Thursday, December 18. 2008

Maps of NH Outage? Durham's are not Precise

Every morning here in Boston we get the update on how many people in Massachusetts and New Hampshire are still without power after last week's ice storm. Schools are still out and some have given up until after New Year's. There are lots of references to a 1998 ice storm. I recall that. One GIS company got a lot PR for supporting recovery efforts. It was MapInfo. So, I've been keeping an eye out for maps... I found this entry in the Union Leader's blog on the storm.

DURHAM, 2:01 p.m. Town Manager Todd Selig, in a press release, says PSNH has told town officials that it is concentrating its efforts on Meserve Road, Mathes Cove, Durham Point Road, Wedgewood Subdivision, Madbury Road, Valentine Hill and Thompson Road.

Selig bluntly said in the press release, "Do Not Assume PSNH Knows You Have No Power! Despite the utility's best efforts, it is clear to us that PSNH does NOT have an accurate understanding of the extent of power outage in Durham. To this end, we need your help. The Town of Durham does NOT have a precise map concerning who does not have power. Our information comes from nighttime reconnaissance from our departments and from individuals who contact us directly. We would ask that individuals who do not have power contact Public Service of New Hampshire on a daily basis until power is restored at 1-800-662-7764. In addition, individuals who do not have power should let the Town know by contacting the Town Clerk's Office at 868-5577 (Fax: 868-8033) or by emailing us at jberry@ci.durham.nh.us."

A few thoughts: (1) This is one heck of a storm/recovery effort. (2) The town manager was transparent and clear about the situation. (2) What might be a good proxy to identify those without power?

Sprint, Verizon Make Changes to Lure more LBS Developers

Sprint is working with WaveMarket and uLocate so developers can write location-based apps and widegets for mobile, Web, WAP, and SMS with ease. (press release)

Verizon is opening up 3 handsets (Samsung Omnia and Saga and the HTC Touch Pro) to developers. (Brighthand quotes Verizon statement.)

I guess the LBS success of the iPhone and Android phones is pushing things along.

- xchange

A year of city life via GPS in 45 seconds

Fabian wore a GPS while he lived in Plymouth, England. The data was overlaid on an aerial image and compressed into a 45 second video. (He's done other years in other cities.) My take and video below.

Continue reading "A year of city life via GPS in 45 seconds"

LBS Geo Game - You can Capture Territory, but Will Anyone Care?

Wired's Game Blog profiles Geo, a game expected for Jave/Brew-enabled mobile phones (iPhone eventually) early next year.

The basic premise: you go out in the word and capture territory (800 sq foot grid squares), then you can fight with others over territory. To maintain your territory, you need to "go visit it" once every two weeks. (I have to use my Starbucks card once a month to enable my "free" wireless...same idea I guess.)

The challenge for the game, as for many social networks: What if there are no people interested in your area? Reaching critical mass is key for any other these location-restricted activities. I hope the Useful Networks folks (motto: "We take the BS out of LBS") have a plan to engage populations in specific areas to get involved. Otherwise, this may fail, a la Meetro (post mortem).