Blackberry Bold + GPS & maps = sweet!

Just noticed that sightings of the new Blackberry Bold are surfacing... saw my first sighting John Mayer's Blog! Simply put, the device is very sweet. It has a akin to the old Nokia E series devices and will likely take up all the room you have in your shirt pocket. The "bold" sports WiFi, GPS (+ Blackberry maps), amazingly sharp screen and apparently some sweet font rendering. See more at http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrybold

Finder! organizing geographic data, extending GIS to the GeoWeb

more cool technology from Where2.0 (ya I was there in row 1) was announced from Sean Gorman of Geocommons. Sean informed us about a new featuer currently being rolled out in Beta - Finder! Finder! extends teh functionality of Geocommons, the way cool crowdsoursing service used to serve and explore large structured Geo data sets. Using Finder! you can search common topics (I tried Sports facilities). Once found, you can then download as KML, SHP, or CSV file. Making it even more useful for the casual user, Finder! results can be easily viewed using Google Earth, Virtual Earth, or Google Maps - think Integration of your GIS data with the GeoWeb. Way to go Sean - see below for the gmap results of my search. See http://finder.geocommons.com/



View Larger Map

Grab the 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles from the Census Bureau

A tip if you like free stuff... I see that some of the "free" data websites are now flogging the free 2007 TIGER/Line files (SHP format) - I saw one site whoring out the data for $100+ bucks! OR.... you can always simply go to http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrshp2007/tgrshp2007.html for your self and take a few minutes to download these data yourself - sounds like a no-brainer to me! If you want to grab a bunch of data grab yourself gozilla and eat the ftp site while you have lunch!

About the data... The 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles contain current geographic areas (boundaries of governmental units as of January 1, 2007) and Census 2000 vintage geography. The shapefiles also contain some additional post January 1, 2007 feature updates reported in the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).

Download the 2007 Tiger/Line SHP files HERE

Interesting Attendee Job Titles at Where2.0

Just browsing the attendee list from Where2.0 and noticed some interesting job titles from attendees - perhaps this will give you an idea who the event is for. Where2.0 draws a real mix of talent from around the World (people came from Europe, Asia, Australia). Some of the interesting job titles observed include:
Chief GeoDude - my favorite!
Director of Strategy
Platform evangelist
Director of Technology
Developer Evangelist
Director online development
Blogger
Senior experience architect
Professor
Head Honcho
Head of Geologistics
IT Strategy Architect
... along with countless CTOs CEOs, VPs, Managers, Engineers, product managers, founders, presidents, developers, etc...

Rocky Mountain Geotechnology Cluster

I just returned from a meeting of the recently renamed "Rocky Mountain Geotechnology Cluster" where we heard this morning from Joe Berry on an interesting Geo-Business Application to conduct retail competition analysis and Economic Gardening. The newly formed group (with a new official name as of today) has been established to share information about Geospatial technology companies with other professionals in the area. The idea is to promote this area as a hub of "geo" where a wealth of expertise exists. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences, network with peers, and drive the growth of Geo expertise to NOCO. A website is in development, until then those interested are encouraged to check out the Rocky Mountain Innovative Initiative at http://www.rmi2.org/ also, feel free to contact me if you want more info - I'll be glad to point you in the right direction. Companies in Northern Colorado are encouraged to take part.

ScapeToad cross-platform, open-source cartogram software

The scapetoad dev team has informed me about an interesting cartogram software. ScapeToad is a cross-platform, open-source application written in Java, using the ESRI Shapefile format for input and output. It also exports maps in SVG format and is provided with a cartogram creation wizard which guides the user throughout the map creation process. See http://chorogram.choros.ch

Google Earth + ArcGIS - ArcGIS plugs-in support for the Geoweb

At Where2.0 this week many of the "GISers" were wondering why ESRI seemed to only have a 5 minute spot scheduled on the stage - of interest though was that Jack was there on Tuesday taking in the show. Sure enough, during John Hanke's presentation on the state of the GeoWeb Hanke welcomed Jack onto the stage. Prior to that Hanke had noted how prevalent the geographic web has become and that it was spreading rapidly. In addition, there's a wealth of rich content on the web including flickr photos, YouTube videos,news stories and much more, all geotagged and visible as geo-tagged information. Searching or conducting a "geosearch" is now commonplace within Gmaps and google earth. An so, Hanke went on to note how the company has opened up access to the Search API, meaning other sites incorporating google Maps will be able to find geographic features that are stored in google's database but until now were visible only through google's own map site.






Enter Dangermond... Jack noted how there's a wealth of geographic data locked up within GIS' around the globe. All that will change when ESRI rolls out ArcGIS (and ArcGIS Server) at 9.3 (in about 4 weeks) which I've heard boasts much focus on KML and at 9.3 provides plug-in support for the GeoWeb. Imagine modelling (using ArcGIS data) a fire, road closures, a flood, a smoke plume or ??? using data from the GeoDatabase via a Google Earth client.

Jack Dangermond, ESRI and John Hanke, Google on stage at Where2.0 (Photo Credit: Me!)

Google Earth KML Programing jobs

Seems like the title of "KML Programer" is becoming more commonplace these days. Case in point, just today we have a new listing in our job board titled KML/KMZ program job - The position is with a real estate company... interesting. Related to this, URISA was recently in search of volunteers for a GISCorps project (damage Assesment) , also for some Google Earth work in the aftermath of the Myanmar tragedy - see more

Google Maps, the gateway to local search - map is becoming much more than a map

More observations from Where2.0 - a theme I picked on at this year's event was that the map is becoming much more than a map, rather, its now the UI of choice, even a platform of choice. Google is a fine example of this as we see the emergence of Google on Maps (as opposed to Google Maps).
Users of Google maps now find detailed business listings, POIs, and much more. Just this week the addition of public transit information (access train routes and times for San Francisco) as well as loads of local information like photos (Panoramio) and Wikis. Google Maps now has a new Tab if you hadn't noticed the "More" Tab. As you zoom in on an area of interest, you can easily toggle photos and Wikis. When you view a place, for example, a hotel of interest, users can edit the bubble location and drop it onto of a building (maybe at the centroid) - users must be logged in to their google account to do this and a changelog is maintained. Since local search is what people want, there's much more coming to the map including news results (zoom in tight and news postings applicable to that place will appear). Real estate is another hot topic on the web so naturally, Google maps will be integrating real estate listings to the map service as well - users even having the ability to query and filter search results (show me houses w/ 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, under $500K for example).

Finally, also under the heading of "New" from google maps, user created content. Example, search for Airport Marriott, Burlingame, CA and then notice the lower-left side-bar where you'll find Google search hits that apply to that place. I was returned with a job listing for the hotel, rental car info, and caltrain directions to the hotel. Who needs to go to google.com??? For my local search I'll be going to google.com/maps
or maybe to Platial as well! FYI, Platial has loads of great new features and the new LightPole mobile Widget really rocks... give it a try!

New with Google Maps, Edit a place location, view photos, WiKi and local search results. FYI, no street views on Bayshore drive... ??

Notable moments at Where2.0

Just returned from Where2.0 and have some catching up to do and a ton of notes to go over - I had no notebook as she packed it in the day before I left... nice! Regardless, here's a few notable quotes and items of interest that I picked up on during some of the sessions and found to be worthy of sharing.. enjoy!

- Government should focus on services

- Be nice to civil servant (particularly if you want free data!)

- It's of the web not just on the web

- we have no idea of the business model - A familiar theme at the event!!

- Nokia is building a platform for innovation

- The geoWeb is spreading

- 8 hours of YouTube video is updated every minute

- GPS is the #1 request from consumers

- buildings are consuming 71% of our electrical energy

- the grade for America's infrastructure = D

- Fire Eagle is a bet on the future

- ArcGIS Server will have a strong focus on KML

- GeoTagging is hard to do

- Geonames is getting it wrong

- Many web developers just don't get Geo

- more than 50,000 map mashups have been developed using the gMaps API

these are just a few interestingtidbits from Where2.0

Adrian Holovati at Where2.0

Forum Nokia Code Camp: Location-based Services heads to Mountain View

Heads Up! Forum Nokia Code Camp: Location-based Services is scheduled for June 10th inMountain View, California, US - In this LBS session, the Nokia team get you up to speed with the latest enabling technologies for building location-aware mobile applications and services, including positioning technologies, POI management, mapping and navigation and service integration. The content is going to be delivered by top Nokia experts and select location-based ecosystem members. See more

Where20

Google geosearch api
Sent via my N95 mobile account
- Taken at 9:56 AM on May 13, 2008 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

Where20

google earth +Arcgis
Sent via my N95 mobile account
- Taken at 10:10 AM on May 13, 2008 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

Where20

Opening at where

Where20428

Where20 set to roll
Sent via my N95 mobile account
- Taken at 8:30 AM on May 13, 2008 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

Previewing Google Friend Connect and Campfire One

Tonight at Campfire One at the Googleplex (http://code.google.com/campfire/), Google Inc. will announce a preview release of Google Friend Connect, a service that helps website owners grow traffic by enabling any site on the web to easily provide social features for its visitors. Websites that are not social networks may still want to be social -- and now they can be, easily. With Google Friend Connect (see http://www.google.com/friendconnect following this evening's Campfire One), any website owner can add a snippet of code to his or her site and get social features up and running immediately without programming -- Learn more about Google Friend Connect, OpenSocial, and other social initiatives at Google I/O, a two-day developer gathering about building the next generation of web applications. It takes place May 28-29 at Moscone West, San Francisco. Register now for Google I/O at http://code.google.com/events/io/.
See also http://code.google.com/campfire/

More Rumsy Maps via Google Earth

A natural fit, David Rumsey and Google have partnered to make even more of the awesome historical map collection available via a Google Earth layer... from LAt/Long blog... there are now 120 maps in the Rumsey Historical Map layer in Gallery layer in Google Earth - see more via the Rumsey Garage http://rumsey.geogarage.com/

Bulding a mobile Social Networking Application - better check with NIM!

Are you thinking of building GPS-enabled social networking apps for the Nokia N95 or Blackberry? Better take note... Yes Indeed, another big patent has been issued in the US... this time for Social Networking Applications Using GPS-Enabled Wireless Devices... The company with the largest mobile phone navigation subscriber base in North America, today announced that it was issued U.S. Patent No. 7,333,820, titled “Position Determination System,” which protects its intellectual property involving social networking applications such as requesting and/or pushing a user’s location via a GPS-enabled mobile device through a wireless network. See more here