01122007818

Sent via my N95 mobile account
- Taken at 2:09 PM on December 01, 2007 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

Holiday Beer - test email from shozu

testing - Woohoo, the New Belgium Chistmas Beers are out! Sent via my N95 mobile account
- Taken at 5:37 PM on November 30, 2007 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

Houston area GIS day

Cool, I just noticed this event that was held a couple of weeks ago... looks like these folks really had the GIS Day spirit... did anyone out there hit this one? See Houston Area GIS Day @ U Houston - http://www.houstonareagisday.org/

Geographic Calculator 7.0 - the company's biggest product update - 3500 pre-defined coordinate definitions and more!

Patrick Cunningham President of Blue Marble Geographics shares details of the company's latest news today... this comes in the release of their Geographic Calculator at R 7.0 - according to Patrick... "Calculator is the product this company was founded on in 1993 and this is the most comprehensive update in it's history" obviously this release is a big one! Details here

New features of Geographic Calculator 7.0 include:

· Administrative tools for quality assurance, enabling “lock-down” of a particular data source, securing true definitions and avoiding data corruption

· Administrative tools for filtering objects so that users only see the objects their administrator chooses

· Datum Shift envelopes that can be used to assign the appropriate datum shift for a particular geographic envelope

· Direct connection to the new OGP WRS Registry Dataset (the online version of the EPSG database) which is used as a standard for the Oil & Gas Exploration industry

· Administrative controls that offer managers the ability to select a specific datum transformation method when converting coordinates between two coordinate systems, whether the system is WGS84, or any other system

· Read and write to all ODBC databases including MS Access, Oracle, MySql, Sql Server and others

· Updated file support for all the major GIS and CAD formats, as well as new GML support


Congrats to Patrick and the team - see www.bluemarblegeo.com

Event of interest - the role of GIS in Homeland Security and Crisis Management

Geospatial Information Systems' Role in Homeland Security and Crisis Management - The Spatial and Situational Awareness Conference is a one-day conference that will examine the range of issues, challenges and opportunities for the geospatial community in the public, private and research sectors to come together to aid the homeland mission. Homeland Defense Journal Training Conference - Spatial and Situational Awareness Conference Geospatial Information Systems' Role in Homeland Security and Crisis Management.

December 12, 2007
Omni Shoreham
Washington, D.C.

Registration Time: 7:30 am, Program Starts: 8:30 am, Wrap-up: 4:30 pm

This conference is complimentary to DOD, federal, state and local government agency employees.

Confirmed Speakers
Keynote: Dan Cotter, Chief Technology Officer, DHS

Keynote: Marko Bourne, Director of Policy and Plans, FEMA
The conference will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel 2500 Calvert Street, NW Washington DC 20008. Register on-line at www.homelanddefensejournal.com

Another ex Nokia N95 user jumps on the iPhone bandwagon

Looks like Ed Parsons has joined the growing number of ex-N95 users and hopped on the iPhone bandwagon - no real surprise really as Ed comes from the Google camp is likely pressured internally to drink the Apple cool aid! Too bad although Ed does have some good points... indeed the second iteration of the N95 is much superior to the original (too bad I still have the original N95 -- and I'm one the biggest advocates of the N95.. go figure!). Ed's reason.. usability and you can't blame him.. Nokia smartphones indeed have the ability to run much more software and the applications available for the S60 ecosystem are plentiful to say the least. Here in North America no carriers (that I know of) are boasting the N95 whereas AT&T is pushing the iPhone.. no doubt some politics as it's THE smartphone of choice for the company to promote.. add to the fact that the AT&T CEO is not big on Nokia and feels the devices are full of flaws and he's also majorly ticked off that us here in North America get the latest Nokia devices months after they come to Europe. I'll still never be able to figure out Nokia's plans for North America and once again it seems that they are letting the iPhone steal more marketshare from them just wait til next year when Android enabled devices come to market.. will there be any Nokia and Symbian OS faithful left in North America?

GeoPDF Road Show Webcast

Didn't manage to get to one of the GeoPDF roadshow events or maybe they didn't get to your area this time? No problem, the company is making available a GeoPDF roadshow webcast to help inform you about GeoPDF, what you can do with it and where the technology is headed. Register here.
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Time: 11am Eastern; 11am Pacific
you can also check out my notes from the event that took place in Denver, CO.

Recall... So what are some of the reasons for existing users to consider GeoPDF?

- to leverage existing geospatial data

- make their message more compelling

- help people make better decisions

- make it easy to share data

- providing controlled security and policy

- enabling dynamic collaboration

- easily integrate into the existing infrastructure

- completing the chain of custody

It's Official Google Will Apply to Participate in FCC Spectrum Auction

Google's formal application to participate in the 700 MHz auction will be filed with the FCC on Monday, December 3, 2007. Some details... As part of the nationally mandated transition to digital television, the 700 MHz spectrum auction -- which begins January 24, 2008 -- will free up spectrum airwaves for more efficient wireless Internet service for consumers. Advocacy by public interest groups and Google earlier this year helped ensure that regardless of which bidders win a key portion of the spectrum up for auction (the so-called "C Block"), they will be required to allow their users to download any software application they want on their mobile device, and to use any mobile devices they would like on that wireless network. The winner must ensure these rights for consumers if the reserve price of $4.6 billion for the C Block is met at auction.

So what does this mean.. well, speculation has it that with the coming "Google phones" in 08, the company now potentially owning their own piece of the spectrum will be able to offer a bundled solution... imagine getting your "Google phone" (running Android OS) and as a user you may have unlimited and bundled (think free) Internet access 24/7. I know right now I'm paying out another $30 a month for a data plane with my carrier. I'm imagining a fully inclusive wireless/data service to use the new devices that will likely cost somewhere in the $50 a month range - or maybe we'll simply buy a device for $250 and service will be free (supported by ads) - I could handle that!! Google will be taking on RIM and many others. Should be interesting to see... I can't wait for next Spring's CTIA show for more on this! This comment from Google CEO Eric Schmidt, "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."

Océ Best Design Competition for Autodesk University Winners

Today in Vegas at Autodesk University 2007 winners were announced in the Océ Best Design Competition for Autodesk University. Winners were selected from a pool of qualified entrants who submitted designs via Océ’s website in the categories of AEC (architecture/engineering/construction), Manufacturing, Geospatial and Plant from Oct. 8 – Nov. 9. The winners represent the most visually impressive designs in each category - all of which were output on an Océ TCS500
... and the Winners:
Océ, a Sliver Sponsor at Autodesk University 2007 and long time member of the Autodesk Developer Network, congratulates the competition winners- listed below by category:

AEC: Jeff Hanson using Autodesk® Revit® 9 software to design a private residence in Denver, CO

Manufacturing: James Teske using Autodesk Inventor® Pro 2008 software to design an off-road seismic vehicle

Geospatial: Yvonne Stillman using AutoCAD® LDT 2006 software for a slope analysis in Lebec, CA

Plant: David Gaskill using Autodesk Inventor 2008 software to design a waste water treatment plant in Hawaii

My Very Spatial GISuser GAW Podcast

Not sure if I mentioned this but I had the pleasure of speaking with Sue and Jesse of Very Spatial (ya that's Jesse below.. remember Jesse... I always have my camera ;0) to do a podcast as part of their series during Geography Awareness Week.. thanks for the opportunity! Listen to it here


Photo captured at Where2.0

Take your Geolocated photos into Google Maps via Geo-RSS with ease!

This may be old-school for some of you, others will appreciate this simple tip. If you use a GPS-enabled cameraphone (like the Nokia N95, N82, Nokia Navigator etc...) then you can easily post your photos to flickr or other online services (use a tool like Shozu to help with this). But did you know that Flickr creates a Geo-rSS feed from your photo stream? Even better, you can simply copy and paste your Geo-RSS feed location into the google maps search bar and voila... your photos are now available via Google maps to share with others, save to your mymaps or whatever the heck you want to do. Simply look at the bottom of your flickr page, you'll see options like RSS, GeoFeed and KML - yes you can easily open your photos in Google Earth too! See my stream in Gmaps here.

useful links:
www.google.com/maps
www.flickr.com
www.shozu.com

The Mobi3 project will create mobile phones using 3D modeling

Dassault Systemes, DLA Piper, IBM, Nokia and SFR - brought together by IMS Entreprendre pour la Cite and the Engage Network - have launched Mobi3, a unique educational opportunity for middle school students. The companies have partnered with the French Ministry of Education to set up an innovative year-long syllabus for 120 young people from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Through the program, the students will participate in a team project and discover hands-on the technology, processes, people and careers linked to the creation of a mobile phone. As part of the program, student teams will create mobile phones using 3D modeling software as well as make proposals on how they would manage each phase of the phone’s lifecycle. At the end of year-long program, teams will present their projects to a jury of professionals from participating companies. See http://www.csreurope.org/ourevents/marketplace2007

Some excellent late night reading... another Safe Software insider is here

looking for a great read late nite read before you count sheep or maybe something to glance over while your sitting at Starbucks? If so the second edition of the Safe Insider newsletter is now available. Get the latest from Don, Dale and crew as they share a look at what's coming with FMW in 2008, hear from the developers and power users and much more... once again nice job! The newsletter is available as a free download as a PDF. PS: don't forget that the Free FME FDO Provider for AutoCAD Map 3D 2008 is also now available!

Free ImageConnect (for ESRI, Autodesk, MapInfo users) trial from DigitalGlobe

I see DigitalGlobe is inviting users and would-be-users to test out Image Connect forfr free until Dec 12. This free trial enables you to grab some great imagery, unwatermarked. What's Image Connect.. think immediate access to high-res imagery from within your application... Access current, high resolution Earth images in your projects, instantly. ImageConnect is a dynamic image viewing plug-in for mapping software like ArcGIS®, MapInfo, and AutoDesk 3D , with the ability to access images by date, create large plots and perform job tracking - see the free download here

Autodesk at 25 and the Autodesk Multi Touch Wall

An interesting message came my way reminding me that Autodesk is celebrating their 25th year of innovation - I was aware of this and actually published a short 25 year anniversary feature a while back - see here. In the video, a designer, Doug Look, is shown depicting a conceptual prototype of Autodesk design software on a Jeff Han Perceptive Pixel Multi-Touch Wall. The video reveals new ways to interact with large displays and multi-touch interfaces and inspires a discussion on what might become real in the not-so-distant future. Remember the first time you saw the cool touch table? Well, this is just that kind of wow technology... cool! This is the the kind of technology and innovation that we are told to expect to see roll out of the Autodesk Labs in the future - see http://labs.autodesk.com





Recall the Autodesk timeline:
Some cool milestones:

1982 - Autodesk starts with 16 employees
1984 - revenues top $1 million
1985 - ADSK goes public
1990 - Glenn Letham starts using AuoCAD r9 for pipeline mapping project (remember the dot prompt?) - OK - I slipped this one in!
1992 - Carol Bartz named CEO (you gotta love a woman CEO who will freely drop an occasional "F-bomb" when you least expect it!)
1993 - the First Autodesk University
1995 - Autodesk.com website launches
1996 - new division focused on visualization
2002 - Autodesk adds Revit to the portfolio
2005 - Autodesk wins Academy Award for technical acheivement
2006 - Carl Bass takes over at President/CEO
2007 - More than 8 million users
Now - focused on 3D!

Google Maps adds Terrain for some nice effects... what 's next and some fun effects

I'm glad to see the Terrain button option now available on Google maps - see the upper left area next to the Satellite option. This enables users to now view a topo map style rendering with 3D hillshading. At first it may not be that impressive, if your in a flat area, however, once you move to an area with relief (like by Estes Park) the effect is very slick. This is a nice start... now I want to be able to create a 3D hillshading effect by draping the terrain over a streetmap view, maybe use a slider to change the transparency, then I also want to tilt the map and spin it around like in Google earth.. no doubt that's coming down the road I bet! Nice stuff Google. A tip, try adding some google mapplets, like contour lines to the terrain for some cool effects!

The Google Terrain map option


Viewing a Terrain view near Estes Park, CO

Add some contours using a Google Mapplet fur some cool effects!

The Web 2.0 Conference Shwag rant... what a waste of perfectly good crap... er... shwag!

I was recently looking for information from the way cool Web2.0 event and ran into this video. Event planners, isn't it a bummer to see all your great shwag falling into the hands of something like this!





I'm sure the Web2.0 conference organizers are really pleased to see that all their "crap" is falling into the hands of these rocket scientists... there should definitely be an IQ test at the front door to keep people like this the hell outta the venue! Hey.. how the hell did she ever get into the conference in the first place and does she even know what Web 2.0 is??? My bet is she can't count to 2 ;0) See http://www.web2summit.com/

LIMA Project unveils satellite mosaic map of Antarctica

Mapping Antarctica - This Newly Unveiled Satellite Map of Antarctica Is a Unique Tool for Scientists, Educators and the Public - note: this is a Joint NSF, NASA, USGS and British Antarctic Survey Project - Three federal agencies and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) today unveiled a uniquely detailed and scientifically accurate satellite mosaic map of Antarctica that is expected to become a standard geographic reference and will give both scientists and the general public an unmatched tool for studying the southernmost continent. Representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and BAS worked cooperatively to produce the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA), a map that combines more than 1,100 hand-selected Landsat satellite scenes digitally compiled to create a single, seamless, cloud-free image.

The new map was introduced to the media and public during an event at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. See http://lima.nasa.gov/

Northern Research Network website launches

A new academic resource focused on the North is now up and running providing announcements about northern events and research opportunities. About the resource... It is a vehicle for building professional relationships, communicating funding and conference news, sharing resources, and disseminating information on fieldwork and academic writing. As a meeting place for scholars, professionals, and graduate students, the network draws on the collective experience of its members to foster discussion and collaboration across disciplinary lines. Scroll down for news on northern events and research opportunities. See http://northernresearchnetwork.electrified.ca/

Google open source contest for pre-university students

Building on the success of the Summer of Code Contests, Google has expanded the contests to now include the pre-College community. The contest is open to students age 13 and older who have not yet begun university studies, and contestants will be able to claim tasks until 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 22, 2008. We hope that students who participate will be long-term contributors to these and other open source projects in the future, and we look forward to announcing the grand-prize winners on February 11. For more information, please visit http://code.google.com/opensource/.

Tip - Google Adsense Seves YouTube videos to blogs

Interesting to see that Google Adsense program is now supporting video streaming from YouTube. Simply define your search criteria and serve relevant Youtube videos to your blog - and make some $ too! Below is a sample that searches only videos tagged with terms like "esri" "maps" "gis" and other relevant tags. The search parameters get saved in the profile and you can easily go in to alter tags whenever you want and the videos served reflect those changes.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Mobile Tip - mobleo mobile bookmark manager

A Mobile Tip - Need help keeping tabs on all your favorite mobile sites? Check out mobleo.net and use their bookmark manager either via PC or on mobile client. Very handy! See www.mobleo.net for free registration. Image below shows mobleo in use on Nokia N95.

NGA's GeoInt Online Scheduled for 2008

Find, view, and share information for geospatial intelligence -- According to the just released NGA Pathfinder magazine (See here - PDF) GeoInt will go online in 2008 with a new online resource for those interested in the topic of Geospatial technologies for Intel. From the article... A new Web-based capability for finding, viewing, analyzing and sharing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is set to launch by the end of 2008. GEOINT Online (GO) will integrate several systems, Web sites and capabilities into an environment where partners and customers can intuitively discover and access NGA products and services. Initially, GO’s content will be in the form of standard products, for the most part, while successive versions will increasingly feature seamless layers, or coverages, of GEOINT. These coverages will be accessible through publicly available Web browsers, geographic information systems and visualization and analysis tools like Google Earth(TM) and ESRI ArcGIS Explorer (AGX)TM. All of GO’s data, information and knowledge will also be accessible by customer-unique tools and applications, whether they are mission planning systems, weapons systems, or on-board navigation systems.

Affordable fleet management + Google maps - uBlip

I followed one of those pesky google ads and found a very cool app that enables anyone with $25 a month to spend to have their own fleet management and tracking system. Users need to buy the hardware, plug it in to their vehicle's lighter, then the app tracks and logs your location. Users have acces via a web UI powered via Google maps and location information is constantly updated. Users can enabled geofencing and receive detailed reporting as well. Quite clever and affordable! Reminds of the similar app GPStracking.net which users can actually try for free (3dtracking.net) and run via their symbian handset. See http://www.ublip.com

findbyClick mobile - location-aware Google Maps mashup

Map mashups are everywhere, many of them are also mobile enabled, providing users with the ability to update and share their places from their mobile... findbyclick is just such an application - location-based intelligence and social networking all in one. Findbyclick is a clever mashup and best of all it has a mobile app as well.



read more | digg story

Topcon GIS mapping areas of two California fires

Topcon and ESRI technology was used in the field mapping of the recent wildfires in Southern California... TPS, headquartered in Livermore, Calif., in a partnership with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), supplied GMS-2s (geographical mapping system), spare batteries and battery chargers for accurate fire damage assessment in two major areas hit by the fires. The Topcon GMS-2 instruments were used to map burned acreage caused by the Canyon and Buckweed fires. Topcon’s GMS-2 is a unique device that speeds up field data collection. Typically, damage assessments involve the use of paper maps, forms, a GPS receiver, and a separate camera. With the GMS-2, all pertinent data can be recorded with one device. It eliminates the need to carry multiple items into the field, allowing emergency personnel to move about disaster scenes freely and easily - more info here.

Free Version of ERDAS Field Guide - a truly comprehensive resource

This announcement hit my mailbox this morning (from Leica) and I didn't think much about it... then I checked out the guide.. .WOW! Version 1 is 444 pages and jam packed with loads of information - perfect for anyone looking for a great desktop learning resource. The ERDAS Field Guide provides background information on reasons to use GIS and image processing and explains how the software manipulates data. You don't really have to be an ERDAS user though to appreciate this one. A comprehensive topic index includes Data storage, data corrections, geocoding, vector data, satellite data, digitizing, and much more... go grab this one and print it out! ERDAS Field Guide may be downloaded here more details here

Event Networking via LinkedIn, facebook from Nokia World

What a great idea for an event organizer... I've often wondered why event planners don't come out with "official" tags for people to tag entries on blogs, photos on flickr, videos on youtube etc... (many people, including yours truly post photos and create our own tags) but here's a cool idea that I never thought of.. what about networking groups on LinkedIn, facebook and others? That's exactly what Nokia is doing for their Nokia World event... attendees can coonect by being accepted into these special groups... nice idea!

They've created several groups that will enable attendees to connect... they have the Nokia World Facebook group, LinkedIn group, flickr group and others... nice job!

Of interest:
Nokia World Facebook
Nokia World Group on LinkedIn
Nokia World Flickr

Free stuff.. here's a web developer tip for ya - SnagIt

You know I love free stuff so here's an early Christmas gift... this one will save you about $50.. Snag-It is now apparently free! This is an awesome, must-have utility for anyone that maintains a website or blog. SnagIt enables quick screen grabs, video creation, multi media file management, and much more. It's been in my toolbox for years and its a must have for me. I'm surprised to see its free... WTF... I just bought an upgrade!!! Oh well, this is a score.. enjoy! Get Details here
or simply download it from ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe -- enjoy!

DigitalGlobe WorldView-1 has completed its commissioning to NGA

This out of Longmont (just down the road from yours truly)... WorldView-1 has completed its commissioning, meets all of its requirements, and is delivering imagery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as part of the NextView program. Full Operating Capability (FOC) with NGA began on November 17th. Following a controlled roll-out with NGA, DigitalGlobe will begin taking orders for WorldView-1 imagery from its global resellers, partners and customers on January 3, 2008. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 18, and delivered its first sample set of high-resolution images on October 15.



WorldView-1 is the first of two new next-generation satellites DigitalGlobe plans to launch in the near term. In late 2008, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. and ITT Corporation will complete WorldView-2, bringing the total number of satellites DigitalGlobe has in orbit to three and enabling the company to offer a constellation of spacecraft that will provide the highest commercial collection capacity, with more than 1 million square kilometers per day of high-resolution Earth imagery. Additionally, WorldView-2 will provide eight bands of multi-spectral for life-like true color imagery and greater spectral applications in the mapping and monitoring markets.

Some WorldView 1 specs:
Altitude - 496 km
pnchromatic resolution - 50 cm
swath width - 17.5 km
onboard storage - 2199 GB
revisit - 1.7 days at 1m GSD

Grab a Historical Map print on cyber Monday

It just dawned on me that I'm always promoting other people's stuff so why not a self-serving promotion? If you need a cool historical map print for home or office don't forget that over at Amerisurv we have a great selection in the store. Select from over 100 impressive historical map prints, printed on acid free paper and delivered to your door.. trust me, these things are very impressive! I couldn't help notice in a recent tour of homes in a parade of homes that every home had an old map hanging on the wall somewhere -- unfortunately none were as cool as some of these but it shows you how popular maps have become. Enjoy - Browse the collection HERE


Historic Map Collection -- A Map of Lewis and Clark's Track, 1814

3D shopping on Cyber Monday - an immersive online shopping experience

I'm not a big cyber Monday guy, although I do find this cool, 3D shopping experience to be way cool... reminds me of the speculation how virtual Worlds will soon invade cyber shopping in the future as we have companies like Google adding more reality to the experience every day... I'm guessing pretty soon we'll be using Google maps to zoom in using the street side imagery as we walk down the street. Then we enter a store (generated with SketchUp and the amazing 3D renderings that are possible with the tool). Then we can start shopping using a second life to look at products, pick them up, rotate them, and then check out... here's a cool 3D bookstore from Kinset that offers an immersive online shopping experience... the future of shopping for sure! See http://kinset.com/brookstone.php