In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From the official sources:

• Two days ago was announced Google Earth 6.2 for Android and iOS, which includes support for KML files and the Google Earth Gallery is available from within the app
• There's new 45° imagery available for 56 cities: 23 U.S. and 33 international locations
• There's New Satellite Imagery of Japan’s Disaster Areas in Google Maps
• There was an official entry named Google and Historypin launch online gallery to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
• And if you feel like it, you can explore San Francisco in 1938 through aerial photography in Google Earth
• And finally, an entry on protecting the world’s coral reefs through mapping

From other sources:

• Thierry links to an article about a new section of the Great Wall of China discovered in Mongolia thanks to Google Earth
• Ogle Earth answers the question whether Google is showing India’s Assam state as part of China or not, and the answer is 'no'
• Spatial Sustain has a short entry on Google Street View images on ski slopes

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode. My challenge in life is to find out what not to do - too much enthusiasm impacts focus. But don't worry, I'm not dropping Slashgeo just yet ;-)

From the open source and open data front:

• Here's an open source Kinect hack named Depthcam, doing live streaming of 3D points cloud via your webcam
• Via Simon, I was reminded about Graphserver, an open source multi-modal trip planner (we mentioned Graphserver in early 2009), on the same topic, here's OSM Explorer, for basic routing and spatial functions using OSM data on Windows (via OGD)
• MapQuest updated their OpenStreetMap tiles and mentions more OSM switchovers, such as FourSquare and in another entry, they updated MapQuest for Android
• Here's an entry on light styles for OSM layers in QGIS, making OSM great as a base map
• Quebec City is the latest city to open its data, with layers in shapefiles and kml, and here's an entry on Honolulu opening its data
• The OSGeo-Live DVD version 5.5 is now ready

From the Google front:

• Street View on Google Maps now available for Russia
• The GEB introduces Diorama, a presentation tool for Google Earth, helping you tell a story in Google Earth
• The same blog also look a the Power of Ten, the Google Earth version
• Google explains the enhanced search in Google Earth 6.2
• Here's an entry on the iNaturalist app and website using georeferenced pictures to document nature
• The GEB wonders if historical imagery is coming to Street View?
• And yes, there was fresh imagery released about two weeks ago and another round today

From the Esri front:

• Here's why ArcGIS 10.1 will be the “Biggest Release Ever”
• Here's Esri’s Federal GIS Conference Wrap Up
• Here's the recommended System Requirements For ArcGIS 10/10.1
• Mandown also shares an entry named Using ArcGIS.com For Quick Visualisation Of GPX Files

From the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft announced the Bing Maps and Nokia Release of a Unified Map Design

In the miscellaneous category:

• DM asks an interesting question, Should All GIS Users Learn to Code?
• While not all are geo-aware, this is an awesome categorized list of infographic tools and resources, because beauty matters when conveying information (via Thierry)
• The book "How Maps Change Things: A Conversation About the Maps We Choose and the World We Want" by Ward Kaiser is free in pdf for this month
• We previously mentioned that the world time zones database was in jeopardy, well, it's not anymore, EFF Wins Protection For Time Zone Database
• Here's an entry on OGC mobile case studies
• Here's a Product Review of BusinessWebMap by TexMobile
• Slashdot mentions the link between GPS navigation and in-car voice commands in Siri To Power Mercedes-Benz Car Systems
• APB informs us that DigitalGlobe published an image of damage to Homs, Syria

In the maps category:

• APB shares the map of sleep in the U.S.
• Slashdot discussed a story named LIDAR Map Shows Height of Earth's Forests
• Another story from the same source is named Need To Find a Hackerspace In Africa? Check This Map
• If your into astronomy, check this TMR entry on Moon maps
• Mapperz mentions Bristol's solar power hotspots map

First, I'm sorry for not publishing the "batch mode" version of the geonews for the last two weeks - along with several other responsibilities, taking care of two young daughters at home is certainly fun, but engulfs all available time. In this batch mode edition, there are certainly a few geonews that could deserve their own entry - click on what interests you to learn more!

From the Google front:

• In my previous Google entry earlier today, I forgot to mention the GEB entry detailing even more major improvements of Xavier Tassin's Google Earth Flight Simulator, now at version 0.7
• This one via APB, Google Maps rolls out business interiors in Street View

From the Esri front:

• Via VerySpatial, ArcGIS for Android 1.0 has been released
• Two weeks ago, mandown informed us that the ArcGIS 10 Service Pack 3 Now Available For Download

From the miscellaneous category:

• GeoIQ launched GeoIQ Social, "the first and only product that provides self-service analysis of social media data by time and location"
• On the OGC blog, there's an interesting short entry on "Big Data" vs SDI in geospatial
• Clearly, WebGL is en vogue, mapperz mentiones the new Nokia Maps 3D WebGL, and Nokia is readying LiveView, which blends maps and augmented reality for their upcoming Windows Phone
• Apple expanded iPhone 4S GPS capabilities with GLONASS support and Apple Siri's support for maps and local search is coming to international customers in 2012
• MapQuest refreshed their Developer Network
• The name Atanas Entchev ring a bell to you? He's an active member of the geospatial community and he needs our help, he's facing deportation from the U.S.

In the maps category:

• Mapperz mentions the UK car crash map
• Ok, not exactly a map, but trying to find what are the Wall Street protestors are so angry about, here's a breakdown of income inequality, the Gini coefficient, by countries

Here's the recent Google geonews.

From the official sources:

• Here's the 3-minutes launch video of Google Earth Builder at the Google Geo summit, I like it when Ed Parsons says "Geospatial technologies is moving away from [...] the specialist, it's now available to everyone", since you're reading Slashgeo, you probably are a specialist, should we be afraid or is this just our jobs' natural evolution?
• There's new 45° imagery available for 16 cities: "Europe: Caceres, Spain; Graz, Austria; Montreux, Switzerland; Zurich, Switzerland; US: Bakersfield, CA; Boise, ID; Canton, OH; Centennial, CO; Columbia, SC; Davenport, IA; Des Moines, IA; Enumclaw, WA; Grand Rapids, MI; Kansas City, KS/MO; Lawrence, KS; Los Angeles, CA; Merced, CA; New Orleans, LA; Omaha, NE; Payson, UT; Portland, OR; Springfield, MO; St. Louis, MO; The Woodlands, TX;"
• There's new StreetView imagery of the Swiss Alps, taken from railways
• The tool that allows you to get notified when new imagery is available, Follow Your World, is now available in 43 new languages
• We've been invited to Explore the history of Mexico with Google Earth

From other sources:

• The GEB shares the location of the Turkey earthquake and Gaddafi's death
• The GEB also describe YoubeQ, a 3D social network using the Google Earth plugin: "YoubeQ puts you on a Segway to drive around the globe, with the option to quickly teleport to any location that you wish to visit. You can click on other users to chat with them, collect stamps as you travel the globe, and it has a variety of other features (with many more coming)."
• A week ago the same site offered an entry on what Google Earth can do for responding to the Thailand Floods
• Here's a round-up of the great (American) Football resources in Google Earth
• If you have interest in it, here's how to tweak the Google Earth Flight Simulator
• Last Wednesday, there was new imagery released to Google Maps / Earth

Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From the official sources:

• Google announced the release of Google Earth 6.1, the My Places panel is improved, and so is StreetView, and Google Earth Pro too gets several new features. The GEB offers some more details on what's changed
• You can now directly share your activites on Google Maps on Google+, such as directions, places and even search results
• The developer blog has an entry on the Google Street View Image API
• Not directly geospatial, but Google Wallet was launched in collaboration with Visa, American Express and Discover, enabling mobile payments anywhere 

From other sources:

• Here's tips on how to speed up Google Earth
• The GEB mentions Google Earth Explorer, a smooth way to fly through in Google Earth, which is in the process of becoming open source and has been purchased by Google
• Slashdot ran a discussion named Google To Honor "Don't-Track-Me-Bro" Requests, in which we learn "Google will allow owners of Wi-Fi access points to opt out of a Google service that uses their data to determine the location of others' smartphones."
• Ogle Earth shares a detailed entry named Biannual Swedish media panic sets in as Google Earth continues to show Sweden’s “secrets”
• Here's 50,000 worldwide power plants in Google Earth
• The GEB also mentions a few nice global overlays for Google Earth
• There's new imagery today in Google Earth

I'm back in front of the keyboard after a 3 weeks break with my wife and daughters. I'll catchup and share the recent geonews in the coming days. Thank you for your patience. Let's start with Google geonews (because they're easier to aggregate).

From the official sources:

• There's new 45° imagery in 24 citites: Augusta, GA; Badajoz, Spain; Boise, ID; Boston, MA; Fairfield, CA; Girona, Spain; Knoxville, TN; Lausanne, Switzerland; Little Rock, AR; Lodi, CA; Merida, Spain; Modesto, CA; Montgomery, AL; Murrieta Hot Springs, CA; Provo, UT; Reno, NV; Salem, OR; Sebastopol, CA; Spokane, WA; Tallahassee, FL; Vacaville , CA; Vallejo, CA; Victorville, CA; Wichita, KS; Yucaipa, CA
• Weather forecasts is a new layer in Google Maps, along with cloud coverage, data from third-party sources
• Google Maps gets voice recognition and you can now say your map queries out loud, if you use Google Chrome
• The new GTFS-realtime, extending the original 'General Transit Feed Specification', has been released to the public by Google, it includes: Trip Updates, Service Alerts and Vehicle Position updates
• Here's the announcement of the deprecation of the Maps API for Flash
• StreetView news;
  • New in StreetView is a 30-mile section of the Rio Negro River tributary in the Amazonian bassin, also discussed over Slashdot
  • Slashdot reports that StreetView has finally been approved by the Israeli government
  • Irak's National Museum corridors can be walked in StreetView
• Using short URLs to share links is now a permanent feature of Google Maps
• Google added a round of 3D trees Los Angeles, Denver and Boulder
• Ancient and modern Rome have updated 3D content (remember 2008?)
• Google announced Map Makerpedia, a crowdsourced guide for Google Map Maker (you mean similar goals to wiki.openstreetmap.org? ;-)
• The Static Maps API's new feature is the ability to scale the display of maps
• There was an imagey update to Google Earth and Maps for the week of the 15th, and another one on the week of August 29th, with several tens of countries getting new imagery
• Google Maps is now available in 40+ new country domain names, and more languages have been added to "Your World in 3D"
• Paronamio users and contributors can now join groups of interests
• Google mentioned a new book named The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth, and informed us that they are now at over 700 million activations of Google Earth, which made me though of our current poll

From other sources:

• In a series of generic but useful entries, the GE Blog is offering an entry named Ten easy steps to learn about a place with Google Earth, another one named Measuring distances with the Google Earth Ruler and yet another one named Running Google Earth offline from a portable server
• Ogle Earth analized Sweden imagery update and reminds us of being cautious of imagery tagged January 1st
• Google and OpenDNS are working on global Internet sppedup, and unsurprisingly, they use location data

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode, covering almost two weeks worth of geonews. I'm voluntarily leaving Esri-related geonews out for an upcoming entry specifically on their user conference.

On the open source front:

• Geomajas 1.9.0 has been released, along with 10 plugins (2 of them new) - here's what is Geomajas
• Here's instructions to load OpenStreetMap data in QGIS
• Here's a comparison of browser windows of QGIS and MapInfo 11
• We mentioned quite a few times the OpenLayers 2.10 Beginner's Guide, and here's another review of it

On the Google front:

• Google mentions Historypin now being available worldwide, in which historical photographs are overlayed on Google's StreetView or directly pinned in Google Maps
• Google shared an entry on using Street View to digitally archive Japan’s disaster zones
• Here's tutorial and documentation on the Google Places API
• Here's an entry on Google Map Maker in Pakistan
• Here's the world's longest bridge over water, now open and in Google Earth
• In the trivia category, Slashdot discussed Tilting Bike Uses Google Maps To Simulate Routes

On the Microsoft front:

• Bing Maps got a new user interface (screenshots included)

In the miscellaneous category:

• The FGT blog offers a long and informative update on LightSquared jeopardizing GPS signals in the U.S.
• The FGT blog also mentions the 'Earth Survey Plugin' showing National Geodetic Survey control points near a specific area and much more
• Two weeks ago VerySpatial shared an interesting entry named Cloud Computing Speeds Up And Simplifies the Adoption of Spatial Technology
• The Map Room recommends an old 2009 article named Global Impositioning Systems: Is GPS technology actually harming our sense of direction?
• APB mentions Locata, a company offering high-accuracy radio-location technology for where GPS isn't available
• MapTogether links to a The Economist article on gerrymandering and election boundaries in the U.S.
• Ogle Earth informs us that India eased its remote sensing data policy to allow resolutions of up to 1 meter
• Slashdot discussed the story named Geocaching Shuts Down British Town, because of a bomb scare
• The venerable ERS-2 launched in 1995 is getting retired

In the maps category:

• Ogle Earth has an entry on the recently-born South Sudan and its maps and geography
• Slashdot discussed a story named Construction of ESA Galaxy Mapping Satellite Completed
• Here's an entry on mapping the world's sea turtles

Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From official sources:

• Two entries on Google's updated Google Maps for Android to version 5.7, including several new features:  transit navigation (beta),  updated directions, improved search suggest, photo viewer for Places pages, downloading map areas for offline use, a scale bar and a measuring tool
• Google added ten of thousands of new 3D buildings to Berkeley, California; Cologne, Germany; and The Hague, in the Netherlands
• Google shared a summary of the geospatial content at the Google I/O 2011 conference
• StreetView is now available for Monaco

From other sources:

• The GEB introduces Tribus Organum, an Illustrated history of the world using Google Earth
• The GEB also mentions the 2011 Tour de France in Google Earth

Found on engadget, it appears that a company is claiming all rights to navigating spatial reference images via a database. Here is more from the summary :

The saga continues for Google's voyeuristic mapping service, but this time Microsoft Streetside and Aol's MapQuest 360 View may be the Bonnie to Street View's Clyde. Transcenic, Inc. is suing the tech giants for acquiring the tools necessary to offer 3D mapping by less-than-legitimate means. The Louisiana-based company alleges that all named parties borrowed, without permission, a bit from a patent it owns on a 3D cartography technology that captures spatial reference images and uses a database to navigate them on command. Google has been in hot water for its maps before, but it no doubt hopes this legal tiff ends as well as its one for trespassing, where it only paid a pack of gum's worth of damages. If you're into reading all the current legalese, check out the source for the full complaint. Meanwhile, we'll find out if Cousin Vinny's on the case.

Having two daughters at home does require a lot of energy! That's why this edition of the 'pertinent geonews in batch mode' covers the last two weeks.

On the open source front:

• A new GeoServer 2.1 workshop is freely available
• From the OSGeo-discuss list, I learned about Open Indicators Consortium's Weave (in beta), an open source visualization environment supporting geography
• The MapFish Framework version 2.2 has been released
• ImageI/O-Ext 1.1.0 has been released
• uDig gets its plugin Image Georeferencing View at version 1.0
• The Orfeo ToolBox 3.10 and Monteverdi 1.8 have been released
• GeoTools 2.7.2 has been released

On the Google front:

• Google their biggest ever update of Street View imagery, available for 13 countries: Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
• Google added lots of oblique 45 degrees imagery to Google Maps
• If you visited Google Maps, you probably noticed the new interface

On the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft announced that Bing Maps unveiled exclusive high res imagery with Global Ortho Project
• They also offer a new Microsoft Local Impact Map
• Their dev tip is Uploading Excel Data to the Bing Spatial Data Services

In the miscellaneous category:

• Via AGISRS, I learned about the charter edition of LiDAR Magazine is available free online
• Via email, I learned about the new online SDI Magazine, SDI meaning spatial data infrastructure in this context
• Regarding MapQuest, you can save maps and directions to your mobile and you can now add your business to MapQuest
• APB mentions TimeClock for iPhone, an app that logs your time spent at a specific location, such as work 
• MacRumors details the diverses mapping companies for iOS 5 in an entry named Evidence in iOS 5 that Apple is Building Its Own Mapping Solution
• Via a Twitter friend, I tried Rome's '3 Dreams of Black' interactive 3D music "video" in WebGL, reminiscent of Arcade Fire's interactive Google Maps / StreetView video

Slashdot ran a couple of geo-related discussions:

• Supreme Court To Weigh In On Warrantless GPS Tracking
• Tracking Bracelets for Autistic Kids and Senior Citizens
• Franken Bill Would Protect Consumers Location Data
• Weather satellites are losing funding

In the maps category:

• TMR shows a map of the increase of the new Normal Temperatures, years 1971-2000 vs 1981-2010, for the U.S., scary
• The same site mentions ESA's map of of the Arctic Sea Ice
• MapTogether mentions Mapnificent, allowing you to learn how far you can go from a certain point in a certain time using public transit