Platial

Good Morning! I have a demo on a TopCon GPS unit this afternoon. If you have any experience with this company or its' products please give me some feedback. ESRI released some big news yesterday. They announced ArcWeb Explorer Beta. I've taken it for a spin and I'm not impressed. I hope they do some major work on it. They also announced that you can now sign up for the annual user conference that will be in August. Have a good day!

Platial enables anyone to find, create and use meaningful maps of Places that matter to them. They hope it can connect people, neighborhoods, cities and countries through a citizen-driven common context that goes beyond geopolitical boundaries. It's similar to other Google Mashups and has a nice look and feel to it. Check it out at www.platial.com.

Penn State Online Masters in GIS

Good Morning! My weekend was nice. We got a little rain, had a bike ride and caught up on sleep. That's what weekends are all about! Just a reminder that the 16th annual South Central Arc User Group conference is next week in Fort Worth. If you are in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, or Mississippi you should try to attend. It's going to be a blast! If you are not in one of those states you should also try to attend. Why not?

Penn State Univeristy offers an online masters program in GIS. The Master of Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) degree program is designed to give working professionals, who are aspiring to leadership positions in the field, an opportunity to pursue a world-class master's degree online. This 35-credit curriculum allows you to study around your own schedule, where and when it's most convenient for you. I know what you are thinking about this being an online program, but it looks pretty thorough. Check it out at http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/wc/MasterinGIS_GIS.shtml .

LocaPoint DIY Map Service

Happy Friday! I have no big plans this weekend, which I am excited about. I do have to go out and learn how to use a new Leica GPS unit. My girlfriend will be using it in Mexico this spring for her thesis research so we need to learn how to use it. I am familiar with Trimble units and I hear that the Leica units are quite different. Wish me luck!!

LocaPoint has a DIY map service that allows you to create your own map. You can add lines and markers then all the data about your 'DIY Map' will be packed into URL string, so it is easy to send it via email, etc. It uses Google maps to provide this free service. Check it out at http://www.locapoint.com/en/diymapHome.html.

BatchGeocode

The service pack install went more smoothly than anticipated. Some of the instructions on the ArcIMS install were a little shaky, but we figured it out. They keep saying that installation will be much easier with the realease of ArcIMS 9.2. I sure hope so!! It feels like ArcIMS is open source software during the install process because of all of the different pieces that have to be installed and work together. I would like one CD that I drop in the drive and push the install button for $8K!!

Geocoding on the web is not a new concept, in fact there are many free geocoders available on the web, but BatchGeocode is the first free browser based geocoding service to provide coordinate lookup in bulk form. Now you can take many addresses and geocode them all at once, rather than one at a time. BatchGeocode.com also provides a more accurate geocoding dataset than others, most of which use TIGER data, which is known to be inaccurate up to several hundred feet in some areas. Yahoo's Geocoding API which this site uses is based on NAVTEQ (formally NAVTECH) and Tele Atlas street data, both well known as industry standards for transportation data. You can use BatchGeocode to:
- Geocode a contact address list directly from spreadsheet program such as Excel.
- Create lat/long coordinates for use in an online Mapping program such as Yahoo Maps or Google Maps.
- Quickly visualize your information on a map.
- Import/export from a SQL database coordinates for usage in a GIS application.
- Quickly map a set of real-estate properties for a presentation.
- Get centroids (center coordinates) for a listing of zipcodes, cities, or states.
- For quick single address, zipcode, city or state geocodes use our Single Address Lookup Tool
Check it out at www.batchgeocode.com !!

AuctionMapper

Happy Wednesday! We are installing the service pack that ESRI put out for SDE, IMS and ArcGIS desktop this evening. I haven't heard of anyone having difficulties with this, but just in case wish us luck. If you have any feedback about it let me know.

AuctionMapper is a cool site that I found that combines mapping with eBay items. Although according to AuctionMapper it is somewhat different from using a typical search engine and it does much more than place eBay items on a map. AuctionMapper is designed to help you find exactly what you want in the shortest amount of time; therefore it gives you search results without having to go from web page to web page. Think of AuctionMapper as a deluxe search tool that allows you to quickly filter your searches down precisely to what you are looking for. The filtered searches are then presented either in a list view or on a map depending on how you choose to view the results. Unlike a typical advanced search where you have to keep going back and forth between the advanced search page and the results page to tweek various constraints, AuctionMapper stays on one page while only the results change, making adjustments to the constraints painless. If you are looking for something big that would be difficult to ship or that you would not want to bid on without seeing first then the map is a great way to locate items for serious consideration. You can easily map the 25 nearest items by dragging a category to the map. You can also map the most or least expensive items as well as by when the item was listed. There are sliders above the map that dynamically display items on the map based on various criteria such a price, number of bids, ending time, and distance. On the other hand AuctionMapper is also a great way to narrow down your searches for items for which location is irrelevant. There are Item Finders that help you locate specific items quickly. The Category Tree lets you see which categories contain your search term. The Item List lets you sort and resort your search results quickly based on price, number of bids, and ending time. You can also select items from the list to display on the map once you find items of real interest and want to see where they are. A pretty handy tool if you are a big eBay shopper. Check it out at www.auctionmapper.com .

Panoramio

Wow was it foggy here this morning! It took me almost 1.5 hours to get to work instead of my usual 1.25. Anyway, I have a couple of meetings to run to. One is the Supervisors Network. This is a program we do here at the City that helps new supervisors become better supervisors. This is our first meeting and I am looking forward to it. Our assignment was to read an excellent article from the October 2005 U.S. News and World Report about the countries best leaders. You should check it out if you have time. Have a great day!!

Every photo is linked with the place where it was taken, both physically and in your memory. Panoramio helps to link photos and places. For your photos: Never forget the name and location of the small village you visited in Bolivia. Remember the trail you walked to climb that peak in Cuba. You can share photos of your city, your business or your friends with everybody. For virtual travelling: You can explore how the place you are interested in really looks. These are not postcard photos, but photos taken by random people. Panoramio is works well and is free. Check out this Google Mashup at www.panoramio.com.

Environmental Information Systems of Africa

Happy Monday! I had a good weekend. We had a few cold beverages with friends on Friday night, got all of our errands done on Saturday and cleaned the entire house on Sunday. That's much more productive than normal!!

I was looking at the ClustrMaps map on the bottom right of the page and I noticed that no one from Africa has viewed the blog. So I did a little research. The only GIS related websites I could come up with were from South Africa including the Environmental Information Systems (EIS) of Africa page. Just think of the help that GIS could provide if it is eventually used throughout Africa. The creation of EIS-AFRICA consolidated ten years of investment and capacity building efforts in Environmental Information Systems (EIS) in sub-Saharan Africa into an Africa-wide organization promoting the greater use of harmonised geo-spatial information. EIS-AFRICA is a non-profit pan-African organization of geo-information practitioners and institutions. It is based in Pretoria, South Africa, and is recognized by their strategic partners, clients and the public as a leading organization developing African capacity to generate, manage, disseminate and use geo-spatial and environmental information to enrich policy debate and support decision-making for the well-being of African people. Check it out at http://www.eis-africa.org/EIS-Africa .

MapTools.org

Better late than never! It has been a busy morning here at the City. Three meetings before 11:30. It must mean that business is good! I know I mentioned it last month, but we had another GIS User Committee meeting today. This is an excellent venue to discuss tools, share status of projects, discuss problems, etc. Think about it if you don't already do this. You will not be sorry! Have a most excellent weekend!!!

MapTool.org is a resource for users and developers in the open source mapping community, and a home to many open source projects. The projects that are hosted here offer essential services including: latest downloads, CVS repositories for source code, bug lists, community mailing lists, and project documentation. You can even buy a MapTools t-shirt. Check it out at www.maptools.org if you are ready to tackle your own open source map project.

Global Connection

Our new Technician has employee orientation today here at the City. This is a day of tours, policies and personality testing. It is extremely helpful to new employees and can be a fun experience. This may be something to consider at your organization.

Global Connection is a joint project of Google, National Geographic, NASA, and Carnegie Mellon University. The project's long-term goal is to help people learn about and meet our neighbors across this globe, and learn about our planet itself. When astronauts go into space, they develop a new appreciation for the oneness of the Earth. Global Connection is working with the earth-imaging browser Google Earth and populating it with pictures and stories of real people and places to create connectivity. Their motto is "This world is our home, and all people are our family". The project is supported through the generosity of Google and the National Geographic Society. Learn more about the things they are doing at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~globalconn/.

Virtual NYC Tour

Good Morning! I can't believe it is already Wednesday. This week is flying by! I have a day without meetings and I hope to get alot accomplished. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The Virtual NYC Tour is a great Google Mashup. Like never before, you can navigate through the streets of New York while viewing thousands of pictures, visiting hundreds of stores and reading the city’s famous history. You can select a number of trails on the maps to start your virtual tour of New York City. You can view and virtually visit Central Park, Times Square, Fifth Avenue, the Empire State Building and many more. Enjoy the tour at www.virtualnyctour.com.