Tuesday, October 20. 2009

#FOSS4G Coverage Roundup I

iTWire offers Geospatial expert predicts “epic explosion” in location related services.

Of note: "[Andrew] Ross has been a part of Ingres’ open source geospatial project and said that Release 10.1 of Ingres’ open source geospatial code would be available in the second quarter of 2010."

SciAm on Google Earth Saving Indigenous Peoples

The publication rehashes a story in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle.

Using a technology-rich form of ethnographic mapping, a philanthropic side of the Moutain View, Calif.–based company, Google Earth Outreach embarked on a collaboration with Almir and the nonprofit Amazon Conservation Team to keep tabs on nearby clear cutting [in Amazonia] while recording aspects of the tribe's land and daily life in hopes of drawing attention to their struggle.

Of note: No Google Earth images are in the article. Instead: "Image of satellite view of deforestation in the Brazilian state of Rondonia, which is the same state in which the Surui tribe's reserve is located, courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon via Wikimedia Commons." I'm not sure why the publication chose not to include imagery from Google Earth, but it highlights more open alternatives.

- Scientific American

Monday, October 19. 2009

OSM Atlanta Mapathon Video (From Fox)

From Fox 5 in Atlanta offers this 6 minute video including interviews with mappers and OSM's Thea Clay, OSM Community Ambassador for the Southern US. Fox, like many, are not comfortable with OpenStreetMap as one word.

Thursday, October 15. 2009

Update: Coming for the iPhone: Old Map App

Update: Just got the good word that the app has been renamed Historic Earth and is now available. Further, it's now a partnership with Historic Map Works, and accesses that organization's "exclusive collection of more than 30,000 geo-referenced maps."

[Marketing comment] Martin did his social media homework! His e-mail reminding me that I wrote about the app earlier was key in getting me to provide this update. A generic "we launched e-mail" may not have caught my attention.

Continue reading "Update: Coming for the iPhone: Old Map App"

Wednesday, October 14. 2009

OSM Mapathon in Atlanta Taps Local URISA, 4-H as Mappers

The BBC, not the Atlanta Journal Constitution, is making a big deal of OpenStreetMap's "mapathon" in Atlanta coming up this weekend. Among the leaders is Dr. Frank Howell from the Office of Research and Policy Analysis, who used to be a GIS professor, and new serves as Director of the volunteer GeoGeorgia Initiative. (Mission: to facilitate the growth of the geospatial industry in Georgia through training and the education of state and local governments to make geospatial data freely available to the public.) He hopes the city can "claim to the title of the most digitally mapped city by the new year."

Among the participating organizations: CloudMade, Gainesville State College, GeoGeorgia Initiative, Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), Georgia URISA, the Georgia GIS Coordinating Committee, Southeastern GeoTech Center, Georgia 4-H Clubs and REI.

I like that the timing of the event helps raise further questions about what Google will be doing with its crowdsourced data. We know exactly what OSM will be doing with its data. We'd love a "report from the field" from anyone who is participating!

- press release (pdf)

Tuesday, October 13. 2009

Podcast: Google Maps Changes US Base Data, Adds Parcels and Crowdsourcing

This past week Google prompted a flurry of discussion by announcing some changes to its data and functionality in Google Maps. There’s new data and new feedback tools and some anxiety in the geospatial world. Our editors separate fact from fiction and offer our take on the implications of these changes.

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