Sundosoft Brings GIS to Korea and other International GIS News

The Korea Times has a feature on , Yoon Jay-joon (Jay Yoon), CEO of Sundosoft, a large GIS player in the country. One of the graphics is of a box of ArcGIS 9. I guess 10 is not yet out there.

- Korea Times

Panasonic's new GPS enabled cameras may not work quite right in China. How and exactly why is not clear, but apparently geotagging is illegal in that country.

- GPS Tracklog

Mackenzie District Council in New Zealand is fight against bad GIS data.

"During the last revaluation, it was discovered the information we sent to our valuers was incorrect. This was due to multiple users creating different copies of the data, manipulating the information and treating it as correct," Mr Morris said.

"If council chose to do nothing, the GIS information will get progressively worse.

But the local government does not want to put a dedicated outside person in charge of cleaning up the data. Instead, it's looking into a shared position.

- Stuff.co.nz

The Doolin Coast Guard team in Co Clare Ireland will be the only such unit in the country with a GIS. It'll be run on tablets to increase efficiency in response and planning.

The system also contains up to date information on the locations of caves, popular surfing spots and other areas where the team might be requested to respond to an incident.

It will also aid in incident planning as it contains information such as radio reception blackspots, access routes and helicopter landing sites.

- Clare Herald

Girl Scout Teaches Geography and other Education GIS News

Danielle Feoranzo, a student at Westwood Regional High School in the Township of Washington, recently earned her Girl Scout Gold Award by painting a map of the United States on the playground at the Jessie F. George Elementary School. 

I've read lots of stories about maps being painted on playgrounds. What I like about this one is explained by the school pricipal:

"She facilitated a lesson for our fourth grade students that focused on the United States. Using the map, the students were able to move about the country while showcasing the content knowledge. It was a great experience for our students and a gift from Danielle that will last for many years to come."

- NorthJersey.com

A Clarkson University research team, led by Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering Professors Pier Marzocca, Suresh Dhaniyala and Lin Tian, is readying its unmanned aerial vehicle, the Clarkson RAVEN (Research Aerial Vehicle for Experimental Needs), to acquire wind turbulence data.

- press release

The University of Redlands is pleased to announce the third cohort of faculty LENS (LEarNing Spatially) Fellows. Led by Dr. Diana Sinton, director of Spatial Curriculum and Research, LENS is a campus-wide initiative that promotes spatial literacy as a foundational component in curriculum, programs, and research. In the coming year, the LENS Fellows will work on curricular ideas around the theme of “Mapping Communities.”

The four university faculty members from different departments will participate in a summer institute on campus.

- press release

Fort Lee plans to become the first school system in the nation to use the MapEverywhere software, which provides detailed campus floor plans to emergency responders via a smart phone application that does not rely on Internet or Wi-Fi connections, officials said.

Maps of each school and information about explosive chemicals and potentially dangerous electrical wirings will be available on an application that police and other authorized personnel can upload during a hostage, fire or other crisis.

I don't like the idea that it must be downloaded WHEN an incident is found. Cost: $495/month.

- NorthJersey.com

Some advice from Brian Timoney to stduents:

Rhiza renames, relaunches core product: Rhiza Upshot

I learned about Rhiza Labs during the bird flu pandemic of 2009 (APB coverage). The company provided the backend mapping for a crowdsourced effort to gather infection and other data as the disease moved across the world and in the United States.

Last week I recieved an e-mail from the CEO explaining the core platoform, then called Rhiza Insight, has been updated and is now called Rhiza Upshot. The updates include presentation tools, more charts and graphs, mobile data collection (iOS and Android), collaboration tools and of course, mapping. The images had me thinking of Tableau Software.

Upshot can be used in the cloud or hosted locally. It can be licensed month to month or more like an acquisition. Pricing?

Starting at $100/mo per user, we’ll have you up and running in less than a week.

I believe that's the "hosted on your system" version.

Clients run the gammut from Pepsi to the Pittsburgh Public Schools, but the case studies/gallery page focuses on environmental/green issues and business ones.

LightSquared Update - LS Requests FCC Write Specs for GPS - 2/7/12

With Tuesday's filing, LightSquared asked the FCC to enact new rules to require special design standards for GPS devices. In the filing, the company argued that GPS receivers could be fixed using filters or other technical modifications. 

LightSquared acknowledges such a change may not help the company with its current woes, but would be good for both 4G and GPS providers in the future.

Jim Kirkland, general counsel of GPS-maker Trimble, a founding member of the Save Our GPS Coalition said Lightsquared is using the same "false premises and claims that LightSquared has repeated ad nauseam."

- The Hill

New Lyme Disease Map and other Health GIS News

A new map pinpoints well-defined areas of the Eastern United States where humans have the highest risk of contracting Lyme disease, one of the most rapidly emerging infectious diseases in North America, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. researchers found high infection risk confined mainly to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest and low risk in the South. The results were published in the February issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

- press release

How do you figure out where to off teen health services in Gaston, North Carolina?

To decide where the satellite services were needed, officials used county GIS mapping data to see where teenage clients live. An emphasis was placed on pinpointing teens classified as being “at-risk” for not getting the services they need, [ the health department’s medical director, Velma] Taormina said.

“Gastonia had the most teens, but there were also hot spots around the county,” she said. “To address that, we chose to expand our clinical services for teens to those Bessemer City and Cherryville locations. Teens there may have transportation issues with getting to Gastonia.”

- http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/challenge-66876-teenager-parents.html">Gaston Gazette

Billed as the first official British Columbia government mobile application, the BC Health Services Locator launched Monday on Apple's iTunes app store.

- Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/government+launches+first+mobile+which+uses+find+health+care+services/6111918/story.html#ixzz1lhfqyQyq