In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Quite a few interesting news in this batch mode edition.

From the open source front:

• It was the first time I heard about the open source LSI Viewer, an online Shapefile viewer
• There's the new MapProxy 1.5.0 released
• And Portable GIS is now at version 3.1
• It is also the first time we mention GisClient.org, "an open source software written in AJAX, Javascript, PHP/MapScript that offers an innovative way to manage complex GIS projects. The main strength in it is that allows to configure a big range of tools and functionalities easily and quickly."
• If you're working with the U.S. Federal government, take a look at FedGeo Day, to be held in Washington DC on February 28, here's the official website
• Here's the MapBox New Features Roundup
• Regarding QGIS, visualising QGIS data in 3D with Blender and on Sharing QGIS Symbols
• Here's the just released OSGeo 2011 Annual Report
• A bugfix, PostGIS 2.0.2 has been released
• And there's the call for papers and new website for FOSS4G 2013, in the U.K. this year
• The open source ArcGIS for Local Government Apps Available Now on GitHub

From the Google front:

• Google announced two new features for the Google Places API: Place Photos and Radar Search.
• Google wants us to know that they're listening to our Google Maps feedback
• The GEB shares links for The making of the "Powers of Ten", the 1977 video
• The GEB also reports that Botswana not happy with Google Street View, since it "compromise their security"

In the miscellaneous category:

• APB informs us about cloud-offloaded GPS (CO-GPS) to decrease power needed by GPS devices
• DM reports that the National Geologic Map Database Gets a Face Lift
• We now have drones that can infect with software virus other drones
• Here's an OGC summary of Location Business Summit USA 2012
• Augmented reality to the extreme, Belgian Researchers Build LCD Contact Lenses
• Extending their offer, MapBox Teams Up with DigitalGlobe on Satellite Imagery
• Here's the ArcGIS Online World Topographic Map December 2012 updates, and also Esri-related, Esri Updates Terms of Use on (Free) Personal Accounts for ArcGIS Online
• On geospatial jobs, APB shares two interesting entries; NZ Report on Geospatial Skill Shortage and Four of Eight Emerging Careers for 2013 Demand Geospatial Skills

in the maps category:

• Here's an entry named Using Series of Maps to Represent Changes in Time: How Diabetes Swept the U.S.
• VerySpatial links to an entry and map on the geography of US charity
• Let's end this issue with a fake map on procrasti-nation

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode. It excludes Esri-related geonews since I wait for the conclusion of the User Conference to share an aggregated entry. Also to note, this week some of our users finally get our daily newsletter in their inboxes after an absence of over a year - the problem was that it was identified as 'spam' by a 3rd party filtering system - thanks to the user who reported this issue!

On the open source front:

• It's in a James Fee rant named Google Maps Is More Accurate Because They Say It Is, I learned about the OpenStreetView.org, you guessed it, an open version of Google's Street View
• A few weeks ago, we mentioned FOSS4G 2012 in Beijing being cancelled, here's the related official OSGeo board reaction

• Here's an entry on Creating contour lines with GDAL and Mapnik
• A technical entry named Manipulating GPS tracks in Spatialite
• Time flies, QGIS Is Ten Years Old

On the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft released an impressive 215TB of new Bird's Eye imagery: "spans across the United States and features certain areas in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Tokyo"
• In an entry, Microsoft details the Bing Maps keys, including the limitations of what you can do for free

Discussed over Slashdot:

• Dr. Faragher Answers Your Questions About the Future of Navigation Technology, he's the Principal Scientist at the BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre and NAVSOP supporter

• A discussion on Resources For Identifying Telecom Right-of-Way Locations?
• Australian Consumer Group Wants Geo-IP Blocking Banned "saying it created significant barriers to the free flow of goods and services"
• Samsung Galaxy S3 Stripped of Local Search

In the miscellaneous category:

• Pretty interesting stat: 93% of the top million sites and 89% of the top 10,000 sites on the internet with maps are using Google maps or the Google maps API, this comes from this overview of statistics for mapping technologies
• Directions Mag offers screenshots in an entry named Get Ready for the London Olympics with AEgis’ 3D Models
• Via the AQT [French link], I learned about the Kessler syndrome: "[...] a scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade – each collision generating debris which increases the likelihood of further collisions. One implication is that the distribution of debris in orbit could render space exploration, and even the use of satellites, unfeasible for many generations."
• APB tells us that DigitalGlobe and GeoEye agreed to merge
• APB informs us that there is Nokia 4000 Indoor Maps
• Apparently, drones are an hazard to air traffic in Somalia
• The GEB has en entry on Meograph, as multimedia tool for creating Google Earth visualizations
• Long entry on MapQuest iOS Maps API 1.0.1 released and their official announcement of their iOS Maps API
• The US NGA released its Strategic Plan for 2013-2017
• An interesting short entry, Starbucks: 1 Store = $1 Million Investment and GIS Helps Get It Right

In the maps category:

• Via O'Reilly, you can read Google's Ed Parson in an short article named The Future of the Map Isn't a Map at All—It's Information

• TMR shares an entry about Susan Schulten's 'Mapping the Nation' book, focusing on 19th century U.S.

Here's the Friday geonews in batch mode.

From the open source / open data front:

• A third entry in the series of the Free Shapefiles of Countries of the World, focusing this time on small countries
• Mapperz mentions FacilMap.org Beta, that aims to group together layers of various OpenStreetMap projects
• An entry on OpenPisteMap, for mountain sports
• Via Kurt, here's NOAA's new bathymetry data viewer
• There's a new offline editing plugin for QGIS
• GeoNetwork opensource v2.6.2 released
• Shapely 1.2.8 has been released

From the ESRI front:

• SS summarizes Jack Dangermond's opening talk at the GeoDesign Summit and shares a second entry named Exploring the Esri Approach to GeoDesign
• James praises for Python in ArcGIS

In the miscellaneous category:

• There has been quite a few entries on the Australian flood maps, the best one I found is from VerySpatial
• Here's the Top 10 Spatial Law and Policy Stories of 2010
• Via APB, here's DigitalGlobe's Top Ten Imagery Related Events of the Decade
• APB mentions that a Japanese Company Achieves 3 cm Accuracy for GPS
• GLONASS-enabled phones are coming in March
• Here's Cédric's seven 2011 geo predictions
• Kurt mentions the Earth Observer iOS app
• SS mentions Satellite Monitoring Employed to Prevent Civil War in Sudan, supported by actor George Clooney
• Slashdot ran a story named 'French Use Space Tech To Find Parking Spots'

In the maps category:

• A map of North American English Dialects
• An entry on Michael Zeiler's Solar Eclipse Map Website

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode.

On the Google front:

• The Maps Data API is being deprecated, replaced by Fusion Tables in the Maps API v3
• In addition to the Maps API for Flash, Styled Maps launched for the Static Maps API
• There was an imagery update this week for Google Maps and Earth
• Google also previewed StreetView imagery for Germany
• There's an official Panoramio Photo Contest

On the FOSS4G front:

• The next version of QGIS will feature raster masks, explained in this entry
• GeoServer gets a new file chooser

In the miscellaneous category:

• Slashdot started a discussion today named Nicaragua Raids Costa Rica, Blames Google Maps
• The GEB details Breadcrumbs, a software to visualize your GPS tracks in 3D
• The Russians are serious mapping land use land cover, with 12,000 Landsat-5 scenes acquired in 2010
• TMR shares a review of the DeLorme GPS/Communicator Combo
• DigitalGlobe is reporting is third consecutive down quarter
• Everyblock released their API

In the maps category:

• A quick look at this map with a reversed Mercator effect for Africa and Greenland makes obvious how maps projections can be misleading, especially the omnipresent Mercator projection