In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

We mentioned GeoNode quite a few times since 2010, and now the project released version 1.2 of the open source GeoNode.

From the announcement: "The new milestone is an iterative advance, with a number of new features and improvements. It is also the last release before 2.0, which is rapidly becoming feature complete and should move in to alpha releases soon. This 1.2 release adds a number of new features such as:

• comments and ratings on map and layers
• social features, to ‘like’ on facebook and ‘+1′ on google plus
• new find/add layers widget for the map composer
• inline legend for the map composer and layer/map pages
• better Feature Info tool
• use of MapQuest Open as the default base layer"

A quick reminder: "GeoNode is a platform for the management and publication of geospatial data. It brings together mature and stable open-source software projects under a consistent and easy-to-use interface allowing users, with little training, to quickly and easily share data and create interactive maps."

3D Maps, WebGL, CSS3 ?

Consider funding OpenLayers in order to use these great new possibilities:

More info: http://openlayers.org/blog/2012/10/17/openlayers-3-call-for-funding/

OpenLayers 3 leverages the latest in browser advancements, with a full WebGL map renderer and a DOM/CSS based renderer where WebGL is not available. OpenLayers 3 will build on the vector rendering and editing functionality in the current version, supporting standards and community formats and protocols. The new version of the library will focus on performance, with a lightweight build optimized for mobile browsers, and usability, with an overhauled website and learning resource center. We’re excited to be giving OpenLayers a design and performance facelift while maintaining the breadth of functionality that OpenLayers users depend on.

Ok, I'm quite late on that one, TileMill 0.10.0 was released on September 19th. A reminder, TileMill is an open source map design studio by MapBox. We mentioned several times TileMill since early 2011. James goes to the point where TileMill 0.10.0 'changes everything' and Brian use it as an example in his interesting article on GIS vs cartography, saying TileMill brings simplicity and attainable elegance.

From the 0.10.0 announcement: "This release redefines the creative possibilities for web cartography with its new support for compositing layers and features, achieving photoshop-like clipping, masking, blurring, or highlighting. This powerful set of compositing operations can be used seamlessly across vector and raster layers all using pure CartoCSS. The compositing now possible in TileMill, in combination with image patterns or raster hillshades, can enable effects of uniqueness and beauty that go beyond what has previously been possible."

The project that initially emerged from Autodesk and became MapGuide Open Source just released its version 2.4.

I haven't found a summary of the changes so far. There seems to be numerous improvements to MapGuide OS's core, to Fusion Tools and FDO. Here's what looks like their list of major new items:

• A new service for profiling performance (RFC 110)
• Web Tier directories now include SVN metadata, allowing for the pulling of viewer updates and fixes instantly with a subversion client (RFC 111)
• Path scaling support in Symbol Definitions (RFC 113)
• New Feature Service API for save points RFC 114
• Improved Coordinate System conversion performance (RFC 116)
• IPv6 support (RFC 118)
• Support for enhanced URL information in Layer Definitions (RFC 119)
• Configurable Coordinate System dictonary paths via serverconfig.ini and webconfig.ini (RFC 122)
• Feature Join performance optimizations (RFC 123 and  http://themapguyde.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/improving-feature-join-experience-or.html)
• Toggle-able tooltips for AJAX and Fusion viewers (RFC 120)
• Lots of performance and usability improvements in Fusion (see  this link for an overview)
• Datum Transformation enhancements (RFC 94)
• WMS 1.3.0 support (RFC 95)
• QuickPlot? command for AJAX and Fusion viewers (RFC 96)
• EPSG/SRID code changes (RFC 98)
• WFS 1.1.0 support (RFC 106)
• Watermark support (RFC 108)

My main question when MapGuide Open Source comes to my mind: what's the status of its adoption? I had a lot of hopes for it when Autodesk made MapGuide open source along with providing the financial support for OSGeo's birth, but it seems like MapGuide does not get much love nowadays, at least not as much as competing solutions like GeoServer and MapServer. Any comments?

Newest version of the OpenGeo Suite has just been released and it comes with the following goodies.

• Server-side processing
  • OGC Web Processing Service (WPS) provides a standard for inputs and outputs (requests and responses) for geospatial processing services such as polygon overlays, buffers, or custom processes.
  • Rendering transformations make processing operations easier in browser-based visualizations by enabling just-in-time use of any WPS process as part of any layer’s style.
  • Server-side scripting in Python and JavaScript allows users to easily deploy their own server-side processes using concise and straightforward APIs.
  • PostGIS 2.0 brings vector and raster analysis into the database.
• GeoServer security now supports user groups as well as a number of new authentication mechanisms including LDAP, digest and X.509 certificate authentication.
• Virtual services allow GeoServer to support multi-tenancy, enabling a single GeoServer instance to publish multiple service endpoints.
• A new caching configuration interface in GeoServer includes the ability to define new grid sets, specify which layers to cache, seed or truncate the cache, and more.
• OGC Web Feature Service 2.0 (WFS) adds some interesting new capabilities, including paging, stored queries, and extended operators.
• Upgraded components, including the adoption of GeoServer 2.2, PostGIS 2.0, and GeoWebCache 1.3

Almost a week ago, one of the most popular web mapping server engine has been updated, GeoServer 2.2 has been released. As they wrote: "The release of a new major version update is a big deal (the last one was over 16 months ago) [...]", here's some of the highlights, follow to link to get the full overview!

• NTv2 and NADCon Support allows for datum transformations with cm level precision
• Continued work for supporting high accuracy datum transformations
• A new reprojection console
• The image collection coverage store allows users to serve un-referenced data through WMS using image/pixel space as the coordinate system
• Support for WFS 2.0 adds some interesting new capabilities to the WFS protocol
• Support for additional dimensions brings time and elevation support to both vector and raster data. And, with support for time, comes support for animation in WMS.
• A GeoWebCache configuration GUI is now available directly from within the GeoServer web admin interface

And much much more...

A new version of Geopaparazzi is out in the market: 3.2.0 (or at least it should be soon, lately google play takes some time to get in sync)

The list of news is quite nice:

• huge enhancement of forms with support for multiple tabs, fragments for tablets, images and map screenshots, date widgets...
• integration of forms with kmz export
• style enhancements on kmz export
• send simple notes and bookmarks info via sms
• geocoding via google services
• osm routing via openrouteservice
• measure tool is back
• opening of geoSMS by geopaparazzi in offline mode
• editing mode for geonotes with forms
• support for rendering themes through style maps for offline maps
• battery level visible in map mode
• gps connection status visible in map mode

Read more about it here.

Via the OGD blog I learned about OpenGeoDa, an open source software program that serves as an introduction to spatial data analysis. The initial (closed) version was released in 2003 and they claim about 70,000 users. While we mentioned GeoDa before, it's really the first time we share about its existence with our users.

Here's what it is: "It is designed to implement techniques for exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) on lattice data (points and polygons). The free program provides a user friendly and graphical interface to methods of descriptive spatial data analysis, such as spatial autocorrelation statistics, as well as basic spatial regression functionality. The latest version contains several new features such as a cartogram, a refined map movie, parallel coordinate plot, 3D visualization, conditional plots (and maps) and spatial regression."

I'm back from holidays - thank you for your patience. Expect several days for me to catch up geospatial news and share them with you. You can always submit anything pertinent directly.

Last November we mentioned the major 2.0 release, and now, Mapnik 2.1.0 has been released. Mapnik still is "a free Toolkit for developing mapping applications. Above all Mapnik is about making beautiful maps. It is easily extensible and suitable for both desktop and web development."

Here's the highlights for 2.1.0: "

• A new framework for Style level image manipulation called Image filters.
• A new pipeline for chained coordinate transformations like clipping or smoothing called Vertex Converters
• Compositing modes at Symbolizer and (experimental) Style level. Infinite possibilities from this, see a few examples from AJ.
• Support for Style level opacity
• WKT, WKB, GeoJSON, SVG parsers and generators that can be used outside of rendering
• Data-driven SVG style transforms on svg markers and images thanks to @lightmare
• Data-driven orientationfor Text, heightfor Buildings, and width/heightfor Markers.
• A new CSV input plugin
• A new GeoJSON input plugin
• A new Python input plugin
• Better text labeling through support for placement-type="list". See the docs at the bottom of this page.
• Improved Map loading speeds as well as warnings and errors"

With Slashgeo using Drupal since 2010, I recently found Cartaro, an open source geospatial CMS.

The overview: "Cartaro is the web mapping platform that brings the power of the best open source geospatial components into a content management system. With Cartaro you are able to set-up and run your own geo-enabled and OGC standards-compliant website with not more than a few clicks. The geospatial components used in Cartaro are PostGIS, GeoServer, GeoWebCache and OpenLayers. All those are managed from within the powerful CMS Drupal.

Cartaro is for organizations and individuals that need to run a light-weight spatial data infrastructure (SDI) without the need for extensive configurations and much individual programming.

Cartaro is also for all websites that focus on CMS features while also having to handle geospatial data."

If you head to the project's page on Drupal, only a dev version for D7 is currently available, but it looks in very active development. We did mentioned other Drupal geospatial projects in the past, including the CartoDB Drupal module.