OSG 05 DemoFest!

The Open Source Geospatial Conference began yesterday with a series of sold-out half day workshops and an EOGEO meeting. The buzz of energy was high as I joined the “demo fest” in the afternoon. Pods of people clustered around attendees and vendors showing of their apps.

Among the few I had a chance to see where Brent Wood’s (of NIWA, New Zealand’s leading provider of atmospheric and aquatic science and associated commercial services.) solution for getting some of his country’s public data out into the public. As a “hobby” he converted the data from its proprietary format to shape files and shows if of with open source QGIS. The data is available or NZ$2,500 with a very open license. Some vendors convert it and then package it with their proprietary software and offer that as a product. He’s taken a different tactic, making the data available and noting the availability of free open source software. The work does at his real job is equally interesting. He uses visualization tools to explore fisheries and other marine data. He uses GMT to reveal where fish are caught across the year. The locations actually move closer and further from shore as revealed by an animation of slides linked together. Wood also sees the power of 3D, commenting that GIS doesn’t have 3D, it has surfaces. So, he needed to find a better solution. He found OpenDX (open data explorer) a product open sourced by IBM.  It’s ability to elegantly display many variables, including location, is quite impressive. He notes that once all the stakeholders see the actual data, they hold less tightly to their agendas and can get work done.

Todd Brennigmeyer of SAIC was showing of a MapServer app which delivers architectural archeological data of Western Greece stored in PostGIS. It’s a sort of research project for SIAC based on work he began while doing his dissertation about Greece. Most impressive was a redlining capability that allowed direct creation of points, lines and polygons into the PostGIS database.  As he put it, “customers are looking for low cost ways to manage and use their data.”

Jeremy Morley of University College London offered his work on ICEDS (Integrated CEOS [Committee for Earth Observing Systems] European Data Server), a MapServer-based solution that delivers Landsat and SRTM data via Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Coverage Service (WCS). It grew out of a CEOS initiative. The site is slick but it offers not just pointers to the software on which its based, but also a “recipe” for building one’s own portal. Morley notes that severing up the data via WMS is just a start, he’s looking forward to wider use of WCS, which delivers not just pictures of the data, but the data itself, allowing for service chaining and other advanced Web services type uses.

WhoТs at OS Geospatial Т05?

Certainly the УregularФ suspects are here but so are some new faces from Autodesk, ESRI, SAIC, IONIC, Intergraph and Mitre. ER Mapper is a platinum sponsor. Two folks from OТReilly are here. But so far as I can tell, thus far, IТm the only geospatial journalist. That said, I understand thereТs to be an article about the conference on the front of the Minneapolis paperТs Business Section today!

Connecticut State Supreme Court Orders Release of Air Photo Database; Greenwich Leaders Bemoan Decision

According to the Stamford Advocate, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ordered open the database of aerial photographs of the Town of Greenwich, which the city has kept guarded because the photos show the location of several "celebrity" homes. Citing a "post 9/11" world situation, the city would rather have kept these data locked away for fear of putting these citizens at risk. The newspaper stated that "the center of the case is the town’s geographic information system, a ‘high-tech’, taxpayer funded database containing detailed aerial photographs of homes, schools…as well as maps showing fire hydrants, utilities…"

In an eleven-page decision, the court ruled that "such generalized claims of possible safety risk do not satisfy the (town’s) burden of proving the applicability of an exemption from disclosure under the act." The town has sold individual air photos in the past but now anyone can buy the entire database on a single CD.

And we have to wonder how many additional law suits will this spawn to throw open other city geospatial databases that have been locked up due to privacy or claims of security risks.

 

GPS Enabled Underwear: The Winner!

The contest? Drive as much traffic as possible to a website as you can. The draw? A really good fake story. The GPS enabled panties, “Forget-Me-Not Panties” took the grand prize. The idea was that the clothing could help track wives and girlfriends. I saw many references to it suggesting it was realЕ

Groat Resigns During USGS Reorg: Did Anyone Hear the Tree Fall?

Yesterday Directions and at least one other online geospatial publication received a press release from USGS noting that Director Charles Groat was stepping down June 17 in order to take a position at the University of Texas at Austin. Interior Secretary Gale Norton named Dr. P. Patrick Leahy as acting director. A permanent replacement for USGS director must be nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Pardon me for being a grassy knoller (that’s someone who sees conspiracy everywhere) but this is just weird. First it’s weird that the press (geospatial or otherwise) doesn’t see this as news. It’s real news; the release is on the USGS website here and one about Groat’s departure is here.

Second it’s weird since USGS is in a state of flux as it “reorganizes.” I’ve written about that. I wonder if these two things are related?

Third, I’ve received several e-mails and spoken to numerous people who have a vested interest in USGS who express concern about what’s going on. Some have suggested that USGS may be on the current administration’s chopping block. 

I will say that this situation makes me nervous. And, I hope others are watching and asking questions along with me.