Ancient World Mapping Center

Sunday September 30th 2007
Filed Under Maps 

The Ancient World Mapping Center promotes cartography, historical geography and geographic information science as essential disciplines within the field of ancient studies through innovative and collaborative research, teaching, and community outreach activities.

Forestry GIS (fGIS)

Sunday September 30th 2007
Filed Under Free Software 

Forestry GIS (fGIS) is a robust GIS editor, digitizer, map printing and data query program created by the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin DNR. The freeware Windows software reads common spatial image and vector formats and writes shapefiles and geo-referenced images.

GISFish

Saturday September 29th 2007
Filed Under Data, Industry 

gisfish.pngCreated by the Aquaculture Conservation and Management Service (FIMA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and a number of collaborating institutions, GISFish is a resource web site for spatial data relating to the Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries industries. The site hosts searchable databases of applications published in the mainstream and gray literature. Applications are in the form of case studies, abstracts, and often, downloadable full publications. Sharing of current experience is promoted through discussions and posting of on-going projects. Additionally, case studies, training opportunities, data sources, tools and freeware, news and events are featured. Material in GISFish is constantly updated and expanded. Near future improvements will include increased coverage of abstracts and of full papers. Additional links to Cultured Aquatic Species fact sheets will also be made available for each GISFish publication record in which scientific names of plants and animals are mentioned.

GPS 1 - Cabbies 0

Saturday September 29th 2007
Filed Under Current Events, GPS 

The battle by New York taxi cab drivers to prevent the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) from requiring them to install GPS technology in their cars was dealt a blow yesterday when U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman refused to issue an injunction to block the rule from going into effect.  The taxi cab drivers, in part, argued that the use of GPS technology would reveal trade secrets by making available their driving patterns which they say gives them a competitive edge.  The judge disagreed, noting that the “use of the technology to improve taxi service appeared to outweigh drivers’ privacy rights.”  The two sides have been sent back to negotiations with a new hearing on the matter set for October 10th. 

Source: The Associated Press - NYC Cabbies Lose Court Battle Over GPS

Autodesk to release open source geography tool

Friday September 28th 2007
Filed Under Current Events, Open Source 

Autodesk recently announced that it will release an open source tool to convert GIS data from one coordinate system to another.  In the press release, Frank Warmerdam, president of Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is quoted as saying, “The latest planned contribution supports the projections and transformations necessary to support over 3,000 coordinate systems worldwide and has capabilities not previously available to the open source community.”  The open source software is planned for a release date under the LGPL (Lesser General Public License) toward the end of 2007 after Autodesk engineers document and organize the project. 

Calling all U.S. and Canadian Mapmakers

Tuesday September 25th 2007
Filed Under Cartography 

The Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) has announced their 35th Annual Map Design Competition.  Maps created during the calendar year 2007 by professionals and college-level students from the United States and Canada are eligible for submission.  The deadline for submitting your map is January 15, 2008.  Entries will be judged on “color, overall design and impression, craftsmanship, and typography“.  Visit the Map Design Competition web page for more information and an entry form. 

ESRI Tools for the 2010 Census

Tuesday September 25th 2007
Filed Under ArcGIS Desktop, Census 

ESRI has released Census Tools for ArcGIS to help local governments with their GIS related preparation for the 2010 census.  The extension was specifically designed to help users work with spatial data from the U.S. Census Bureau as part of the the Local Update of Addresses (LUCA) and Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) programs. 

BASINS 4.0

Monday September 24th 2007
Filed Under Free GIS, Software 

BASINS 4.0 is an environmental modeling interface built upon the open source GIS MapWindow. The system contains tools to download data from the internet and can perform basic GIS functions to prepare inputs for modeling pollutant loading in streams. There is also a Windows-based Climate Assessment Tool, for assessing potential impacts of changing climate on stream flows and pollutant loads. BASINS 4 also has the ability to transfer and share GIS standard data (shapefile, dbf, and GeoTiff) between other licensed GIS software.

USC GIS Program

Monday September 24th 2007
Filed Under Distance Learning 

The University of Southern California has a comprehensive curriculum for studies in geographic informations systems.  The university offers a distance learning Graduate Certificate Program in GIS and recently announced a new Master of Science in Geographic Information Science & Technology. 

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