Ct Land Use Online

Detailed land use plans for Connecticut’s 169 towns from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research via Connecticut Environmental Conditions Online.

Besides data, there are two different viewers, data services and geoprocessing services (coming soon). There are detailed steps to use the data services in ArcGIS, but users with AutoCad, MapInfo, MicroStation and GeoMedia are told (in the FAQ) to consult their software for version compatibility. I’m not really sure what that means…since I’m not clear about what services are available besides ArcGIS Server ones. I may have to wait for the promised upcoming webinar to learn more.

EveryTrail: $1 million in funding

I was just looking at the new Pennsylvania Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources trail finder ExplorePATrails site. It’s built on Google Maps and “powered by you.” I was thinking every state should have such a site. While it’s not as “social media” as some sites, you can provide updates and post events.

- Pittsburgh Live

A moment later I see that GlobalMotion Media, the folks behind EveryTrail, a membership trail site, has raised $1 million from private investors via the Band of Angels group. EveryTrail is a powerful site (one of my students reviewed it a few semesters ago) but an iPhone and mobile apps make uploading trips even easier.

- TechCrunch

Tax Time: Time for GPS!

Like me, you probably didn’t think much about the press release from Intuit about Turbo Tax 2009 from November. Who thinks about taxes then? Well, now it’s the end of December and Intuit is moving the promo for introduced then on TV. From the PR:

Like GPS for taxes, TurboTax® 2009 easily and accurately guides taxpayers step-by-step through their tax return, effortlessly getting them to their ultimate destination - the biggest tax refund possible.

The rest of the PR uses terms like “detour,” “error checking” and “guidance.”