In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Hello,

As organizers of WhereCamp Berlin, we would like to announce that WhereCamp is coming back to Berlin on 21st of June at Beuth University.

Barcamps or so-called "unconferences" procedure allows a faster experience and knowledge across organizational boundaries. 

WhereCamp is also a BarCamp and within the 3rd edition of the event, we want to give to  the geo communities the opportunity to share the newest projects in the geo-area and to present innovative approaches.

We welcome your feedback, your help and we would really appreciate your support in promoting the event. 

Thank you,

Adela Porumb

Organizing Team

Twitter: @WhereBerlin

Google+: WhereCamp Berlin 

Facebook: WhereBerlin

The 3rd Edition of Berlin’s Geo-“Unconference”

Berlin, 5th of May 2013

WhereCamp Berlin is back with its 3rd edition of the geo-“unconference”.  This informal event, which covers topics in geography and related technologies, will take place on 21-22 of June 2013 at Beuth University of Applied Science in Berlin. REGISTRATION IS FREE and all geo-locative enthusiasts are welcome to present their projects, ideas and knowledge, or just listen and engage with a community of people immersed in the geo space.

WhereCamp Berlin, now in its third edition, aims to provide a social environment where location nerds are encouraged to exchange ideas between geo-enthusiasts. 

For more information or to get involved with WhereCamp Berlin, please visit:  wherecamp.de

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode. Yes, on a Saturday! I'll be away for the next three weeks and dare delay my family's departure to feed you with these.

From the open source front:

• Mentioned before, the open source map design tool TileMill reached version 0.4.1   
• Some recent improvements of QGIS: an extraction projection tool for QGIS, a new MapInfo to QGIS style converter and Shield Labels for QGIS
• Not the first time it happened, a briton got arrested during his OpenStreetMap mapping activities, yes, that was before the recent London riots
• O'Reilly offers an entry named Open source maps tell data journalism stories in Afghanistan
• Paul Ramsey of the PostGIS fame shares interesting arguments on the open source vs proprietary debacle
• Here's an entry on generating elevation maps from along-track stereo pairs using the open source Orfeo ToolBox
• We told you ourselves a few times, but here's how James Fee telling us Why You Can’t Afford to Miss FOSS4G 2011

From the Esri front:

• The File GeoDatabase API version 1.1 has been released, in includes a .NET wrapper and bug fixes
• James Fee mentions PgMap and QMap to connect to spatial databases with ArcGIS 10.1 without SDE

From the Google front:

• In their learning series, here's an entry on GIS with Google Earth and Google Maps
• Google shares an entry on famine crisis relief in the Horn of Africa
• Here's the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall in Google Earth
• Google invites us to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial with Google Maps

On the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft updated their Bing Maps Account Center with three main improvements: Direct Publishing of Data Sources, Map Navigation for Data Editing, and Enhanced POI Data Search
• Here's an entry named KinectFusion Provides Low-Cost and Accessible 3D Interior Mapping

In the miscellaneous category:

• The Spatial Law blog shares a long entry named Geolocation and Privacy: Are We Going the Right Way?: "However, many of bills are so broadly written that if they were to become law they could apply to a broad range of geospatial products and services, including satellite and aerial imagery, GIS and GPS."
• VerySpatial mentions the launch of the augmented reality Layar Vision app to "recognize real-world objects and then trigger digital content based on that object"
• The GEB shares satellite imagery on the Japanese Tsunami that created some massive icebergs
• MacRumors details an Apple patent on schematic maps: "[...] a new maps application that could display a simplified subset of information most relevant to a user seeking specific information or routing."
• In special remote sensing news, Slashdot mentions a camera reaching its target by being thrown by a grenade launcher
• MapQuest tells us how free listing works on their MapQuest Local Business Center

In the maps category:

• O'Reilly discuss maps of the recent London riots
• Mapperz mentions the release of USGS historical maps

In March 2010, Chris Osborne and myself transplanted the post-Where 2.0 WhereCamp from Silicon Valley and brought it to London. Judging by the feedback and comments we got during and after the event, it was a geotastic success and showed that Europe had an appetite for a 2 day, free, unconference on all matters geo. After a brief northbound sojourn as WhereCamp UK in November 2010, we're happy to announce that WhereCamp EU is back for 2011 and with a distinctly European flavour.

Whilst the venue is yet to be confirmed, WhereCamp EU will be taking place on the 27th and 28th of May in Berlin.

We'll keep you posted with more details on the WhereCamp EU blog , on Lanyrd and on our Twitter feed.

"Ich Bin Geograph" (as Google translate tells me).

Here's recent Google-related geonews.

From the official sources:

• Google changed its basemap data for ten countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland. Google already switched to their own data for the U.S. and Canada in the not so distant past.
• Following a previous entry Costa Rica and Nicaragua boundary in Google Maps, Google Lat Long and Ogle Earth discuss the matter
• Google Maps tiles have been significantly updated for Japan
• There's contest for SketchUp 3D modelers
• You can now perform spatial queries in Fusion Tables

From other sources:

• An entry on using SketchUp to model interiors
• An excellent flight simulator for Google Earth
• Here's an entry on the state of the Berlin Wall, as seen using the Google Earth Plugin
• An online tool for Satellite Tracks And Visibility In Google Maps
• We mentioned BatchGeo a few times in the past, via APB I learned that BatchGeo was forced to disable extracting geocoded coordinates because it's a violation of Google's Terms of Service. We rarely saw similar enforcements as far as I can remember.

I wasn't available to share the recent geonews in batch mode last Friday, so there you go!

On the Google front:

• Google Places is now more widely available in Asia
• New in Google Maps for Android: Latitude real-time updating and more
• Via APB, there's a 'big buttons' version of the Google Maps UI that is being tested

On the Microsoft front:

• Bing Maps' latest map app is OnTerra’s “RouteSavvy” Route Optimizer, allowing you to find the best route for multiple destinations (think solving the travelling salesman problem)
• IDV's Visual Fusion 5.0 has been released, it integrates with Microsoft tools such as Bing Maps and Sharepoint

On the open source / data front:

• Here's an important entry if you use ExtJS or GeoExt, it's about the licensing limitations of GeoExt depending on your use case
• Here's a blog entry on how do OpenStreetMap and open government geodata fit together
• There's WMS cascading in the latest GeoServer
• Here's an interesting entry named Latest on JPEG2000 Improved Support for the Java world

On the ESRI front:

• An entry named Esri Forestry Group Aims to Create Open Templates and Tools
• Here's two entries from V1 on ESRI's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) conference, one named “All Roads Lead to Rome” and a second one named Thought – Is ESRI Building a Search Engine?

In the miscellaneous category:

• Here's an entry on a disagreement of the value of REST for geodata processing and the OGC
• We mentioned China's MapWorld recently, here's more info and a note that it uses DigitalGlobe imagery
• Here's a free set of online calculators for geographic coordinates and distances
• It seems that Vans can Drive Themselves Across the World and another geo-related discussion over Slashdot: Forming New Mobile Networks With People-Borne Sensors
• Here's news from LizardTech: Next Generation MrSID Technology Offers Enhanced Compression Technology for Hyperspectral Data
• I liked this short tidbit letting us know that a "trial in New South Wales revealed that a GPS device that beeped when drivers were over the local speed limit (access from a database, not input by drivers as other devices require) caused 89% of drivers to slow down."
• Also from APB: MapQuest Visits Down 22% over Last Year
• And if you like editwars, "Neogeography" has been deleted from Wikipedia
• And ending up the serie from APB, updating a NAVTEQ in-dash GPS can cost you more than the value of a new handheld GPS device
• Why not, Australian Researchers Design Software to Help Robots Read Maps

In the maps category:

• The Wikileaks Iraq War Logs Mapped
• Here's an interesting entry named The Surprising Geography of International Tourism
• Here's a review of the new National Geographic Atlas
• Here's about the Berlin Solar Atlas project
• The One Europe One Geology book is now online