Skyline TerraExplorer

Good morning! The meeting yesterday concerning all the software used at the City was exhausting. I only took five pages of notes! Although, it should prove extremely beneficial as we get to the integration phase of our enterprise GIS implementation. Today we have another GIS Day planning committee meeting. We are going to tour the facility where the event will take place. I failed to mention that yesterday some of the guys and myself took off to Shreveport after work to loose some hard earned money in the casino. It was a good time, but costly :)

Another Google Earth like product is available. Although I'm not sure which was first. "TerraExplorer opens the door to the digital planet. With Skyline's TerraExplorer, users can freely navigate over high resolution 3D world environments created with Skyline's Terra products. TerraExplorer is able to display highly realistic detailed scenes, from any angle or point of view, and allows extremely close views of an area with excellent clarity. In addition, all the terrain overlay information. The user can also activate "Hot Links" placed on the terrain to automatically access specific Web Sites, search a database or invoke an external PC application. TerraExplorer's Internet capability allows users access to 3D terrain visualizations from around the globe, thus creating business opportunities for a variety of commercial and professional uses. The ease-of-use and flexibility of TerraExplorer make it suitable for applications such as live sporting events, real estate, travel and tourism, education, entertainment, commercial planning and tracking, as well as military, aviation and simulation." Check it out at http://www.skylinesoft.com. 24 Days!

Tagzania

Good morning! I've got training this morning on some new Emergency Operations Center software that our regional council of government purchased. The EOC is one place in our City that GIS has been fully recognized as being beneficial. They love us there! I also have a meeting this afternoon to discuss all the different software that is used in the City and how it can be useful to others. It should be interesting!

"Tagzania is about tags and places. If you register and log in, you can add places, points, to create and document your maps. When you add a point, you may tag it with keywords. That way, Tagzania is not only a place to build and keep your own maps, shared territories are created as well." Check it out at http://www.tagzania.com/. 25 Days!

Google Sketchup

Another day down! Although I had some success today! We have been working on a way for another entity in our area to be able to edit data in our geodatabase so that we can share one for the entire county. It looks like Terminal Services is going to work for us. For those that don't know, basically you VPN in to a server and use ArcMap on that server. That way all that is sent across the pipe is screenshots. This was a succerss, but now we have to figure out things like printing and replicating the data onto their server for backup. If anyone has experience I would love to hear about it. We also had a conference call with the company that provides our permitting software. They want $6K to write a script that uploads data into an existing Access table!!! Wow! Looks like the GIS Division will be writing that script.

Sketchup is FREE! Sketchup wasn't very expensive before Google announced this, but this is great. Although, a professional version is available for the hefty users. "Google SketchUp (free) is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program whose few simple tools enable you to create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects – even space ships. You can add details, textures and glass to your models, design with dimensional accuracy, and place your finished models in Google Earth, share them with others by posting them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. Google SketchUp (free) is a great way to discover if 3D modeling is right for you." Check it out at http://sketchup.google.com/product_suf.html. 26 Days!

SINTEF Virtual Globe

Good evening! The budget is almost complete. I think I asked for everything I could and still got it $100, 000 less than last year. That's what happens when you are working on a major project and it is the last funding year. Now I just need to start working on all the other paperwork that goes with the budget. What fun!

The SINTEF 3D globe viewer with elevations and satellite images is another Geographic Exploration System. "You can even configure the Virtual Globe to use your own data. Try the Viewpoints page to start the Globe and jump directly to exciting viewpoints! The program is developed by Rune Aasgaard at SINTEF Applied Mathematics. In short this is a client-server application for displaying very large (=global scale) terrain models. The terrain database is stored on a server, and the client program only fetches the data required for generating an image on your screen with the wanted resolution. As you moves around the program loads and throws out data as needed. The program requires a Java v1.4 or v1.5 (5.0) runtime environment (select a JRE for your system)." Check it out at http://globe.sintef.no/. 27 Days!

TrackStick

Wow what a week! Let's see, what didn't happen today? We had a kick-off meeting to start discussing GIS Day. I know it's early, but we are planning on a big event this year. The meeting was LONG! I also got a call at 3:30 that our computer lab in our Library died! This usually wouldn't be a big deal, but I had an Intro to ArcGIS class scheduled there Monday. So I got to contact everyone that was registered to tell them we would have to try another day. Oh yeah, I also got to read a letter from my stalker. Without going into much detail, a former disgruntled employee from a past employer decided to send a letter to my current employer to express his anger. It was three and a half years ago!! Let it go!

"The Track Stick records its own location, time, date, speed, heading and altitude at preset intervals. With over 1Mb of memory, it can store months of travel information. All recorded history can be outputted to the following formats: RTF (Detailed text file with .html map links); XLS (Microsoft Excel spread sheets); HTML (Webpage with graphics and maps); KML (Proprietary Google Earth file). The Track Stick receives signals from twenty four satellites orbiting the earth. With this information, the Track Stick can precisely calculate its own position anywhere on the planet to within fifteen meters. The Track Stick will work anywhere on the planet Earth. Using the latest in GPS mapping technologies, your exact location can be shown on graphical maps and 3D satellite images. The Track Stick's micro computer contains special mathematical algorithms, that can calculate how long you have been indoors. While visiting family, friends or even shopping, the Track Stick can accurately time and map each and every place you have been." This one makes me think big brother! Just think of the possibilities. Check it out at www.trackstick.com. 30 Days!

Global-i

Ga Day! I just wanted to say that. It reminds me of one of the presenters on ESRI's live training seminar, Editing Tips and Tricks today. We held it in our Library so that all of our GIS Users could attend. It had some helpful pointers and hints, but man it was boring. I'm just glad I had the internet available to keep me awake. Don't get me wrong, I love that ESRI offers these free seminars, but they are not all as good as the others. Maybe it was the subject?

"Global-i is a 3-dimensional interactive globe that displays information about the world in your browser. The Earth can be rotated and inspected and displays can be changed to see information in the most appropriate form. Global-i has been described as "A Global Marketer's Dream" but it is not just for marketers or ecomomists. It is for anyone who wants to learn about the world and what makes it go round. By viewing this information in context, the world makes more sense. At present the emphasis is on economic data and there is plenty of other information too - health, infrastructure, energy, military...........and more - from present day back to 1960 and we are adding to this list all the time." This is Google Earth before Google Earth was born. Check it out at http://infoview.infomagnet.com/. 31 Days!

Earth Day Network

Hola! We had another Emergency GIS Team meeting today which went well. We talked about hardware needs and our site address field verification project. If anyone has done a field verification of addresses for an entire City I would love to hear about (good and spcifically bad). An emergency GIS team is not a new idea. Just do a Google search on emergency GIS and see what you come up with. New York City has a whole team devoted to this with a bus (or as they call it the Mobile Data Center). It is pretty cool. Check it out here.

First of all, I suck!! It was Earth Day and I didn't even recognize it on the blog. Although I did celebrate (fellas you know what I mean). "Founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970, Earth Day Network (EDN) promotes environmental citizenship and year round progressive action worldwide. Earth Day Network is a driving force steering environmental awareness around the world. Through Earth Day Network, activists connect, interact, and impact their communities, and create positive change in local, national, and global policies. EDN's international network reaches over 12,000 organizations in 174 countries, while the domestic program keeps over 3,000 groups and over 100,000 educators coordinating millions of community development and environmental protection activities throughout the year. As a result, Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a half billion people participate in our campaigns every year." For those that didn't know Earth Day was April 22nd. Check it out at http://www.earthday.net/default.aspx. 32 Days!

Maps On Us

Good evening! It's budget time at the City and I am swamped. Let's count the ways: 911 addressing, emergency GIS team, GIS Day, employee reclasifications, inter-agency cooperation and data sharing, data conversion, etc. etc. etc. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to do the budget. That's probably why I have been working every night. I guess if my girlfriend had to leave the country this is the best time for it. 33 days!

Maps On Us is a mapping website run by Switchboard. "They are a leading provider of local online advertising solutions and Internet-based yellow pages, interconnecting consumers, merchants and national advertisers. Switchboard helps consumers quickly and easily find and compare local businesses offering specific products and services, while creating revenue opportunities for merchants." The maps are provided by Microsoft MapPoint. You can get driving directions, nearby businesses, etc. Check it out at www.mapsonus.com.

Geosense

Another Monday down. The weekend was pretty good. I went shopping, got a haircut, cleaned the apartment, went for a bike ride and hung out with the guys. We had too much fun Saturday night;) I got to pay for that on Sunday. Anyway, I got to talk to my girlfriend tonight. She is a little homesick, but doing well. For those that haven't been keeping up, she is in Mexico for three months working on her Masters thesis. I booked my flight tonight and it's still going to be 34 days before I get to see her again.

Geosense is a cool website that lets you test your knowledge of world geography alone or against another online player. You also get to pick between a World Map, Advanced World Map, Europe Map, US Map or a Scramble. The object is that a place name is given and you have to click on the closest location to it on the map. The closer you get the more points that are scored. I'm not sure if it is mostly kids on this site, but I have been killing on the US Map. Bring it!!! Check it out at www.geosense.net.

Gmaps 101 - An Introduction to Google Maps & The Google Maps API (Part 1)

Good Morning!! It's going to be a busy one. I've got a staff meeting, our monthly GIS User Committee, and a meeting about a partnership with another agency. The last one concerns us trying to use one central geodatabase for both us and another local entity. It sure would make our life easier if we could both share and edit the same data. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

I've got a special one today! GISUser.com had an article that I thought was too good not to share. It is titled Gmaps 101 - An Introduction to Google Maps & The Google Maps API (Part 1). It is written by Eric Pimpler the owner of Geospatial Training & Consulting, LLC, a provider of virtual and instructor led GIS training opportunities and the author of its popular virtual training course “Google Maps For Your Apps!” and the new PDF book “Google Maps API: The New World of Web Mapping”. Eric is also a Texan and has done some work for SCAUG! "In this first article of a three part series on the Google Maps API you will discover the fundamental programming constructs for developing web mapping applications with the hottest web mapping application development tool. Once we walk you through this tutorial you will feel comfortable with Google maps, you'll know how to get your own maps key, and be up and running with your own Google map with basic controls." Check it out at http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/8657/28/. Enjoy!!