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26 mai 2012
1:08
Native Support for LiDAR in ArcGIS 10.1LiDAR News
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

This video provides a sneak peak at the native support for LiDAR in ArcGIS 10.1. Continue reading →

Click Title to Continue Reading...
25 mai 2012
23:46
New Quality of Life Dashboard DesignFuzzy Tolerance
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

In case you were wondering, this project hasn’t gone away. The data isn’t due until December now, and the application won’t be due until ~15 minutes after that (give or take). I recently redesigned the whole thing, eschewing our “standard” SharePoint look due to all the usability problems it brings with it. You can see the beta site here and the code is sitting on Github.

I have to give a bit hat tip for the new look to Derek Eder and his FusionTables Map Template. Although I didn’t use any of his code, the clean aesthetic he created was a big inspiration for the new design.

23:27

Screencast #13 – PubSubFuzzy Tolerance

sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com





	
	
		#container { width: 500px; margin: 0 auto; text-align: center; }
		#crapcatcher { border: 2px solid black; min-height: 300px; border-radius: 10px; padding: 10px; }
	



	
		Crap Goes Here
		
		Clear the Catcher
	




/* jQuery Tiny Pub/Sub - v0.7 - 10/27/2011
 * [benalman.com]  * Copyright (c) 2011 "Cowboy" Ben Alman; Licensed MIT, GPL */
(function($) {

  var o = $({});

  $.subscribe = function() {
    o.on.apply(o, arguments);
  };

  $.unsubscribe = function() {
    o.off.apply(o, arguments);
  };

  $.publish = function() {
    o.trigger.apply(o, arguments);
  };

}(jQuery));

// Examples
// $.subscribe("/some/topic", handler1);
// $.publish("/some/topic", [ "a", "b", "c" ]);
// $.unsubscribe("/some/topic", handler1);

function handler1(e) {
	$("#crapcatcher").append("Hello from Hander 1
");
}

function handler2(e, a) {
	$("#crapcatcher").append("Hello from Hander 2 - " + a + "
");
}

function handler3(e, a, b) {
	$("#crapcatcher").append("Hello from Hander 3 - " + a + ":" + b + "
");
}

Resources

Cowboy Ben Alman’s jQuery PubSub

20:35
ISO: Big Data Engineer/Architect WantedUrban Mapping Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
Big Data Engineer/Architect

Do you get excited by statistical reports? Do you race to the appendix to consult methodology/metadata to understand the claim? Does the idea of pouring over government toxicology statistics and making them easily understood excite you? When confronted with thousands of data sources that explain the same general phenomena, do you relentlessly think about how to normalize data?

Urban Mapping seeks an intellectually curious and eager candidate for Big Data Engineer/Architect at the manager level. In this role, you will support software engineering and product management to go from ‘raw to refined’ with our data products and support functionality to enhance Mapfluence, Urban Mapping’s web mapping service. If you have a background in information science, statistics, demography or another technical discipline with a splattering of liberal arts, do we have the opportunity for you!

Responsibilities
- Development new data products, including sourcing, collection techniques/process, ETL, metadata/schema development, maintenance techniques (collectively “raw to refined”)
- Work with customers and partners to identify, develop and source custom data.
- Collaborate with Product Management to support new releases of data catalog, API capabilities, interface design
- Manage outside vendors as appropriate
Qualifications
- 2-5 years professional experience
- BA/BS preferred in computer science, statistics, applied mathematics or equivalent experience
- Excellent written and oral and visual communication skills
- Strong analytical and critical reasoning skills.
- Technical proficiency in web technologies (eg, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, Java, C++, CSS, SQL, RDBMS)
- Experience developing large-scale taxonomy/metadata classification systems
Ideal candidates will also possess the following:
- Experience with Big Data tools/frameworks, including NoSQL
- UI/UX development including interaction design and wireframing
- Visual design competency in methods and tools
- Exposure to process management principles, such as TQM, Six Sigma and statistical process control
Urban Mapping provides geospatial web and data services to simplify the development and deployment of online mapping and data visualization applications. Mapfluence service offers a solid technical infrastructure for mapping, custom base maps and the industry’s most comprehensive on-demand data catalog. Since 2006, leading interactive publishers like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft and leading enterprises like CoStar Group, Tableau Software and CoreLogic have utilized Urban Mapping’s geospatial data and technology. For more information, please visit www.urbanmapping.com.

This position pays a competitive base salary + benefits, including paid vacation, health insurance, stock options, training/education, centrally located in San Francisco’s Financial District, two blocks from BART, regular company outings, food & fun, reasonable hours, no in-office foosball table or game console. We are a startup in name only–with over six years of operating experience, only seed financing and profitability, Urban Mapping isn’t the typical Silicon Valley story, but we’re passionate about what we do and strive for excellence in our work.

Please send your resume along with a note of introduction to talent@urbanmapping.com and indicate “DATA ARCH” in the subject line. Referrals/non-templated notes of interest are welcome.
20:17
10 GIS and GeoTech Mapping apps for the iPhone Power UserAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

There’s a number of fine mobile location aware mapping and “Geo” apps available for the hardcore, mobile Geo enthusiast and GeoGeek… I’ve plugged a number of these apps over the years and here’s a reminder of just a few of the fine apps available for you iOS fans. And so, 10+1 GIS and Mapping apps [...]
19:50
MapWindow Open-Source Conference Coming UpgeoMusings
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Thanks to Twitter, I see that the 3rd annual MapWindow Open-Source GIS Conference is coming up at the end of June. It is being held in Velp, The Netherlands. I call this conference out because it has a strong, but … Continue reading →
18:01
More HTML5!MapDotNet Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Given the excitement we are hearing from developers using our new HTML5 map control and SDK, the MapDotNet UX dev-team has released several new examples on our iSDK to help jump-start app-dev. You can check out everything from basic measu
17:18
Batch Geonews: ArcGIS 10.1, Bing Maps using Nokia, GeoPDF, GPS Camera Banned in China, Zombie Geography, India RISAT-1, FearSquare, and moreSlashgeo.org
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
Here's the recent geonews in batch mode, covering the last few weeks (which have been crazy to me).

From the Esri front:
- Mandown reminds us that ArcGIS 10.1 is coming this June and the ArcGIS 10.0 SP5 is coming in July
- You can access and edit Esri maps even on the Kindle Fire
From the Microsoft front:
- Microsoft announced that Bing Maps is now using Nokia backend services for Traffic and Geocoding
- There's an official entry named Integrating Bing Maps With WPF
- And there's new Bird’s Eye Imagery & Streetside Coverage on Bing Maps
Discussed over Slashdot:
- Russian Satellite Takes Most Detailed 121-Megapixel Image of Earth Yet
- DEA Wants To Install License Plate Scanners and Retain Data for Two Years
- Senator Seeks More Info On DOJ Location Tracking Practices
- Modeling People and Places With Internet Photo Collections
- NASA's Interactive Flood Maps
- LightSquared Files For Bankruptcy
Directions Mag articles:
- Here's about what’s new in both the software and the use of GeoPDF
- Another one named Can Geofeedia Provide Location-based Citizen Input to Journalists?
In the miscellaneous category:
- An interesting Ogle Earth entry named Why do Panasonic, Leica, FujiFilm, Samsung and Nikon censor their GPS cameras?, short answer: China laws
- Learning Geography skills through a Zombie Apocalypse Narrative?, yes, nothing less
- While I found nothing surprising in there, it's still interesting to read the United Nations Five to Ten Year Vision on Geospatial Information Management (via)
- We heard this before, New Report Warns About Decline in U.S. Earth Observation Capabilities
- Meanwhile, India launched its first EO satellite, RISAT-1, with SAR capabilities
In the maps category:
- Strange Maps shares a map of Population by Latitude and Population by Longitude
- TMR shares a map of U.S. Life Expectancy by County
- It was submitted as a press release but deserves more attention, UrbMet.org, interactive web map for the urban metabolism of cities, the same tool was later featured on the O'Reilly Radar
- Here's Climascope, an interactive web map to explore climate change
- The Earth is mostly (70%) covered by water, but there isn't that much in terms of volume
- Mapperz mentions MapofLife.org, mapping geographic distributions for any terrestrial vertebrate species
- At the other end of the spectrum, FearSquare.com, crime around you (UK only)
Ah... it feels good to be current on geonews once again!
Google Plus One
16:33
A little recognition for the GeoBeeVerySpatial
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

If you have watched the GeoBee then you probably feel as though you need to spend more time with your globe and atlas. It was great to see President Obama ask one of the questions showing that someone at the White House gets the importance of Geography and its impact on the world.
15:57
Is Google Maps GIS Lite?Slashgeo.org
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

WebMapSolutions shares an interesting entry named Is Google Maps GIS Lite?

From their conclusion: "When compared to the expensive, but well-polished products of ESRI, they may seem a bit rough in some areas, but they are also considerably cheaper or free to use as well. Everything is a trade-off. The hardcore GIS capabilities are not up to the same level as others such as GeoServer or ESRI, but then again that’s not what Google is shooting for either. They seem to be happy helping to expand the lighter, much larger-scoped public side of geospatial (which do cover a lot of use-case scenarios). [...] The direction is not towards traditional GIS work, but more into expanding the geospatial capability and usability on mobile devices. [...] Google kicked the old GIS world in the pants in 2005. They have plenty of expertise and money on their side to do it again."
Google Plus One
15:54
Video – Hurricane Preparation Tips As 2012 Season Kicks OffAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Some useful information in this video from NOAA as the 2012 hurricane season kicks off this week… stay safe! See more related info at the National Hurricane Center website
15:53
Bing Maps now using Nokia services for Traffic and GeocodingMapperz - The Mapping News Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Bing Maps now using Nokia services for Traffic and Geocoding Brazil São Paulo (above) now has Traffic on Bing Maps via Nokia Traffic service The following countries will see...

Map and GIS News finding blog. With so many Maps and GIS sites online now it is hard to find the good from the not so good. This blog tries to cut the cream and provide you with the newest, fastest, cleanest and most user friendly maps that are available online. News has location and it is mapped.
15:28
How the UN want to use Big Data to spot crisesGEODATA POLICY
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Posted by Timo Luge on Social Media 4 Good Blog, May 15, 2012 Robert Kirkpatrick from the UN’s Global Pulse team is talking about how United Nations agencies would like to use big data to search for crises in real-time. It’s a fascinating talk and Kirkpatrick shows how his team has been using data mining [...]
15:20
Open Source Geonews: HSLayers, Proxy4OWS, the Worst of OpenStreetMap, AP moving to TileMill + Leaftlet, and moreSlashgeo.org
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
Still in my geonews catching up process, here's the open source-related geonews not shared yet.
- Via LinkedIn I learned about HSLayers and Proxy4OWS,
  - For HSLayers: "HSLayers is yet another JavaScript Mapping framework. You can use it for building rich mapping portals, as well as use it’s parts for improving your simple OpenLayers-based map."
  - For Proxy4OWS: "It is transforming OGC WMS request types from the client, into WCS or WFS requests, so that the target server can accept them."
- For OpenStreetMap, I liked the 'Worst of OSM' page showing failed imports, I guess we wouldn't see this from proprietary providers (via)
- For those unable to move to 2.0, PostGIS 1.5.4 was released
- If you want to learn about GeoExt 2 development
- GeoNode 1.1.1 was released
- And so was MapProxy 1.4.0
- As an indirect user of GEOS, I'm happy that GEOS graduated OSGeo incubation
- The OSGeo also informed us of the First Open Source Geospatial Laboratory in South America and First African Open Source Geospatial Laboratory
- You might have an interest in the Comprehensive preview of MapGuide Open Source 2.4 series
- libais 0.7 was released: "C++ decoder for Automatic Identification System for tracking ships and decoding maritime information"
- APB informs us that the famous AP, Associated Press, is moving to TileMill and Leaflet for their interactive maps
Google Plus One
15:18
Federal judge: GPS use illegal in Chicago-Kentucky drug bustGEODATA POLICY
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, May 23, 2012 When Kentucky State Troopers stopped 49-year-old Robert Dale Lee on Interstate 75 in September 2011, they knew he would be coming their way and what to look for in his truck. The Drug Enforcement Administration had been following Lee’s truck from Chicago using a GPS — a tracking [...]
15:15
A Question I also get asked a lot – What’s the Difference Between Reporting and Analysis?eSpatial Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

This morning I read a blog post on Adobe’s Digital Marketing blog entitled “What’s the difference between reporting and analysis”. Adobe’s digital blog is always a good source of knowledge for all things mobile, social and search.

I was instantly intrigued by this post because I find myself trying to answer the question all the time. So much of what we do at eSpatial is focused on turning analysis and reporting into action.

However, I was a little disappointed at the end of the post as it didn’t satiate my initial interest. So it encouraged me to “analyze” the topic in greater detail.

What’s the difference anyway?

I was really hoping for an answer to the question – What exactly is the difference between reporting and analysis? It might be considered an academic question but it’s not something people consider too often.

So I delved a little further.

Google tells me that analysis is:

“Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation.”

Reporting is defined as:

“Giving a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated.”

If someone had asked me to provide a distinction I probably would have said something like this: “When you analyze you are attempting to turn data and information into insight, when you are reporting you are communicating that insight as knowledge.”

Definitions are all well and good but what exactly is the distinction here?

I think the keyword in the definition above is “basis”. When you analyze you are taking something apart with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding and using that understanding to your advantage.

When you are reporting you are doing one thing – story telling. You are giving a “spoken or written account” of your analysis. Of course I would expand that definition to include “spoken, written and visual account”.

You should never turn up to a meeting or a presentation with an analysis; you should come with a report. People with limited time are not interested in the complexities of your methodologies they want the key points, they want the story.

For example, this post might be considered the “report” on my “analysis” of the subject. I am not providing my searches for the definitions, how I came across the blog post in the first place, my thought process and material for writing. I’m simply presenting the story.

Finally, there was one other element of the Adobe post that caught my attention:

“The goal of this blog is not to say that reporting does not have a role, but rather to make the point that reporting by itself is just numbers. Without an understanding of the big picture, you can’t rely on individual reports to make your decisions.”

I would completely disagree with this statement. While an understanding of the big picture is essential, reporting doesn’t have to be just numbers. An effective report has the ability to communicate the complexity and multidimensionality of the analysis without overwhelming the audience.

Good reporting is good story telling and good story telling combines visuals, words and numbers.

Phil O’Doherty

Digital Marketing Executive
15:15
Friday’s Food for Thought: Honoring Those We Have Lost This Memorial Daygot geoint?
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Welcome to the Friday’s Food for Thought post from got geoint? While many of us are on the cusp of a long weekend that will most likely be spent with family, friends and loved ones, it is important to remember what this holiday is really all about: honoring American service members. As always, we are dedicating this week’s FFFT post to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.

Memorial Day Celebrations, Ceremonies Abound in Washington, D.C.

Memorial Day weekend in Washington, with our many military and war memorials and active military personnel and veterans, is a time of reflection and celebration. Parades, wreath-laying ceremonies, festivals and, of course, the annual National Memorial Day Concert give visitors and locals plenty of opportunities to remember those who have sacrificed to serve their country. Here’s a roundup of Memorial Day events this weekend in the D.C. area.

For This Military Town, a Memorable Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend will feel a little different this year than any in the past decade in this small town in southwestern Kentucky. After years of seeing thousands of local soldiers deployed from nearby Fort Campbell, Memorial Day 2012 finds most of the community’s transient citizens home, present and accounted for. And that has had some big impacts on the area emotionally and economically. Check out more from PBS here.

Soldiers Place Thousands of Flags at Arlington Graves Ahead of Memorial Day

Soldiers placed small American flags at the graves of more than 260,000 service members in Arlington National Cemetery yesterday ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The United States Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment has maintained the tradition, known as “Flags-In,” at the cemetery since 1948. The regiment, also known as the “Old Guard,” sent every available soldier to cover the 624 acre military cemetery, according to the Army. Check out more here.

33,000 Flags Planted in Boston for Memorial Day

Over 200 volunteers spent Wednesday planting flags (pictured) for Memorial Day on the grounds of Boston Common in downtown Boston in honor of those who served and died for our country. The 33,000 flags represent all of the fallen soldiers from Massachusetts who have died since the civil war. Check out more here.

2012 Memorial Day Tribute to the Fallen

The National Guard just posted a video tribute to soldiers we lost in 2011. This video serves as powerful reminder of the importance of this holiday.
15:12
Data Visualizations and the Google Politics and Election BlogAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Let me share an interesting find with you that offers up the latest maps and data visualizations of the US political landscape… enter the Politics and election blog from the Google politics and elections team. Browsing the blog you’ll find some very interesting visualizations along with detailed information on data products, APIs and more. For [...]
15:01
How Google Earth is being used by the Philippine National PoliceGoogle Earth Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Over the years, Google Earth has been responsible for helping a huge number of non-profit and other worthwhile organizations around the world. We've shown you how environmental groups have been using Google Earth for more than six years, how it's been used to fight against rainforest logging, and Google Earth Outreach consistenly showcases many other amazing organizations from a variety of countries.

Similarly to the others that have used Google Earth to fight against deforestation, the Philippine National Police have been using Google Earth to fight illegal logging in the province of Laguna.

Here is their story, in their words:

On behalf of all the personnel of Philippine National Police (PNP) Laguna, I would like to express our gratefulness for the wonderful gift of your Google Earth services. It contributed a lot and it has been a great part of our efforts against illegal logging here in the province of Laguna. Nationwide, we are shocked by the effect of the natural and man-made calamities wreaking havoc to our country resulting to loss of lives and properties. Man-made calamities are greatly attributed to rampant illegal logging and deforestation thus causing flash floods and landslides. Since Laguna had been one of the most affected areas of flash floods and landslides, the Laguna PNP initiated the creation of a dedicated Provincial Anti-Illegal Logging Task Group "BERDE" purposely to ensure the implementation of OPLAN "BERDE (Boost Economic Reserves for the Development of Ecosystem). Through the help of Google Earth, we were able to locate specific targets of our OPLAN BERDE. Our operations yielded positive results on illegal logging sites like Cavinti, Laguna that was identified by using Google Earth. Initial operation last April 13, 2012 resulted to the recovery of forest products, machinery equipment, tools and conveyance abandoned during apprehension. Google Earth has been a major contributing factor to the success of our operation. Because of you and your innovative services, we can keep moving forward towards the attainment of our goals in the field of law enforcement.

As Google Earth imagery continues to become higher resolution and update more rapidly, it will become an even more useful tool for organizations like this one.
24 mai 2012
22:00
Bing Maps now using Nokia Backend services for Traffic and GeocodingBing Maps Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Last year, Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with Nokia in Mapping. Our two companies have spent a lot of time working together, sharing information and investigating better ways provide relevant mapping information to help you find and get to where you’re going more quickly. Today, we’re excited to announce another important phase in that partnership with the launch of Nokia powered traffic results, which are rolling out today in 24 countries on Bing Maps.

The following countries will see improvements through Bing Maps as a result of our use of Nokia services:
· Austria · Belgium · Brazil · Canada · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · India · Indonesia · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Mexico · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Russia · Saudi Arabia · South Africa · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · UAE · United Kingdom · US

New countries with Traffic

São Paulo, Brazil

Johannesburg, South Africa

Moscow, Russia

Mumbai, India

Improved Traffic

We’re also improving our existing traffic coverage in the US to include traffic information for side streets in addition to freeway traffic information. See below for enhanced coverage in Seattle.

Seattle, Washington

In addition to these traffic improvements, Bing Maps will also start to use Nokia’s geocoding services in a number of countries offering improved directions. This update, while not always visible to users, is another important milestone in our partnership to build the world’s best mapping platform using Nokia and Microsoft’s assets.

Thanks to our friends at Nokia for their dedication along the way. Together we have enabled a stronger Bing Maps experience and we hope Bing users in these respective countries reap the benefits of our partnership, notice an increase in address search relevance, and enjoy the addition of traffic information - especially those of you in the US who are adventurous enough to travel during the Memorial Day holiday! /jealous sigh

- The Bing Maps Team
19:43
Microsoft Wants You to Know…Bing Maps Now Using Nokia Backend for Traffic and GeocodingAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Building on the existing strategic partnership between Microsoft and Nokia, today we’re announcing that Bing Maps is now using Nokia backend services for Traffic and Geocoding. With the goal of helping get places faster and get more done, here are the key things Nokia services will do... Continue reading
18:23
iPad App Tip – Autodesk SketchBook InkAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Autodesk has announced yet another app for the iPad – Sketchbook Ink. Designed with the artist in mind, the app enables users to create beautiful, high-resolution ink-style artwork. On sale for just $1.99 in the iTunes store, SketchBook Ink enables users to produce very fine detail in their artwork, independent of resolution, building on the intuitive [...]
16:56
Mobile Scanning in HelsinkiLiDAR News
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Mika Salolahti from TerraSolid sent me the link to an interesting video showing the results of a mobile laser scanning project in Helsinki, Finland. Continue reading →

Click Title to Continue Reading...
16:46
Getting Started With the Platform Independent Model - Tools and ApplicationsZekiah Technologies Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
So nearly everything we have discussed so far is not really useful unless we can figure a way to get it to help with what we need to do with geospatial data. It's sort of like having the world's greatest bowling ball with no lanes. How do we make this help us with increasing productivity, promoting sharing, reducing user frustration, and making us 'cost competitive?' The simple, practical answer is flexible, user modifiable applications.

What are these applications?

Making practical use of a data standard involves a number of required functions. These are:
1. Performing an initial load of the PIM from the user defined Standard and providing a mechanism for modification/update
2. Generating Schemas or compatible physical implementations in a variety of GIS formats
3. Validating (checking) user data in these same GIS formats against the Standard
4. Assisting with both User to User translations and Version to Version migrations
5. Enforcing a discipline that allows for performance of #2 though #4 above.
read more
16:00
IEA reports that US fossil-fuel CO2 emissions have dropped by 7.7% since 2006Between the Poles
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion reached 31.6 gigatonnes in 2011, according to its preliminary estimates. This is up 3.2% over 2010. The breakdwon for energy-related CO2 emissions by fuel-type is
1. coal 45%
2. oil 35%
3. natural gas 20%.
In 2011, CO2 emissions continued to rise for non-OECD countries, though the total for OECD countries actually decreased
- Non-OECD 6.1% increase
- OECD 0.6% reduction.
The largest emitters are, in order, China, the United States, the European Union, and India.

China

China is responsible for the largest contribution to the global increase, up 9.3%, primarily as the result of increased coal combustion. But China has dramatically improved its energy intensity, reducing the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP by 15% between 2005 and 2011.

United States

CO2 emissions in the United States dropped 1.7%. The IEA ascribed the decease primarily to switching from coal to natural gas in power generation as well as a warm winter. US emissions have fallen by 430 Mt (7.7%) since 2006, the largest reduction of all countries or regions. The IEA says this is the result of
- lower oil use in the transport sector (linked to efficiency improvements, higher oil prices and the economic downturn which has cut vehicle miles travelled)
- substantial shift from coal to gas in the power sector.
EU

CO2 emissions in the EU in 2011 were down by 1.9%, as the EU continues toward its 20-20-20 goals by 2020.

India

India’s emissions rose by 8.7% and it now is ahead of Russia in emissions.

Japan

The IEA reported that Japan’s 2011 emissions increased by 2.4%, which is not unexpected as for most of the time it had few nuclear reactors running, and now has none operating.
15:47
Army Prepares for First Flight of Football Field-Sized LEMV Airshipgot geoint?
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

For the past couple of years, we have been covering the Army’s effort to develop an unmanned combat-surveillance airship that is the size of a football field and can track enemy forces from more than 2,000 miles away. Developed by Northrop Grumman, the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) airship is now poised for flight. While a bit delayed, the first flight is scheduled for the second week of June over Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The LEMV is a majorly ambitious project that aims to bring down overall cost of remote surveillance, however building and equipping the airship with high-grade sensors — and dealing with the helium issue — has been more of a challenge.

It is expected that if all goes well, the LEMV will be put to the test in Afghanistan in “early winter.” We will surely be tracking this program as it progresses. Stay tuned.
15:24
GOV.UK and MapsWeb Map Design
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Posts have been thin on the ground recently because I've been busy teaching a new course at the Uni. However, its all over bar the exam marking now so I'm hoping to be more active here.

A friend has been involved in putting together GOV.UK - a site that provides the public with information from the British Government and acts as a clearing house to councils and other public bodies. I really like the site, one of the key characteristics is that the designers have clearly focussed on user's needs. I've had a quick whizz around looking for ways maps are, or could be, implemented in the site and a few thoughts spring to mind:

One Map, Many Points: In the neighborhood section of the map you can enter your postcode and find services around you. The site delivers you a list of possible local services, in the example below, we're looking at computer training courses:

As you can see, you get an individual map for each location. It would be much better to provide one map with all the suggested services as markers with a linked list to the left of the screen (much as Google Maps and other services already deliver search results) with your entered post code shown as well. This would enable the user to see which service is closer or if its close to their work commute route.

A nice add on to this would be travel time estimation circles centered on the entered postcode as found on TFL's 'Why not Walk It' maps.

Map Wiki: I also noticed that the site doesn't link users to useful map wiki or VGI (Volunteered Geographic Information) web sites such as FixMyStreet. This enables the public to easily alert councils in the UK to problems with public spaces such as fly tipping or potholes because they interface with a map which is much easier than filling in a form. I suspect that the remit for gov.uk limits their ability to have done this since they link out to councils sites for this sort of service and councils may or may not have chosen to use a site like FixMyStreet.

Map as Spine: The way GOV.UK is organized is centered around search and text based categories. There's nothing wrong with this structure, I'm sure its what most people want to use. However, I wonder if a map based structuring would add value as an extra way of organizing the data? Instead of entering the site wondering how to answer a specific question, maybe people would like to mine the information to make broader decisions such as where in London would I like to move to? A series of maps based on each area could be very useful showing people how well an area is serviced by the public sector and data from within the site could be used to populate the map.
15:11
Roadmap for a Digital Government | The White HouseGEODATA POLICY
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Posted by Steven VanRoekel, Office of Management and Budget, on May 23, 2012 When the Internet revolution arrived in the 1990s, the U.S. Government embraced this new medium to interact with the American people. Today, what started as basic information pages has evolved into sophisticated transactional systems that allow us to pay taxes online, download [...]
15:00
Autodesk releases Sketchbook InkBetween the Poles
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

SketchBook Ink for the iPad, which was announced back in March at the time of the release of the new iPad, has been released and is available on iTunes.

Unlike traditional vector drawing apps, SketchBook Ink is dedicated to pen-and-ink drawing. The inking behavior gives it a distinct feel but builds on the Sketchbook Pro interface. The app supports importing images from the photo library on iPad that can be used as references or backgrounds. SketchBook Ink enables users to produce very fine detail in their artwork on the new Retina Display independent of resolution. This new technology also supports the ability to export and print large, high-quality images directly from the iPad.
14:41
Cops’ Cellphone Tracking Can Be Even More Precise Than GPSGEODATA POLICY
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

by Andy Greenberg, Forbes.com May 17, 2012 In the wake of a historic Supreme Court ruling that police can’t use GPS devices planted on a car to track suspects without a warrant, Congress is reconsidering the question of what kinds of location tracking constitute an invasion of privacy. And one privacy and computer security professor [...]
14:36
Learn more about Google Earth Outreach with their Hangout on AirGoogle Earth Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Last week we showed you the excellent "Hangout on Air" (multi-user video chat on Google+) that a few members of the Google Earth team participated in. It was quite informative, and a great way to interact with users.

Later today, at 10:30am PDT (1:30pm EDT), the Google Earth Outreach team will be hosting a Hangout on Air to discuss the Google Maps Engine, formerly known as Google Earth Builder.

During the talk they'll show you how you can upload geospatial data to host in the Google cloud, easily style the data, and publish maps on your website -- all with Google Maps Engine. It should be an informative session. Just keep an eye on the main +Google Earth page on Google+ and they'll get started in just a few hours.

If you're not on there yet, Google+ is an amazing place to connect with other geo-minded people. Here is a circle of 83 of them to get you started, and please let me know of others that should be in that group.

You can find more details in this post on the +Google Earth page.
11:45
How to Use the Nest Function and Why it is the Best Feature in TerraSyncThe GEO-Jobe Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
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According to several GIS/GPS Technicians with years of data collection experience, the “nest” function is the best feature ever put in TerraSync. Trimble developed the nest feature to allow data collectors to collect point features and line features simultaneously without having to close and open the line feature in between collecting points. Nesting saves time because data collectors no longer have to open the same line feature and re-attribute it between each point. Not only does it save time in the field, it also saves time in the office because the database editor no longer needs to snap line segments together. The nest feature can also come in handy when you are collecting other line features along the way because TerraSync gives you the option to quickly and easily re-select and continue updating a line after it has been closed.

Let’s say you are mapping a water main or gas main (whatever the case may be) and you get to a point where a lateral tees off and leads to a meter.

The standard operating procedure (SOP) is as follows:
1. Hit “Options”, “New Vertex” while still within the main line feature.
2. Then hit “Options”, “Nest”, and select the tee that should go in the same place as the vertex you just made in the line.
3. Log the tee then hit “OK” until you have closed the tee and main line feature.
4. Then you will map the lateral up to the meter and then close out the lateral.
5. Now you will want to reselect the main that you were collecting and then you can collect the meter along with any other point features that need collecting at that time by hitting “Options”, “Nest”, and selecting the features you wish to collect.
6. Then when you arrive at the next vertex of the main line just hit “Options”, “New Vertex”.
7. TerraSync will then give you the option to “Continue” or “Update” the main line feature.
8. Select “Continue” and the vertex will begin logging and will fall in line after the previous vertex.
Make sure to only collect one feature before reopening the main and the option to “Continue” the main will not be dimmed out when trying to continue.
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10:55
Students Prep for Dam Failure and other Education GISAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Students from Indian Hills Community College [Iowa] Geo-spatial Technology class worked with the Army Corps of Engineers at Red Rock. The group made six maps utilizing data from the Corps of Engineers, Mahaska County GIS Coordinator Brian Knudtson, along with data from the Iowa... Continue reading
10:45
Singapore Land Authority’s OneMap Offers Gov and NGOs Crowdsourcing ToolsAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

In the U.S. we are still waiting to see how we might use Geoplatform.gov, but in Singapore the Land Authority (SLA) not only has its own OneMap, but now it has beta tools for government departments and non-governmental organizations to collect data via crowdsourcing via that map. One of... Continue reading
10:12
VentureBeat: Trimble Acquires SpimeAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Spime? Spime specializes in GPS software platforms for use by smartphone app developers. Its MapMan LBS Platform integrates social and location services into GPS-enabled apps. Spime also offers a navigation service and map service under the names Northstar Nav and Northstar Map.... Continue reading
10:11
Towards a Global Licensing Framework for Geospatial DataDirections Magazine - Top Stories
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Is it time for a global licensing framework for geospatial data? The GSDI Legal and Economic Working group thinks so and offered a presentation and a way forward at the GSDI 13 conference held in Quebec City in May. The effort aims to harmonize existing licensing without changing fundamental access policies and funding models and be compatible with the diferences in national legal systems. That's a tall order, but an important one as the world moves toward geodata sharing. Geoff Zeiss reports.

More about: geodata, gis, gsdi, licensing, openstreetmap
5:37
HackCollege – Work Smarter, Not HarderAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Here’s details of an innovative effort from a group of keen College students – HackCollege. A clever collaboration effort, so far, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin Law School, University of Notre Dame, and University of Arkansas, among others, have listed the project as a resource link for their students. Jennifer from HackCollege shared details [...]
0:40
Why do Panasonic, Leica, FujiFilm, Samsung and Nikon censor their GPS cameras?Ogle Earth
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

In 2008, mainstream camera manufacturers began introducing models with built-in GPS receivers, to automatically add location metadata to photographs. Since then, 10 brands have released a total of 41 distinct models of GPS-enabled cameras. You can find most of them in DPReview’s filterable database.

When the GPS-capable Panasonic Lumix TS4 launched in early 2012, GPS Tracklog’s Rich Owings noticed a strange footnote in the press release:

GPS may not work in China or in the border regions of countries neighboring China.

Rich and I pondered aloud on Twitter as to how in-camera GPS receivers could possibly break when used in China. There is nothing wrong with GPS in China, as anyone who has successfully flown there can attest. Tens of millions of Chinese-bought iPhones have access to highly accurate latitude and longitude readings via Apple’s default compass app, which uses assisted GPS. (I just had a friend in Shanghai read me her coordinates over Skype and confirmed her position in Google Earth.) So why would Panasonic choose to hobble its GPS-enabled cameras so that the location data is withheld from users whenever that location is deemed by the firmware to be in China?

One mooted reason was a Chinese law prohibiting mapmaking and surveying without a license. Foreigners logging location coordinates via GPS while travelling near sensitive sites have been detained on these grounds. In 2010, Chinese authorities cracked down on user-generated mapping, aka neogeography, citing security risks. And in a continuing sign of this trend, just last week a prominent Chinese state TV anchor used his microblog to rail against “foreign spies who find a Chinese girl to shack up with while they make a living compiling intelligence reports, posing as tourists in order to do mapping surveys and improve GPS data for Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe.”

A tweeted response from Panasonic PR confirmed a legal motivation for the technical restriction:

@gpstracklog @ogleearth GPS function maynot work in China or borders neighboring China government prohibits GPS use.Works in over 200cntrys

— Panasonic (@PanasonicDirect) February 1, 2012

Despite follow-up questions no more information was forthcoming, beyond the suggestion that we check the manual for details.

This left many questions unanswered. Why would a Japanese manufacturer selling a camera in the US and Europe be so eager to ensure that its customers obey a (dubious) Chinese law? What is a Lumix TS4 owner supposed to do if she receives permission to log GPS coordinates in China? What happens if the law changes so that permission is no longer required? How did Panasonic end up second-guessing what customers should or should not do in China?

One possibility is that Panasonic believes its customers would sue if they got arrested for inadvertently logging location data while travelling around China. But then why not allow a manual override for informed and/or authorized users?

Perhaps Panasonic fears a near-future dystopian scenario where GPS-enabled cameras are confiscated by Chinese border guards if they are at all able to log data inside China. But surely, with an average product life-cycle of one year, that’s not a big risk?

Maybe Panasonic decided it would be too expensive to release both a China-compliant model and an unmolested global model — and so decided to just release the China-compliant model globally, having taken note of the size and growth of the Chinese consumer camera market.

Or maybe the GPS chip in the camera is manufactured in China, and thus needs to meet some kind of Chinese security restriction before it gets an export license. Admittedly, my scenarios are getting somewhat farfetched.

In the absence of good answers, I let the story languish a few months, hoping to find someone in the camera or GNSS industry able to confirm both the why and the how of the Lumix TS4′s curious behavior when inside China.

Unable to get any more clarity on the matter, I recently decided to check the manuals of all 41 models across all 10 mainstream brands, to see if others besides Panasonic admit to interfering with the GPS function of their cameras for political reasons. It turns out that five of the 10 brands do.

Panasonic, Leica and FujiFilm prevent their cameras from displaying location information when in China. Nikon and Samsung appear to restrict location information in some other way. Sony, Canon, Pentax, Casio and Olympus do not interfere with the GPS function of their cameras when in China (or at the very least do not admit to it in their manuals).

Here’s the assembled evidence — relevant excerpts from all the manuals of all the GPS-enabled cameras sold since 2008. First, the culprits:

Panasonic:

Lumix DMC-ZS7 (Jan 2010)

Lumix DMC-ZS10 (Jan 2011)

Lumix DMC-TS3 (Jan 2011)

All these cameras’ manuals have an explanation like this:

Surprise: All three of Panasonic’s GPS-capable predecessors to the Lumix TS4 cripple GPS use inside China, ever since 2010. We only noticed in 2012 because the TS4 press release mentioned it (and no, I don’t have a habit of reading manuals of cameras I don’t own:-).

In addition, all three cameras have a ready-made error message for when the camera has decided to conceal its location: “GPS FEATURE IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THIS REGION.”

Lumix DMC-TS4 (Jan 2012)

The manual for the TS4 is not yet available on the web, but the official website makes clear about what happens to these cameras when in China:

Lumix DMC-ZS20 (Jan 2012)

Same goes for this camera:

Leica:

Because Leica’s V-Lux cameras are rebranded Panasonic Lumixes, we get an opportunity to see how two different marketing departments describe the same technical limitation. Leica, it turns out, is far more articulate about how and why their cameras are crippled:

V-Lux 20 (Apr 2010) (a rebranded Lumix ZS7)

This in addition to the same error messages as on the Lumix ZS7. (So much for Panasonic trying to be coy in its manuals.)

V-Lux 30 (May 2011) (a rebranded Lumix ZS10)

V-Lux 40 (May 2012) (a rebranded Lumix ZS20)

The V-Lux 40′s manual is identical to that of the older Lumix ZS7 and ZS10 when it comes to describing GPS limitations (see above).

FujiFilm:

FinePix F550 EXR (Jan 2011)

FinePix XP30 (Jan 2011)

FinePix F600 EXR (Aug 2011)

FinePix F770 EXR (Jan 2012)

FinePix XP150 (Jan 2012)

All FinePix cameras carry this disclaimer:

Nikon:

Nikon seems schizophrenic about its approach to GPS:

Coolpix P6000 (Aug 2008)

One of the very first compacts on the market to have built-in GPS, this camera’s manual makes no mention of GPS restrictions or China. This is how it should be. Nikon’s GP-1 GPS unit for its DSLRs also makes no mention of restrictions.

Coolpix AW100 (Aug 2011)

Coolpix S9300 (Feb 2012)

Coolpix P510 (Feb 2012)

By 2011, however, Nikon’s cameras warn that “GPS may not function properly” in and around China:

On a Nikon website, A user shares his experience using GPS with his Coolpix AW100 in China:

The GPS in my Lumix [TZ10] camera is disabled when in China. The camera gives an information message that it disables the GPS while in China. I was pleasantly surprised that Nikon [Coolpix AW100] does not disable the GPS in China but places some limitations on its use. The locations using the GPS in China seem to be off by about 500 ft to the west. In addition, the map function does not work in China and there are not location points for China in the database. I found it interesting that while I was in Southern China, several miles from Hong Kong, the camera would like the closest location point in Hong Kong (which turned out to be a KCR metro station about 10km away. I am very glad the GPS works in China even with these limitations.

Samsung:

Samsung’s manuals, alas, border on the unintelligible. They are obviously transcribed from some other language:

ST1000 (Aug 2009)

HZ35W (Jan 2010)

It is not clear at all where the GPS works, nor does it make any sense to only allow cameras purchased in China to receive GPS signals in China.

Discussing the GPS performance of the Samsung HZ35W may be academic, however — DPReview’s review says that the camera’s GPS function is “idiosyncratic at best, and at worst, non-functional”, with many users not being able to get it to work at all. (Maybe because it appears to work only in a minority of countries, as per the manual.) Meanwhile, Samsung has not come out with updates to its GPS cameras for over two years.

Next up, those manufacturers who do not second-guess their customers:

Sony:

Cyber-shot HX5 (Jan 2010)

SLT-A55 (Aug 2010)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V (Jan 2011)

Cyber-shot DSC-TX100V (Jan 2011)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V (Feb 2011)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V (Feb 2011)

SLT-A65 (Aug 2011)

SLT-A77 (Aug 2011)

Cyber-shot DSC-TX200V (Jan 2012)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (Feb 2012)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX10V (Feb 2012)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V (Feb 2012)

Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V (Feb 2012)

None of these camera manuals reference China in any way. All manuals carry the exact same text:

Canon:

PowerShot SX230 HS (Feb 2011)

PowerShot S100 (Sep 2011)

PowerShot SX260 HS (Feb 2012)

PowerShot D20 (Feb 2012)

None of these camera manuals reference China in any way. All manuals carry a version of this text:

Additionally, Canon gets points for reminding users of potential privacy issues when geotagging photos.

Pentax:

Optio WG-1 GPS (Feb 2011)

Optio WG-2 GPS (Feb 2012)

The GPS utilities guide for these cameras carries an identical short reference:

Casio:

Exilim EX-H20G (Sep 2010)

The EX-H20G’s manual is perhaps the most straightforward of all:

Olympus:

Tough TG-810 (Mar 2011)

Tough TG-1 iHS (May 2012)

The manual is not up on the web yet, but the camera’s web page makes no mention of China or restrictions, and there is no reason to suspect a policy change since the TG-810.

Implications

Why does all this matter? Wherever local laws prohibit the sale or use of a personal electronics device able to perform a certain function, manufacturers have traditionally chosen not to sell the offending device in that particular jurisdiction, or — if the market is tempting enough — to sell a crippled model made especially for that jurisdiction.

For example, Nokia chose not to sell the N95 phone in Egypt when the sale of GPS-enabled devices there was illegal before 2009, whereas Apple opted to make and sell a special GPS-less iPhone 3G for that market. Early models of the Chinese iPhone 3GS lacked wifi, while the Chinese iPhone 4/4S has firmware restrictions on its Google Maps app.

The risk to consumers in freer countries is that personal electronics brands might be tempted to simplify their manufacturing processes by building just one device for the global market, catering to the lowest common denominator of freedom — especially if the more restrictive legal jurisdictions contain some of the most attractive markets, such as mainland China.

Still, in the absence of more information from Panasonic, Leica, FujiFilm, Nikon and Samsung, I can’t decisively say whether this is the business logic behind their decision to cripple the GPS in their cameras. And yet uncrippled GPS cameras from Sony and others are freely available for sale in China, for example on Taobao, China’s eBay:

And Sony’s official mainland China site is more than happy to offer instructions in Chinese on how to use the GPS function.

Consumers in the market for a GPS-enabled camera should be informed that five of the mainstream brands engage in location-based censorship. Choose another brand, or get a dedicated handheld GPS device to sync tracklogs with your camera — I don’t suspect Garmin or Magellan will stop working in China anytime soon.
23 mai 2012
21:12
Setting up PostGIS 2.0 in PostgreSQL 9.1 on Ubuntu 12.04AfriSpatial
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
I’ve been itching to try raster, topology and the rest of the new features in PostGIS 2.0. I suppose it was too much to hope for it to be packaged in Ubuntu 12.04 or UbuntuGIS so soon, so I fetched the source tarball from [postgis.refractions.net] and started following build instructions.

First attempts at compiling hit a few obstacles:

1. You need the latest GDAL, PROJ4 and GEOS. I already met GDAL and PROJ4 minimum requirements. So I fetched the GEOS 3.3.3 source tarball and built and installed that.

2. For raster in PostGIS 2, one of its dependencies is for ODBC support in GDAL. I have a custom GDAL setup since I had to manually configure GDAL for MrSID (that’s another story, but recently there have been conflicts among tiff and geotiff libs and other issues that result in the packaged MrSID configuration failing with UbuntuGIS GDAL). I hadn’t configured GDAL with ODBC support so had to rectify that:
```
./configure --with-threads --with-geotiff=internal --with-mrsid=/usr/local/Geo_DSDK-7.0.0.2167 --with-python --with-odbc
```
3. My last gotcha was having PostgreSQL 8.4 AND 9.1 installed. Not a problem (they run on ports 5432 and 5433 respectively), but to ensure the PostGIS 2.0 compiles against PostgreSQL 9 instead of 8.4 I had to remove 8.4 headers and install 9.1 headers:
```
sudo apt-get install postgresql-server-dev-9.1
```
Then PostGIS 2.0 built and installed successfully with this config:
```
./configure --with-gui --with-geosconfig=/usr/local/bin/geos-config --with-gdalconfig=/usr/bin/local/gdal-config
```
If you have PostgresSQL >= 9.1 you can install PostGIS as a newfangled PostgreSQL ‘extension’. First there is a small compile step in the PostGIS source ‘extensions’ folder. In the root of your source tree:
```
cd extensions; make; sudo make install
```
Then installing PostGIS 2 into any PostgreSQL database (>=9.1) is as easy as connecting to your database and running these SQL commands:
```
CREATE EXTENSION postgis;
CREATE EXTENSION postgis_topology;
```
You can still install it the ‘old’ way too.

If you do this in a template database, then all subsequent databases you create from this template will include the PostGIS extensions.

So far so good. With the new loader and dumper I got some weird errors but since an update and reboot they’ve disappeared.

Happy PostGISing!

Setting up PostGIS 2.0 in PostgreSQL 9.1 on Ubuntu 12.04 is a post from: AfriSpatial
20:47
Why Create An Interesting PR Announcement Then Tell Nobody About it?AnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

I’m constantly amazed at how some marketing, PR, and comms people operate in our industry. I recently noticed a very interesting PR announcement on a popular GeoTech news website – it was a pure fluke that I even noticed it actually. I found it interesting enough that I dug a little deeper and wondered to [...]
20:43
Glob3 Mobile: Open Source Multi-Platform Virtual Globe EngineSlashgeo.org
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

At last week's 3D GeoInfo conference, I learned about the open source Glob3 3D GIS and Glob3 Mobile 3D virtual globe.

There isn't much on the sourceforge website: "glob3 is an open source 3D GIS multiplatform framework written in java with a very non restrictive license and advanced features."

But you'll get more on this page for Glob3 Mobile: "Glob3 Mobile is an open source 3D multiplattform virtual globe engine, running in mobile devices (Android and Apple) and in HTML5 web browsers. In this first version, it allows to connect to any OGC WMS public layer, and show it on the globe. Glob3 Mobile is also a framework for virtual globe development. It allows to write plugins directly in Javascript, and these plugins can run in the three plattforms (Android / Apple / web browsers). The project is currently in development, but first plugin examples can be tested in this site."

The apps for iOS and Android are free.
Google Plus One
20:18
Google Geonews: Indoor Directions for Android, Spreadsheet Mapper 3, Google Earth Builder Renamed Google Maps Engine, and much moreSlashgeo.org
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
Catching up geonews, here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From official sources:
- The latest Google Maps 6.7 for Android introduces Google Offers and Indoor walking directions
- We mentioned Speadsheet Mapper in 2008, and now Spreadsheet Mapper 3 is available, in short, "Spreadsheet Mapper is a tool that enables anyone to easily create a well-designed KML file to show off their data in Google Earth and Maps"
- The Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia are now in Street View
- Here's the 2012 'Model your Town' winner, Getaria, Spain
- In Google Maps, 'work' and 'home' made their way to My Places
- Regarding Google Earth Builder that was renamed Google Maps Engine, nonprofits can have it for free
- Here's the latest improvements of the Google Places API searches
- And of course there was an imagery update on May 14th, and on May 4th too
From other sources:
- Slashdot mentioned Google Gets Driverless License For Nevada Roads
- At the beginning of the month, the GEB showed the One World Trade Center building model in Google Earth, and later, Saint Basil's Cathedral
- Using Google's Fusion Table on mobile devices? Look at My Fusion Tables
- Slashdot discussed a story named Google Releases Key Part of Street View Pipeline
Google Plus One
20:16
Technical University of Berlin wins Oracle Spatial Excellence Award for CityGMLBetween the Poles
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Last week I blogged about an extension to the OGC CityGML standard for utilities. Today at the Oracle Spatial User Conference the Institut für Geodäsie und Geoinformationstechnik - Technische Universität Berlin, where Thomas Kolbe and his team are responsible for the CityGML specificiation, won an Oracle Spatial Excellence Award for Education and Research.

Berlin 3D City Model

I blogged about the 3D city model of Berlin before. The 3D City Database is a free 3D geo database to store, represent, and manage virtual 3D city models on top of a standard spatial relational database. The schema of the 3D City Database is based on the City Geography Markup Language (CityGML), an OGC standard for representing 3D city models. The 3D City Database was developed for the Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Technologie und Frauen and the Berlin Partner GmbH. The 3D City Database has been implemented as an Oracle Spatial relational database schema. It is shipped as a collection of SQL scripts which allow for creating and dropping instances of the 3D City Database on top of an Oracle Spatial DBMS. The 3D City Database is open source and released under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3 (LGPL).
20:01
Kimley-Horn Innovates with MapDotNet and MapQuest Open APIsMapDotNet Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

The development team at Kimley-Horn recently shared with us an app they've built with MapDotNet UX. One of the really cool things that I like about this solution is that it leverages the MapQuest Open Directions and Guidance APIs with O
19:36
Interview – Anna Mason from MapActionLinfiniti Geo Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Enclosure: [download]

Today I had a chance to do a quick interview with Anna Mason from MapAction. The interview is an mp3 audio file recorded on my phone. My apologies if the sound quality isn’t the best. Click on the link below to download the mp3 file. Anna Mason MapAction Interview 23 May 2012 ... Read more »
19:05
What’s the Best Way to Deploy in the Cloud with Amazon Web Services?It's All About Data
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com
Today most software vendors are able to run their applications in the cloud thanks to the work by folks at companies like Amazon, Rackspace, and others. This gives users the option to deploy their applications in the cloud.

Safe is no exception as we no longer have any physical servers for our web presence. We now run all of our training classes via Amazon Web Services (AWS), and allow our customers to deploy FME Server on AWS (our trial program gives people the option to use an AMI, or install on their own cloud-based machine). There is however a big difference between simply running in the cloud and leveraging the cloud.
New Capabilities Offered by the Cloud
Many applications are really “spiky” in terms of their usage patterns; that is they tend to have periods of low (or consistent) use, followed by times of heavy use. This usage pattern is problematic for traditional IT deployments and is one example where the elasticity of the cloud can take solutions to the next level. A cleverly architected cloud application will scale its resources to match the current demand of the system. The trick is to exploit the AWS (or other) licensing model to do the scaling in a way that minimizes cost.
Highway Model vs Electricity Model
In the past organizations have had to use the “highway” model when it came to compute resources. That is organizations had to build infrastructure to handle the peak times. As with highways this approach tends to force a compromise as it is rarely feasible to build the infrastructure to handle the peak loads with no degradation in service. The result is that during quiet times there is excess capacity sitting idle while at peak times the system is overloaded resulting in slower response.

The cloud gives the ability to deploy massively scalable solutions where resources are added and dropped as needed. This is similar to how we purchase electricity. We pay only for what we use.
Electricity Model 2.0 and Amazon’s Licensing Models
The electricity model is the basis to Amazon’s three general types of pricing: on-demand, reserved instances, and spot market.
1. On-Demand: This is AWS’s default and is great for experimenting or for uses in which the machines are not up all the time. Here you are paying a premium hourly rate for the flexibility of making no commitment to Amazon for their services. No Commitment = higher cost. While this works for any application that is always running you can significantly reduce costs by using a different licensing model. From an electricity model this maps to how small consumers pay for their electricity. I pay only for what I use but I am not committed to buying any.
2. Reserved Instances: With reserved instances you are entering into a more committed relationship with Amazon. I won’t get into all of the details, but for an annual fee you get a reduced hourly cost to your instances. There are several levels which all essentially follow the rule of “The bigger the commitment the lower your total cost” – and using them you can easily reduce your costs by 40%. Again, this maps to how very large power consumers negotiate with the power companies. A large power consumer would guarantee to buy “x” amount of electricity for a lower unit cost.
3. Spot Market: Here you bid on instances with the price fluctuating depending on current market demand. You first specify a maximum price you are willing to pay. Then you get access to that instance until the bid price rises above the maximum price that you are willing to pay. Used properly you can reduce your costs by using “excess cloud capacity” to improve the throughput of your system. However, there is no guarantee that you will get resources, an important consideration for mission critical applications. In the electrical market, the spot market too exists enabling companies to buy electricity at lower rates when there is excess. As with any spot market you need to be careful as you could also pay more if resources become tight.
So What’s the Right Model?
I would argue that there’s no right answer, but it’s up to each organization to assess its own needs and requirements. At Safe, we’re using reserved instances more and more as we identify how many AWS instances we need on a continual basis. We still use on-demand for experimenting and for demand peaks.

For our clients and anyone running on AWS, we recommend you seriously examine the pricing models. For anything that has a regular usage pattern you should consider reserved instances. We are now looking at how to enable our products to play the spot market to drive down instance costs further. One product that looks very promising is StarCluster from MIT. We will keep you posted on our experience with all of this and with FME Server deployments in the cloud.

Have you deployed anything in the cloud? If so, how did it go? Which models worked best for your situation?
18:39
Low Cost Motion Controller Accurate to 0.01 mmLiDAR News
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Leap Motion has designed a motion controller technology that has 2oox the accuracy of anything else on the market and is going to sell for $70. Continue reading →

Click Title to Continue Reading...
17:00
Snacks for Bing Maps and SQL Server Spatial DataBing Maps Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

We are delighted to share the release of two Learning Snacks for Bing Maps and SQL Server Spatial Data.

These Snacks are great if you are new to mapping and want to understand how these two technologies can create a stellar solution. We hope you’re hungry!

Bing Maps and SQL Server Spatial Data

Bing Maps

- The Bing Maps Team
16:32
The Top 10 Worst U.S. Traffic CitiesAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

According to the latest traffic report scorecard from INRIX, overall, traffic congestion has dropped about 30% in the US although that isn’t much help for those of you who live and work in the 10 worst cities for traffic and waste an estimated 40 hours a week per year simply idling in traffic! From INRIX, [...]
16:24
The Trust or Public Lands Launches ParkScoreSpatial Sustain
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Today, the Trust for Public Lands has launched a rigorous ranking of the top city park systems among the 40 largest U.S. cities. The park rating system uses GIS to create digital maps that evaluate accessibility beyond simply a measurement of distance, as well as park size, services and investment. For these measurements, the ranking [...]
16:21
USGIF Trajectorymag Coming in June from the USGIFAnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Info about this tidbit from the USGIF came to me via Twitter this morning as I noticed that the USGIF is planning a new magazine… it appears that it will be an online publication, however, I suppose it could also be in print… I guess we’ll wait and see. Until then check out [trajectorymagazine.com] where [...]
15:55
Hexagon’s Acquisition of myVR Provides Mobile 3D Model ViewingSpatial Sustain
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

This content first appeared in Informed Infrastructure. Hexagon AB today announced the acquisition of myVR, provider of software for photorealistic 2D, 3D, and 360-degree visualization of interactive maps over low-bandwidth connections. The Norwegian company compresses large 3D models for viewing on many platforms, including mobile phones and tablets. The 3D city model viewing and 3D [...]
15:20
‘Map of Life’ Shows Location of All Living Organismsgot geoint?
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Through the ages, human beings have shared the planet with other living organisms. From black bears that inhabit the eastern mountain ranges in the U.S. to lions in tigers in the desert plains of Africa, we live in a very diverse world with many creatures of all shapes and sizes. Now you can track them on Google Maps, thanks to a new program that aims to plot the location of every single living thing on Earth.

Called Map of Life, this unique and ambitious project uses a Google Maps platform to map the known distribution of 30,000 species of terrestrial vertebrates. While many more are still being added, the eventual goal is to curate hundreds of thousands of plants, birds, fish, reptiles and pretty everything else on our planet.

The Map of Life project is supported by NASA, several international research institutions and the Encyclopedia of Life project, all working together to catalog all there is to know about every species on the planet, which is a monumental and amazing undertaking.
15:16
Some great updates from MeographGoogle Earth Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Earlier this month we told you about Meograph, the "four-dimensional storytelling" engine, and they've been hard at work improving the system.

The new features include:

• Playback Control: Pause, rewind, and forward your way through a meograph.

• Google Maps: You now have the ability to view the meograph on Google Maps for those who don't want to or can't install the GE plug-in.

• No Excel: Previously, you needed to upload an Excel spreadsheet to create your meograph. That is no more, as things are beginning to smooth out.

• More context button: Allows you to quickly dig into more detail at any moment during the playback.

There is still more work to do, but it seems to be coming along quite nicely. Check it out for yourself at meograph.com.
15:16
Project Report for GISCorps: Geocoding Locations of NGOs in Sierra LeoneGEODATA POLICY
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Summary:Non-government organization NGO activity in developing countries is difficult to track due to limited infrastructure. URISA’s GISCorps, which coordinates short-term, volunteer-based GIS services to underprivileged communities, was asked to assist the Craig Bellamy Foundation in creating an interactive map showing the locations of international and national NGO offices and their programs in Sierra Leon, a [...]
15:14
DB4GeO: Open Source Geospatial Database for 3D DataSlashgeo.org
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

I was at the 3D GeoInfo 2012 conference last week and I learned about the DB4GeO / DB3D open source geospatial database, which is a Java object-oriented database focusing on 3D data. It supports CityGML, has a RESTful API and has its own WebGL visualization tool.

Since I failed to find much about it on the web other than the GitHub page (it seems the code wasn't synchronized for a while), let me serve you the abstract [pdf] of last week's presentation: "The analysis of complex 3D data is a central task for many problems in the geo- and engineering sciences. Examples are the analysis of natural events such as mass movements and volcano eruptions as well as 3D city planning and the computation of 3D models from point cloud data generated by terrestrial laser scanning for 3D data analysis in various domains. The volume of these data is growing from year to year. However, there is no geo-database management system on the market yet that efficiently supports complex 3D mass data, although prototypical 3D geo-database management systems are ready to support such challenging 3D applications. In this contribution we describe how we reply to these requirements advancing DB4GeO, our 3D/4D geo-database architecture. The system architecture and support for geometric, topological and temporal data are presented in detail. Besides the new spatio-temporal object model, we introduce new ideas and implementations of DB4GeO such as the support of GML data and the new WebGL 3D interface. The latter enables the direct visualization of 3D database query results by a standard web browser without installing additional software. Examples for 3D database queries and their visualizations with the new WebGL interface are demonstrated. Finally, we give an outlook on our future work. Further extensions of DB4GeO and the support for the data management for collaborative subway track planning are discussed."

I'd like to see the differences between PostGIS vs DB4GeO features in regards to 3D geodata. Is DB4GeO more and a playground for researchers?
Google Plus One
10:00
Dr. Oz Likes GIS and other Health GIS NewsAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Dr. Oz and his crew were in Philadelphia giving 15 minute physicals and compiling the data from them for the mayor. Medigadget did an interview with Oz's medical unit clinical event director, Mike Hoaglin and caught this gem about GIS. Medgadget: Are there any trends in medical... Continue reading
10:00
URISA’s Best Web GIS and other Open Source GIS NewsAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

A City of Cornwall employee has been recognized for his efforts in creating a unique on-line mapping site for the City. GIS Applications Specialist Denis Lalonde of the City of Cornwall (Ontario, CA) received the gold medal prize in the Best Web GIS category of the Best Geographic... Continue reading
10:00
Google Renames Google Earth Engine, Offers Free License to Non-ProfitsAll Points Blog
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

We learned of the name change to Google Maps Engine at the Location Intelligence Conference, but I guess it was not the right venue to announce free licenses for non-profits. We didn’t think “Earth Builder” reflected the true capabilities of the product or vision that we have for... Continue reading
9:50
Can Geofeedia Provide Location-based Citizen Input to Journalists?Directions Magazine - Top Stories
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

You are journalist. There’s breaking news across town. How do you tap in to citizen journalists already on the ground in the area? Geofeedia. The feed offers location-based content from Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr and Picasa based on an address or a polygon drawn on a Bing map. The for-fee service was launched last week after quite a bit of testing.

More about: citizen journalism, journalism, social media
7:49
Not Your Father�s Trade Area ... Beyond Block Group and Census TractDirections Magazine - Top Stories
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Unlike your father’s vintage Chevrolet, the half century old polygon based trade area does not appreciate with age. Sure, there is something that can be said about a “time-tested” model, but retail above all other industries should value an organization’s ability to adopt new technologies and embrace change. Authors David Doering, Shaofei Chen and Jay Ward of Tango Management Consulting take us "beyond block groups and census tracts."

More about: block group, census tracts, demographic data, geocoding, geographic data, huff model, real estate, retail, site selection, trade area analysis
5:30
A VerySpatial Podcast – Episode 357VerySpatial
sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

Enclosure: [download]

A VerySpatial Podcast

Shownotes – Episode 357

May 22, 2012

Main Topic: Our conversation on practical challenges in Internet mapping
Click to directly download MP3
Click to directly download AAC

Click for the detailed shownotes

Music

This week’s podsafe music: “Traveling Song” by Ryan Meyers Band

News

New York state Esri license agreement gives all K-12 students access to ArcGIS
The Associated Press debuts its own custom zoomable world map
Daniel Raven-Ellison and Patrick Meier (Ushahidi) named as National Geographic Emerging Explorers for 2012
National Geographic Bee finals this week

Web Corner

Wind Map – hint.fm site

Main Topic

This week we discuss some of the practical challenges that GIS professionals face in implementing new approaches, such as developing internet mapping solutions.

Tip of the Week

ORBIS – Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World

Events Corner

CGAMES USA 2012: 30 July – 1 August, Louisville, KY
1st Serious Gaming & Social Connect 2012 Conference -Trends and Applications of Serious Gaming: 4-6 October, Singapore
Meaningful Play 2012: 18-20 October, East Lansing, MI
VS-Games ’12 – 4th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications: 29-31 October, Genoa, Italy

This week, A VerySpatial Podcast is sponsored by Esri

The Esri Business Summit will be held July 22-24 in San Diego, California. Attend the summit to learn how GIS can help increase profits and improve operations in today’s competitive economy. For more information and to register to attend, visit esri.com/bizsummit.

2:19

Boeing’s Indoor Mobile Laser Scanning PlatformLiDAR News

sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

1:45

Location Intelligence 2012 - Photo MontageAll Points Blog

sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

1:38

Assessing a School’s Economic Background Using GISGIS Lounge

sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

22 mai 2012

20:21

Upcoming Webinar: Exploring Community Engagement with OpenTreeMapAzavea Atlas

sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

19:24

Fast Directory / Folder Copying in .NETbillthorp.wordpress.com

sur Planet Geospatial - http://planetgs.com

When charged with copying files, my first thought is XCopy or Robocopy. If the idea of copying files with .NET code seems silly to you, you’re not alone. File.Copy() lacks cancellation and progress status. Simply calling Process.Start(“robocopy…”) would have similar challenges. To make a long story short, I put together some simple code that could easily support progress and cancellation and usually outperforms Robocopy.


static void CopyAll(string sourcePath, string destinationPath)
{
	//Now Create all of the directories
	foreach (string sourceDirectory in Directory.GetDirectories(sourcePath, "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
		Directory.CreateDirectory(sourceDirectory.Replace(sourcePath, destinationPath));

	//Copy all the files
	foreach (string sourceFile in Directory.GetFiles(sourcePath, "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
		CopyFile(sourceFile, sourceFile.Replace(sourcePath, destinationPath));
}

const int CopyBufferSize = 64 * 1024;
static void CopyFile(string src, string dest)
{
	using (var outputFile = File.OpenWrite(dest))
	{
		using (var inputFile = File.OpenRead(src))
		{
			outputFile.SetLength(inputFile.Length);
			byte[] buffer = new byte[CopyBufferSize];
			int bytesRead;
			while ((bytesRead = inputFile.Read(buffer, 0, CopyBufferSize)) != 0)
			{
				outputFile.Write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
			}
		}
	}
}