Getting the Most out of the ESRI User Conference

Thursday July 31st 2008
Filed Under Community, ESRI, Features 

Whether it’s your first time or tenth time attending ESRI’s Annual User Conference in San Diego, this annual get together is always a fantastic opportunity for users and developers of ESRI software to enhance their skills and to network with other GIS professionals from around the world. Starting August 4th this year’s event marks the 28th year of the ESRI International User Conference. Read more

gvSIG News

Monday July 28th 2008
Filed Under Software 

From the gvSIG Virtual Office News:

We would like to inform you that gvSIG source code repository SVN has been freed for public use (read only).

From the gvSIG project, we hope that it makes working easier to the developers community, and to stimulate developing software for gvSIG application more and more. Read more

Association of American Geographers - Las Vegas, NV - March 22–27

Sunday July 27th 2008
Filed Under Conferences 

WASHINGTON, DC — Join 8,000 geographers, GIS specialists, and environmental scientists from around the world in Las Vegas for the very latest in research, policy, and applications in geography, sustainability, and GIScience, during the annual conference of  the Association of American Geographers, to be held March 22–27, 2009.

The program will feature 4,000 presentations by leading scholars and researchers from more than 60 countries, an international networking reception, and exhibitions showcasing recent scholarly publications, advanced geographic technologies, and expanding employment opportunities.  Numerous field trips will also explore the rich cultural and physical geography of Las Vegas and the surrounding region.

To register for the meeting, or to submit a paper, visit www.aag.org.

Mashup Training from ESRI

Sunday July 27th 2008
Filed Under Education, Internet Mapping 

ESRI will be presenting a free seminar on July 31st to teach ArcGIS users “how to use the new ArcGIS JavaScript APIs to build high-performance, easy-to-use online mapping applications.“  The seminar will air at 9am, 11am and 3pm Pacific Standard time.  The topics covered in the seminar are:

  • The concept of a mashup
  • The ArcGIS JavaScript API
  • The ArcGIS JavaScript API extensions: The ArcGIS JavaScript Extension for Microsoft Virtual Earth and the ArcGIS JavaScript Extension for the Google Maps API

For more information check out the press release.  To access the seminar visit: http://www.esri.com/lts.

Using Location Intelligence, Office Max Grows Business and Improves Operations

Saturday July 26th 2008
Filed Under Current Events 

Mapinfo has provided a case study on location intelligence in the retail sector with this article on OfficeMax’s use of MapInfo Location Intelligence in their recent expansion.

As a leader in both business-to-business office products, solutions and retail office products, OfficeMax, Incorporated serves enterprise-level, mid-size and small businesses, as well as individual consumers. The company was founded in July 1988 with the opening of its first retail store in Cleveland, Ohio, expanding to three superstores by year’s end. OfficeMax offers a wide variety of office supplies, paper, technology products and services and furniture through a multichannel approach consisting of direct sales, catalogs, the Internet and more than 900 superstores. Read more

The Jekyll and Hyde of Google Maps

Tuesday July 22nd 2008
Filed Under Google Maps 

CNET poses the question, “Are Google Maps good or evil?” in reaction to receiving two different press releases touting both the benefits and negative aspects of Google Maps:

The first was from an outfit called Stop Child Predators, which launched a campaign to tell parents about the potential ills of Google Maps’ Street View, which shows driver’s-eye views of countless neighborhoods.

On the other side was the announcement of CriminalSearches.com, a new service from PeopleFinders.com that said it shows where “sex offenders…thieves, violent offenders, murderers, or con artists” live in your neighborhood. The site shows people icons on a Google map; clicking an icon shows a person’s photo, description, address, and criminal history.

CNET offers and poll and readers comments on the questions of “Do online maps creep you out? Or do you feel safer because they enable you to keep an eye out for threats”

Read more: Are Google Maps good or evil? - CNET News

News from the Online Map World

Tuesday July 22nd 2008
Filed Under Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth 

A couple of announcements of note from the Online Mapping world:

Google Maps is now offering walking directions for their maps.  From the Lat Long Blog:

Starting today, you can tell Google Maps that you want walking directions, and we’ll try to find you a route that’s direct, flat, and uses pedestrian pathways when we know about them.

The Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog announced that 14.3 terrabytes of new imagery is available in Microsoft’s Virtual Earth.

Printing Free on Mapquest

Monday July 21st 2008
Filed Under Internet Mapping 

The Mapquest Developer Network announced that printing maps (from developer applications) is now free.  According to the post the conditions are as follows:

  • You can print up to 5000 copies of a map per run/publication
  • The printed map can be up to a maximum of 8.5″ x 11″ inches printed
  • It has to be a free publication (flyer, newsletter, etc); you can’t use it in a publication you’re charging for

Read more: New Feature: Printable Maps!

The Many Names of Crowdsourcing GIS

Sunday July 20th 2008
Filed Under Current Events 

The advent of tools that invite and encourage even non-GIS trained users to provide geographic data and mapping in a collaborative, wiki-like environment has both fans and naysayers.  The debate about this growing effort aside, even coming up with a universally accepted name has been elusive. There are certainly many competitors seeking to be “the one” that comes up with the name that sticks.  So what catchphrases are out there that describe mapping and geographic data creation by the laity?  Read more

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