Anything Geospatial

GIS, Maps, Geo and Location Technology by @gletham

Archives for May 2012

Hexagon Conference Mobile Apps #Hex12

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Like many of you, I’ll be in Las Vegas for a couple of days next week attending the annual Hexagon “Think Forward” Conference – the gathering of geo tech professionals and users of solutions from Intergraph, ERDAS, Leica Geospatial and more.  For those of you attending #Hex12 take note that a suite of mobile conference apps are now available and supporting all major platforms including iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry. I’ve loaded the iPad app on my device, linked it to my conference registration account and have now started building my agenda and adding sessions of interest to my calendar – very handy and a huge time saver! I suggest that anyone else attending the event check out the mobile conference apps http://www.hexagonconference.com/apps.htm

Recall you can follow the event on Twitter @Hexagoncon and on hashtag #Hex12

Follow the Olympic Torch Relay Through the UK via Esri Story Map

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The latest Esri Story map mashes up photos that are captured while following the 8,000 torch-bearers that are carrying the Olympic flame through 1,000 cities and villages in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Using the map, users can quickly jump to a specific date on the calendar or any small town they desire. The relay route is shown on the map along with icons that link to a photo gallery from the selected place.  Follow the Olympic torch’s journey around the United Kingdom – A story map presented by Esri  is found at http://shar.es/qwa4s

Kickstart this! Tellurex tPOD1 generator powered by a five-cent tea candle!

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You gotta love some of the brilliant, green ideas that are being KickStarted these days… case in point, how about this portable, handy charging device powered by candle and can charge your smartphone! Enter the  Tellurex tPOD1™ (Patent Pending), a small soup can-sized power-on-demand packable generator powered by a five-cent tea candle. It’s a one-minute, go-anwhere thermoelectric miracle that will light up in a blackout, illuminate your camp table or put a critical limited rescue recharge on a dead smartphone.

The company also has a gadget (Tellurex tPOD5) that can power up and charge your device all powered by a lamp fueled with lamp fuel… nice!

See more in the PR  Tea Candle Powered Generator Charges Dead Smartphones and Lights Homes in Off-Grid Villages or at http://www.tellurex.com

Source: tellurex.com via Glenn on Pinterest

The New Accuweather for iPad – This is how to deliver a mobile experience!

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Are you a mobile developer or perhaps a would-be mobile developer? If so then take note of the new mobile iPad app from Accuweather – a fine example of how to deliver an awesome user experience! Accuweather has done all the right things here, right from the get go at point of purchase where they have made available a free (ad supported) and premium version of their latest app – the Pro version is just 99 cents, the perfect price point!

Accuweather has made the app fun and simple to use. A scrollable calendar feature lets the user touch the calendar and scroll in a circular motion to view the forecast for selected days.  The graphics used are very nice, ads are non-intrusive yet effective (and relevant) and the options are pretty impressive.  Like any good app, Accuweather is location-aware, providing the user with relevant information and data for your area. Additionally, a handy map display is also provided where you can easily view a real-time radar map and even play it forward using the animation feature.  If  you happen to be a weather fanatic there’s also a handy news feed providing the latest weather related breaking news (like hurricane information and storm threats).  For those of you in hurricane country there’s a tab specifically for viewing hurricane updates and related news and a social tab brings up all the Accuweather related social media updates from facebook and Twitter.

Kudos to Accuweather on this update… I’ll be coughing up the extra $ for the Pro version on this one simply because you’ve done such a great job and I’m a fan of supporting developers!

See More in the iTunes store by searching “Accuweather” and See also  AccuWeather Launches New iPad App

Portable Skills Every Recent College Graduate (All of us) Should Have

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I recently received an update from Vickie Milazzo, author of the New York Times bestseller Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman. In her latest report she looks at the high unemployment rate experienced by recent college grads and provides some pointers to skills that these grads should focus on moving forward. Read on to learn what portable skills anyone could/should put in your tool box and how to perfect them – some sound advice here!

  • Develop a nose for (your) business. Take this time to really study up on your industry.
  • Let your creative flag fly. Don’t be afraid to be creative.
  • Be your own problem-solver. Great employees don’t passively wait for the boss to tell them what to do.

 

Source: kglobal.com via Glenn on Pinterest

[Read more…] about Portable Skills Every Recent College Graduate (All of us) Should Have

Mobile App Tip – Track Marine Debris from the Japan Tsunami

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Here’s details of a clever mobile app (Android) designed to help NOAA keep tabs on debris washing ashore from Japan.  Recall we recently featured an update from NOAA about the Japan Tsunamis debris field that is headed towards the shoreline of North America. NOAA has made available many resources, however, there really isn’t much effort (yet) to deploy a popular mobile app to help in monitoring debris that has been found. There is, however, one app available for the Android mobile OS – “Marine Debris Tracker”

See more details about the app HERE in this article – Mobile Marine Debris Tracker App – Help NOAA Track Marine Debris from the Japanese Tsunami

U.S Housing Crisis Map: Where are home loans underwater?

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This interesting visualization (Created by Stamen) has appeared on the Zillow website. The map shows the breakdown by county of where exactly home loans are underwater (i.e. Negative Equity for the owner). Hover over a county and see the % of home owners in the county that are in financial trouble along with the Zillow home price index for the area. (Thanks to @Atanas for this tip via Twitter!)

With U.S. home values falling by nearly 25% since peak in 2007, many homeowners are now underwater in their mortgages, meaning they owe more than their home is worth – See the Map for yourself online HERE at Zillow

Source: zillow.com via Glenn on Pinterest

What can you do with QR Codes and maps?

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With smart phones being the dominant form of communication in regards to how people receive and consume information, a growing number of map publishers -including individual cartographers and trail blazers who have maps to share for enthusiasts of their choice- are tapping into technology in the form of Quick Response Codes (QR codes) to help promote, sell and deliver maps electronically. QR Code usage is gaining popularity but how exactly does it work for maps? A great question indeed and Ted Florence, CEO of Avenza Systems looks closer at this topic, describing what his company is doing with QR codes and how you can take advantage of them with your maps.

See more  Using QR Codes to Deliver Maps Electronically

The Public Lands ParkScore Rankings

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Ranking city parks and open spaces… Are you happy with the availability of parks and green spaces in your city? You might want to check and see if you made the top rankings in the Public Lands ParkScore Rankings, designed to help local communities identify where new parks are needed most and which park improvements can deliver the greatest impact. According to the Trust, ParkScores are based equally on three factors:

10 GIS and GeoTech Mapping apps for the iPhone Power User

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There’s a number of fine mobile location aware mapping and “Geo” apps available for the hardcore, mobile Geo enthusiast and GeoGeek… I’ve plugged a number of these apps over the years and here’s a reminder of just a few of the fine apps available for you iOS fans.  And so, 10+1 GIS and Mapping apps for the iPhone:

  1. Avenza PDF Maps App for Apple iOS – Geospatial PDF reader for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. PDF Maps is the first application of its kind designed specifically for using geographically-aware PDF files on portable devices and opens the door to allowing any map to be GPS-aware.
  2. Esri ArcGIS for iOS app – The app lets users collect, edit, and update features and attribute information while performing field data collection and inspection. To download or get more information about ArcGIS API for iOS, visit the ArcGIS Resource Center
  3. AutoCAD WS – think Autodesk on your iPhone… enable AutoCAD users to edit and share AutoCAD files on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch so they can have real-time collaboration even while on the go. The latest release (1.1) adds new features such as offline capabilities, email attachment support, a more intuitive touch and gesture interface, and more.
  4. TomTom App for iPhone with MapShare – TomTom Map Share enables iPhone users to make changes instantly to their own maps and to benefit from free, map updates made by the TomTom community and verified by TomTom
  5. MapZen PoI Collector for OSM data collection using iPhone (Download directly HERE) A mobile app enabling rapid and simple contribution and data editing of OpenStreetMap (OSM) data.
    http://mapzen.cloudmade.com/
  6. lLOE – iPhone Little OSM Editor – “iLOE” (iPhone Little OpenStreetMap Editor) was built to use the “iPhone” and the “iPod Touch” to update and insert nodes in OpenStreetMap. More information at OpenGeo or Download directly HERE
  7. Field Assets provides users with a versatile asset management tool. The application enables data collection, mapping, voice recording and photography, all to be carried out using the one device. iTunes download link 
  8. Navman Wireless  GPS Fleet Tracking on the Go (iTunjes Link) – free iPhone app that makes real-time vehicle location maps and a variety of other fleet data available
  9. iPad GISRoam from Cogent3D, Inc is reported to be the first iOS GIS application to natively load raster and elevation when 3G/ WIFI is unavailable. This is a powerful mobile GIS application for when users are away from the desk and need to collect, review, edit, and colorize Shapefile layers on your iPad/iPhone
  10. CitySourced – I’m a huge fan of crowd-sourcing so this app is a huge hit. CitySourced enables the user to grab information and share a report with their local government agency. Snap a photo, geolocate it, add a description (like a pothole needing repair) and submit! This is an awesome service built using the ArcGIS API for iOS and a perfect complement to any local government looking to get up and running quickly with a useful mobile solution to connect with the local population. http://www.citysourced.com
  11. BONUS app… Fulcrum for iOS – a simple to use, highly cutomizable and flexible full-blow data collection app for iOS from Spatialnetworks. Account hosting, custom form builder, sync to web, data export and much more are provided.

 

Mapzen OSM data collection/Edit on iPhone

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