In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

This is my tentative to catch up the geonews since my mid-August holidays. Here they are!

On the open source / open data front:

• UDig 1.3.2 has been released with several new features and supports Axios spatial editing tools again
• Since 2008 the USGS provides the Landsat archive, but this entry mentions that a substantial part of the Landsat archive is available on the fast and reliable public Google Earth Engine cloud storage

On the Esri front:

• The free plugin ArcGIS for AutoCAD version 300 is now available
• There's now an ArcGIS Runtime for iOS for ArcGIS.com WebMaps

On the Google front:

• Google made a few Google Maps announcements, including voice guided directions in India, Map Maker in New Zealand and new Street View in 150 university campuses
• In another entry, Google offers a roundup of their August Google Maps related news, most news we already shared with our users
• Nothing surprising, new imagery released on September 1

On the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft shares an entry on overlaying Esri shapefiles in BIng Maps
• Microsoft's Global Ortho Project is complete for the United States, meaning there's high resolution 30cm imagery everywhere in the country
• There's a new Bing Get Me There App for iOS for London, UK
• An entry on Bing Maps V7 AJAX Highlights

In the everything else category:

• James shares a must-read short entry named '80% of Data Is Not Spatial So Stop Claiming It Is', read the comments for insights
• Here's a pertinent entry related to a UN paper, Criticism - Future Trends in Geospatial Information Management: The Five to Ten Year Vision
• Here's an update on the OGC standards and the semantic web (aka Linked Data)
• APB informs us that 22 companies formed the In-Location Alliance to Enhance Indoor Positioning
• O'Reilly links to an article on Yelp Checkins to Measure Geopositioning Accuracy Across Phones
• Slashdot discuss the Location Privacy Act Approved By California Legislature
• Other stories at Slashdot, The Rapid Rise of License Plate Readers and UK License Plate Cameras Have "Gaps In Coverage"
• Big numbers, APB indicates that the GIS market will soon reach between 3.7 - 10.6 Billions, depending on who you ask

In the maps category:

• On APoD, there's a pretty interesting map of hurricane and tropical storms paths (screenshot below)
• An interesting map of the Global Decline in Religiosity
• Some London Olympics 2012 maps: The politics of London 2012 Olympic medal counts

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode.

On the open source front:

• Thanks to reverse engineering, GDAL/OGR can now use the Shapefile native .sbn spatial index, to understand the context: "The Shapefile format had been documented since 1998, but the documentation was limited to the minimum core, that is to say the .shp file that contains the geometries and the .shx that is an index to the geometries. However the format of the .sbn file, that was known to contain spatial index (aimed at speeding up spatial filters), has never been published."
• Another entry on the visions for OpenLayers 3
• Here's an entry on QGIS Cloud, a hosting service for QGIS Server and still on the QGIS topic, Styling temporal (time) data in QGIS

On the Esri front:

• APB shares their thoughts on Just What is ArcGIS Online for Organizations?: "It’s a cloud hosted platform for a GIS intranet for an organization."

On the web mapping front:

• Microsoft added thousands of international shopping malls to Bing Maps
• Styles Maps in the Google Maps API just got improved

In the miscellaneous category:

• APB shares a interesting new App called Mapfia that "lets users make free "map calls" to see each other's real time location"
• Even geospatial files are prone to virus, AutoCAD Worm Medre.A Stealing Designs, Blueprints
• On a more positive note for Autodesk, James mentions Project Artoo "that allows AutoCAD Map 3D users to perform geometry cleanup operations on geospatial data"
• Also from Slashdot, here's what can happen when you map someone else's data, PadMapper Gets C&D From Craigslist Over Apartment Listing Maps
• Via OGD, with Map Compare, you can now compare side-by-side 35 basemaps from OpenStreetMap versions to Google Maps versions and Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and more

In the maps category:

• That's an interesting and probably sad map in an entry named The Great Indoors, or Childhood's End?, showing how much less we allow our children to go away from the house over the last decades
• The annual map of the Tour de France in Google Earth

• Here's an entry on the On-Going Japan Sea/East Sea Naming Controversy

On June 6 and 7, Geomap GIS America will be hosting its free annual seminar featuring the new releases of Autodesk solutions. This year, Geomap innovates by offering this seminar online,. The goal is to facilitate participation to this event and allow more people to attend. The presenters will cover the complete lifecycle of a BIM-Geomatics project including a LEED® component. This event will offer the opportunity to optimize each of the four important steps of a project: plan, design, build, and manage, by leveraging Autodesk 2013 solutions and Geomap’s expertise. This online event will be accessible from your workstation to encourage a small carbon footprint and for greater flexibility.

All participants will have the opportunity to see the most recent solutions for 3D modeling, infrastructure network conception, land planning, collaboration of information and optimization of a project, to decrease costs, accelerate the realization and minimize the environmental impact.

Here a brief overview of  the Software to be showcased during the seminar: AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013, AutoCAD Map 3D 2013, Autodesk Revit 2013,Autodesk Infrastructure Modeller, Ecotect, Vasari, Autodesk Infrastructure Map Server, Buzzsaw, Vault AEC and much more.

Visit our “Events” section on www.geomapgis.ca to register for free

Visit our web site for more information

About Geomap:

Geomap GIS America specialises in solutions and services integrating the innovative concepts of Geomatics and BIM (Building Information Modelling) for the Municipal, Facilities Management (FM), Transportation and Utilities Networks industries since 2000. These solutions implemented in public and private organizations, large accounts and international projects allow spatial manipulation of an organization’s assets information and representation on maps, reports, dashboards and in databases. This data can be processed and queried to obtain results in the form of drawings, thematic maps, reports and graphics. Geomap is a certified developer and authorized Autodesk reseller. Geomap is also involved in the geospatial open source community and is a Microsoft, Oracle and Business Objects partner

Richard Perez

BIM & Architecture Solutions Manager

Phone: 450 461-1158 #226

Email: [email protected]

BERKELEY, CA ─ June 27, 2011 ─ earthmine today announced it is now an Autodesk AEC Industry Partner, along with the immediate availability of its latest addition to the earthmine desktop product suite, earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D.   As an Autodesk AEC Industry Partner, earthmine will work closely with Autodesk on product integration opportunities to bring real world data and context to the CAD environment, as well as joint marketing and consulting opportunities within the infrastructure market.

“We are very excited to be working more closely with Autodesk on a number of levels,” said Anthony Fassero, co-CEO and co-founder of earthmine, Inc. “Users of AutoCAD Map 3D that are planning, managing and maintaining large scale infrastructure will benefit immensely from having access to real world contextual information at all stages of an asset’s life cycle.”

“earthmine’s complementary business strategy and the successful interoperability and integration with AutoCAD Map 3D make them an ideal AEC Industry Partner,” said Paul McRoberts, vice president, infrastructure product line group, AEC solutions, Autodesk. “Autodesk offers a broad portfolio of solutions—including the new Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite 2012, which includes AutoCAD Map 3D-- to help consultants and owners plan, design, build, and manage more sustainable infrastructure.” 

 “The availability of earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D provides users with access to earthmine’s detailed street level 3D maps, giving them the ability to visualize and map their assets in the context of the real world,” said Justin Lokitz, senior product manager, infrastructure product line group for Autodesk. “Our customers in the infrastructure market will for the first time be able to accurately visualize and analyze their assets using earthmine’s reality capture technology and software suite.”

earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D

earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D delivers high resolution and immersive street level imagery alongside the traditional AutoCAD view.  Map 3D features can be accurately displayed on top of the panoramic imagery via direct integration between the products – truly integrating GIS, CAD and earthmine data into a seamless solution. This integration provides a powerful way to visualize spatial data within its real world context, and enables users to gather and analyze additional information that may not be contained within their GIS. 

The product provides an extensive toolset including an efficient workflow for creating, attributing and editing point, polygon or polyline features, as well as the ability to visualize and query existing features. Users can simply point and click on objects depicted within the panoramic view, generating 3D coordinates for entry back into the database. The high resolution and 3D nature of earthmine's imagery provides the perfect backdrop for mapping a wide range of infrastructure assets. The software also provides a full set of flexible measurement tools to accurately measure real world distances and calculate areas and includes access to the underlying 3D point cloud.

earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D works seamlessly with earthmine's existing product suite. Users can connect to data hosted on their own earthmine Server or connect to remotely hosted data in earthmine Cloud.  earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D allows users to be up and running within minutes without any custom application development or software engineering.  The product is immediately available as part of the earthmine Server software suite or the earthmine Cloud service. For further information about earthmine for AutoCAD Map 3D please see http://www.earthmine.com/Solutions?Desktop__Software.  To view a product walk through video please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDJvjnJP4XE

About earthmine                                                                                                        

earthmine’s mobile 3D mapping solution consists of vehicle-based mobile mapping systems, automated data processing, online hosting services or end-user hosted options, as well as developer tools for integration with existing data sets and information systems.  earthmine Partners provide market and customer specific solutions that include earthmine’s solution, as well as other value added products and services. earthmine technology is used by internet, mobile, mapping, GIS, safety, and security markets worldwide in the United States, Mexico, Canada, France and Australia, as well as other countries around the world.  Find earthmine on the web at www.earthmine.com or follow earthmine on Twitter at http://twitter.com/earthmine.

Autodesk and AutoCAD are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

###

Here's the Friday geonews in batch mode.

From the open source / open data front:

• Here's a quick look at the WFS GDAL Driver
• MapQuest added Japan to their open data initiative, still linked to OpenStreetMap
• It's been a year since we mentioned it, and now there's a new version of the OpenStreetMap plugin for Wordpress available

From the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft now offers 148 US mall interactive maps in Bing Maps, including the 9 largest
• The Bing team shares a tip on how to search by driving time with AJAX v7, REST, and Spatial Data Services

In the miscellaneous category:

• SS shares an entry the unveiling, by Autodesk, of their 2012 products, including AutoCAD Map 3D 2012 and plenty other products
• Slashdot runs a story on a surveillance robot that covertly maps its environment in 3D
• The FGT blog mentions a cheap GeoPDF to GeoTIFF converter in the context of use for Garmin Custom Map Imagery
• GeoCurrents offers two entries, named Caribbean Geopolitical Rivalry? and When Is an Island Not An Island? Caribbean Maritime Disputes
• Here's a link to a review of the Magellan RoadMate 9055 SatNav GPS
• APB mentions MapInfo Manager, a solution for geodata searches from Pitney Bowes
• We mentioned it in 2009, and here's a preview of Depiction 1.3, which "aims to provide all the tools and necessary features for summarizing events such as disaster and emergency relief efforts, location events and situations where maps and information collections need to be integrated rapidly and easily"

In the maps category:

• Slashdot discusses Crowdsourced Radiation Maps In Asia and US
• Here's an informative Poster of the Great Tohoku Earthquake (northeast Honshu, Japan) of March 11, 2011 - Magnitude 9.0 from the USGS
• The Map Room analyses the New York Times radiation map and why it's an irresponsible map
• It seems Apple is still seeking to 'radically improve' maps for iOS
• TMR links to global migration maps
• SS mentions a new interactive Sea Ice Atlas
• Here's news of EPA launch of a Clean Water Violation Map

Here's the recent geonews that haven't made it into full stories in batch mode.

Related to the Japan 2011 earthquake and tsunami:

• The NYT shared efficient slide-over satellite imagery of several sites over Japan
• In addition to what we shared last Friday, Google posted entries on post-earthquake imagery of Japan and another on assembling resources following the earthquake in Japan
• V1 links to the UN-SPIDER SpaceAid website for the Japan earthquake
• Here's the Wikipedia entry on Nuclear power by country, where we learn Japan gets 29% of its energy from that source

From the open source / open data front:

• MapServer now has a Studio version 0.5 to edit Mapfiles in a WYSIWYG editor
• OpenStreetMap offers a video on how to add a building in OpenStreetMap
• MapQuest is now supporting OpenAerialMap too
• Mapperz mentions the OpenEcoMaps initiative based on OSM data
• There's a new version of Spatial Operations & Editing Tools for uDig 1.2.1 with its tutorial
• There will be a new interactive label placement feature in QGIS 1.7, there's also a new QGIS roadgraph plugin, On the fly raster reprojection comes to QGIS and here's a tip on opening MS SQL Server 2008 spatial tables in QGIS
• By the way, we published the press release about FOSS4G's conference workshop lineup

From the ESRI front:

• For those interested, the Plenary Session Videos For The Esri Developer Summit 2011 are now available
• There's a ArcGIS 9.3.1 Service Pack 2 Quality Improvement patch
• The ArcGIS API For iOS 1.8 Public Beta is now available
• If you like testing ESRI beta software, the Esri Beta Community has been launched
• Still from geogeek, there's an ESRI whitepaper on Estimating the cost of a GIS in the Amazon Cloud
• and three entries about a new approach to metadata with ArcGIS 10
• There's a new ArcGIS Map Drupal module that just started

In the miscellaneous category:

• MapQuest announced the launch of MapQuest Map Builder Beta while a press release focused on MapQuest tools to help drivers save money
• The UN is looking for volunteers on the Crisis Map of Libya
• For those unsure if geospatial apps will ever take off on tablets (see are running poll on the right hand side), AutoCAD WS for iOS has been downloaded 1 million times
• Slashdot discussed a story named DraftSight 2D CAD For Linux Beta Available
• A topic we discussed last week, this time it's O'Reilly that offer an article named Are we too reliant on GPS?
• The FGT blog shares an informative update on LightSquared’s GPS-Jamming proposal
• The same source offers an article named wireless sensor networks can see and shape the world
• And still from O'Reilly, an entry named Why location data is a mess, and what can be done about it and another on named Location data could let retailers entice customers in new ways

In the maps category:

• GeoCurrents offers a map of the extreme disparities of state revenue, along with an entry named The CIA World Factbook Drops Dubious Revenue Data
• TMR mentions the upcoming 'Disease Maps: Epidemics on the Ground' book by Tom Koch
• SS has an entry named China Begins Campaign to Crack Down on Unlicensed Maps

It's Friday! Here's the geonews that haven't made it into an individual story, in batch mode.

In the open source/open data front:

• The OpenGeo Suite Enterprise Edition version 2.2. was released
• Automated ground control points (GCP) collection is coming to QGIS. There's also an offline editing plugin coming for QGIS. And another welcomed improvement, new class breaks for graduated symbols in QGIS
• Here's tips on upgrading / backuping PostGIS databases
• The UK Ordnance Survey clarified what you can do with their open data.
• Slashdot discussed a story about CycleStreets.net for the U.K., hopefully someone was quick enough to mention OpenCycleMap.org that we mentioned in the past.

In the miscellanous category:

• Remember we when mentioned Autodesk's Project Butterfly? It's now announced as and renamed to AutoCAD WS: a web application that allows you to view, edit, and share drawings (.dwg) through a web browser or a mobile device.
• GeoCommons got overhauled. Finder! and Maker! disapeered for the sake of a new interface. It also now supports the time dimension visualizations.
• Microsoft mentioned the TweetHeat Map App: "helping users visualize the [Twitter] public response/feeling towards a product, event or really any topic."
• Google has an entry on Liquid Galaxy, eight 55-inches LCD screens showing Google Earth
• TMR links to an article on GPS reception myths and misconceptions
• Mapperz discusses TripGeo, offering directions with video StreetView
• The GeoNames Ontology version 2.2 has been released
• India's Bhuvan, their virtual globe, has been recently improved
• There will be 3 new UK commercial EO satellites planned for 2013, along with a new commercial earth observation company

In the maps category:

• TMR offers an entry named Google Maps Errors and Disappearing Cities
  
• TMR also offers a Roundup of iPhone and iPad Map Apps
• Ogle Earth warns us, the newly available Chinese iPhone 4 comes with a crippled Maps app, there's also a second entry on the same topic
• Kurt details his difficulties encountered to access USGS Topo Maps
• En entry on a New Map Offering a Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution
• The FGT blog has an entry on BBC's Dimensions website, showing how big things are relative to one another
• FTG also tells us how to embed a QR Position Code Losslessly Into A Geotagged Picture With QRStamper

As you know, with the website migration and my attendance at FOSS4G, there haven't been a 'Friday geonews' batch mode for a while. Well, there it is!

In the LBS category:

• A Slashdot discussion named "Burglary Ring Used Facebook Places To Find Targets"
• O'Reilly discusses local ads, check-ins and place pages
• There's a new Twitter's Tweet With Your Location feature
• If you wonder, RFID is still not secure: "New German Government ID Hacked By CCC"

In the GPS category:

Story imported from the previous Slashgeo.org Slashcode site, user comments have not been migrated. For more information, please read Welcome to the new Slashgeo.org!. Thank you for your understanding.

Geoff introduces Project Butterfly, an Autodesk Technology Preview tools that allows you to edit AutoCAD drawings over the web.

From the entry: "With Project Butterfly, AutoCAD users can share and work on DWG files with colleagues and clients from any computer with an Internet connection.

Project Butterfly also allows you to create designs using your browser. You can save your design as a local drawing file, or as long as you have created it via the cloud, you can leave it in the cloud, which means that you can share DWG files with others in distant locations without the need to transmit files.

Anyone can access Project Butterfly. You don't need to have AutoCAD installed, and you don’t even need to have a Project Butterfly account."

See also previous AutoCAD-related stories below.Story imported from the previous Slashgeo.org Slashcode site, user comments have not been migrated. For more information, please read Welcome to the new Slashgeo.org!. Thank you for your understanding.

Geoff introduces Project Butterfly, an Autodesk Technology Preview tools that allows you to edit AutoCAD drawings over the web.

From the entry: "With Project Butterfly, AutoCAD users can share and work on DWG files with colleagues and clients from any computer with an Internet connection.

Project Butterfly also allows you to create designs using your browser. You can save your design as a local drawing file, or as long as you have created it via the cloud, you can leave it in the cloud, which means that you can share DWG files with others in distant locations without the need to transmit files.

Anyone can access Project Butterfly. You don't need to have AutoCAD installed, and you don’t even need to have a Project Butterfly account."

See also previous AutoCAD-related stories below.