Anything Geospatial

GIS, Maps, Geo and Location Technology by @gletham

Archives for November 2008

Believe again!! NORAD Santa prepares to Track Santa on Christmas Eve

by

Growing up as a “military brat” I have many memories of my Dad discussing how the team at NORAD would be tracking Santa on his journey on Christmas Eve. For about the past 10 years I’ve also been reminding readers of the blogs and publications that I’ve managed (and my kids too) about this fabulous resource made available from the team at NORAD – enter NORAD Santa. Once again the crew in Colorado Springs is preparing the NORAD radar system (aka. North warning system) to track Santa’s treck on Christmas eve. Monitoring the system closely, the NORAD team will share images, video and radar sighting updates with the World via this fabulous website known as NORAD Santa. Tracking Santa via this resource is a tradition in our household and in my mind this is THE best Santa monitoring system you’ll find… hands down! Bookmark this resosurce and be sure to check in often on Christmas eve with everyone in your household that Believes! Note: the system uses data captured via radar, satellites, Santa cams, and fighter jets! See more about NORAD Santa tracker in this article from a couple of years ago and check back (or this one from 2005 or from 2004) at NORAD to see what they have new in store for us this year. http://www.noradsanta.org/

The Santa Map from NORAD
The Santa Map from NORAD
NORAD captured this photo of Santa on a rooftop in 1956
NORAD captured this photo of Santa on a rooftop in 1956

Tip – Mobile Device Management Done Inexpensively

by

Mobile Device Management is often overlooked. Learn how it can be done efficiently and inexpensively according to this white paper. From the publication…Enterprises love the pay backs and efficiencies that can be achieved with a properly developed mobile application in the hands of their workforce. However, one item that is often overlooked in these deployments is how to effectively manage and support the mobile devices once they are outside the four walls. In this white paper, Enterprise Mobility’s, Phil Lachmann will present many of the problems that companies face when attempting to deploy and manage mobile computing devices, as well as some potential solutions. Request your copy here

Lost In the City – Nokia reports findings on study of how people navigate

by

Interesting research findings out of a European study commissioned by Nokia… of signifigant interest this tidbit regrding the findings of the report… “suggests that the end of the traditional map and compass is fast approaching” “More people are becoming comfortable with using navigation tools on their phones and in their cars, and are seeing direct benefits from using these devices in their everyday lives,” says Marita Markkula, head of Marketing for Nokia Maps. Some of the findings include:

  • Digital navigation overtakes traditional maps
  • More than 25 percent of people surveyed rely on online and mobile navigation tools to find their way around.
  • The country with the world’s best sense of direction is Germany
  • One in ten women admits to not being able to read a traditional map, twice the number of men
  • One in five people believe a sense of direction is genetic
  • despite huge advances in online maps and mobile navigation, almost everyone surveyed (93 percent) still get lost regularly
  • Getting lost is affecting people’s personal lives (like missing a date!)
  • More people are becoming comfortable with using navigation tools on their phones and in their cars
  • Britain prefer to use local pubs to signpost directions to others

See Results of a Global Study Into How People Find Their Way Around here

The new and improved google maps with more pegman ala Street View

by

Have you used Google maps in the past day? If so no doubt you noticed “pegman” to be a little more prominent. that’s because Google has rolled out some updates to the google maps functionality, particularly with respect to street view. When you view a map (any map or any region) you;ll now find a control wheel in the upper left and pegman is beside it. When you search for a business you can then click on pegman and get taken immediately to the street view of that location. Furthermore, when viewing areas using Street View, you’ll now find a smaller inset map placed in the lower-right region and pegman will be there… simply drag pegman to a new location to move around. Integrated within every street view scene you should now also see a subtle link to “report a concern”, a friendly option for reporting anything you feel should not be in the scene. Go take a test ride at http://maps.google.com/

new and improved google maps with more pegman
new and improved google maps with more pegman

Another fine Touch UI Mobile – the LG-KC910 aka. Renoir – Photography, music, GPS and more!

by

It’s cool to see people you know that are doing well… kudos to my relatively new friend James Whatley (we go way back as co-facilitators at the NokiaOpenLab08 event held in Helsinki.  James is a social media and mobile technology evangelist who’s rapidly becoming everyone’s favorite “character” at many social media outlets, particularly Twitter (see @whatleydude) and Jaiku. Just today, I was routed to an interesting “infomercial” on the Telegraph that introduced me to a mobile device known as the Renoir. For those of you interested in fashion, music, photography etc… ala mobile then you may wish to take not of this swanky device. Killer features include 8megapixel camera, Dolby mobile (yes that’s right… freaking DOLBY in your handset), touch UI, WiFi, stunningly fashionable design (yes I want this one hanging outo of my pocket), and A GPS (naturally) since you can’t have a killer mobile that doesn’t know where you are and serve up location-aware apps and content. See the full specs on the Renoir (aka LG-KC910 ) HERE or jump on over to the Telegraph and see our mate Whatleydude in this excellent video… well done James! PS if you’d like to get James to pimp your stuff you can find him at Spinvox.com or via MIR

LG KC910 Renoir
LG KC910 Renoir
LG KC910 Renoir
LG KC910 Renoir

Maps for your blog – Add maps to your web pages with MapMyPage

by

A tip for anyone interested in adding some fun Google maps functionality to your blog or website. MapMyPage enables users to provide maps for their visitors by simply adding a small piece of code to your webpage header section. Simply copy/past the code and you’re on your way to providing a simple but useful tool for your site visitors. As an example, see below as we’ve added MapMyPage to our LBSzone.com. Notice that common place names are turned into active hyperlinks via the addition of a friendly little Globe icon. Click the globe and a popup window displays a google map centered on that location… simple yet effective.. well done! See more and grab your code at mapmypage.com

MapMyPage - notice the Globe icons that appear near place names
MapMyPage - notice the Globe icons that appear near place names
click the Globe icon to open up a map
click the Globe icon to open up a map

Event of interest – Leveraging Geomatics to Enhance Public Health

by

This event comes out of Canada and GeoConnections –
The Geomatics Industry Association of Canada (GIAC) is hosting a series of information and outreach sessions across Canada to showcase the vital role that location-based or “geospatial” information – such as digital maps and satellite images – and technologies can play in enhancing public and private sector decision-making and in the management of policy, social, environmental and economic development issues. The session will focus on Leveraging Geomatics to Enhance Public Health. Event location is Ottawa – Ontario,  Thursday, December 11, 2008 – Agenda and registration form can be found at Geoconnections

Must-have traffic reports for your commute or holiday travel

by

The graphic below tells a thousand words and is a great selling feature for the awesome Traffic.com service which provides registered users with free traffic updates… this app is on my list of must haves, particularly for regular commutes into Denver, trips to the airport, and for holiday travel. See more at traffic.com (from NAVTEQ). Other useful travel apps that you can have on your mobile this holiday season include Weatherbug, Worldmate, Nokia Maps, and google maps mobile… oh, be sure you load up Goog411 information number into your contacts to save some billing charges also! Links to all these resources easily located via google search – happy travels!

traffic.com report for routes into Denver, CO
traffic.com report for routes into Denver, CO

Social Networking (Twitter) Tip O the Day! Do you know your Twitter Karma?

by

Those of you using Twitter or thinking about using Twitter, here’s an interesting application that helps you see more clearly your relationships that you’ve built on Twitter. The Kharma app (Flash) simply asks you to login (ie. give them your user/pw pair) then after a few seconds a table is revealed and shows you who you follow and if they follow you.  See http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/ and thanks again to @mattsingley for the tip!

my Twitter Karma
my Twitter Karma
Copyright Spatial Media LLC 2003 - 2016