All Points Blog

Autodesk/Bentley Speak to Interoperability for AEC

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:30:50 -0500

Before you get too excited, the implications for geospatial are apparently not great. I'm not aware of any geospatial press who were invited to listen to the conference call this afternoon. I'll explain a bit more why the implications are not great after getting to the gist of the announcement.

Here's what we do know from Autodesk's PR firm and this PR:

Autodesk and Bentley will exchange software libraries, including Autodesk RealDWG, to improve the ability to read and write the companies respective DWG and DGN formats in mixed environments with greater fidelity. In addition, the two companies will facilitate work process interoperability between their AEC applications through supporting the reciprocal use of available Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

What all that says to me is: all the stuff we already can do, read each other's file types, call each other's APIs, we may do a bit better/more elegantly. File fidelity (not losing entities/features) may be better. We'll use existing APIs to better connect our products, which I read as "there may be some scripts/tools to help link products that follow one another in the workflow."

While this is all well and good and is apparently something both companies feel benefits them, it's quite a bit different from the interoperability vision we have in geospatial - open standards any developer can support. Autodesk and Bentley are instead swapping proprietary libraries and promising to use already existing APIs. Both companies, BTW, are involved with OGC and support several different standards.

The reason I think this is not such a big deal for GIS is that CAD formats are just "not great" for storing geospatial data. You can do it, but it's messy. Far better to store data in a dedicated geospatial form/encoding like SDF or GML rather than DWG. Besides, data interop for geospatial, so far as Autodesk is concerned, is a done deal with Feature Data Objects (FDO) now an open source project.

Ralph Grabowski, who was on the call notes that this deal makes Open Design Alliance (ODA) irrelevant (at least for these two):

Bentley confirms that the ODA is now irrelevent both ways: (1) Bentley will use Autodesk's RealDWG instead of the Open Design Alliance's OpenDWG libarry; (2) Bentley will no longer provide documentation and tech support to the ODA's OpenDGN library for the DGN format that follow this year's release of MicroStation.

Update: That last bit is incorrect per Bentley's VP of Corporate marketing: "With respect to the ODA, Bentley will continue to provide the documentation and technical support to the ODA for the libraries the ODA creates.

However, we are under no obligation, nor do we have any intention, to deliver the new Bentley DGN Toolkit to or through the ODA." He refers to the toolkit the company is sharing with Autodesk.

So, the big losers may in the long run be other vendors that use OpenDGN (I think ESRI does). Remember this deal is all about interop between Autodesk and Bentley, not any other players.

Popular Science Google Earth Environment Guide

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:12:51 -0500

In case you missed it (I think I did) PopSci offers vignettes of 5 science apps built on Google Earth including: volcano ash prediction, hurricane growth, biomapping, ice cap mapping and bird flu.

Garmin's Linux Source Code Available

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 07:51:36 -0500

Rumors suggested that Garmin's Nuvi 8xx and 5xxx were built on Linux, but to date, the company didn't follow the GPL2 (open source license) which requires code written on that OS to be distributed with source code. Garmin got around to making the source code available today.

- PC World

Former USGS director Charles Groat, former Officials Call for Earth Systems Science Agency

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:48:07 -0500

If you don't follow press releases or read Science you may have missed this:

In an article published today in the journal Science, a group of former senior federal officials call for the establishment of an independent Earth Systems Science Agency (ESSA) to meet the unprecedented environmental and economic challenges facing the nation. They propose forming the new agency by merging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)....

The authors recommend that no less than 25 percent of the new agency's budget be devoted to grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with academic and nonprofit institutions.

The full text is behind a wall. The press release goes on to quote David Rejeski, of the Woodrow Wilson Center (and one of my favorite interviewees back in the day), suggesting that high risk, high reward efforts, such as DARPA (the folks behind the Internet among other things) are just the ticket for a better future.

PushPins Put Capital One on the Map

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:31:11 -0500

I've not been a fan of Capital One's ads, especially those for its credit cards. It's latest commercial, this one for its many ATM locations in New York and New Jersey, raised eyebrows. The spot involves buddies looking at a mapping site that pops up pushpins to note ATM locations. Then, giant pushpins falling from the sky and wreaking havoc, including one just outside the restaurant where they sit. (See a graphic, a link to the video and how they did it at Post Magazine.)

A reader of Stuart Elliot's advertising column in the New York Times found the destruction of New York City appalling and Elliot notes that the destruction was actually minimized during the spot's development.

It's a good thing everyone has come to expect pushpin as the de facto symbol for a point location. Quick - which online mapping site uses pushpins? Not that "G" one... By the way Capital One's locator uses MapQuest, which does not implement pushpins!

Eight mobile LBS apps: Which for you?

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500

ChannelWeb offers up a slideshow of eight "cool" location-based apps. A few were new to me. But I think the important thing the list highlights is the fact that there's a slew of them out there and it's going to take quite a bit of energy on the part of the providers, carriers or potential users to sort out which is the right one.

Off Topic Book Review: Blogging Heroes

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500

My publisher received a review copy of Michael Banks' Blogging Heroes (Wiley, 2008) and passed it along to me. We don't request nor regularly review books, and are not sure why this one was sent exactly, but I was intrigued by the title. The subtitle tells it all: "Interviews with 30 of the World's Top Bloggers."

Here's the bottom line: it's far more interesting to read blogs than to read about bloggers talking about blogging. Now, I say that as someone who's blogged for more than three years, so your mileage may vary. Each chapter is an edited transcription of a phone interview with a well-known blogger or a not so well-known blogger who runs a well-known blog. I was most interested in the names I knew: Robert Scoble and Mary Jo Foley to name two.

The interviews are ok, though they cover the same ground: how did you get into blogging, do you leave comments on other blogs, do you use search engine optimization... And, the answers were strangely the same. That got rather boring after about five chapters.

That said, I did feel encouraged that many of the repeated themes paralleled my observations and how we chosen to run this blog. These include:

Blog about something you are passionate about
Don't feel pressed to post stuff that's not "worthy"
Be open to comments
Have a thick skin
Read other blogs (many of those interviewed follow hundreds of RSS feeds; my list number 30 maybe)
Comment on other blogs (I don't do that much of it)
Don't rehash what others have already covered unless you break new ground
Don't worry too much about being first with a story
Blogging well takes a lot of time and regular attention
The blog is whatever you want it to be

That last one is perhaps the most important. Nearly everyone interviewed agreed there are plenty of electrons around for all to blog. And, if you are passionate, you'll find an audience, big or small. I got dinged a few months back for basically rehashing a story that appeared elsewhere (not in the geopress/blogs) without adding anything. It got me thinking seriously about the criticism. What I realized is that this blog, which does offer opinion, also acts as a giant filter to all news. We pass on stories that don't make the geopress or geoblogs but are relevant to this community. That's part of this blog's mission.

Blogging Heroes probably won't tell you much you don't already know if you are already a blogger. It won't tell you too much that's revolutionary if you are new to blogging. What it may do is confirm you are in the same boat with other, well known bloggers. And, that feels pretty good.

Quote of the Week

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500

"Compasses are really like computers."

- Carolyn Jones, St. Joseph County Parks leisure service leader, trying to encourage readers of the Sound Bend Tribune to attend a workshop on using map and compass called "Where am I?."

Sacramento Explores How It's "Smart to Be Dense"

joe.francica@directionsmag.com (Joe Francica) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500

In a fascinating article published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, the city of Sacramento, CA is profiled as a model for discovering the realities of $4 gasoline and planning for "clustering the places where people live more closely with the businesses where they work and shop," according to the article. Urban planner Mike McKeever is the architect that pushed through the "smart growth" strategies (light rail, bike paths, etc.) which wasn't easy when he started on the job back when gas was half its price. The article in print provides maps showing the increase in per capita expenditures on public transportation from 2000 to 2008. The online article provides a map showing projected conjestion from development with and without Mr. McKeever's "Blueprint" for growth through 2050.

Podcast: Web Mapping Platform Migration

(Adena Schutzberg) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Last week Ask.com moved off its longtime mapping platform to Microsoft's Virtual Earth. What are the practical choices these days for those who want mapping as part of their portals? Has customization and a unique look and feel been overshadowed by a few strong hosted solutions to which everyone will eventually migrate? Our editors sort out the options and trends and end up using the "c" word - commodity.

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Autodesk wants you to know about Map 3D Extensions

(Adena Schutzberg) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 11:45:32 -0500

These extensions (Autodesk calls them Toolkits, but the URL says extensions, which I think is more clear) aid Map 3D users in surveying and utility work. They are free to those on subscription as of June 27.

Autodesk shared these details (but not in a press release; interesting):

INDUSTRY TOOLKITS: Autodesk today announced the availability of three AutoCAD Map 3D Industry Toolkits aimed at helping Map 3D 2009 users working within the electric, water or wastewater utility industries to improve adherence to data standards and to increase drafting productivity for transmission and distribution system networks during data creation, acquisition and consolidation phases of a network design project.

With these industry-specific toolkits, utilities can leverage their existing investment in Autodesk technology to increase efficiency and data quality. Each toolkit includes industry data models and symbology specific to electric, water or wastewater utility operations. The toolkits enable utilities to quickly create and maintain consistency in drawings throughout a design projects lifecycle. Utilities can:
§ Improve drafting productivity of facilities for new and experienced workers;
§ Define and apply data standardization and intelligence during the drafting process;
§ Seamlessly integrate data received from external contractors and other departments to match established standards; and
§ Easily prepare engineering/CAD data for GIS.

The toolkits can also help facilitate the transfer of information between utilities and external engineering firms. Engineering firms can easily work within industry standards, leading to improved engineering/CAD and GIS data integration as well as more effectively meeting client requirements.

SURVEYING TOOLS: The availability of new AutoCAD Map 3D Surveying Tools was also announced today. These tools provide Map 3D 2009 users with surface creation, improved point data support and additional coordinate geometry (COGO) functionality. Map 3D 2009 users can now create, visualize and analyze terrain models and improve design and as-built update processes when working with point data collected by surveying, scanning and GPS instruments and devices. The surveying tools are available exclusively for users of Map 3D 2009.

The utility ones offer data models, templates and documentation. Per the FAQ:

Data models - A set of industry object classes and corresponding data attributes. For
example, an overhead conductor and the voltage carried by that conductor.
A set of pre-configured industry symbols that are tied to the object classes.
AutoCAD Map 3D drawing (DWT) and Object Classification template (XML) files.
User documentation including Users Guide, Workflows and Data Model Schema.
Instructional videos

The survey tools actually offer new functionality. Per the FAQ:

Improved point data support.
Surface creation capabilities.
Additional Coordinate Geometry (COGO) commands.
Import and export support for LandXML.
Preview Application Programming Interface (API).
User documentation including Users Guide and Developers Reference.

Loopt Launches Web, taxi-based videos to build the brand

(Adena Schutzberg) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 07:09:02 -0500

The campaign launches today and is aimed at tech-savvy young consumers. The webisodes feature David Price, host of the Internet's "Middle Show," (never heard of it but apparently it's in the late night vein). He uses Loopt's mobile friend-finding technology as he travels around New York City. There's a Loopt ad and a plug from the host for Loopt around the episode.

New weekly episodes will appear for two month on social networks like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace and on TaxiTV in 6,000 New York taxi cabs. I'll be curious to see what the advertising mavens think of this.

- MediaPost

BizWeek on Making Collaborative Maps During Disasters

(Adena Schutzberg) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 06:34:54 -0500

Google doesn't get the bulk of the electrons: GeoCommons, OpenStreetMap and Mapfacture do. They are referred to as "online hubs."

- Business Week

Quote of the Week

(Adena Schutzberg) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 06:11:06 -0500

"It's all over. Bottom line is that there is just so much data and so few people to collect it and process it. It's a tough job. I wouldn't like to have it, quite frankly."

- OGC's Sam Bacharach on location errors in online maps, in an article about the misplacement of the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton, New Jersey in the Press of Atlantic City.

TomTom CEO: We'll sell 15 million devices in 2008

(Adena Schutzberg) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500

Reuters reports:

The chief executive of navigation device maker TomTom NV (TOM2.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) expects to sell 15 million navigation devices in 2008 despite difficult economic conditions, Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported on Saturday.

Harold Goddijn knows of the economic downturn and rising gas prices, but feels confident. I'm surprised the GPS vendors haven't already started marketing the devices as money-savers to consumers.