Podcast: Three Paths to Open Source Geospatial

Open source is in the news again. This past week the US Dept. of Defence announced Forge.mil, an open source project repository akin to SourceForge. Last month President Obama tapped Sun co-founder Scott McNealy to prepare a document on open source and its potential role in government. But what of open source GIS? How is that corner of geospatial being funded and groomed for growth? We’ll look at three paths that have lead to open source growth and their likelihood for success in the coming months and years.

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Washington State Legislators Propose Studying Implanted GPS for Sex Offenders

Since bracelets are not working the Washington State House of Representatives is considering a bill to study the cost and feasibility of implanting GPS devices in the worst offenders. Civil rights supporters are expected to advocate against the bill. Jerry Dobson’s term “geoslavery” always creeped me out; so does contemplating this type of tracking.

- King5

Update: All 43 Police Forces in England and Wales offer Online Crime Maps

Update: 1/15/09: The Guardian provides a link to the listing of the 43 forces (though not to the mapping page of each). In an article today it highlights how the maps are but a first step. Timely as I take crime maps in Directions today.

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DC Gov Drops Daily Crime E-mail, Users Unhappy with alternative, a Map

The daily crime e-mail had been sent out by the D.C. police to the public via e-mail. It included all crimes in each of the department’s districts, broken down by Police Service Area.  The e-mails have been dropped per Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes because they often included information that may have jeopardized police work. Instead, the DC police offer a map built on the acclaimed DC Atlas.

That app is quite complex, allowing search near an address, searching on a specific crime, etc. GIS may love it but some, like the Georgetown Metropolitan Blog (GMT) finds it wanting compared to the sleek text listing. (Full review from the blog including what are suggested as better alternatives: below is a summary.)

...it’s terrible. It’s based on inferior mapping software, it’s difficult to use, and it doesn’t allow you to actually find out any information on each crime. For crime maps, there are better options out there. But a crime map is not a satisfactory replacement for a daily list. MPD has offered the crime map for years, why does it all of the sudden think that it’s a better option than daily blotters?

The response of both NBC and GMT sounds rational: find a way not to include the information that shouldn’t be included and keep the e-mails coming!

- NBC Washington