In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Here's the usual Friday geonews in batch mode.

From the open source / open data front:

• A Wall Street Journal article on OpenStreetMap getting noticed by Microsoft and MapQuest
• Autodesk's CEO shared interesting comments on open source and MapGuide: "He commented that the effort has been a success based on the large number of users, but that Open Source was a bit of a ‘last gasp of the commoditization of desktop software.” He mentioned that the push toward mobile and cloud computing have eclipsed the interest in open source as a means to extend software capability, and that the phenomenon in the geospatial space that made this the right move doesn’t translate well to other markets that Autodesk serves."
• If you're into MapGuide and FDO, see this MapGuide Wishlist and this FDO wishlist
• An entry named 3D visualisation and DEM creation in QGIS with the GRASS plugin
• Also about QGIS, an overview of QGIS for MapInfo users, an entry on Quick graticule in QGIS and a new QGIS 1.6 brochure is available
• An entry about a workflow for creating beautiful relief shaded dems using GDAL
• libspatialindex 1.6.1 has been released
• OpenGeo Suite Community Edition 2.3.1 Released

From the ESRI front:

• The new ESRI Technical Certification Program has been announced
• ArcGIS 10 Data Interoperability Extension Service Pack 1 Released
• ArcGIS API For Microsoft Silverlight/WPF And ArcGIS API For Windows Phone 2.1 Now Available

From the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft reminds us of their nice Destinations Maps map app
• Bing Maps introduced mall directory maps

In the miscellaneous category:

• Three Russian GLONASS satellites were lost in the Pacific at launch
• Nigeria is launching two new OE satellites next February, the first one was in 2003
• SS shared an entry on Autodesk’s Project Galileo, promising to meld CAD, GIS and BIM
• Here's a followup entry on Free Shapefiles of Countries of the World
• A friend sent me a link to this article named Five good reasons why publishers should care about geolocation
• The U.S. Census Bureau started providing 2010 Population Estimates

In the maps category:

• An informative entry named the Uses and Misuses of the Mercator Projection
• Maps of Internet users and Internet penetration
• A map of Forest Restoration Potential

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