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“Briggs will discuss how 40 years ago, a person needed a Ph.D. to do what anybody can now do with Google Map and Google Earth.”
- Description of a 40@40 lecture to be held at UT Dallas by Rob Briggs on March 8.
Horry County, SC has one of the lowest return rates on census forms in the state. The state, in turn, has one of the lowest return rates in the U.S. That’s lead to lots of posters and buttons and billboards encouraging residents to do their civic duty. But there are also disputed addresses with which the county needs to deal.
This year, the county and the various cities have been using Geographic Information Systems data to provide aerial photos, utility records and public safety address mapping for disputed addresses. The county still has about 18,000 addresses under dispute by the Census Bureau, which could amount to more than 40,000 residents not being counted. Tim Oliver, the GIS manager for Horry County, said those addresses are in the appeal process, meaning if the contentions are resolved after the surveys are mailed, Census workers will make a personal visit to the homes to make sure they’re counted.
North County Public Radio(NY) offers a podcast/transcript showing both sides of the “where should prisoners count in the census” issue.
- Downstate view and Upstate View.
The Census is having trouble finding people to take on its many, many jobs despite a high unemployment rate. One challenge has to do with finding individuals in the communities to do the work. Language can be an issue: in certain areas in Hartford, Ct. individuals with knowledge of Polish, Russian and other languages are not applying. On the island Martha Vineyard in Massachusetts, there are so few people who live there year round, not enough folks are stepping up to take on the work.
The cable industry is trying to do its part in the Census by offering up public service advertising and video on demand. The industry claims it is contributing about $3.5 million in resources to the campaign.
Avencia, Inc. a GIS consulting shop has a new name: Azavea (said like azalea, the flower, but with a “v” in place of the “l”).
The reason: After becoming the target of a trademark dispute that sought to have Avencia’s registered trademark canceled 3 years ago, Robert Cheetham, Avencia’s President and CEO, has decided to end the dispute in order to preserve the financial health of the firm and to focus on the company’s mission and commitment to impeccable service for its clients.
Why is this classy? It means the company can worry about important things: serving clients and keeping folks employed. I promise to learn to say Azavea instead of Avencia very quickly!
Disclosure: Rob Cheetham is a personal friend and a friend of Directions Magazine. I have no hesitation in referring to him and his company as “classy.”
It’s been very quiet over at Autodesk Geospatial of late. But I saw via Twitter that there’s a new Autodesk hosted blog on geospatial called MapTech. The author is Katie Jacques, the GIS Technical Lead in Product Support at Autodesk.
via @GwenaelBachelot
Clark Labs, the folks behind IDRISI has joined Facebook; it launched a Facebook fan page.
