Friday, November 20. 2009

Seen During Geography Awareness Week IV

""The woman requested that the deputies Google Earth her house and keep it on satellite surveillance overnight," [Sgt] Dawes said."

- A Lake Forest (CA) resident called local police to as for a watch on her house after she heard noises, as reported in the OC Register.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Oops at 09:30 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) |

Thursday, November 12. 2009

Simplicity Software has New Meaning for Topo Map

Simplicity Software has added a new feature to its offering for sales automation, CRM and eMarketing for those involved with buildings. It basically adds views of the buildings. The new feature is called "Virtual Topo Maps." From what I understand, the data is not "topo" but is both "virtual" and "map-based." While the press release says several companies are using or preparing to use the new feature, there's are no sample uses. I did find this map app on the Essex website.

...the Virtual Topo Maps display building lots, multi-family units, or senior-living units under development or management. By just mousing over any building lot or unit on the builder-developer/ facility's website, a data box pops up that shows, in real time, all the data the builder, developer, or property manager wants associated with that lot or unit, including availability, pricing, size, premiums, and even what floorplans the lot or unit will accommodate. The data box can be expanded to accommodate whatever data the builder, developer, or property manager wants to display, including sales person contact, and even special pricing offers.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Oops at 06:00 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Friday, November 6. 2009

Eight Year Old Voter Assignment Error to be Explored Using GIS

The error, found only this week, seems to date back 2001, when precincts in Scott County, Iowa were drawn by hand. This was apparently the first time a voter was turned away from the expected voting location to another. 39 individuals were mis-assigned. Only one of them voted in the recent election, which may explain why it took this long for the error to pop up.

Now, the plan is to review the rest of county, to be sure there are no other errors. The good news? The process can be automated:

Voter registration details from the auditor's office will be compared with computerized address and precinct mapping from the county's geographic information system, or GIS, to determine if any other areas were assigned improperly. The computerized analysis is expected to take about two weeks.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Oops at 06:48 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tuesday, October 13. 2009

A satellite orbiting the earth could someday prevent an auto accident...

That's the word from Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, Ford’s chief technical officer. He's referring to GPS satellites, so of course, he really means that data from them could be used with other tech to prevent accidents. The somewhat misleading discussion at USA Today explains:

Ford and Auburn are trying to see if GPS satellites can act as an early warning system that detects when a vehicle is about to lose control and communicate with the vehicle’s stability control systems and other safety features to prevent a rollover or other serious accident.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Oops, GPS at 09:24 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0) |

Thursday, October 8. 2009

Quote of the Week

"You want a perfect system, but until we got this higher technology, we did not have a perfect system. The new GIS system made it much more easier to locate errors."

Peoria City Election Commission Executive Director Tom Bride on some coding errors that put some voters in the wrong district.

- Peoria Journal Star

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Oops at 09:37 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0) |

Monday, August 31. 2009

Virginia's New Wind Farm in W. Virginia?

That's the assertion of Pocahontas County Commission (WV) President Martin Saffer. He says the state boundary shown on Highland New Wind Development's maps doesn't match U.S. Geological Survey maps. That would put one or two of proposed turbines in West Virginia.

The company says it used GPS to determine the bounary. Work on the wind farm started in August of this year.

- AP

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Oops at 06:00 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0) |