View, locate beer stores, micro breweries, wine stores etc… in Southern Ontario, Canada.. a great mashup. Trust the Canadians to take their beer hunting so seriously. This is a fine effort and I can’t wait to see it expanded. Hot spots contact address info, photos, type of establishment, hours, etc… This is the latest addition to our growing mashup category in our webmap gallery at gisuser – See http://www.beerhunter.ca/ Of interest, the geocoding is provided by a service from geocoder.ca… nice!
Archives for March 3, 2006
A JSP Taglibrary for Google Maps
This is pretty cool… the developer of this resource has started a JSP Tag Library to provide GoogleMaps capabilities for those who use JSP. According to the creator, it removes the need for the user to do any javascript/AJAX programming and you do not need to kow the GoogleMaps API. You can integrate easily with javabeans or JSTL to generate database driven maps. The library includes geocoding, some custom overlays (like polygon and circle), and includes mousewheel support for zooming in and out of version 1 maps. See http://www.lamatek.com/GoogleMaps/
Mapping US Census Data in Google Earth
juice Analytics has done a very cool job of intergrating US CEnsus Bureau data into Google Earth, resulting in some amazing graphics. They have generously provided links to KMZs for data from every State enabling you to easily generate a map of choice showing demographic profiles (County or Census Block group) for the area of interest you select… nice stuff! FYI, be sure to also check out their absolutely Google Earth tools, resources, links, yadayada – More at http://www.juiceanalytics.com/weblog/?p=119
The Topo Employees weblog… a blog from USGS employees
Are you interested in staying abreast of the USGS’ concolidation and developments affecting USGS employees? This blog is the resource for you then… Sometime in late 2006 or early 2007 the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Mapping program will be “reorganized” and “consolidated” — polite euphemisms for a range of questionable actions. Among other things, some 300 employees will lose their jobs. This site is a forum for them to speak out. Keep tabs on the USGS crew and their thoughts at http://topoemp2.blogspot.com/
2006 Census of Canada preparing to get fired up
Every five years, the nation sets aside one day to conduct the census – a count of all people and households in Canada. The next Census Day is May 16, 2006. A website devoted to Census 2006 resources including career opportunities, census questions etc… has been set up. Visit the Government of Canada website (http://www.census2006.ca/) for information about the Canadian Census – note… I won’t list an email address for job listings etc… as the last time I did this the agency totally freaked out and I received about 3 phone calls, 6 emails, and a registered letter… OUCH! Too funny
Cooperative efforts result in a fine Raster Clipping Project at MIN clearinghouse
More testament to some great, free data resources and a nice result of a cooperative effort, check out this Raster Clipping Pilot Project from Minnesota at http://geoserver.state.mn.us/Raster2. Resulting from a cooperative agreement with the USDA, shared investment by the state Departments of Natural Resources, Transportation and Pollution Control, and an application development grant from NASA, this pilot project demonstrates an ability to use ArcSDE to clip out raster data layers from ArcIMS and download them to the user. It was developed with a grant from The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology and is based on the raster clipping routine developed by the Idaho Department of Water Resources… nice stuff!
More on data sharing and distributing GIS data
I recently contacted a couple of State clearinghouse coordinators to pick their brains about data sharing and redistribution of their GIS data products. I asked what they thought about the practice of commercial firms grabbing free data from public servers (or ordering CD/DVD sets) only to turn around and package them up for sale or resell online or via other sales channels. The response from one coordinator… We’re quite familiar with the practice and, you may be surprised to learn, not terribly appalled or concerned about it. Several items they outlined in point form.
We’re working hard to get out of the data sales business – As technology allowed us to drive down the cost of managing data orders to near zero, we eliminated the fee when customers relied on self-service (i.e. Internet download). Our principal customers – governments, at all levels – benefit from freely available publicly-financed data and, as a result, have been more inclined to share their own data, as well. This model has proven wildly successful.
What is the proper function of government? – When applying GIS to the public policy issues, efficiency increases as investments are leveraged. There’s more to be gained by encouraging state agencies and local governments to invest cooperatively in standardized and shared data then to make $100 here, $50 there trying to sell and resell public resources.
We’re working hard to stay in the data sales business: If you call and request packaged data you’ll find that we’re still very happy to charge you for the service at, it turns out, competitive prices.
So in short… the next time you buy a DVD set from a government agency, simply duplicate the CDs and start sending them to your friends and colleagues, the agency is trying hard to get out of the data sales business, and they are also, at the same time, trying to stay in the data sales business… sounds to me like there’s no clear agenda for the business model here. Or, how about a data sharing network? There’s already an active group in Florida who cooperate online and via an electronic list… how about this.. the next time you buy the TIGER Line files, a county set of DOQQs or aerial photos, simply post via a data sharing list and we can all share the data…. not a bad idea. I would think the USGS DEMs would be a great place to start since the USGS won’t distribute these data but rather, lets several commercial vendors handle the distribution. Any thoughts???