In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Happy 2013 to everyone. Please expect a week or two before we catchup all pertinent geonews.

On Christmas day, Slashdot discussed a story named New York Paper Uses Public Records To Publish Gun-Owner Map.

Their summary: ""First it was the sex offenders being mapped using public records, now it seems to be gun owners — I wonder who will be next? It seems a newspaper in New York has published an interactive map with the names and addresses of people with [handguns]." It's happened before: In 2007, Virginia's Roanoke Times raised the ire of many gun owners by publishing a database of Virginia's gun permit holders that it assembled based on public records inquiries. (The paper later withdrew that database.) Similarly, WRAL-TV in North Carolina published a database earlier this year with searchable map of (partially redacted) information about permit holders in that state, and Philadelphia made the news for a similar disclosure — complete with interactive map and addresses — of hundreds of gun permit applicants and holders."

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode.

On the open source / open data front:

• Here's an excellent summary of OpenStreetMap's State Of The Map US - 2012, on Steve Coast's presentation, Dr JTS shared: "He said that the top thing OSM needs to continue to grow is addressing.  He singled out Google Mapmaker as being a clear and present danger to the growth of OSM."
• James shows us how to easily download OpenStreetMap data from WeoGeo
• There's a new Open Source Geospatial Research and Education Lab established at North Carolina State University
• MediaGoblin, an open YouTube, Flickr and the like competitor, now supports 3D models
• If you're interested by the uDig desktop GIS, there's now video tutorials
• You can publish maps direction from ArcGIS to MapBox Publishing with Arc2Earth Sync
• There's even more and updated OpenStreetMap tiles offered by MapQuest
• Here's how to create dynamic contour maps with server-side processing with WPS, GeoServer and PostGIS 2.0
• GeoServer 2.2.1 has been released

On the Esri front:

• Using ArcGIS Online? There's a the ArcGIS Online Health Dashboard, to let you know if any service is down

On the Google front:

• The GEB tells us about Tracking KMZ file usage with Google Analytics
• Here's an entry on Trekking the Grand Canyon for Google Maps, for Street View of course

On the Microsoft front:

• The ridiculous patent war continues, Microsoft Sues Motorola Over Mapping Patents
• A U.S. State identification game for MS MapPoint

Geo-related Slashdot discussions:

• I had to happen, Apple Maps Accidentally Reveals Secret Military Base In Taiwan
• Remote sensing helped monitor a Huge Geoengineering Project Violates UN Rules on Canada's west coast
• An Arctic Investigation Underway Into Solar Storm Sat-Nav Disruption
• We'll probably see this often, Texas Schools Using Electronic Chips To Track Students; Parents In Uproar
• Implementing geospatial isn't always easy, Uber [mobile app] Gives Up On New York Taxi Service
• Privacy is dead right? How Hair Can be Used To Track Where You've Been
• Reusability, NASA Working On Refueling Satellites

In the everything else category:

• Using Verizon? They sell where you are; Verizon Sells App Use, Browsing Habits, Location (via O'R)
• DM shares an article named Prepare to Get That Job: 20 Challenging GIS Interview Questions, and also related to jobs, GeoSearch Tracks U.S. Geospatial Employment in Q3 2012
• Drones for geospatial? Home-made 3D-Printed Drones (via O'R)
• The promise of WebGL, while this article isn't specifically on geospatial uses of WebGL, it's worth taking a look at the WebGL demonstration video (wait at least until colors kick in, after about one minute)
• Fearing supervolcanos? For those in South America, ESA's story on the 'sombrero uplift' seen by remote sensing, the largest active magma body in Earth's continental crust
• Geospatial brings value? A DM article on Location Intelligence unlocks the power of your data

In the maps category:

• Good timing, United Swing States of America: Presidential Election Battle Map
• Several readers might be interested by North American Cartographic Information Society's Atlas of Design, now available
• APB reports on that the UK Met Crime Map is Overwhelming for Users

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode, covering the last few weeks (which have been crazy to me).

From the Esri front:

• Mandown reminds us that ArcGIS 10.1 is coming this June and the ArcGIS 10.0 SP5 is coming in July

• You can access and edit Esri maps even on the Kindle Fire

From the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft announced that Bing Maps is now using Nokia backend services for Traffic and Geocoding
• There's an official entry named Integrating Bing Maps With WPF
• And there's new Bird’s Eye Imagery & Streetside Coverage on Bing Maps

Discussed over Slashdot:

• Russian Satellite Takes Most Detailed 121-Megapixel Image of Earth Yet
• DEA Wants To Install License Plate Scanners and Retain Data for Two Years

• Senator Seeks More Info On DOJ Location Tracking Practices
• Modeling People and Places With Internet Photo Collections

• NASA's Interactive Flood Maps

• LightSquared Files For Bankruptcy

Directions Mag articles:

• Here's about what’s new in both the software and the use of GeoPDF
• Another one named Can Geofeedia Provide Location-based Citizen Input to Journalists?

In the miscellaneous category:

• An interesting Ogle Earth entry named Why do Panasonic, Leica, FujiFilm, Samsung and Nikon censor their GPS cameras?, short answer: China laws

• Learning Geography skills through a Zombie Apocalypse Narrative?, yes, nothing less
• While I found nothing surprising in there, it's still interesting to read the United Nations Five to Ten Year Vision on Geospatial Information Management (via)
• We heard this before, New Report Warns About Decline in U.S. Earth Observation Capabilities
• Meanwhile, India launched its first EO satellite, RISAT-1, with SAR capabilities

In the maps category:

• Strange Maps shares a map of Population by Latitude and Population by Longitude
• TMR shares a map of U.S. Life Expectancy by County

• It was submitted as a press release but deserves more attention, UrbMet.org, interactive web map for the urban metabolism of cities, the same tool was later featured on the O'Reilly Radar

• Here's Climascope, an interactive web map to explore climate change
• The Earth is mostly (70%) covered by water, but there isn't that much in terms of volume
• Mapperz mentions MapofLife.org, mapping geographic distributions for any terrestrial vertebrate species
• At the other end of the spectrum, FearSquare.com, crime around you (UK only)

Ah... it feels good to be current on geonews once again!

I used to share the most interesting - yes that's subjective - Directions Mag articles once every month or two. From now on, I'll try to integrate them in the pseudo-weekly "batch mode" edition instead. You'll then get those articles quicker. Here's the recent DM articles for the past month.

• Here's nine elements of geocoding accuracy and why it pays to be accurate 
• Shared a month ago, here's a review of MapInfo Professional Version 11.0, which was released last Summer
• Here's an aggregation of links, serving as a Recap of News from the 2011 GEOINT Symposium, held in Texas in October where 4,400 geospatial intelligence professionals convened, and here's an article on the growth predictions for geospatial intelligence
• Even if the tips aren't surprising, here's Five Ways to Make Your Geospatial Cover Letter and Resume Stand Out
• Here's a short article, but with a screenshot that explains it all, named Visualizing Crime - A “Data Rose” Blooms
• Here's an analysis of how geospatial companies are using Twitter
• Here's an Introduction to the Second International Workshop on 3D Cadastres
• Here's an article named Virtual City: a Cost-effective Approach to Information Sharing for More Secure Borders