With the Easter break at the door, here's the recent geonews in batch mode. From the Google front:

• The GEB offers an entry providing more information on Google Earth Builder announced yesterday but to be available in Q3 and APB sums up how the media views Google Earth Builder
• Google updated the photo clusters interface in Google Earth
• You can see the real-time edits done by contributors to Google Map Maker
• And there's new imagery available in Google Maps/Earth

• APB informed of WorldMap (alpha), an open source experimental platform designed for viewing and interpreting maps collaboratively
• A U.S. national biomass dataset is now available
• The FOSS4G conference preparation is doing well, with almost 300 abstracts submitted. I can also confirm now that Slashgeo is a media partner of the FOSS4G conference

• Microsoft launched the free Photosynth iOS app to capture and share panoramas
• Seattle's SoundTransit now offer transit directions in Bing  Maps

• The GEB offers two excellent summaries: Where 2.0 -- Day One and Where 2.0 -- Day Two
• Also from Where 2.0, SS shares a summary of Jack Dangermond's talk on the cloud enabling intelligent web maps
• MapQuest added a few new features detailed in this entry named Cycle Route Planner, Aerial and Languages
• VerySpatial mentions the 'Where on Earth' landmark-association game
• Slashdot discussed a story named Scientist Creates 3D Scanner App For iPhone
• and another one named Michigan Police Could Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops

Here's the Friday geonews in batch mode. From the open source / open data front:

• Here's a quick look at the WFS GDAL Driver
• MapQuest added Japan to their open data initiative, still linked to OpenStreetMap
• It's been a year since we mentioned it, and now there's a new version of the OpenStreetMap plugin for Wordpress available

• Microsoft now offers 148 US mall interactive maps in Bing Maps, including the 9 largest
• The Bing team shares a tip on how to search by driving time with AJAX v7, REST, and Spatial Data Services

• SS shares an entry the unveiling, by Autodesk, of their products, including AutoCAD Map 3D and plenty other products
• Slashdot runs a story on a surveillance robot that covertly maps its environment in 3D
• The FGT blog mentions a cheap GeoPDF to GeoTIFF converter in the context of use for Garmin Custom Map Imagery
• GeoCurrents offers two entries, named Caribbean Geopolitical Rivalry? and When Is an Island Not An Island? Caribbean Maritime Disputes
• Here's a link to a review of the Magellan RoadMate 9055 SatNav GPS
• APB mentions MapInfo Manager, a solution for geodata searches from Pitney Bowes
• We mentioned it in, and here's a preview of Depiction 1.3, which "aims to provide all the tools and necessary features for summarizing events such as disaster and emergency relief efforts, location events and situations where maps and information collections need to be integrated rapidly and easily"

• Slashdot discusses Crowdsourced Radiation Maps In Asia and US
• Here's an informative Poster of the Great Tohoku Earthquake (northeast Honshu, Japan) of March 11, - Magnitude 9.0 from the USGS
• The Map Room analyses the New York Times radiation map and why it's an irresponsible map
• It seems Apple is still seeking to 'radically improve' maps for iOS
• TMR links to global migration maps
• SS mentions a new interactive Sea Ice Atlas
• Here's news of EPA launch of a Clean Water Violation Map

Here's the recent geonews that haven't made it into full stories in batch mode. Related to the Japan earthquake and tsunami:

• The NYT shared efficient slide-over satellite imagery of several sites over Japan
• In addition to what we shared last Friday, Google posted entries on post-earthquake imagery of Japan and another on assembling resources following the earthquake in Japan
• V1 links to the UN-SPIDER SpaceAid website for the Japan earthquake
• Here's the Wikipedia entry on Nuclear power by country, where we learn Japan gets 29% of its energy from that source

• MapServer now has a Studio version 0.5 to edit Mapfiles in a WYSIWYG editor
• OpenStreetMap offers a video on how to add a building in OpenStreetMap
• MapQuest is now supporting OpenAerialMap too
• Mapperz mentions the OpenEcoMaps initiative based on OSM data
• There's a new version of Spatial Operations & Editing Tools for uDig 1.2.1 with its tutorial
• There will be a new interactive label placement feature in QGIS 1.7, there's also a new QGIS roadgraph plugin, On the fly raster reprojection comes to QGIS and here's a tip on opening MS SQL Server spatial tables in QGIS
• By the way, we published the press release about FOSS4G's conference workshop lineup

• For those interested, the Plenary Session Videos For The Esri Developer Summit are now available
• There's a ArcGIS 9.3.1 Service Pack 2 Quality Improvement patch
• The ArcGIS API For iOS 1.8 Public Beta is now available
• If you like testing ESRI beta software, the Esri Beta Community has been launched
• Still from geogeek, there's an ESRI whitepaper on Estimating the cost of a GIS in the Amazon Cloud
• and three entries about a new approach to metadata with ArcGIS 10
• There's a new ArcGIS Map Drupal module that just started

• MapQuest announced the launch of MapQuest Map Builder Beta while a press release focused on MapQuest tools to help drivers save money
• The UN is looking for volunteers on the Crisis Map of Libya
• For those unsure if geospatial apps will ever take off on tablets (see are running poll on the right hand side), AutoCAD WS for iOS has been downloaded 1 million times
• Slashdot discussed a story named DraftSight 2D CAD For Linux Beta Available
• A topic we discussed last week, this time it's O'Reilly that offer an article named Are we too reliant on GPS?
• The FGT blog shares an informative update on LightSquared’s GPS-Jamming proposal
• The same source offers an article named wireless sensor networks can see and shape the world
• And still from O'Reilly, an entry named Why location data is a mess, and what can be done about it and another on named Location data could let retailers entice customers in new ways

• GeoCurrents offers a map of the extreme disparities of state revenue, along with an entry named The CIA World Factbook Drops Dubious Revenue Data
• TMR mentions the upcoming 'Disease Maps: Epidemics on the Ground' book by Tom Koch
• SS has an entry named China Begins Campaign to Crack Down on Unlicensed Maps

Here's the recent geonews that haven't made it into an individual story in batch mode. From the open source / open data front:

• While we mentioned it indirectly in the past, we never specifically mentioned the existence of OpenCycleMap, based, of course, on OpenStreetMap
• The "open" MapQuest maps now support worldwide pedestrian and bicycle routing along with transit routes
• An article in Scientific American is using OpenStreetMap data to map the local 'food desert'
• The OpenGeo Suite Enterprise Edition 2.4.0 has been released

• ESRI released their ArcGIS API for JavaScript version 2.2
• A third entry on useful ArcGIS Explorer add-ins III

• GeoCurrents offers an informative serie of entries on Libyan maps: Libya’s Tribal Divisions and the Nation-State, Libya’s Geographical Divisions and the Challenge to National Unity, Libya’s Fezzan: A Bulwark of the Gaddafi Regime , Gaddafi’s Saharan Farming Schemes and Libyan Agricultural Hexagons. On the same topic, TMR shares an entry on the Libya Crisis Map
• Rememer that GPS positioning in the U.S. is in danger because of LightSquared? APB shares a followup including the mention of the 'Coalition to Save Our GPS'
• Following the earthquake in New Zealand, there's fresh imagery of Christchurch
• Google and Microsoft have teamed together to sue a patent troll who sued 397 companies over a geotagging patent
• Microsoft offers an entry on modular design and client side clustering with Bing Maps V7
• O'Reilly offers an article on location privacy named Privacy law needs a reboot
• A followup on a previous story, Slashdot discusses a student suing the FBI for planting a GPS tracker on his car. On this topic, SpatialLaw offers an entry named Government's Use of Tracking Technology: More Than A Constitutional Issue?
• It seems the FAA now allows iPad as an alternative to aviation charts
• TMR links to a review of Casio's geotagging camera
• APB mentions that Turtles Use Earth’s Magnetic Field to Determine Longitude
• In a perspective entry, SS asks Is it time for an impartial auditing board on spatial data accuracy?

• TMR shares a map of the index of potential unrest, on this topic, some claims Google Earth as a Factor in Middle East Unrest
• TMR shares a map of internal U.S. migration flows

Here's the Friday geonews in batch mode. From the open source / open data front:

• There was a recent OpenLayers Mobile Code Sprint
• The Map Room shares an interesting entry on the suboptimal state of OpenStreetMap in Canada
• OpenStreetMap now has over 30 Million building outlines worldwide
• Here's an entry on generating contour lines in QGIS

• I'm amonst the many that got the email that informs us that ArcGIS Online map services are available at no cost regardless of use
• geogeek shares a short list of the ArcGIS Server Virtualisation … The Do’s And Don’ts
• The FGT blog has teo entries named useful ArcGIS Explorer Add-Ins I and useful ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Add-Ins II

• James Fee links to a discussion on whether WMS is dying or not
• APB mentions that Samsung's planning to Use Earth’s Magnetic Field for indoor Device Locating
• MapQuest unveiled their free Android app
• The Blackberry Playbook tablet will be getting this geospatial app: Mobile OpenScales GIS
• Here's a generic presentation on neo-geopolitics
• Using Bing, there's a new Celebrity Places web map
• Mapperz made me aware of the 'Rain alarm map', to give you alerts of incoming rain or snow
• The free GeoTrans Coordinate Converter is now at version 3.1

• TMR links to a map of world alcohol consumption
• Here's a link to an updated International Marine Piracy Map
• SS share an entry on Mapping Threatened Coral Reefs

Here's recent geonews in batch mode. I will be away the reminder of the week, so expect less stories, but we'll take care of your submitted content. From the Google front:

• Here's Google Maps JavaScript API: A Year in Retrospect
• A third official entry, this time on how to Monetize your Maps API v3 application with AdSense for Maps
• The GEB mentions a collection of hearts in Google Earth
• There was new imagery published to Google Earth last Friday
• The GEB explains the 6 markers in Building Maker
• Here's an entry on planning new roads with Google Earth

• Two entries on the File Geodatabase API: Esri releases the File Geodatabase API Beta 2 and the File Geodatabase API is now available on Linux
• The ArcGIS API for Android Public Beta is now available
• Here's a review of a new Estri book named GIS Tutorial for Humanitarian Assistance, by Firoz Verjee

• There's new 3D OpenGL-based OpenStreetMap rendering, for more on 3D OSM, head to the wiki
• Here's an entry on Harvard's WorldMap, an open source tool to support academic collaboration. Expect more news once the tool become Beta next month
• Here's an entry on cross layer filtering directly in GeoServer
• An entry on web based printing with QGIS server and a nice comparison of MapInfo to QGIS Styling

• Certainly major news in the smartphone arena, Nokia and Microsoft signed an important alliance, APB summarizes the tidbits related to their location and mapping business
• Microsoft also shared an entry named Next Gen Spatial Search Comes to the Bing API

• MapQuest Introduces Walking and Transit Directions
• Here's O'Reilly on IssueMap, a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tool to convert "open data into information that people can distill into knowledge and insight."
• TMR provide links related to Canon and Pentax cameras with GPS and another entry on the Casio Exilim EX-H20G Geotagging Camera
• SS shares a short entry named The Cloud Gains Favor as GIS Storage Solution
• Wikileaks informs us that the U.S. and Australia signed a secret geospatial intelligence deal in

• Via the OSGeo mailing list, here's a map of U.S. copyright treaties
• Here's a new approach to mapping the digital divide
• Here's a new map of global obesity
• The U.S. Census Bureau launched an interactive map

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- February 10, -- Urban Mapping, Inc(UMI), a leading provider of web services and on-demand data for interactive mapping applications today announced that MapQuest has implemented Urban Mapping’s industry-leading database of public transportation for inclusion into mapquest, online mapping platform for directions. Urban Mapping’s mass transit database features highly-detailed information about more than 150 public transportation systems in North America. UMI employs a globally-distributed research network of on-the ground employees who collect information about bus, rail and ferry systems, including station attributes, entrance locations, schedules, unplanned events and over 100 other data elements. MapQuest supports 1 million inquiries for directions each day.  The new pedestrian routing and rail transit options add layers of environmentally conscious features to MapQuest’s growing suite of world-class routing solutions.   MapQuest’s transit product includes nationwide pedestrian routing and a transit option linking pedestrian routing with public rail transportation in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Boston. MapQuest has plans to expand additional city content from Urban Mapping. UMI Mass Transit allows interactive publishers and other industries to access accurate and up to date spatial and attribute data for incorporation into multimodal trip planners that includes travel by car, foot or by bus, train, car or ferry. Customers can also monitor unplanned events, such as service interruptions or system-wide notifications and advisories through the Incident Manager. About Urban Mapping Urban Mapping, Inc (UMI) provides web-based mapping services and on-demand data tosimplify the development and deployment of online mapping and data visualization applications.  With Mapfluence, UMI’s flagship product, organizations can access an on-demand catalog of 10,000+ high-value variables to query, visualize and analyze data using maps, tables and charts. Since, leading interactive publishers like Microsoft, MapQuest and Yahoo! as well as leading enterprises like CoStar Group, Tableau Software and CoreLogic have been utilizing Urban Mapping's geospatial data and technology.

 Here's recent FOSS4G and open geodata related news in batch mode.

• What can't be missed is the Open Source Geospatial Foundation fifth birthday. There's also a cake and various ideas for celebrations. I vividly remember OSGeo's initial press release, which I helped translate at the time. The highlights shared by Daniel (first link):
  • OSGeo went from 8 founding projects in to 20 software projects today (including 6 in incubation)
  • OSGeo's annual FOSS4G conference turned into a truly international event, visiting 4 continents over 5 years
  • Over 20 local chapters are active around the world, promoting OSGeo's software and mission in their local language and communities.
  • Daniel also reminds us that GRASS GIS, the open source desktop GIS, goes abck to 1982, MapServer around 1995 and GDAL/OGR in 1998.
• If you have interest in OGC Cataloging Services and metadata, there's a new open source CSW server in Python project named "pycsw"
• Here's an entry on Web based printing with QGIS server and another one named importing a DBF containing X-Y Values into QGIS
• Via this weekly summary, I learned about Maps4Mac open source app to get OpenStreetMap data in MacOS X

• MapQuest announced extented use of OpenStreetMap data in their entry named MapQuest Opens Up The Americas, Completes World Routing, Adds New Open Services, there also is an entry specific to MapQuest's introduction of alternate routes.
• MapQuest imagery and OpenStreetMap tiles were added to the open source GeoExplorer
• While I found little information about it I learned about OpenTouchMap, based on OpenStreetMap data, here's the OpenTouchMap website
• Natural Earth vectors are now available in the cloud, we mentioned NE data now being public domain last December

 Here's Friday geonews in batch mode. Exceptionally, the last two weeks are covered. From the Google front:

• Google now offers 'Follow Your World', an alert system to let you know when new imagery is available for your area of interest
• The official entry on this week's imagery update
• Google discontinues the real estate feature in Google Maps
• The California Bay Area is now in 3D and the GEB discusses the nice 3D models of Belgrade

• MapQuest is providing an update on their increasing use of OpenStreetMap data, 8 new countries is now using OSM data, MapQuest also continues to financially support OpenStreetMap. There's even a new MapQuest Directions API based on OSM.
• It seems SPRING GIS is now open source software (GPL) [post in Spanish]
• Fortius One announced their new tool called Acetate, "a brand-new custom styled map that is designed for visualizing data and reintroduces the idea of a multi-layered basemap". Here's their technical introduction to Acetate, and the software they've used is open source.
• The city of Paris now offers open data and Finland's Land Survey opened its data too
• Ushahidi will be using the open source GeoDict free form geocoder. GeoDict is described as "a simple Python library/tool for pulling location information from unstructured text"

• The Geodatabase Toolset for ArcCatalog 10 is now available

• Microsoft released a new Bing Maps Drupal module

• Here's an entry named playing with the HTML5 Geolocation API
• O'Reilly offers an article named Social data and geospatial mapping join the crisis response toolset, another one on Urban Mapping's Mapfluence and two articles on health and location: New geolocation app connects citizen first responders to heart attack victims and Healthier living through mobile location data
• Via TMR, MacWorld offers an article named Apps with Maps: 11 iPhone GPS apps compared
• The FGT blog mentions iCMTGIS, a free field GIS data acquisition tool for the iPad
• ESA's budget rises to $4 billion, with 14 nations boosting contributions. And the GALILEO program is on track. And guess what, a Wikileaks cable forced a GALILEO head to step down.
• TMR also mentions U.S. Defense Department testing may affect GPS signals in Southeastern U.S. until Feruary 22nd
• TMR also note that the book "Map Projections: A Working Manual" published in 1987 by John P. Snyder is now available online.
• NAVTEQ is still selling more and more data

• Here's a discussion on a map of worldwide suicide statistics, let's hope you don't live in Mari El
• Here's a map of scientific collaboration

Here's the Friday geonews in batch mode. On the open source / open data front:

• Here's the fourth entry in the Free Shapefiles of Countries of the World (4) series
• Via OpenGeoData, I learned about OSMTrack 3.0, an iOS app designed for contributing to OpenStreetMap (more here on version 3)
• Here's an entry on the future of Marble, the KDE virtual globe
• Here's an entry on improving GeoTools / GeoServer raster reprojection performance

• Here's a list of ArcGIS Server Success Stories Published In

• Several geoblogs mentioned the ABC Australia flood maps, along with ESRI's Autralia flood maps
• Apple is adding a 'Find My Friends' feature to iOS 4.3
• An entry on the MapQuest and Ford Partnership on MyFord Mobile App for Electrified Vehicle Drivers
• Here's Andrew Turner's 3 main geospatial trends: consumer mobile and privacy, commercial data -> open data, and visualization -> analysis

• Sarah Palin's Political Action Committee map which uses crosshairs to target 20 Democratic Party members to defeat, a map discussed in the controversy regarding the shooting in Tucson, Arizona
• A map of Aerosols in Earth's Atmosphere
• NRCan released hundreds of new or updated CanTopo free topographical maps for Canada
• A map of the Internet in 1972