Wednesday, December 31. 2008

Intergraph Victim of Phony Check Scam

The checks went out Christmas Eve and had Intergraph's name on them, but they were fake. Intergraph told one recipient in Topeka, Kansas that "it's gotten at least 20 calls from others who received the phony check and 12 who made the mistake of cashing it."

- KTKA

Free One Week Trial of Nokia Maps

You need a Nokia GPS enabled phone for the one week trial.

- via underwiredview

WV County Makes 911 Calls in Near Real Time Public

I find the weekly wrap-up of crimes in my city's paper a bit scary but this near real time map and list for Charleston, WV (Kanawha Count) is even scarier. Medical emergencies are not listed - but shootings, stabbings, injuries, robberies, structure (fires I think) are. It's interesting that the complete addresses are given, too.

- The State Journal
- Charleston Gazette

Public Integrity Cites Map-enabled Investigative Journalism

The year end list includes:

• “Mexico Under Siege” — Los Angeles Times in-depth coverage of Mexico’s drug war and how the United States is indirectly involved. Interactive map and tons of stories you can sort by location and subject.

Also on the list, but not necessarily mappy, is longtime friend of Directions Media Gary Price's
Docuticker described as "An invaluable daily update summarizing new reports from government agencies, nonprofits, think tanks, and more."

- Center for Public Integrity blog

Does a Map Make You More Likely to Act?

Remember the big map shown at the Democratic National Convention? Remember how the attendees got excited when their state "lit up" when they texted someone about Obama (or perhaps because of something else)? That environment got people fired up in a competitive way, and it was newsworthy. We even did a podcast about it.

Shift gears now and consider ING Direct. ING Direct is an American discount bank. (Frankly I didn't know that until I read the article about the marketing effort. I only know they sponsor marathons.) Anyway, on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, ideally the kickoff to the holiday shopping season, the bank launched a site with 10 principles of saving called We the Savers. The idea is that people should sign up and commit to those ideas (basically, good financial practices). The site offers a US map of how many folks have signed up from each state as well as a button to invite a friend to sign. Why the map? I guess one reason might be to encourage folks to "boost" the stats for their state. Would it encourage you at all? Would it make you FEEL anything like the folks at the DNC? I'll answer a hearty "No!"

Continue reading "Does a Map Make You More Likely to Act?"

GIS Planning, ZoomProspector Featured in Biz Week

Titled, Where to Locate Your Business, it starts with the story of a small company (URMC) that started in Doylestown, PA (I lived there once!) and moved the sprawling metropolis of Stowe, Vt. and some great tax breaks. The owner is looking to hire 26 people before the end of February. (It's GIS-y stuff, so maybe it's a spot for a reader?)

Anyway, the rest of the article talks about how to find the right spot and talks about ZoomProspector. One commenter asks why GIS is not mentioned. I guess they are not familiar with GIS Planning's app.