Recall that Microsoft acquired UK mapping company Multimap last December. Back in May, Multimap B2C General Manager Jim Cruickshank was appionted Microsoft EMEA director of mapping, local and shopping. Word today that Multimap CEO Jeff Kelisky hs been tapped to be General Manager of a new Commercial Search unit, which covers Live Search cashback, MSN Shopping, local, consumer mapping, Virtual Earth and mobile. It’s beginning to look like Microsoft grabbed Multimap as much for its tech and data as for its people.
- Paid Content via Washington Post
by Adena Schutzberg on 08/21 at 08:03 AM |
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AdAge explains how Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC) is using “junk mail” to help map where the current residents of New Orleans reside. The nonprofit GNOCDC has been working with Valassis Communications’ owner of the RedPlum direct-mail operation. Red Plum sends out basically nationwide mailings each month. By luck the company had a 2005 data with which to compare the current state of mailing addresses today. The data is being used to use funds for rebuilding and has saved quite a lot in manual surveys of “who is where.”
GNOCDC has linked the data to a Google Map (James Fee and Co worked on this, per a tweet yesterday; I didn’t follow up then because he noted a publication called “Adage,” of which I’d not heard!). Also of note: Valassis provided much of the data at cost and the historic data and consulting gratis.
Bottom line:
Overall, the Valassis data indicates New Orleans had 146,174 households receiving mail in June 2008, still down 28% from the 203,457 receiving mail in June 2005, two months before the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane and resulting flood.
via Wired blog
by Adena Schutzberg on 08/21 at 07:52 AM |
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C|net asks. Thus far: “yes.” Mostly, I think they are looking for conspiracy stories about why we don’t yet have that feature. The license forbids it, though no one knows quite why.
by Adena Schutzberg on 08/21 at 07:33 AM |
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Alaska Senator Ted Steven’s bid to move his trial on 7 counts of making false statements regarding financial disclosure forms will not be held in his state to make things easier for witnesses. Instead, they’ll be traveling to Washington DC for the trial. Stevens hoped to limit their inconvenience and make it easier for himself as he campaigns for yet another term as US Senator. Geography mattered in the sense that jury tainting was possible if the trial was held in Alaska. Stevens lawyers pointed out the 4,200 mile driving distance to DC , but federal judges didn’t budge.
- LA Times
by Adena Schutzberg on 08/21 at 07:14 AM |
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“Trends in RFID 2008” a study by Spyglass Consulting Group, is based on 100 telephone interviews with IT professionals and medical staff at hospitals with 300 or more beds. It shows much increased use of RFID within hospitals since a previous report done in 2005. The takeaway from a PC World article on the study to me is this:
The payback no longer is simply being able to find medical equipment including wheelchairs. Increasingly, wireless identification and location data is being used to streamline and repair a range of healthcare workflows and business processes.
by Adena Schutzberg on 08/21 at 06:00 AM |
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