Monday, May 11. 2009

DigitalGlobe to Trade on Thursday, WSJ Assesses Risk

The IPO hits the street on Thursday and the Wall Street Journal highlights the "risky business" of the satellite biz. It also notes that President Obama's commitment to acquiring imagery from commercial companies helps relieve some fears.

Seeking Alpha offers thought, too.

Nuvifone Delayed Again

The latest word on the GPS company's first phone is that it won't be out until Q3 of 2009. The company announced it back in January 2008 with a Q3 2008 expected launch date.

Android Phone Fans doesn't suggest it, but I will - does trying to bring out two from scratch phones with two OSs (one Linux, one Windows) seem like a big first step into phoneland? APF does suggest Garmin go directly to Android, but the company is sticking with its company line: an Android phone from a partnership with Asus will not be announced until after the Nuvifone comes to market. Gizmodo already has called the Nuvifone the Neverfone. Can you blame them?

Suggestions for AOL's New "Where it's At" Site

WhereItsAt.Com is a mapping site that pinpoints pop culture locations - like the hospital from Gray's Anatomy or the high school from Napoleon Dynomite. The tag is "Pop culture is all around you." It's powered by MapQuest.

Suggestions:

- The title suggests to me a "things to do" site, despite the tag line. That said, there is a box to search for nightlife... That's confusing!
- The site offers an RSS feed. Why not a GeoRSS feed or KML or anything with location in it?
- Rethink the Visa sponsorship ads - one is a "roll over to find your nearest Starbucks ad" powered by Google Maps!

- press release

State GIS Tidbits

State GIS news from Tennessee, Louisiana and Massachusetts.

Continue reading "State GIS Tidbits"

Texas Bill to Require Disclaimer on Geospatial Data

A bill before the Texas legislature will require a disclaimer to accompany geospatial data products created or hosted by a government body if the data "was not produced using information from an on-the-ground survey conducted by or under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor." The disclaimer must be posted for data on a paper map or Internet-hosted and will be in the following form:

This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. It does not represent an on-the-ground survey and represents only the approximate relative location of property boundaries.

Analysis of the bill explains the details in less legal terminology. The bill has passed the Texas Senate and is due to be voted on by the House soon with the law to take affect on September 1^st. According to GITA, bills exist before other state legislatures that have "expanded the definition of land survey to include photogrammetry GIS and remote sensing."

Old Poll, New Poll

Back at the end of March we asked: If available free, how would you use background data provided to your desktop GIS from the cloud (as ESRI is doing in a future release with Microsoft's Virtual Earth)?

Just about half of 224 respondents said they expected they'd use it all the time. Timothy Hales just posted a tutorial on how to set it up which may be helpful to readers just receiving ArcGIS 9.3.1.

48% - I'd use it all the time!
34% - I might use it on some projects.
10% - There are security issues that prevent my org from using it.
10% - I don't think I'd use it at all.

Next up, Do you share your current location with anyone via social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, RSS, website, etc.)?

Vote on the lower right hand side of the blog home page.