch... Limited Time Release 8.00 Upgrade Offer -- Free Upgrades for Recent Purchases: If you have licensed Manifold on or after 1 August 2007 you will receive a free upgrade of your 7x serial number to an 8.00 serial number. Your 7x serial number will be revoked and a new 8.00 serial number will be emailed to you at the email address you used for your 7x order. Do not order the upgrade product mentioned on this page, as you will receive it at no charge automatically by 7 September 2007. Manifold 7x licensees whose orders were processed on or before 31 July 2007 will not receive a free upgrade and should take advantage of the discounted upgrade offer.  See http://www.manifold.net/admin/8upgrade.shtml

GPS Consumer reports released

Consumer report has released a look at GPS systems... Eighteen GPS navigation systems from 11 manufacturers were tested for ease of use, guidance information, route options, and portability. Fourteen received a 'Very Good' rating, while the Garmin Nuvi 660 ($700) led the way with an 'Excellent' rating, edging out its older Nuvi 350 sibling that topped the last round of tests (Portable GPS navigation systems, Aug. 2006). The remaining three models, which included the lowest-ranked Rand McNally GPS Navigator ($350), received a 'Good' overall score. Prices ranged between $250 and $700. A full list of portable GPS navigation system ratings and reviews can be found in the magazine's October issue, on sale now, and online at http://www.consumerreports.org/.

Technical Ramblings and a Boston area OsGeo user group

The blog over at "Technical Ramblings" is seeking feedback from those in the Boston area to see if there's interest in forming an OsGEO Boston area user group - any open source geospatial professionals in the area you might wish to follow this one up. See http://crschmidt.net/blog/archives/251/osgeo-boston-users-group/ See also http://www.osgeo.org/ if your not familiar with the open source geospatial foundation