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Tags > geo
Four short links: 18 November 2009 - Web Time Travel, UK Map Data Liberation, Streetview Mashups, 3D Retail
November 18, 2009
Mapsicle -- Is an open source Javascript library to create mashups and application on Google Streetview, from NZ developers Project X. It has been released by Google as part of the Maps Utility library. This and more in today's Four Short Links.
Four short links: 13 November 2009 - Open Source Design, Interesting NoSQL Use, Copyright Documentary, Location Intelligence
November 13, 2009
Open Source Enters The World of Atoms -- An academic statistical analysis of open design. We indicated that, in open design communities, tangible objects can be developed in very similar fashion to software; one could even say that people treat a design as source code to a physical object and change the object via changing the source. This and more in today's Four Short Links.
Navigating the Future: Take Me to Bob
October 30, 2009
Google has just announced a free turn-by-turn navigation app for Android 2.0 in the US (Radar post). Google Maps Navigation relies on Google's own mapping for routing you. As with many navigation devices you can search Business Listings. However, they are also including data not traditionally available to navigators. In the promo video Google demonstrates that you can ask to be taken to "The King Tut exhibit". GMN will determine that it's in Golden Gate Park and route you. This is "because it is connected to the internet it is using all of the latest information on the internet."
Google Shrinks Another Market With Free Turn-By-Turn Navigation
By Brady ForrestOctober 29, 2009
Google has announced a free turn-by-turn navigation system for Android 2.0 phones such as the Droid. Read more about the features of Google Maps Navigation.
Four short links: 16 October 2009 - Audio Geotagging, SF Open Data Stories, Wave Use Cases, Hadooped Genomes
By Nat TorkingtonOctober 16, 2009
Wiimote Audio Geotagging -- match audio with the map movement and annotations made with an IR pen and a Wiimote. Very cool! (and from New Zealand) San Francisco: Open For Data -- Two months after it launched, the project is already reaping rewards from San Francisco's huge community of programmers. Applications using the data include Routesy, which offers directions...
Snow Leopard Is Location-Aware
October 15, 2009
Shortly after installing Snow Leopard I saw the first evidence of the new location services built into the operating system. I got the new version of Clarke, a Fire Eagle updater. After the install a window appeared that asked me if I wanted to share my location with an application. Finally! So how is Apple doing it? The same they do on the iPhone.
Four short links: 13 October 2009 - Open Source, Gov 2.0, Gaming, Education
October 13, 2009
Google Replaces TeleAtlas -- Google has decided to go with a new source of data for its U.S. maps: Google's StreetView cars. Tele Atlas will no longer provide U.S. map coverage, but will continue being Google's source of data for non-U.S. based maps. A report about the change speculates that with Google's own data source, map error fixes may happen in as little as 24 hours. This and more in today's Four Short Links.
Four short links: 17 September 2009 - Involuntarily Opened Geodata, Sense Organ, Doc Vis, 3D Open Source Bodies
September 17, 2009
Wikileaks Now Holds UK Postcode Database -- the UK does not have open geodata in the way that we know it. A state-owned enterprise, Ordnance Survey, is responsible for maintaining all sorts of baseline data and they charge (through the nose) for that data. This is the release of 1,841,177 post codes, geographic boundaries, and more. Postcodes in the UK are far more useful than US ZIP codes--they identify a handful of houses, rather than a few thousand houses. My New Sense Organ -- a strap with buzzers and a compass, so you always have physical reminder of orientation. For people like me who can get lost putting on pants in the morning, this would be a godsend. (via Slashdot)
Four short links: 14 September 2009 - NoSQL, Gov 2.0 Videos, Linux Conf, Geodata Grump
September 15, 2009
Take a look at the digg engineering team's experience in alleviating confusion over key components of the Cassandra data model. Arin Sarkissian shares the team's definitions of commonly confused terms and includes a PDF download with actual examples to illustrate key points. This and more in today's Four Short Links.
Four short links: 10 September 2009 - Hacktivism, Gov 2.0 Futures, Local Geodata, Cassandra Terminology
By Nat TorkingtonSeptember 10, 2009
A Political Startup (Aaron Swartz) -- An inside account of an activist-writer-hacker's grassroots activism efforts, with clever strategies he used to get the outcomes he wanted. A couple months later, frustrated that Norm Coleman wouldn't drop his spurious legal challenges against Al Franken being named a Senator, we started NormDollar.com. We asked people to donate a dollar each day Norm Coleman didn't drop out of the race, money we'd spend electing progressive candidates. It was featured on Hardball and throughout the political press. We also videotaped Norm's donors' reactions when we told them about the program. But my favorite was when we presented Norm with a big novelty check for him to sign, representing all the money he'd raised for progressives. Now we had money too. This and more in today's Four Short Links.
Four short links: 2 September 2009 - Happy Programmers, Usability Tool, Geo API, Zombie Math
September 2, 2009
The Programming Language With The Happiest Users (Dolores Labs) -- Delores Labs asks, "Which languages make programmers the happiest?" In examining recent tweets related to mentions of programming languages and analyzing whether the content of the tweet expressed something positive, neutral or negative about the language, Delores Labs has concluded that users of certain programming languages are happier than others with their choice of code. You'll be surprised at the results of this interesting study. This and more in today's Four Short Links.
Burning Man Gets an API (and a Whole Lot More)
August 26, 2009
An API! SMS! Foursquare! An iPhone app! They are all coming to Burning Man this year. Will the festival be the same? The annual tech-art festival in the Nevada desert, starts on Sunday. Normally the attendees leave their phones and laptop behind, but this year that may not be the case. As I ride from Seattle to Black Rock City, NV I am getting SMS from friends on the playa. In anticipation of wifi and possible data connections Foursquare has rolled out Black Rock City as a city (@sfslim is already the Mayor of The Man). If AT&T's service doesn't work then attendees may be able to take advantage of OpenBTS's local SMS project. Most of the attendees aren't there, but the tech is already making its presence known.
Four short links: 21 August 2009 - Moody Twitter, Future Geohistory, News Sucks, Whyless in Wonderland
August 21, 2009
TwitterMood -- using Twitter as a giant mood sensor for the world (see also temporal correlations, via kellan on delicious). What Will Remain of Us -- The sea that brought trade to Dunwich was not entirely benevolent. The town was losing ground as early as 1086 when the Domesday Book, a survey of all holdings in England, was published; between 1066 and 1086 more than half of Dunwich’s taxable farmland had washed away. Major storms in 1287, 1328, 1347, and 1740 swallowed up more land. By 1844, only 237 people lived in Dunwich. Today, less than half as many reside there in a handful of ruins on dry land. (via blackbeltjones on Delicious)
Seeing the Future of Mapping in Crimespotting
August 21, 2009
This week Stamen Design released San Francisco Crimespotting. It's a crime map and notification system that allows for time and crime trend analysis. SF Crimespotting has launched just over two years after the release Oakland Crimespotting (Radar post). Stamen had been waiting for crime data all this time and with the launch of DataSF they are able to use an official API for crime data. SF Crimespotting is very similar to the initial release for Oakland.
Data Is Journalism: MSNBC.com Acquires Everyblock
August 18, 2009
Everyblock, Adrian Holovaty's local data aggregator, has been acquired by MSNBC.com. Many are hailing it as local news acquisition. For 15 major US cities Everyblock aggregates crime data, restaurant reviews, health inspections, local news and more. This is data that is only of interest to people within a certain area. I care much less about crime ten blocks away than I do about crime two blocks away. Everyblock lets me know what is happening within three blocks of my home and filters everything out (on the web and iPhone). So Everyblock is a hyperlocalnews acquisition, but that is only half of the story (maybe less).
Waze: Make Your Own Maps in Realtime
August 17, 2009
Waze (blog) is using mobile phones as sensors to collect data. The Israeli-based start-up (though now with offices in SF) is relying on users to create its maps, to report realtime traffic and to teach it how to route from place A to place B. Along their drives the user gobbles points for every action. Use the app and gain recognition within the Waze community. The company is doing all of this through its free turn-by-turn navigation apps (sorry, iPhone and Android only for now).
Locational Privacy: The EFF Weighs in on Safeguarding Your Location
August 12, 2009
Increasingly our devices know where we are and are able to share that information. This is a trend that will enable many new services, but at the same time puts the consumer and the service provider at risk. The consumer is at risk of their "future self" forgetting that they are being tracked and then having their location being recorded unintentionally. The company is put at risk just by having this data stored. If they have user data then it is subject to subpoena or unintentional releases. The EFF has weighed in on this trend with a timely whitepaper.
Playnice: The Unofficial Latitude for the iPhone
August 5, 2009
Last week Google launched Latitude for the iPhone as a web app. They were held back from releasing a native app by Apple's overbearing application approval process. However, this doesn't matter that much as all location apps are currently hamstrung by Apple's lack of background location updates. Luckily for iPhone customers there are developers out there trying to solve this problem.
A Crowd-Sourced National Communications Census
By Carl MalamudJuly 20, 2009
The FCC is charged with creating a National Broadband Plan in 2010. But how can we plan for the future is we don't know where we are? Here, we propose a crowd-sourced National Communications Census.
Developers Create Unofficial Find My iPhone API
July 16, 2009
The iPhone is correctly credited with bringing location services to the consumer. It started at launch with Google Maps. It kicked into hyper-drive with the launch of the App Store (there are now over 2800 location-enabled apps - via Skyhook). However, there is still a step to go, the iPhone needs the ability to share your location in the background to a third-party server. This has been done for them by a couple of hackers.
Recovery Mapping: ARRA Spending Across the US
July 14, 2009
"GIS is the killer app for data.gov" -- @mikehogan paraphrasing Spatial SustainTo really understand economic and government data you need a map. This is especially important to remember right now with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending. There's a lot of data out there and it's when you see can see the relative concentration of funds within a state that the spending priorities begin to become clear.
Everyblock's Code is Open-Sourced
By Brady ForrestJuly 2, 2009
The code for Adrian Holovaty's Everyblock has been released. The open-sourcing of the site's system were apart of the Knight News Challenge Program. Everyblock is a very impressive site that aggregates and geocodes local data -- news, crime, fire, restaraunt inspections and reviews - and then lets users define their interests down to the block-level.
Before and After Shots of Google's Iran Maps
June 23, 2009
There many places in the world where it is not possible for larger companies to map them. These can be for economic reasons as is the case for Black Rock City (the temporary 40,000 person home for Burning Man). Or for political reasons as is the case for Iran and countries such as China. As I mentioned the other day Google greatly improved their map coverage of Iran via user contributions through their Mapmaker program.
Want a Map of Tehran? Use Open Street Map or Google
June 17, 2009
All eyes are on Tehran right now. As the center of the Iranian election protests the city has become increasingly important to websites this week. To keep their site up-to-date with this latest crisis area Flickr switched out the Yahoo road Map with Open Street Map. When I heard about this I wondered how other major mapping sites faired.
XKCD on the Future Self
June 12, 2009
This morning's XKCD, Latitude, spells out one of the reasons people will be weary of setting up continuous location trackers: the future self. The future self forgets that they are sharing their location and then act as if no one knows where they are going. In this case Megan's friend tracks her stops at a sex shop, toy store, hardware store and finally the burn ward, telling a pretty clear story of a mistranslated kama sutra (ahem).
What the iPhone 3GS and 3.0 OS Means for Geo Devs
June 9, 2009
Yesterday's announcements around the iPhone 3GS and new 3.0 OS were significant to consumers and developers. Here are some of the changes that will make geo devs happy. Google Maps Views (Mapkit) - Developers can now take advantage of Google Maps within their apps. This means that you no longer have to building your own mapping system for your...
Mapumental: Time & Scenicness in Maps
June 3, 2009
MySociety has given us a sneak peak at Mapumental, a map app that lets you pivot on travel-time, "scenicness", and house-price in the London area. Just enter a postal code and if you're looking for a home in the area Mapumental should be very helpful to you. It is an update to a previous foray into temporal maps (you can try it out on the embed in a Radar post of mine).
New Geo For Devs From Google I/O
May 28, 2009
Today at Google I/O, Google has made several announcements for geo developers. To sum: Google is updating (not abandoning!) its Flash API, but it still prefers the Javascript one Google is pushing the Maps API into mobile (and performance is a big part of the push) Geolocation is going to be a part of every Google product eventually Android is being backed by deep pockets Google is preparing an army of Qualified Developers to bring more them more API customer
Yahoo! Placemaker - Open Location, Open Data and Supporting Web Services
May 20, 2009
Today at Where 2.0 Tyler Bell, the Head of Yahoo's Geo Technologies Group, launched Placemaker (this link should be live at posting). Placemaker is a webservice that takes in text and returns the locations found within via either XML or enhanced GeoRSS. The locations Placemaker returns come in the form of WOEIDs (Radar post). You might be cautious about relying on Yahoo's ID system for your locations. To alleviate your fears Yahoo! is announcing the release of GeoPlanet Data, all of the WOEIDs available as a free download under Creative Commons in June. Woot!
Come to Ignite Where & Launchpad
By Brady ForrestMay 14, 2009
Every year we kick-off Where 2.0 with a combination Launchpad and Ignite event. This year is no different. So far we've got 11 geo-oriented Ignite talks paired with 5 product demos spread across two sets. We'll be starting the show at 7PM and will conclude by 9PM on May 19th at the Fairmount in San Jose. Bar opens at 6:30.
Google's Sneaky Launch of Latitude's Location-Sharing API
May 6, 2009
Google has extended their location sharing service Latitude (Radar post) with the first set of Latitude Apps. One of them is a blog badge for sharing your location publicly on a website. The other updates your GTalk status for sharing your location to your IM network. Both have to be turned on explicitly and allow you to share your...
Swine Flu Tracker
May 5, 2009
Rhiza Labs has launched Flu Tracker to enable people to clearly track the progress of H1N1 Swine Flu. On the site you can see news stories about the flu and maps based on the data of Henry L Niman. The maps show the number of Suspected, Confirmed and Fatal Cases by country: They also show the data by state...
Jack Dangermond Interview 3 of 3: The Geoweb
May 1, 2009
Jack Dangermond is the founder and CEO of ESRI. ESRI's software is used by every level of government around the world. You can see ESRI's influence in online mapping tools from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and FortiusOne. I had the opportunity to interview him over the phone on April 20, 2009. In this portion of the interview we discuss the history of GIS and online mapping. Jack will be speaking at Where 2.0 on May 20th in San Jose. You can use whr09rdr for 20% off at registration.
Where Week 2009
By Brady ForrestMay 1, 2009
Where Week, five days when geohackers across the world descend on Silicon Valley, is coming up. WhereCamp, the unconference put on by Where 2.0 attendees has been scheduled. This year it will happen at SocialText in Palo Alto on Friday May 22nd and Saturday May 23rd 2009. There will be unconference sessions during the day and a hackfest in the evening.
Jack Dangermond Interview 2 of 3: Sharing Government GIS Data
By Brady ForrestApril 30, 2009
Jack Dangermond is the founder and CEO of ESRI. ESRI's software is used by every level of government around the world. You can see ESRI's influence in online mapping tools from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and FortiusOne. I had the opportunity to interview him over the phone on April 20, 2009. In this portion of the interview we discuss the history of GIS and online mapping. Jack will be speaking at Where 2.0 on May 20th in San Jose. You can use whr09rdr for 20% off at registration.
Jack Dangermond Interview 1 of 3: Web Mapping
By Brady ForrestApril 29, 2009
Jack Dangermond is the founder and CEO of ESRI. ESRI's software is used by every level of government around the world. You can see ESRI's influence in online mapping tools from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and FortiusOne. I had the opportunity to interview him over the phone on April 20, 2009. In this portion of the interview we discuss the history...
MySQL 2009 conference wrap-up: news flash about Flash and other notes from the experts
April 24, 2009
MySQL conference wrap-up: Flash, cloud computing, managing large installations, the value of community, and how to fumble your way to winning the presidency.
Locavore's Open Data
April 24, 2009
Buster McLeod is taking an "open data" policy towards his latest project, Locavore the iPhone app, by revealing the first month's stats. Locavore is a great app that helps you eat locally by showing you what produce is in season near you and what farmer's markets you can buy it at. It's a well-designed app that I look forward...
Where 2.0 Preview - DARPA's TIGR Project Helps Platoons Stay Alive
April 21, 2009
Soldiers on the ground need to know the territory they patrol like the back of their hand. Knowing where insurgents like to plant IEDs or that an important political leader lives in a certain house can prove the difference between success and failure. But what happens when a platoon transfers out of Baghdad and a brand new one moves in? All that experience used to go out the window. But thanks to TIGR, a map-based knowledge-base developed by DARPA, platoons can now document information they learn on patrol, as well as accessing the latest intelligence. In this interview, hear how TIGR was developed, how it is helping troops stay alive and perform their missions better, and what the realities of deploying a brand new technology into a war zone are.
A Telling Map of Job Losses
April 17, 2009
Slate's Moneybox has an interactive map that shows job creation and loss throughout the US for the past two years. Watching it flow through each month's up and down definitely made the employment situation in the country clearer to me. Like any great visualization image and the legend make it very clear what's happening. Slate's piece includes an explanation of how they created the map using the Labor Department's local area unemployment statistics.
Where 2.0 Preview - Building the SENSEable City
April 16, 2009
A lot of information we have about cities comes through direct and intentioned observation and study, but could a lot of the time and expense spent on this research be garnered just as well by mining the data that citizens generate in their day-to-day lives through cell phone traffic and internet usage? That's one of the questions that Andrea Vaccari, a research associate at the MIT SENSEable City Lab, is trying to find out. Andrea will be speaking at the Where 2.0 Conference in May on the research that the SENSEable City Project is doing.
Where 2.0 Preview - Tyler Bell on Yahoo's Open Location Project
April 15, 2009
Location can be a vague concept to pin down. To a surveyor, location means latitude and longitude accurate to a few millimeters, while to a cab driver, a street address would be much more useful. If you're German, I can tell you that I live in the United States. To a Californian, I live in New Hampshire. And to someone from Manchester, I live in Derry. Unfortunately, the way that location is currently stored and presented online is both non-uniform and frequently at a level of precision inappropriate for the end-user. That's part of what Open Location is trying to fix. Tyler Bell, who took his doctorate from Oxford to Yahoo, is currently the product lead for the Yahoo Geo Technology Group. At O'Reilly's Where 2.0 Conference, he'll be discussing Open Location.
O'Reilly Week in Review for April 13th, 2009
April 15, 2009
This week, we have interviews from Yahoo! and MIT, both previewing talks at Where 2.0. There's also a new podquiz, this week dealing with Microsoft's poor sense of direction, literally......
Becoming Location Aware: Where 2.0 Early Registration Ending 4/13
By Brady ForrestApril 13, 2009
Despite the downturn the geolocation space is still active. This year's Where 2.0 conference will be highlighting the companies, technologies and people that make the industry go. Where 2.0 is happening in San Jose at the Fairmount Hotel from 5/19-21(the first day is workshops; the next two are all mainstage talks). Early registration ends this Tuesday, 4/13. You can...
Tweenbots: Cute Beats Smart
April 11, 2009
If you wanted to build a robot that could go from one end of Washington Square Park to the other without your help how would you do it? How expensive in time and money would it be? Would you build or buy a navigation system? Construct a sensing system to detect obstacles? Or would you decide to take a...
Where 2.0 Preview - Pelago's Jeff Holden on Creating Stories Out of Your Life
April 10, 2009
Tools like Twitter and Facebook have let people share in near real-time what they are doing. Now with a new generation of location aware mobile devices, you can tell your friends or the entire world where you're doing it. Jeff Holden's company, Pelago, is one of many trying to come up with a killer application that blends location, images, text and social networking to create a new kind of group awareness. Before starting Pelago, Jeff had a long career as the Senior Vice President of Consumer Websites for Amazon and before that, the Director of Supply Chain Optimization Systems. In this preview of his talk at Where 2.0, Jeff talks about creating stories through location-tagged information, distributing software through Apple's App Store, his work at Amazon, and the privacy implications of location becoming ubiquitous.
PhoneGap, the Mobile Platform Democratizer
April 8, 2009
There's a gold-rush happening right now in mobile marketplaces. However not everyone is able to participate and not all platforms are receiving equal attention. PhoneGap has the potential to be a great democratizer. It lowers the bar for developers to create powerful applications out of very familiar web technologies. It also enables sites to support versions of their apps for mobile platforms other than the iPhone. If you don't have an iPhone (or even if you do) you should be cheering this project along.
Where 2.0 Preview: Eric Gunderson of Development Seed on the Promise of Open Data
April 3, 2009
When we think about how government uses geographic information, we tend to think about USGS maps or census data, very centralized and preplanned projects meant to produce a very specific set of products. But Development Seed believes that there are a lot more that could be done if these types of data could be mashed up easily with each other as well as with alternate sources such as social networks. Eric Gunderson, President of Development Seed, will speaking at O'Reilly's Where 2.0 Conference in June, and he recently took some time to speak to us about the potential benefits that open access to government data brings.
Open Cloud Manifesto: about openness, standards, and the vitality of SMTP
March 30, 2009
Thanks to George Reese, I learned about the bruhaha over an Open Cloud Manifesto. Let's put the debate in the context of some basic and perennial issues about openness and standards.
SpatialKey - Amazing Geo-Spatial Visualization
March 25, 2009
Today, SpatialKey announced a private beta. The SpatialKey team has been hard at work since InsideRIA first announced the technical preview on August 9th. This new version includes many new features and some advanced visualizations. This release demonstrates why SpatialKey is one of the most exciting RIA's I have seen recently.
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