Location-based Attendance (in College)

The Japanese university Aoyama Gakuin University, which is located just outside Tokyo in Sagamihara city, will give incoming students iPhones - for education and attendance taking purposes.

How will attendance be taken? Via an iPhone app where the student keys in an ID and the class number. GPS will be used to insure they don’t log in from home, along with a check of the router used to connect. The app is now in the testing phase with a formal launch in June, for 550 first and second year students and some staff.

This seems strange to me because they actually take attendance in college now via paper slips or sign in sheets. I don’t recall any college class I took or taught where attendance was taken.

- Reuters

Why you should put your physical address on your website

Michael Gray at Search Engine Land did some research and confirms, that yep, it’s a good idea.

Vehicle Travel Created C02 in US Urban Areas vs. Suburbs: Which is Lower?

The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) found a rather interesting result:

CNT looked at emissions of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the U.S. When measured on a per household basis, it found that the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be nearly 70% less than those living in suburbs.

The new maps are part of the organizations Housing + Transportation Affordability Index tools. There’s a very nice “compare maps” option. I’m not sure of the mapping tech underlying this app.

- press release

- Kaid Benfield Director, Smart Growth Program, Washington, DC explains the maps on the NRDC blog.

Google Geonews from Google I/O and elsewhere

Brady Forrest rounds up the geo news. He chooses Qualified Developer program extension to Google Maps as most important.

Tim O’Reilly reports “Google Latitude available on iphone as soon as Apple releases OS 3.”

via Twitter

- event page

Also today: announcement of Google Maps API v3.

Old Poll, New Poll

Back in early May we asked: Do you share your current location with anyone via social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, RSS, website, etc.)?

It seems those who read this geo focussed blog mostly do not. Of 74 responses:

Yes 22%
No 79%

(A bit of rounding error appears.)

Next up: How often do you print maps on paper in your work?