GIS, Maps, Geo and Location Technology by @gletham
Details of a cool, new developer competition just hit my desk courtesy of the team at ESRI UK. ESRI (UK) and Bing Maps are challenging the UK’s Web developers to build a GIS-based mashup that demonstrates how GIS can be used to improve business processes, unlock information and/or connect people with geographical data. The winner will be announced during this year’s AGI Community Conference – see the official announcement HERE or jump to http://www.esriuk.com/micro_sites/mashup_challenge/
A new application for iPhone users from the MIT Media Lab provides the latest news and updates on swine flu outbreaks. The application, “Outbreaks Near Me,” builds upon the mission and proven capability of HealthMap, an online resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates information about emerging infectious diseases, and provides a new, contextualized view of a user’s specific location – pinpointing outbreaks that have been reported in the vicinity of the user and offering the opportunity to search for additional outbreak information by location or disease.
When using the application, the user can first view hotspot locations where outbreaks have been reported – viewed on Google Map. Zooming in the user can then click on an icon to reveal more information about that specific outbreak (news items are pulled from various sources providing more context). A very cool feature is the ability for users to receive alert notifications base on user-defined criteria. For example, you can easily setup an alert to receive notices about various outbreaks for diseases like Horse sickness, swine fever, cholera, or many others. Perhaps the most useful feature is the reporting capabilities where users can submit details of outbreaks along with location information and photos.
Gadget hounds, here’s a new one for you… A new, sleek, affordable GPS solution for cyclists (novices or pros alike!) Designed for performance cyclists, Garmin’s GPS-enabled Edge 500 tracks speed, distance, time, GPS position, elevation, calories burned, climb and descent, and it syncs wirelessly with ANT+(TM) compatible third-party power meters. Cyclists can track Team Garmin’s featured rides – or download, analyze and share rides of their own – by participating in Garmin Connect. For more info see www.garmin.com/teamgarmin and www.slipstreamsports.com.
For a couple of years now I’ve heard Nokia tout the merits of being “green” and have “hyped” some eco friendly moves, however, apart from the usual marketing hype, I haven’t really seen Nokia actually do anything that is truly eco-friendly (whatever happened to the enviro friendly packaging move you promised way back??) Moving on, Sprint is pushing a new, green, eco-friendly device – the Reclaim. This sporty device comes in green (naturally), is made from up to 80% recyclable materials, one-click access to eco-friendly apps, and has built in GPS-nav to help users save on fuel. Looks like a decent start! Check out the Reclaim on Sprint’s Green website at http://green.sprint.com – (inspiration from post from Twitter contact @Wyojeff)
