Monday, October 20. 2008

Joe the Plumber used in MRM Press Release

Here's the nut of it from the press release:

"The amount of dollars and immediate return on investment that Joe can receive implementing our MRM software, virtually overnight, is far more significant than any tax increases small businesses receive," explains Intergis CEO Jeff Cohen. "Many of our customers are, in fact, plumbing entrepreneurs like Joe, who use our solutions to efficiently manage their vehicle fleets, mobile workforce and remote assets. Through an integrated suite of GPS enabled, vehicle-based technologies, our proven solutions reduce operational costs and increase workforce productivity."

Press release (via GIS Cafe)

Geofave Zillow Cuts 25% of Employees

We in geoland love them, users love them, agents have mixed feelings. The "zestimate your home value site" is widely popular and well-funded, though it's still not making money. Just this week it announced a quote API and earlier this month it enhanced its social features with a professional directory.
And, by week's end the company announced a reduction in force of 25%, about 40 staffers. The company was not alone: Redfin, real estate search site announced a 20% cut.

If you want to keep up with tech company cuts during this economic crisis TechCrunch offers a Layoff Tracker.

Why and When Does the Media Cover Lawsuits?

That was my big question on Friday. That day I read the Wired article about the litigation between Maponics (one of the neighborhood boundaries companies) and a fellow name Bernt Wahl (who owns another neighborhood boundaries company, Factle) over what I understand as a contract dispute.

I read the article carefully, noting an apparent typo which cited the litigation as occurring in Nov 2008. That's what shook me out of "interesting story I should blog" to "this is weird." I poked around and found Web citations on the suit from Nov 2007. If the suit was that old, why was Wired running an apparently new story on it now? Was there something new in the case? The article didn't give any clue as to why the suit was important now. So, instead of blogging it, I pinged a few people: the president of Maponics, Darrin Clement who comments here now and again, Bernt Wahl and the Wired reporter.

The upshot thus far: The date of the suit has been corrected to Nov 2007 in the article and Clement (with the ok from lawyers) offered a comment to the Wired article with some perspective and additional corrections. Other commenters offer additional layers of complexity.

GottaBeMobile: CNN Wins with Map Multitouch

Editor-in-Chief for GottaBeMobile.com Rob Bushway gives CNN's John King and his magic wall the edge over MSN's Surface implementation. I'd summarize the difference he notes this way: the magic wall makes for great "show and tell," while the table implementation that's posted in a window above the presenter is far less engaging. I love that the media is taking the new technology out for a spin and finding where and how it fits the industry.

7-Eleven Coffee Cup Poll Map

This will be the third election during which the convenience store has offered blue or red cups for its coffee, allowing patrons to vote with cups. The results - only for states where the store is located - are updated in real time at 7-election.com. Don't sneer: the polls been right for the last two elections! When I visited West Virginia was tied.

I wonder how such a maps would differ if done at Dukin Donuts or Starbucks...

- Sun-Journal