AllTop widget provides content for blog owners

If your interested in adding popular news tidbits to your website or blog then the new widget from Allto (courtesy of Guy Kawasaki) is a great addition serving up content tailored to your site visitors. Select from dozens of topics including iphone, venture capital, web design and mobile (See the "mobile" news widget below). I've selected to feature the mobile widget here on the blog because Guy has listed this blog in his AllTop mobile news sites... thanks Guy! See http://alltop.com/widget/

A Search helper at AllTop - aggregation without aggravation

I have to give a shout-out to AllTop, particularly since this blog (AnyGeo) is now listed within the Mobile category (http://mobile.alltop.com/)... nice! Alltop is a relatively new (early 08) news/blog search aggregation resource that follows hot topics on the web. About Alltop... "You can think of an Alltop site as a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points—they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed." See more at alltop.com or see this PR

Formats and tips for online media PR submission

Once again, a tip here for all you PR and marketing professionals on how to distribute and format your PR releases... simple really... think TXT. I receive tons of these every day and they come in all shapes, formats, and sizes. The really nasty things you want to stay away from when you send to online media outlets is PDF and even ZIP files. Once you have your properly formatted PR items be sure to remember some of the following tips:
- include the subject in the email subject line DONT EVER USE ALL CAPS!!!! - really, this one drives me nuts and when I haven't had my coffee I often hit the delete key
- A word document is fine, particularly if you have images as well
- even if you have a Word doc, include a simple text copy in the body of the email
- images are cool (one or two max) if you have high res though, provide a simple link to where they can be retrieved on your server - don't email 2MB worth of JPG files
- Don't create a package of documents, images, corp background info etc... and ZIP it all up, editors really don't want the full media package (although they may ask you for it)
- include a website url and email contact at the bottom of the release
- use a valid email address when sending - i.e. if I hit reply, it better reply to a real person and valid email address
These are but a few simple things that will help you distribute PR to online media outlets - oh, and make sure your news is actually news!

Website Magazine - insights and tips for website owners

Just ran into this pub of interest, particularly those of you charged with web management and promotions etc.. best of all its free - about the Magazine from the publisher - Until now, there has not been a magazine that caters exclusively to the business of running a website. Website Magazine has tapped premier talent in the Internet industry for our content and each and every issue will contain practical advice and insights for website owners. You can register for it here (US only sorry)

GIS update from the South Pacific

GIS in the South Pacific... if your interested in getting a brief, general overview of geo-technology activities taking place in one of my favorite destinations (Fiji), Islands Business has provided a nice overview of how GIS and remote sensing is used in FIJI, from utilities to emergency planning and response, a nice update on activities from SOPAC.

Seattle Space Needle Fireworks computer glitch... Ooops!

For a number of years I used to always watch the Seattle festivities from the Space Needle... looks like this year things messed up a bit due to a computer glitch... oops!

Tomlinson Interviewed in Globe and Mail - One day of GIS training in Ontario makes you a specialist

Another great read in the Globe and Mail as a new article touches on the birth and history of GIS and it's Canadian roots from Tomlinson. I love this paragraph which is so bang on...
"It's not for lack of trying. Every school in Ontario has a free GIS software package... but the subject often doesn't get taught because of a shortage of trained teachers. "One day of GIS training in Ontario makes you a specialist," Dr. Tomlinson grumbled. "That's abominable!"

Indeed, how often have you seen that one person in an office or organization that has used Google Earth or maybe ArcView or ArcExplorer for a day and they are the one that moves on to be the champion of GIS within the organization. In this day and age with so much training, certification, post-grad edu programs etc... yet most people are likely learning about GIS from novices that share a slight interest in maps or computers. Check it out - I also love this quote.. "A map is one thing, but knowing exactly where you are on a map is another"

Mainstreet GIS and Municipal site hosting

An interesting company that I just ran into (never heard of them before) at MainStreetGIS... the crew seems to offer a hosted GIS solution for local government - similar to the awesome solutions from Latitude Geographics I would assume... from the company " An online GIS hosting service that provides parcel searches, property information, and an intuitive web application for GIS map browsing over the internet. Your town can be online in one week" licensing starts at about $2500 a year. Unfortunately the company has no "about" section on their website - a MUST have in my mind - and they don't list the address either so I have no idea where they are located, although their fax line has a 309 extension, wherever that may be - see http://www.mainstreetgis.com/MunicipalGIS.htm

Schlumberger Grabs Rights to MetaCarta for Oil & Gas

Announced today, Schlumberger announces the acquisition of exclusive distribution rights to the oil and gas sector for the MetaCarta map-based geographic information search technologies, from MetaCarta, Inc. Schlumberger will acquire all existing contracts for MetaCarta in the oil and gas sector, resulting in a single source for sales and support of this technology in the industry. Recall... MetaCarta search technology combines map-driven geographic search, geographic referencing, temporal filtering and data visualization capabilities, for both structured and unstructured content, making that content "location-aware".

New Patent to Enhance Local Search from GeoVector

Details on Another patent focused on local search... GeoVector today has announced a New Patent to Enhance Local Search. The location-based technology allows access to images or video by pointing a mobile phone or other device at an object or place. The new technology, available for license, also significantly extends battery life of mobile devices. US Patent 7301536 better enables mobile phones or other devices to display stored digital images which are linked to real-world objects or places. see also geovector.com

Subprime Litigation Risk - What's the State of Your State?

Some interesting findings on the subprime fallout... Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist, today published What's the State of Your State? E&O Risk Uneven across the Country, a state-by-state overview of the threat of errors & omissions (E&O) litigation on U.S. real estate professionals. The report finds that while no single factor can predict where litigation will be heaviest, a range of indicators, taken together, can help predict where lawsuits are most likely. According to the Guy Carpenter Index, there is little to no correlation between the highest risk states for subprime-related E&O litigation and those states such as Arizona and Nevada with the greatest number of subprime mortgage delinquencies and/or foreclosures. Rather, the riskiest states are those that have average rankings in most categories and an extremely high result in a single category. A full copy of the report can be downloaded at www.guycarp.com

It's now official - almost - Nokia owns Navteq

Almost a done deal.. simply subject to approval of stockholders although there's no reason on the planet that they would turn down the $8 billion! Details... Termination of the HSR waiting period satisfies one of the conditions to completion of the merger between Nokia and NAVTEQ. Completion of the merger is also subject to the adoption of the merger agreement by NAVTEQ stockholders at the special meeting of stockholders, receipt of other regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of the other closing conditions set forth in the merger agreement.

Local News on Your Street

Another cool local news aggregator - this one with a sweet map UI - from YourStreet. The app searches out news, blogs and other content that's close to your location... presenting the news in a friendly tabular format or accessible via a map.. very nice. See http://www.yourstreet.com

What are people saying about your company? Get custom Google news alerts

Here's a how-to tip that will help you and your company stay abreast of who's taking about you and which resources (like GISuser.com) are promoting your news or publishing material about your company - Google news alerts. Hopefully many of you already subscribe to alerts but if you don't then I suggest you consider doing so. Personally, I like adding these alerts to my custom google homepage (iGoogle) but you can also get these alerts via email. Here's how it works:
- jump to the awesome Google news home - this resource aggregates industry news from only bonafide news resources around the world (there's also a blog/news option as well collecting "news" from blogs. (yes indeed, a blog is different than a traditional news resource)
- search on a keyword like "esri"
- request email alert to the results of this news search
- optionally, view the output in RSS format
- it's very simple but very useful!
- you can now view news alerts as they appear online or get daily or even hourly alerts via email - once again, this is but one of the many great benefits of getting your news etc... featured at online news resources like GISuser,com, LBSzone.com or amerisurv.com!

Search for your company name or even your name using google.com/news

Create an alert to receive results via email

Results are also available as RSS feeds which can be added to yoru custom iGoogle page

Display all your alerts and news feeds (RSS) on your custom iGoogle homepage - a HUGE time saver!

Amerisurv May 2007 now available

I just noticed that my biz partners Allen and Marc have made the May 2007 edition of The American Surveyor Magazine available for viewing - hot off the press. HTML versions of archived editions are now available (NEW) online via a new online resource at www.amerisurv.com (still "beta") and the beutiful, high-res PDFs are also available for download as well.. check it out and stay tuned for loads of new features and functionality from this fine resource. See http://www.amerisurv.com

GISuser Today from May 4, 07

Today at GISuser (from today's newsletter)... In the news today I'm pleased to share details of some very interesting GIS projects that were brought to my attention this week in the 2007 BE awards (that's pronounced "bee" awards, not "bee eee" awards) - see today's spotlight for more. Are you looking for Mashups? In a bit of a "Beta" test I've created this Google Mashup Search Engine... check it out, try a search for beer and see what you get! If you happened to visit GISuser yesterday you may have noticed the frontpage spotlight turned onto a cool app called GeoGarage. Simply put, the app is billed as the first geospatial image web server compatible with Google Maps and Google Earth - more info available HERE. Finally, are you linked in? In case you're new to the service Linked-In is an online professional network developed to help members stay in touch with colleagues and maybe even get in touch with work opportunities. It's an ideal way to maintain a backup of your contacts, partucularly useful if you happen to change or leave your job on short notice. Of interest to some of you is this document designed to help you make the most of Linked-In... enjoy! Finally, are you searching for Geospatial RFPs? Try this handy resource... a free trial is available to our users.. .Good Luck. Have a fun-filled Kentucky Derby Saturday is that's your cup of tea or Mint Julip! Today's GISuser newsletter is archived HERE

GIS for Mobile for Food Safety - a solution for the pet food recall perhaps?

An interesting application turns up in light of the recent pet food recall - GIS / GPS tracking for mobile food safety. SABI (short for Serveon Advanced Business Intelligence) Mobile for Food Safety is a GPS-enabled wireless data management tool that is ideal for the collection, storage and sharing of food safety-related data, whether in processing, shipping or other related locations. It gives organizations the ability to rapidly observe and measure customizable business data. It is sold on a subscription basis and hardware is free with a two-year commitment. SABI Mobile allows all customers to configure their specific information centrally on Serveon’s secure servers, and the unit offers near real-time reporting, GIS mapping tools and other features, including an online measurement calculator, a Web-based shape file export engine, the ability to view data as individual layers, a new hand zoom and panning feature, full color aerial photographs that can be zoomed to 1 meter, and a radius plotting tool. An interesting application and likely will receive some attention given the recent scare in the pet food industry. See more at www.serveon.net

GISuser updates from this week

Some updates of interest to GIs professionals at GISuser this week include:
USGS Storm-Surge Data Available Online - Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released new data that illustrate the arrival of the massive dome of flood water that inundated much of southwest coastal Louisiana
Treasure Hunting 101 - an introduction to geocaching
Location-based information for wildlife visitors: The WebPark Experience.
Also, a very cool Career opportunity is now available for a GIS Coordinator at the City of Garden Grove, California - The permanent position will include a very attractive benefits package, details of which are available on the City’s website. Finally,congrats go out to Tyler Mitchel who just secured a position as the executive director at OSGeo