It's time to head off to San Diego for the 2008 International ESRI User Conference

This will be my final post until I hit San Diego, although I may offer up some Pings (see ping.fm for a cool social networking app) via mobile en route. Should be another great event. I'll attempt to post coverage via several web services. Here's details of what I mentioned in the newsletter the other day.

As usual, I plan on having loads of articles and summaries published when I return, however, this year I'll also be posting real-time updates via my favorite Web2.0 applications. If this interest you then save this newsletter, bookmark our ESRI UC news archive, and please be sure to visit my mobile apps at: Flickr (photos from San Diego); Twitter (shorts tweets of my thoughts and comments); Blogger (blog postings from seminars and sessions); Qik (real-time video interviews and updates); Vimeo (video uploads if there's an issue qith Qik)YouTube (more video clips, likely not real-time); GISuser Forum (I may re-post blog threads online here). Obviously, these apps will depend on technology behaving the way I would like it!

Tips:

More on the UC... the following are a few tips that you may find useful to help get prepared. The ESRI UC Blog where you can hear directly from ESRI staff. Don't forget about the pre-conference seminars: of note, ArcGIS Server for .NET Developers (Sat), Fundamentals of GPS and Integration with ArcGIS (Sun), and Using ArcPad 7.1 for Mobile GIS (Sun). Never been to an ESRI UC before? Then definitely register for a free orientation so you can make the most of your week. Trying to be Green? Interesting to see that ESRI has a green ride program for the event - Find a colleague and share a ride! Finally, if you see me at the conference, feel free to tap me on the shoulder and say hi... I always dig meeting up with our readers. After business hours you might find me in the Marriott lobby or around the pool, on the patio at Dick's, chowing down on Pizza by the slice (directly across from dick's), or maybe at the YardHouse or an Irish Pub enjoying a half & half! If I don't hook up with you, have a great week in San Diego or enjoy our coverage. Want to connect with other conference goers, check out this LinkedIn Group or this Facebook Group.

PS: Good Luck to the 13yr old Fort Collins Cubs at next week's Triple Crown World Series in Steamboat Springs, CO... I'll be in San Diego and missing my son's first ball game of the year! GO CUBS...

Hooray! Google unlocked my Blog...

Well, after a couple of days of being locked out of my own blog (shame on me for using a free service!) Google has decided to unlock it and give me access again... thanks! Obviously, Google was merely attempting to do some housecleaning and get rid of the old, obsolete blogs... a great idea really, however, in the process they apparently inconvenienced many legitimate users, like yours truly. Below are details from a rant that I posted the other day on GISuser as I couldn't post it here! PS: See here for a Beta version of this blog on WordPress that I may wind up using once I have time for the full switch-over - should I stay or should I go?

Here's a new one for this week that is likely going to have the feathers of many Google Bloggers ruffled... Bloggers essentially have 20 days to save their blogs or else!!

I got a weird email message last night that I first thought was junk, then I realized it was actually legit! Google has some new automated system that is flagging potential spam blogs (whatever that is) and locking out blog owners. Email message from Google follows:

Your blog at: http://gisuser.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at ...

Your blog will be deleted within 20 days if it isn't reviewed, and you'll be unable to publish posts during this time. After we receive your request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. If this blog doesn't belong to you, you don't have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won't be affected.

We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577

Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting efforts.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

---

I was one of the many unlucky ones with my very popular GISuser AnyGeo blog http://gisuser.blogspot.com being flagged for some reason and locked! Friggin marvelous move Google.

Above is the message that appears... since I was human I entered a code, however, that doesn't resolve the issue.

After searching the web for how to contact the blogger team -- good luck with that one!!! - it seems many others are having the same mis-fortune.

Above is how the blogger dashbopard appears when a blog owner attempts to publish from teh blogger UI

For one, I'm very pi#@#$#@$ed off about this, particularly since I'm off to San Diego for the ESRI UC next week and naturally, had planned on blogging... great! So, if anyone from Google happens to read this, maybe contact me (glenn at gisuser.com) and offer up some help or advice. Otherwise, WordPress is sure starting to look good!!

Oh, and team Google, when you locate the Blogger team member that came up with this move, maybe give him/her a slap for me too!

For more on how others are covering this see:

• Google Blogger Meltdown? You Have Been Identified As A Potential Spam Blog
• Google Snafu Shuts Down Blogger's Site

New Street Location Data for Canada, USA

An interesting new product out of this New-Jersey based company. The idea is to track most if not all of the new major residential developments in the country to offer a very up to the minute, clean database... here's what they say - When you consider that there are approximately 7,000 new housing developments constructed a year yielding over 45,000 new streets, the intelligence of a clean database of new street data is immeasurable - see more here or check em out at www.nsdmaps.com

iPhone to dominate mobile map usage? Hold your horses!

There's no doubt that iPhone 3G is going to [or has already] stimulate mobile map usage in North America. Interesting that I found this recent quote... "It surely won`t be long before Apple`s iPhone line up is the leading device for mobile maps usage. Just you wait and see." An aggressive projection, however, keep in mind that the World is a big place and there's many mobile users outside of North America... most of then not using iPhone. To say that iPhone will soon pass Nokia in this space is shortsighted to say the least. iPhone to dominate in this place soon... don't be foolish!

2008 Mobile Government Grant Program

Just announced, the 2008 Mobile Government Grant Program http://ping.fm/EMHmf - details - Projects must demonstrate how GIS is a mission-critical technology in delivering government services as well as how mobile GIS solutions will result in increased efficiencies and/or effectiveness in daily efforts. See more

Event of Interest, Society of Cartographers annual conference (UK)

Reader Steve of Middlesex University has shared details of an interesting event with me and I'm glad to pass along details to you. Save the date, Sept 1-4 at Aberdeen University
The event will feature presentations and hands-on workshop by Paul Hardy of ESRI Europe on the latest cartographic features of ArcGIS 9. Other presentations to be enjoyed include ones on changing coastlines, 3D panoramas, kayak mapping, and cycle mapping - with presenters including Tom Patterson (US National Parks Service), Ed Parsons (Google), and Professor Danny Dorling (University of Sheffield). The Programme includes many interesting topics, workshops and networking opportunities and much more, all for a reasonable fee. More info and online registration available at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/cartographers08/

Consultant for automated street data processing

A colleague contacted me in search of someone to help and advise on automated collection and processing of new street location data (vector and imagery) - interested? Contact me (glenn at gisuser dot com) for more information and I'll put you in touch with the company directly

The 29 hour trip home - another nightmare airline travel tale

Oh those travel tales... they just get better all the time! Here's a story about a trip that a colleague of mine experienced this past week-end, he describes it as his nightmare outline (for the 2008 record book):
- 10 hours in the air yesterday
- hour circling JFK (3pm-4pm)
- hour flying to Syracuse (4pm-5pm)
- Stuck on airport runway, waiting (5pm-9pm) Just when you thought it was getting ridiculous, they made them sit on the runway in Syracuse for something like SIX hours. Nobody could get off the plane.
- Flew to JFK last night (9pm-10pm), keep in mind they're pushing 18 hours on-board or something. All JFK flights were finished.
- Then spent FOUR MORE HOURS in line (10pm-2am), trying to arrange alternate transpo. - When he finally got the counter, they told him the next flight would be at NOON TODAY (Monday). Four hours for ridiculous news like that.
- explaining that they're making everyone sit there until noon.
- Then as of 4:30am EST, taking a cab to Penn Station to (at least try to) finish off the trip with a three hour train ride to BWI.
- Total nightmare, over 29 straight hours stuck in either a plane, cab, train, or waiting area---all as a result of airport delays/problems, etc. A new record, at least for 2008!

Let's all keep this in mind the next time we're whining about a 90 minute layover.