Webinar – Rebuilding After Sandy: Surveying the Aftermath

Posted on May 20, 2013 by glenn

Free Webinar! Rebuilding After Sandy: Surveying the Aftermath – Last October, the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history put our mapping and forecasting systems to the test. As it turns out, the tragic truth is that the best means of determining the accuracy of risk predicted by the Flood Insurance Rate Maps is to have a flood. In this edition of the Amerisurv webinar series, we’ll cover key areas of interest to land surveyors, planners, GIS and mapping professionals.

The content portion of the presentation will last from 1:00-1:45pm EST. Q&A will last from 1:45-2:15pm. We recommend that you arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the webinar in order to connect with our system.

Register for “Rebuilding After Sandy: Surveying the Aftermath (May 29th, 1pm EST) here.

See Also more details HERE

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Posted in events, webinar |

First Look – Exploring The New Google Maps

Posted on May 16, 2013 by glenn

To my surprise the new Google maps is available already. Upon receipt of the email providing me with a special link I immediately launched maps from Chrome for a quick, first look. The first thing I noticed was the browser was all maps… no wasted space, simply a huge browser and screen with a map canvas. An “Explore” search box is shown in the upper left area and to my surprise has recalled some of my recent searches. I also have quick access to Directions and transit or bicycle information as well (depends on region). I immediately try a test search and opt for the “coffee” search (See image below). I search for “coffee” in Victoria, B.C. Results are displayed right on the map and labelled along with a nice little coffee mug icon. I can optionally see places suggested by top reviewers or from my circles – yes those G+ circles can come in handy! The results from “experts” are quite interesting… I’m not seeing the full results of Starbucks, Tim Horton’s and the like, rather, the map is showing me a nice selection of local shops, many are coffee roasters and other specialty shops, no doubt offering a “superior” coffee experience. Mousing over any of the icons reveals an info box showing a stars rating based on customer reviews.

Continue reading →

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Posted in google, google maps |

GeoTech Webinars and Professional Development

Posted on May 16, 2013 by glenn

Another roundup of webinars of interest being delivered to your desktop in the near future… these are an awesome way to test drive a solution, hear directly from industry experts, and experience a little professional development. The following webinars of interest to the geo tech professional will take place in the very near future (Oh, and those of you hosting a webinar and looking for promotion contact us at GISuser to help you out!)

Webinar on Canada’s Spatial Data Infrastructure and Geospatial Operational Policies
learn more about the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), and the policy, legal and administrative issues that impact the access, use and sharing of geospatial information (May 21)

Free Webinar! Rebuilding After Sandy: Surveying the Aftermath
Last October, the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history put our mapping and forecasting systems to the test. As it turns out, the tragic truth is that the best means of determining the accuracy of risk predicted by the Flood Insurance Rate Maps is to have a flood. In this edition of the Amerisurv webinar series, we’ll cover key areas of interest to land surveyors, planners, GIS and mapping professionals (May 29)

Continue reading →

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Posted in events, webinar |

Socrata Offers Developers and OpenData Enthusiasts Hackathon In A Box

Posted on May 14, 2013 by glenn

The cool crew from Seattle-based Socrata are providing government users, opendata enthusiasts, developers, and others with a very cool OpenData resource in the form of a “hackathon in a box” – a toolbox of resources, documents, tools and other handy items of interest to anyone getting involved in an opendata hackathon or similar event. Need help running a hackthaon? Need some ideas? Need pointers on tools, APIs, and other developer resources? See the hackathon in a box http://hackathon-in-a-box.org/

Note: all resources are licensed under Creative Commons License

See Also Socrata Sponsors National Day of Civic Hacking, Offering Technology, Tools, and Support

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Posted in crowdsource, developer, open source, opendata, opengov |

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas

Posted on May 14, 2013 by glenn

Some fine civic engagement from the Parks and Wildlife service in Colorado as some new resources designed to connect with Anglers have been released to the public. Colorado Parks and Wildlife have released the Colorado Fishing Atlas, a live webmapping service designed to provide anglers and outdoor enthusiasts with valuable information to help plan outings, fishing trips, and other recreational opportunities. Using the map service anglers can identify all the known fishing areas of interest in Colorado along with relevant information like fishing related news and information about the area, fishing regulations, license information and other important updates.

Continue reading →

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Posted in colorado, conservation |

The Geography of Hate Maps Geotagged Hateful Tweets

Posted on May 13, 2013 by glenn

A few days ago I sent out a tweet about some Interesting research from HSU (Humboldt State) on the geography of hate and the Hate Map of racist and homophobic tweets – interesting to see that today the maps seems to be going viral on Twitter. The map from Humboldt State U shows what they have termed the Geography of Hate, an interesting look at data from Twitter (scraping geotagged tweets) that report to tweet out racist, homophobic and other terms that one may include in a group of “hate tweets”. The map is very red and apparently the entire US east of the Mississippi seems to be full of “haters”…

The HAte Map

About the project… The data behind this map is based on every geocoded tweet in the United States from June 2012 – April 2013 containing one of the ‘hate words’. This equated to over 150,000 tweets and was drawn from the DOLLY project based at the University of Kentucky. Because algorithmic sentiment analysis would automatically classify any tweet containing ‘hate words’ as “negative,” this project relied upon the HSU students to read the entirety of tweet and classify it as positive, neutral or negative based on a predefined rubric.

See the Hate Map HERE

and Read all about the project and methodology at http://www.floatingsheep.org/

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Posted in maps, Social Media, twitter |

Like Photos? Like Instagram? Here’s 10 Awesome Instagram Add-Ons

Posted on May 12, 2013 by glenn

If you have a smartphone then there’s no doubt that you love sharing photos. And if you dig sharing photos then I suspect that you really like Instagram! Instagram is cool but you can make it much better by using third-party apps that build on Intsagaram – here’s 10 awesome add-ons that I’m sure you’ll appreciate – enjoy!

 


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Posted in infographic, photos, Social Media |

Mobile Tip – Photos in the Cloud With Amazon Cloud Photos

Posted on May 10, 2013 by glenn

An interesting mobile app to help with your mobile file storage issues, now supporting iOS – Amazon Cloud Photos. Release for iOS just today (May 9, 2013) the app syncs up with your cloud storage service and makes your data available for sharing.  Protect and store all of your photos in one place with Amazon Cloud Drive Photos. Access your photos from your iPhone or iPod touch, your computer, or any web browser. Take a picture on your iPhone and save it to the Amazon Cloud to enjoy on your computer. Upload photos from your computer and enjoy them on your iPhone or iPod touch.  See iTunes

Also available on Google play – Details… Get 5 GB of free storage to protect and store your phone’s photos with Amazon Cloud Drive. Access photos from your Android phone or tablet, your computer, or any web browser. See Google Play

Features:
- Store and secure thousands of photos with 5 GB of free storage
- Never lose a photo again  your photos are automatically saved to your Cloud Drive
- Upload individual photos or entire albums from your phone or tablet with one touch
- View your photo albums in stunning layouts from your mobile device or on your computer
- Share your Cloud Drive photos on Facebook, through e-mail, and many other apps

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Posted in amazon, android, cloud, mobile, photos |

Google Maps Team to Show Off Map Diving at Google I/O

Posted on May 10, 2013 by glenn

Something fun that’s coming at Google I/O 2013 – map diving! Here’s a first look at a fun 3D virtual Google maps realistic fly-through experience that will be shown off at Google I/O. Details from the developers… Join the Instrument and Google Maps Developer Relations teams to get an early demo of “Map Diving” at Google I/O. Instrument’s developers will walk through how they built the installation using multiple instances of Chrome mashed up with the Google Maps Javascript API v3, Web GL, 3D CSS, web sockets and node.js.

Source: GoogleDevelopers Youtube

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Posted in google |

Device Tip – 7″ Android Jelly Bean Tablet with Inbuilt 3G and Voice Calling

Posted on May 10, 2013 by glenn

The amazing Android powered mobile devices just keep on coming… is it any wonder why Android is dominating the mobile ecosystem? Enter the 7″ tablet running Jelly Bean and supporting 3G voice calling from AirTyme (India). No longer a simple e-reader and web browsing device, this 3G-enabled tablet allows students, field workers and commuters the ability to seamlessly connect wherever 3G service or Wi-Fi is available. Tablet is capable of making phone calls using 2G/3G network via SIM, without any add-ons.

Key Features:

• 7″ (17.7 cm) capacitive multi-touch screen display with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution
• Android™ 4.1.2 “Jelly Bean” operating system
• In-Built 3G connectivity and voice calling
• Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 1.0 GHz dual core processor
• Qualcomm® Adreno™ 203, 320Mhz graphic processor
• 512MB LPDDR1 system memory
• 4GB on-board memory, expandable up to 64GB1 via microSD™ card
• Dual facing cameras – 2MP rear and enhanced 1MP front facing

Initially available in India, the tablet will be made available to customers in the last week of May – See More

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Posted in android, mobile, tablet |

Creative Cartography Meets Music in The Song Map

Posted on May 9, 2013 by glenn

Oh yes, I love art… I also love music too, heck, who doesn’t right? Well, I know you GeoGeeks and music lovers will really dig this one as we stumble onto yet another amazing cartographic product that quite simply will make you say WOW – enter the Music Map. Deisgned by the crew at Dorothy, the map is a a fictional Music Town with places and street names penned from popular tunes – imagine walking down the Highway to Hell! Oh and the map also has an accompanying Spotify list too – sweet!  See more over on NME and thanks to @mcg_h  for the Tweet!

Song Map is available for purchase from Dorothy – About the Map – The print, which was inspired by our own unhealthy obsession with music, is for fellow music geeks and includes an A-Z key listing all featured songs along with the names of who sang them. And we’ve set up a playlist on Spotify to accompany the Map providing 23 hours worth of music.

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Posted in awesome maps, cartography, music |

Editing OpenStreetMap (OSM) Just Got Really Easy With iD Map Editor

Posted on May 9, 2013 by glenn

There’s no arguing that OpenStreetMap (OSM) has exploded in use and popularity, heck, just look at the basemap layer options in any online web mapping services and you’ll see OSM as an option. Often considered the wikipedia of the mapping world, OSM is a fabulous basemap option for anyone and perhaps coolest of all, OSM has been built and maintained by you – the crowd!

I’m sure that many (if not most) of you have often wanted to mess around with OSM and add/edit some features but were a little lazy – I’m guilty! But now we have no excuse thanks to the new OpenStreetMap in-browser map editing tools available from the iD Editor (think HTML5)

See more in this first look and example of how to add a new feature, like a local business!


Once completed you can share your edits via Twitter or facebook

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Posted in howto, open source, opendata, OSM |