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Ok, so this is a GREAT Google Maps app. Click on a location to dig and find out where on the earth you’d come out on the other side! Great way to help kids understand that the earth is not flat, especially when used along with a globe. (Via Search Engine Watch)
ZDNet discusses an interview with Vint Cerf, the head ICAAN fellow who just signed on with Google. Much of his interest is in geospatial data and its implications. I never thought of him as a geo person, but he could be a great advocate for “our way of looking at the world.”
And, let’s not forget PBS’ new downloadable NerdTV! Robert Cringley hosts interviews with top techies. First up: Macintosh programmer Andy Hertzfeld. Other folks slated who might appeal to the geospatial community include: Pay Pal co-founder Max Levchin, Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, internet publisher Tim O’Reilly, Autodesk co-founder Dan Drake, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and the father of Linux, Linus Torvalds.
Dr Carsten Sørensen, senior lecturer in information systems at the London School of Economics, says holding back due to ethical concerns is a mistake and that people are “over” such issues. He supports his notion by saying that we’ve already “socially appropriated the phone to be a location-based service. ‘I’m on the train’ is an obvious example.”
True, the first response to nearly every cell phone call is locational: “I’m at the post office…” etc. But the recipient always has the option, without really thinking, to share or not, that information. It’s a bit different when one must turn settings on or off. Sort of like forgetting to set the alarm clock…
Dr Oliver Leisten, the founder of GPS antenna manufacturer Sarantel and its CTO, argues that the electronics industry is not taking responsibility “for ensuring that GPS products are of sufficiently high quality to be useful. He thinks the government should do something about it beyond letting companies get by with saying a device is not to be used for navigation. “The designers of the gizmos that go into the shops need to be mindful that they have that responsibility. It’s not really any good just to say in the blurb that you shouldn’t use this product for navigation. It’s been sold for navigation,” he said. Sounds like marketing to me… And it workd: I picked up the story and noted his company and what they offer!
