VibeAgent blends Map mashups, social networking and travel

I read about this one in the USA Today... a new travel mashup that incorporates a little social networking enabling users to setup a more web20-ish profile, save trips, search for travel related info, join groups etc... I'm still fumbling around but so far it's quite clever. See www.vibeagent.com

I wish I could save past trips and include handy info about the trip.. hotel details, restaurant info etc... for example, I wish I could recall the name of that great Thai place in San Fran I ate at or the Indian join in San Jose... maybe that will come next. I do like the reviews and the ask an agent feature is cool!

Alberta students getting serious about Trig!

Over 700 math students from 30 Alberta high schools are preparing to take the Trig-Alta Challenge. The Trig-Alta Challenge (www.trigalta.ab.ca) is a survey-themed math contest which has been developed jointly by experienced math teachers and Alberta Land Surveyors, showing how, in a real-world setting, Alberta Land Surveyors use the math the students have learned. The first Trig-Alta Challenge will take place Tuesday, December 11, 2007.

the social.fm widget. for blog, facebook and mobile - this app just keeps getting better!

I love this app and the social.fm crew just keep coming out with more cool stuff... this is going to be one of those companies and web2.0 apps to watch in 2008! Now social.fm has a widget app available to users enabling easy posting of your favorite social.fm tunes and DJs on your blog , facebook, or website. See below for a sample widget that lets me share a few of my favorite artists with you. Recall social.fm also has a great mobile service enabling you to use the service from your mobile. I was one of the first users to test out the symbian S60 version and it rocks! See www.social.fm for more or see also this article. social.fm goes mobile

Understanding Place

Just received a new title from ESRI Press titled "Understanding Place" (by D.S Sinton & J.J Lund)- the book is focused on GIS and mapping in the curriculum. So far it looks simply amazing and I can't put it down... perhaps because I'm very intruigued by GIS in the K-12 envirnment and hearing about various learning practices that incorporate GIS. Simply put, the book touches on successes and challenges faced with bringing GIS into the classroom. Interesting to read about case studies in poli sci, economics, anthropology and other disciplines. See http://gis.esri.com/esripress/

WeoGeo creates a one-stop marketplace (Maps 2.0) for mapping Developed using Amazon Web Services

Kudos to the crew at WeoGeo for scoring a big win as a finalist in the Amazon AWS Start-Up Challenge. WeoGeo creates a one-stop marketplace for mapping using Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3. WeoGeo supplies surveyors, engineers, cartographers, and scientists with the ability to conveniently store, search, and exchange high-resolution CAD and GIS mapping products. Mappers easily list their data for sale and researchers quickly find the data they need. About WeoGeo... WeoGeo's community features provide mapmakers with a place to congregate like never before. WeoGeo Blogs, for the free sharing of stories and ideas. WeoGeo Forums, for the discussion of all things geospatial. Even the WeoGeo Wiki, a community-built collection of industry information.

Relevant Weblinks:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=377634011

http://www.weogeo.com

Earthcomber for iPhone - Local search done right!

Recall I was hyped about this cool app on my Nokia N95... now they have a great app for iPhone! A newer, hotter version of Earthcomber has been unleashed for the iPhone. What's new? A 3-fold speed increase. New, upgraded location reviews. And, imagery from many locations so you can actually see the scene inside. If you haven’t heard of Earthcomber, this free “personal radar” spots restaurants, movie theaters (with listings), hot clubs and bars, personal essentials, business needs and much more – over 10 million places around the USA. Earthcomber lets you shift modes – for example, from business to fun times to food. A single touch provides a wide range of nearby places, all organized by category and proximity. See more here and see also this Earthcomber article for more.

First snowfall of 07 here in NOCO

Great timing as the kids are now off school for several days over the Thanksgiving Holiday... several inches of the white stuff fell last night and created a beautiful scene for the kids today! Time to pull out the Festivus Pole!

Tele atlas CES Attendee Choice Awards deadline extension - Dec 1

A reminder to any LBS developers out there interested in the CES Attendee Choice Awards being promoted by Tele Atlas. Here's a great opportunity to get your app kick-started - and get some great exposure!

Three consumer LBS application developers will be chosen to showcase their solution in the Tele Atlas booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - Jan 7 thru 10, 2008 in Las Vegas. Attendees will select the best application via SMS voting. Program details can be found at http://www.teleatlas.com/lbsseries and official rules here.

Perhaps there's another cool GPS-enabled mobile shopping application or similar app out there waiting to be discovered. It seems so far that shopping is the hot app for 07 as GPSshopper from Slifter has recently scored a win in the LBS innovator series and Yokel won the WHERE developer contest for their location-enabled shopping app... Good luck! Remember Submit your application by Dec. 1.

Snowing lightly and messing around with Meez!

It's 4 AM, snowing lightly still (really beautiful outside with the first snow of the year) and the email is trickling in and slowing down with the Thanksgiving Holiday upon us... so, what else to do but mess around with Meez! Have a good one!

O'reilly Media Conference Updates, dates to remember and speaker deadline for Where2.0

Just received these updates from O'reilly... enjoy! If you weren't able to attend Web 2.0 Summit or Web 2.0 Expo Berlin this fall, select presentation files, video, photos, and other information is available from both events. Check it out at: Web 2.0 Summit: http://web2summit.com/ Web 2.0 Expo Berlin: http://berlin.web2expo.com/

Upcoming Conference Highlights:
-Money:Tech, February 6-7 in New York: schedule is taking shape and
registration is open
-Tools of Change for Publishing, February 11-13 in New York: early
registration is open
-Where 2.0, May 12-14 in Burlingame, CA: speaking proposal deadline is
*this Monday November 26, 2007
-RailsConf, May 29-June 1 in Portland, OR: Call for Participation deadline
is December 13
-Velocity, June 23-24 in Burlingame, CA: Call for Participation is open
until January 3

save the date for these upcoming conferences:
-Graphing Social Patterns West, March 3-4 in San Diego, CA: Registration
opens later this month
-ETech, March 3-6 in San Diego, CA: Registration opens next week -MySQL Conference & Expo, April 14-17 in Santa Clara, CA: Registration
opens in December (note the slight date adjustment)
-Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco, April 22-25: Registration opens next month -Graphing Social Patterns East, dates and East Coast location to be
announced: Registration will open in March
-Ubuntu Live, July 21-22 in Portland, OR: Call for Participation opens
next month
-OSCON, July 21-25 in Portland, OR: Call for Participation opens in
December
-RailsConf Europe, Sept. 2-4 in Berlin, Germany: Call for Participation
opens in January
-Web 2.0 Expo New York, Sept. 15-18: Call for Participation opens in
February
See more at http://conferences.oreilly.com/

www.flickr.com GISuser.com's Where2.0 2007 photoset

Coming Soon, the Dash Express

Looks like Dash is preparing to roll out early next year. I received this in my email tonight... "The product will be available for sale on www.dash.net in first quarter 2008. Quantities will initially be limited as we ramp up manufacturing so we wanted you to be among the first to know that we're planning to offer an early reservation of the Dash Express prior to commercial launch. We'll be back in touch as soon as this program becomes available.

So, please hang tight for just a little longer. We promise the Dash Express will be worth waiting for. It will completely change the GPS category, not to mention your daily life on the road. Nothing on the market today can compare to the accuracy of our traffic information or offers the relevance of local, dynamic search. " See www.dash.net

Below is a video I grabbed at Where2.0






and a great video clip from the Web 2.0 Summit

News to go on your Mobile via Widsets - Our Widset channels are now available

Take all your news on the road with you with the new and improved Widsets. If you aren't familiar with Widsets you need to be, particularly if you want to stay informaed with your favorite news resources or blogs. Many of the leading sources are available as a channel and you can also grab my AnyGeo Widset, the GISuser Widset, LBSzone Widset, SymbianOne Widset and Glenn95 Widset as well... enjoy. Be sure to publish your own widset so you and others can enjoy your content via mobile... you can even create a widset channel from your Flickr feed or essentially anything with an RSS feed.

RouteBuddy 1.5 for Mac OS X released

RouteBuddy has announced the release of RouteBuddy 1.5, a free update to their powerful GPS mapping program for Mac OS X. Enhanced features include:
Search for addresses
Find Points of Interest
Create turn-by-turn Routes
Drag and drop .GPX .LOC .CSV and .KML data
Geocaching Support
View and Print full screen Maps
Import Geotagged URLs
Add useful Metadata to your Maps
RouteBuddy can be used as a Mapping tool with or without GPS

Connect your USB Garmin to your Mac and synchronize Waypoints, Routes and Tracks with ease. RouteBuddy also works with NMEA GPS receivers to show position and additional data on a RouteBuddy Map. There's also a MacSpeech voice control available too! See http://www.routebuddy.com/

Which AutoCAD Blog?

Someone recently asked me... which AutoCAD blog do I like the best? Well, it's tough to say and they all offer a different slant so it's rather tough... it likely depends on what I'm searching for. Which AutoCAD blog do you visit most often?

AirNow on Google Earth from the EPA

Users of Google Earth now have access to the latest air quality data from the EPA. EPA’s scientific air quality information in real time is now available on Google Earth. This information tool accesses the AIRNow database hourly so that the Air Quality Index (AQI) displays the most current air quality conditions. Public health officials, media outlets and the general public can now view timely air quality information, by city, on Google Earth. See more at http://airnow.gov/ - grab the KML here

GPShopper (Slifter) Wins Tele Atlas Maps in Apps Contest

Become a GPS Shopper! Kudos to Slifter and their GPS shopper on this win... the app is indeed cool, to say the least! I recall I first featured Slifter last Christmas (prior to their fame) as an application to watch. GPShopper (www.gpshopper.com) is the first ever local mobile phone product search. With big name retailers and over 50 million products, GPShopper and its revolutionary Slifter (www.slifter.com) technology allows consumers to receive up-to-the-minute product availability, location and pricing right on their cell phones. See more on the Contest in this PR from Tele Atlas

In Time For the Holidays... Nokia N810 Internet Tablet hits the shelves

The Nokia N810 provides a portable internet experience with its large color display, touchpad screen, slide-out keyboard, 400 MHz processor, Mozilla-based browser and up to 10GB of memory (an optional 8GB memory card combined with 2GB internal memory). To access the Internet, users simply connect via the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot or over Bluetooth on a mobile phone. Other features:
45 hours of music playback, storage for up to 7,500 songs
powered by maemo Linux-based OS2008
Mozilla based browser with Ajax and Adobe flash 9
Bluetooth headset support as well as enhanced video and audio features
The Nokia N810 is available at consumer electronics and wireless retailers in key markets, such as select Best Buy Mobile retailers, CompUSA, Micro Center, and the Nokia Flagship stores in Chicago and New York, and a growing number of online retailers including www.amazon.com, www.buy.com, www.circuitcity.com, www.nseries.com and www.pcmall.com. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $479 USD. Photos of the Nokia N810 can be found at http://www.nokia.com/A4136017?category=n810

ArcGIS SP4

Do you have the latest patch from ESRI? SP 4 is now available for users - see here. This was officially released on Nov 16, 2007

Amazon's Kindle e-book reader - is the user ready for another device?

Amazon has unveiled a new e-book reader.. think of this as a $400 devices that enables you to read e-books... ouch! With the trend for device convergence finally gathering momentum is Joe consumer ready to adopt a $400 book reader? I'd argue that instead why not simply grab a funky Linux Tablet PC that will do the same job and much, much more. Do you want one? Cool features include the wireless connectivity and the non-glare "electronic paper". It's only 10 ounces too!

Map Mashups: the what and why and which APIs are popular

Interested in seeing which Mashup APIs are popular? This is the topic in this recent discussion post... interesting! This article from Apex devnet provides some insight on developing a mashup using the slaesforce.com platform... The second article in this series presents several concrete techniques for building mashups. By the end of the second article you will be in a position to comfortably create your own mashups on the Salesforce platform. The article looks closely at the Gogole maps API, using AJAX, and other APIs... http://wiki.apexdevnet.com/index.php/Mashups:_The_What_and_Why Of interest, some of the most popular APIs for mashups according to programmable web include:
Google maps 50%
Flickr 10%
YahooMaps! 4%
Virtual Earth 3%

Looking for data or tools for your mashup? Try some of the following:
Yahoo! Geocoding service - http://developer.yahoo.net/maps/rest/V1/geocode.html
USGS Geonames - http://www.geonames.org/export/
USGS Elevation Service - http://gisdata.usgs.gov/XMLWebServices/TNM_Elevation_Service.php

So what kind of mashup are HOT besides mapping? According to programmable web, video mashups, social mashups and photo mashups are leading the pack lately!

Mobiluck's New Location-Based Socialising Service

Share Where you are With Your Friends and Alert Each Other When You're Nearby, all on Your Mobile Phone or Computer. Mobiluck supports the Nokia N95 and many other devices. Features include:
Spot your friends in a crowd, a pub, a nearby room
Detect all Bluetooth devices around you
Send messages to strangers with no need of their phone number
Send unlimited messages for free
Send easily messages, pictures, business cards, files
Communicate discreetly during a meeting, a dinner, a conference
Discover other MobiLuckers first name, age, passions, job, picture, phone number
Create your own profile, nice, smart, and funny
Protect your phone against viruses
Make other people discover MobiLuck

http://www.mobiluck.co.uk

Develop your mobile app for iPhone - here's some help on how to hack the iPhone!

Thinking about developing for the iPhone? Fast Company Magazine has posted a Video on Hacking the iPhone. Just how vulnerable is the "iPhone" to an unscrupulous hacker? Could it really be turned into a tool of espionage? To find out, Fast Company magazine purchased an iPhone for Rik Farrow, a UNIX specialist and consultant from Sedona, Arizona, and commissioned him to crack through its defenses, which he did using H D Moore's Metasploit, a popular platform for testing security systems. The result is this video http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/2007/11/hacking-the-iphone.html, in which Farrow was able to take complete control of an iPhone and demonstrated the ability to eavesdrop on conversations, intercept voice mail and email, and upload nefarious software programs. "Physical access to an iPhone," Farrow points out, "is not required."

MapQuest Navigator 5.0 - Live Traffic, Gas Prices and AOL CityGuide

MapQuest today, in partnership with Telmap, have announced that the newest version of its voice-guided, GPS-enabled wireless application, MapQuest Navigator 5.0, is now widely available to consumers through a new direct-to-consumer storefront on MapQuest.com. Sign up at http://navigator.mapquest.com between now and December 31, 2007 can download the application directly to their handset and purchase the service for the promotional price of $4.99 per month for the life of the subscription. In addition, MapQuest® Navigator 5.0 includes feature enhancements such as live traffic, gas price and station locator, and City’s Best® ratings from AOL® CityGuide.
Features include:
Live Traffic – Powered by INRIXÒ, the leading provider of traffic flow information in the U.S., MapQuest Navigator lets users see the latest traffic flow along their route, get traffic alerts, and even be rerouted according to live traffic conditions in more than 106 markets across the United States.

AOL CityGuide Content including City’s Best Ratings – AOL CityGuide provides MapQuest Navigator users with local listings and ratings of restaurants and nightlife information for nearly 40 of the top cities nationwide.

Gas Prices – Find the lowest fuel prices nearest to your location, and search by station brand, distance or fuel type, including diesel and alternative fuels.

Text to Speech (TTS) Technology - Street names and navigation instructions are voice-announced along the route in advance of turns; while each maneuver and cross-streets are conveniently labeled on the display. The voice interface will even specify the destination as “on the left” or “on the right” upon arrival.

3D Map View – Full-color 3D moving maps, allowing users to gain an above-view and forward-looking perspective as they travel.

Coming soon, users will be able to leverage a new “Send to Navigator” feature, enabling them to research and plan their trips on MapQuest.com® and send locations from the site to MapQuest Navigator.

The UK StreetMapper - 3D modeling data of buildings and streets

This from the UK where 3D Laser Mapping has developed a mobile cityscape mapper that captures highly accurate 3D modeling data of buildings and streets. The development is an enhancement to StreetMapper, the vehicle-mounted laser mapping system that is already well proven in terrain and highway mapping. StreetMapper uses multiple laser scanners, each with a range of 150m and 80 degree scanning angle. Each scanner performs up to 10,000 measurements per second with a scanning rate up to 100 scans per second. Numerous laser scanners can be used, and can be arranged on the scanner platform to suit different requirements. The StreetMapper survey vehicle uses well-proven laser scanning technology to capture the position of up to 40,000 3D points per second whilst in motion. The typical positional accuracy is typically 5mm for good GPS conditions and the point-to-point accuracy within the data is 3cm. Think Google Street View Mapping but hopped up on steroids!


See more details here