Latest on MSN VE

Gary Price at Search Engine Watch noted a post to the MSN Search Blog highlighting the feedback to, and plans for VE after its first week online.

The Visibility of ArcWeb Services

Two blog posts in opposition raise an interesting question. The first is from Ed Parsons who notes that he got a call from the BBC to talk about Google Earth “There seems to be a mainstream hype developing around google maps/earth at the moment.” The second is from Fantom Planet (via Rise and Shout) asking “Why didn’t I know about ArcWeb Services before.”

Cart Critic

Kaiser at Junk Charts, a blog on graphics, lauds a map from Business Week showing existing and plan municipal Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S. It’s nice to know good cartography is still expected. Need more? Check out the new book from the ESRI press, Designing Better Maps by Cynthia Brewer from Penn State.

Fun with GPS

My friend Don Cooke wrote a book recently published by the ESRI Press titled Fun with GPS. I wanted to review it, but since I was sort of “in on it” during the writing, that wouldn’t be right. So, I want to point out a few things about it that will hopefully make you want to read it. (This is not an unbiased review!)

The book is about the maps made when Don attached a GPS to things/people/machines/animals. It’s part “how to do it,” part “here’s what happened” and part “here are the cool people I met and activities I explored along the way.”

1. Some of the things Don tries don’t work! GPSs fail. Data is bad. Batteries die. How nice to find a “science” book where things go wrong and are documented. Further, Don tries to suggest what might have gone wrong.
2. There are great pictures of ice boats and bears and a fellow racing the Boston marathon all with their GPSs on. This is a great coffee table book.
3. It’s also a great “bathroom book.” I say that because it has short, punchy chapters that can be read in any order and can keep you entertained as long as needed.
4. It’s a neat book to read when thinking up a science fair project!
5. Don talks back to the GPS vendors via letters (including one from his cat).
6. You get a sense of the fun-loving, excited, passionate and slightly insane guy Don is!