Friday, June 26. 2009

New Pitney Bowes Training/Demo Center in UK

Pitney Bowes announced a £1 million investment in a state-of-the-art international showroom and training centre near Redhill, Surrey. It'll be used to train regional technicians and show of print and geospatial technologies to customers. It opens officially at the end of this month.

- Hellmail

Foursquare to add push notification of locations in latest iPhone app

Now, instead of your friends having to actively look up the last place from which you checked in, they can get "pushed" a message about your new whereabouts. TechCrunch thinks some will love this, others will hate it. More options and more control seem to be the best any LBS provider can offer. The new app will be available for free via the App Store soon.

MapQuest "input error" fixed in a few hours

This is just not the type of story you hear about much. In Clarksburg, Maryland if you ask for directions to the High School from MapQuest or some GPSs you don't end up there, but rather at a private street. But, unlike other private citizens and journalists, instead of contacting Tele Atlas or NAVTEQ about a data error, the local TV station contacted MapQuest and AAA. The response from MapQuest:

ABC 7 contacted MapQuest and AAA. MapQuest said they had pin-pointed the problem and would have it fixed in a few hours, citing a simple data input error. Now, maybe the folks who live along the road can have some peace.

I found the high school using MapQuest's search tool here. The track and football field convince me this is a school. Using the address given in the article from ABC7 I seem to get the centroid (I think) of the town, suggesting to me that MapQuest could not geocode the address and thus defaulted to the centroid. MapQuest's address for the high school is River Hill High School 12101 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD 21029 while the article cites 2250 Wims Road. I had the same results with Google.

- News Channel 8

Park Service Grants Save Battlefield History with GIS

The National Park Service announced 33 grants ($1,360,000) to preserve and protect battlefields of significance in the US from the King Philip’s War ( 1675-1676 ), Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Second Seminole War, Mexican-American War, Civil War, World War II and various Indian Wars. Among the disciplines involved: archeology, survey, mapping, documentation, planning, education and interpretation. Several awards include GIS:

Chester County, Pennsylvania $39,890: The Battle of Brandywine... This project will identify and inventory threatened parcels of land within the Brandywine Battlefield National Historic Landmark boundaries, prioritize their importance, and develop a GIS-based animated map to aid in the county’s effort to raise awareness of the battlefield’s significance among members of the community.

Maryland State Highway Administration $60,000: The defeat of American forces by British invaders at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, resulted in the capture and burning of Washington, DC. This project begins a multi-phased plan for the interpretation of Bladensburg battlefield and will include: GIS mapping of historic resources and battlefield boundaries; development of a research design outlining methods and techniques for archeological survey; evaluation of the site’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; and creation of cultural resource inventory.

Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center ( Connecticut )$59,700: This project will build upon investigations supported by ABPP in 2007 and will include archeological survey and collection of GIS data to support completion of a National Register nomination for the May 26, 1636, battle of Mystic Fort. The study area will include the fort, as well as sites associated with 6-8 additional actions. Spanning hundreds of acres, the Battle of Mystic Fort is a unique example of protracted combat between early 17th century Colonial and Native people.

Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs $48,300: Overshadowed by the Battle of Lexington/Concord, the Battle of Chelsea Creek was a significant part of the siege of Boston for its role as the first naval engagement of the Revolutionary War. A notable result of the battle was the capture and destruction of the HMS Diana – a loss that directly influenced and limited the success of the British fleet during the subsequent Battle of Bunker Hill. Archeological investigation will endeavor to locate the remains of HMS Diana, and GIS mapping will record the sites of British and American military operations.

Palm Beach County, Florida $40,790: Powell’s Battle and Jesup’s Battle were the last two major engagements of the Second Seminole War – the longest conflict waged against any Native group on American soil. More than 500 Seminoles and Black Seminoles were relocated out of Florida after the conclusion of these battles in 1838. Site identification and GIS mapping will be conducted to determine the boundaries of these battlefields as a first step in the process of developing a plan for preservation of this historic landscape.

Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research ( Northern Mariana Islands )$49,967: The Battle of Saipan,... Through archeological survey, and GIS mapping of Invasion Beach at Tanapag Lagoon, this project will identify and document submerged remains of the Battle of Saipan for use in the future development of an underwater maritime heritage trail.

- press release