Virginia Legislation for Geospatial Health Research Authority

VA Senate Bill 549 - 2010 Regular Session aims to set up the Network for Geospatial Health Research Authority. Here’s the summary:

Virginia Network for Geospatial Health Research Authority; created. Creates the Virginia Network for Geospatial Health Research Authority, as a body politic and corporate, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth, to (i) provide for the continuity and expansion of research within both the public and private sectors using geospatial analysis of health and health care relevant data, (ii) develop economies of scale within state health agencies and within public health programs within the Commonwealth’s universities, (iii) provide geospatial analytical support to other political subdivisions concerned with cost-effective targeting of public health initiatives, and (iv) engage in such other lawful activities as the Board of Directors of the Authority deems reasonable and appropriate.

It was introduced by State Senator George Baker.

- E-lobbyist via Twitter

Next Deal for Foursquare: Conde Nast’s Lucky Fashion Mag Linkup

Way, way outside of my reading list, this publication focuses on fashion and the deal comes just before Fashion Week (I presume that’s a big New York fashion event?). Those who follow Lucky will get info about what’s going on and where to go and after the event will get special lucky badges, deals and the inside scoop on boutiques in Lucky’s shopping directory.

Foursqure is certainly burning up the “deal space” of late. The real trick will be making sure there’s something for everyone. I’m thinking the need something more than for the geek set to offset this deal.

- TechCrunch

Whatever Happened to John Haller, a MapInfo Co-Founder?

John Haller, one of the cofounders of MapInfo, did quite well when the company was sold to Pitney Bowes. But, when a need came along, a need to manage online registration for youth soccer, he went back to programming and whipped up an online app. Spin it forward a few years and SportsSignup now has 12 employees and serves 1000 leagues in 44 US states and Canada.

- Albany Times Union

Google Maps Gets “Labs” Button, Enhanced Local Ads

The newly added “Labs” button (green vial in upper right) opens a dialog box where you can try out several current Lab enhancements to Google Maps. But, don’t get wedded to them, they may never make to the final product, may break or may just disappear. Goodies now available which are by default “off”:

Drag ‘n’ Zoom – lets you zoom in on a specific part of the map by drawing a box.

Aerial Imagery – gives you rotatable, high-resolution overhead imagery, but it’s only available in certain areas. Google plans to add more over time, though.

Back to Beta – OK, this one is a little weird. It lets you have a beta tag on Maps (just like Gmail). Only for hardcore Google users.

Where in the World Game – test your geography knowledge by guessing the names of countries from satellite imagery. I lost days playing a similar game on Facebook, and I forgot everything I’ve learned. Sigh.

Rotatable Maps – North facing up is just one way to look at a map. Now you can rotate it any way you like.

What’s Around Here? – Adds a second search button that searches for “*”, returning the top results in the current view. I’ve actually been waiting for this for a long time; it makes searching for certain POIs within some area a lot easier.

LatLng Tooltip – See the exact latitude and longitude next to your cursor.

LatLng Marker – Drop a marker anywhere on the map, showing the latitude and longitude of that location.

Smart Zoom – stops you from zooming into an area if imagery is not available.

- Mashable

Oh and if you missed it Google is testing out another way to make money from advertising from local businesses a new tool to allow them to highlight images, a video or coupons in listings or on the map using a yellow highlight. For now it’s only available in two test markets, San Jose and Houston.

- Search Engine Land

Big Bing Integration Update Announced at TED

This breathless coverage from TED (from MediaPost) is a starting point: “TED is blown away!”

You’ll want to read the official Microsoft story which covers integration of Bing Maps with Flickr photos (see video below), Worldwide Telescope, Photosynth, live video, reviews and more which are touted as enhancements to Spatial Search, a way of “reuniting data with context.”

Why was this announced at TED? The coolness factor I guess.

- Bing Blog