Friday, December 15. 2006

NASA And Google Sitting in a Tree...

The world is expecting news from NASA and Google today, but New Scientist has this interesting tidbit today.

[NASA has tons of climate data.]

Now it has hit on a simple way to make that data accessible: software that superimposes it on the global 3D maps provided by Google Earth.

Called iEarth, the NASA software scours EOS databanks for information and converts it into a file that can be viewed via Google Earth. Choosing a spot on the planet's surface will prompt iEarth to display ground-based measurements for that location, as well as data relating to the atmosphere and space above it.

It'll be publicly available in April.

The Continuing Business Challenges of IST's iPointer

Intelligent Spatial Technologies (IST) is the company behind iPointer, the paltform that allows you to someday point your phone at a building and get information about it. Founded in 2003, the company has received a lot of press, but not so much funding. The company can boast "more than $1 million in state and federal research grants, as well as some private equity investment" and the CEO, Chris Frank was named Maine's 2006 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Still getting more funding is tough. Challenges say experts include:

- "[the] team didn't have a clear plan of how to package the digital compass and PDA to make the product user-friendly."

- the product didn't releive "a pain in the market."

So, what's the future?

A year from now, Frank said, he hopes iST will have the financial resources to get into the market. Short of that, the company will look to be acquired, probably by an out-of-state interest.

- Maine Today

Quote of the Week

"We're an $8 million business. What business would locate in an area with no access to the main road? Unless you live here, you need a GPS to find us."

Dr. Charles Lyons, the new president of York County Community College in Wells, Maine on his support for an extension to College Rd. through campus and up to Maine's Route 1.

- Seacoast Online

Track Santa via SkylineGlobe

Rony at Skyline e-mailed:

Please checkout these cool clips [press release] tracking Santa on SkylineGlobe!

Oh, and Microsoft tracks Santa, too.

UK vs. US in Geography Cup

Many news sites (Christian Science Monitor) are highlighting the ongoing online competition between the countries in locating places on a map. Individuals from both countries can participate after a brief registration and when I looked, this morning, the UK was ahead. Launched during Geography Awareness Week (I guess I missed that announcement!) the game runs until the end of the year.

Two folks with a vested interest in geography education launched the challenge: Roger Andreson of Atlanta is from Broader View, a company dedicated to promoting geographical awareness through games and competitions. Daniel Raven-Ellison is a secondary school teacher and cofounder of Give Geography Its Place, a grass-roots campaign focused on expanding the public's grasp of geography.

A Most Satifying Map

To help get over yesterday's unsatifying map I'm pleased to report Torontoist jumping for joy over a new transit map for that city. (The article is titled: The Best Map Ever in the History of Anything.) The map combines several public transit lines, includes Google's geocoding and all stops, not just major ones. I agree it's most satisfying - but I will note that of late I'm finding Google Maps based maps a bit more sluggish than in the past. Is it me or do others see that? I suspect it's in the hosting apps cite more than Google's. Is that right?

Update: And my own MBTA put some mashups on its site as we in Boston move from tokens to our new Charlie Cards. The bus I took last night was already Charlie enabled...