Another Local News Aggregator Steps Up

Christina Warren at Mashable introduces Fwix, a local news aggregation and sharing site. Per the headline it “Attempts to Fill the Local News Void.”

Fwix seems ok - it immediately brought me to the Boston page (it’s only active in 80 towns now) and offered content from the Boston Globe, local NPR station, Cambridge local paper, etc. My concern, as of at least Sept 2009: do I have a local news void? So far, I don’t feel I do. Now, if the Globe shuts down, will that change? I don’t really know; no one in my family gets it now (Dad just opted for the weekend Times deal instead) and I rarely read it online.

Quote of the Week

“Location-based services will bring information to you without you having to ask a search engine for it. It’s that kind of proactivity that will make computers more productive. We can make that more seamless over the next decades.”

- Intel chief executice Paul Otellini responding to a question regarding “what you think the computing world will look like in 25 years’ time, after all the changes of the last 25?” in a BBC interview.

Stimulus and GIS Tidbits

The University of Central Florida received the $1.3 million federal grant from stimulus funds to study walking, cycling and gardening initiatives aimed at getting residents active.

Using focus groups, self-reporting, GIS mapping and physical activity measuring devices, researchers will gather data on the 183 participants’ physical activity over the course of two years.

- Orlando Business Journal

The South Carolina Forestry Commission has received a $1.74 million grant from stimulus funds to restore longleaf pine in the state.

The Forestry Commission says the money translates funds for private landowners and job creation in the state’s number-one manufacturing industry. The Longleaf Pine Restoration Initiative will create or retain jobs that will include equipment operators, tree planters, herbicide applicators, GIS specialists, foresters, and forest technicians.

- WLTX