Wednesday, July 30. 2008

Microsoft and European Environmental Agency Sign Five Year Deal to Map Water Quality

Network World has the story (press release) of "Eye on Earth" a site that show water quality scores of 21,000 swimming sites across Europe in five languages: Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, German and English.

Continue reading "Microsoft and European Environmental Agency Sign Five Year Deal to Map Water Quality"

Old Poll, New Poll

A few weeks back, we asked: Has the jump in gas prices changed where you spend your time?

Of 20 respondents, there was a surprisingly even distribution.

35% Yes, I spend more time closer to/at home.
35% No, where the locations where I go are about the same.
30% No, but I visit the more distant ones less frequently.

Next up, let's get to brass tacks. I recently wrote an editorial about moving to a Mac. More than one response suggested GIS people can't use Macs. So, let's see what those who visit this blog are using. Vote on the lower right hand side of our main page.

Microsoft VE to be in ESRI's ArcGIS Online

The press release came out yesterday and was picked up by a number of blogs, though few had any immediate comment. I'm in the same boat. It crossed my desk and I didn't get an immediate sense of a world changing event.

That said:

- ESRI rarely announces anything new before the User Conference.

- Delivery of Virtual Earth content via ArcGIS Online was hinted at in the ESRI UC Q & A (including pricing: $200/year per ArcGIS seat).

- ESRI has yet to officially launch ArcGIS Online; that's coming next month.

- ESRI's "Google" announcement at Where was rather "hands off," that is required seemingly little partnering. This is different from a business standpoint since I have to believe Microsoft will receive some money from each subscription for its data.

Now, back to my "world changing event" comment. The reason this doesn't seem world changing is that it's a small step toward the future: a future of servers and services and the cloud. In this new ESRI vision, there are no "map servers" only "GIS servers" that provide data and key service. Users consume them via the Web, ArcGIS Explorer, on mobiles, and for perhaps a select few, a desktop GIS. To implement this vision, ESRI needs a different kind of partner, one that can help enable this vision. Thus, partners like Microsoft (VE and other things) and Adobe (Flex), are playing different roles than in the past. I suggest users keep their eyes open at ESRI UC for other clues that point to this type of future.

Hardiness Zone Map: Stay Tuned

The San Francisco Chronicle tells the story of the latest Zone Hardiness Map, the map the USDA puts out to guide the nation in what plants will grow where. The latest updated map was based on a 15 year set of data and looked quite different from the one before. in particular, zones were shifted north. So, why did the USDA reject the draft map in 2003? An official statement from USDA: "It wasn't GIS/GPS compatible. The scientists said it couldn't be incorporated into existing models. The 'yes or no' decision was made at that point, even though other issues were being raised."

In reality it sounds like politics and perhaps a fear of global warming. The latest plan: a new group from the Oregon St will build a new map based on 30 years of data. It's expected...soon. Says the same spokesperson as the above quote: " "Doing this at the GIS level, we can work at a much finer scale than ever before," she explains. "The zone borders will be much more refined."

You can see the maps here.

Tuesday, July 29. 2008

Hotel Mapping Innovation?

A new hotel mapping service addresses a void in the industry. From the press release:

Not a single major hotel travel site shows prices directly on a map. HotelMapSearch.com fills this void with its patent pending price icons and hotel reservation interface.

It's hard to believe this will be the first app to put actual prices on the map, but I must admit, it's very slick and colorful, with very little "clicking" required to explore.

Also of note, the tech behind the site is Google Maps plus something called MapLarge.

Garmin Criticized for Offering GPS Dataset for Bars

This from CokePubandBar.co.uk, which holds a CocaCola copyright:

Garmin offers a digital version of the "Good Pub Guide" for their Global Positioning System (GPS) gadgets. Some, like Margaret Decker, from the Scottish Campaign against Irresponsible Drivers, think that's irresponsible. "It is irresponsible to offer customers directions to pubs. Police campaign to stop drink-driving but the number caught doesn't seem to be falling."

Garmin gives more credit to those who use the system and the database. I wonder if Garmin (and its peers) would get the same reaction if it offered a database of locations of legal gun sellers?