Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder featured in new comic book

Posted on April 24, 2013 by glenn

Slightly off-topic but categorized under the topic of fun… Here’s something of interest for you social media nuts, comic book fanatics, or those of you that are just downright geeky – The Jack Dorsey Comic Book. Yes indeed, the story of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has been told in a comic book and is available in print and via numerous electronic formats (Amazon, iOS, etc…).  Dorsey isn’t the first business celeb to be featured in this manner. Previous subjects that have been featured in the “Business” line include Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Howard Schultz, Mikhail Prokhorov, Sergey Brin, Larry Page & Jack Welch. All of them can be found digitally on iTunes, Nook & Kindle, and in print at Comic Flea Market. See details of the product HERE or To view it on iTunes click here: http://bit.ly/11fKMWt

Drawn by Jason Moser and written by Patrick McCray. The comic book features two covers one by Jason Moser and the other by Jason Marks.

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Posted in Social Media |

Developers and @ChrisPirillo Take to the Skies in Ungrounded Hackathon

Posted on April 24, 2013 by glenn

UnGrounded: a hack at 30,000 feet via Chris Pirillo (@ChrisPirillo) — Now here’s something geeky and dam cool from British airways – imagine a hackathon while you jet over the Atlantic on a flight from San Fran to London! Yes indeed, according to the Verge, On a transatlantic flight from San Francisco to London, the airline plans to invite 100 innovators to an 11-hour “UnGrounded” hackathon. A number of high-profile founders, CEOs, and venture capitalists will all participate, with the aim of collaborating to create some solutions to global problems. The plane departs on June 12th when the developers and innovators will collaborate and dream up some clever apps and services, then upon landing in the UK the results will be presented to a group of delegates from the UN… freakin awesome! Hey, B.A, ping me @gletham if you have a seat with my name on it!

Check out the Ungrounded Hackathon HERE

Source: theverge.com via Glenn on Pinterest

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Posted in developer, events |

Mobile Market Trends show Apple users most loyal, T-Mobile customers most likely to bail

Posted on April 23, 2013 by glenn

No huge surprise here, however, the numbers seem to qualify what may be the obvious… smartphone end users are becoming more savvy and less likely to be man-handled by leading mobile brands and the carriers! Research from Phoenix Marketing shows that while the Mobile Phone Market has Grown to Near Saturation Level, Customer Loyalty has Shrunk.  Interesting to see that   over 1/3 of current wireless customers intend on switching service providers in the next year and nearly 2/3 plan on replacing their current mobile device with one from a different manufacturer. A startling 25% of so called service provider “promoters” plan on switching providers in the next year.

The numbers show the following trends:

  • About 70% of users are likely to change handset makers – so long to brand loyalty (think Nokia here!)
  • Folks are easily persuaded to ditch their carrier with T-Mobile customers the most likely to bail out (over 55% say so)
  • Users of devices by Motorola, HTC, and LG are most likely to switch (all over 75%) whereas Apple device users appear to be the most loyal to their brand

See more details on the Research HERE – While the Mobile Phone Market has Grown to Near Saturation Level, Customer Loyalty has Shrunk

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Posted in mobile |

USGS Science Data Challenge Winners

Posted on April 23, 2013 by glenn

Recently, the USGS invited developers, information scientists, biologists/ecologists, and scientific data visualization specialists to create applications for selected USGS datasets, presenting them in innovative and informative new ways – see App-lifying USGS Earth Science Data. The winner for Best Overall App is “TaxaViewer” by the rOpenSci group based out of California.

about the app – TaxaViewer is a Web interface to a mashup of data from the USGS-sponsored Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the Phylotastic taxonomic Name service, the Global Invasive Species Database, Phylomatic, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. TaxaViewer allows the user to view species-specific taxonomic data, invasive status, phylogenetic relationships, and species occurrence records.

The Challenge was open for submissions from January 9, 2013, to April 1, 2013. Utilizing the Challege.gov platform, the general public chose the winner of the Popular Choice App award.

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Posted in developer, usgs |

Event Tip – GIS for Government

Posted on April 23, 2013 by glenn

Yet another cool sounding event for the D.C crowd… GIS for Government will bring together 20 speakers to address the latest government challenges, strategies and initiatives in GIS, as well as the state of science in Big Data employments and technologies. Hear from GIS leaders on these developments to learn what’s actually happening on the ground.
Join us at GIS for Government 2013 taking place June 24-26, 2013 in the Washington, DC Metro Area to find out everything you need to know about GIS.

GIS for Government Event, D.C.

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Posted in events |

University of Waterloo Open Data API Enables Goose Dodging Map

Posted on April 19, 2013 by glenn

This is awesome.. at the U of Waterloo (that’s in Ontario Canada) they have an open API and have recently come out with a pretty awesome map service that enables students to quickly create a map that routes you between buildings in a way that avoids goose droppings! The map service was developed in a matter of hours and does a fine job at routing students and faculty around goose “hot spots” and get to class safely!

See details HERE or jump directly to the WMS here

Source: uwaterloo.ca via Glenn on Pinterest

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Posted in developer, opendata |

The Geo for Higher Ed Summit 2013 from Google – Apply Now

Posted on April 19, 2013 by glenn

Something quite awesome from Google on the horizon, in particular, a great opportunity for educators and those involved in Geo at the higher education level – enter Geo for Higher Education Summit. Taking place July at the Googleplex in MountainView, CA,  the Summit will bring together instructors and researchers in GIS and remote sensing technologies from higher education institutions. This workshop is designed for mapping and technology specialists, instructors, faculty, and advisers in higher education research and teaching, who are actively working on projects or teaching courses related to mapping. The event is free to attend for those lucky enough to be selected (Deadline is May 1) take note that travel related expenses etc… are not provided. See more – An exciting opportunity is coming up in July: the first annual Geo for Higher Ed Summit

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Posted in education, events, google, google earth |

Esri Social news map shows latest flood observations

Posted on April 18, 2013 by glenn

A news map from Esri provides the latest flood data and information related to recent floods via the National weather service. the map is also complemented by social media updates from the public which includes flood related photos, videos, and tweets.
See the map Here

Continue reading →

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Posted in environment, ESRI |

Live Mapping of San Fran Transit with LiveBus

Posted on April 18, 2013 by glenn

Transit data is co cool and there’s no doubt that the transit app (on mobile) is now the defacto go-to example for coolness when it comes to mobile app development rather than the previous favorite pizza finder or coffee house locator examples. Thanks to James for tipping me off to this interesting article on TNW that explained the very cool SanFran LiveBus service showing real-time(almost)  bus movements – yes they are actually all moving in real-time in front of your eyes.  Indeed Google transit data is awesome and WAY useful to any local bus service so it’s so awesome to see more clever apps and services being built by the clever developers. Note, the LiveBus app is available to iOS users from iTunes and was inspired by a similar service from the UK showing a live Underground map

Note: code used for the LiveBus app has been made available on Github

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Posted in developer, google, travel | Tagged |

Philadelphia Tourism @VisitPhilly Turns Instagram and Pinterest over to locals

Posted on April 17, 2013 by glenn

For some time now I’ve been very impressed with the folks in Philly and their efforts of using social media to enhance their tourism and local tourism efforts. Well, now something new coming from the Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation. In a cool, new marketing effort designed to show off the city, the crew will be turning over their Instagram and Pinterest accounts to local photographers, social media mavens, and other local “experts” – interesting idea! Should be interesting to watch the results… see also @VisitPhilly on Instagram and Twitter. More about this effort HERE

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Posted in photos, Social Media |

Learn how Juniper Aspect can increase efficiency in field data collection

Posted on April 17, 2013 by glenn

Here’s an opportunity for you to learn about the easy-to-use mapping software designed with field crews in mind thanks to Juniper Systems. Juniper Aspect is a mapping software specifically designed with field crews in mind, allowing you to:

  • Cut costs by improving worker efficiency
  • Save time with accurate field asset documentation
  • Improve communication between field personnel and customers
  • Make faster repairs with GPS guidance to hard-to-find components
  • Keep cleaner maintenance, repair, and upgrade documentation
  • Improve accuracy of billing using GPS-verifiable documentation
  • Integrate with your existing Esri GIS

Register for one of two sessions:
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM MDT

Thu, Apr 25, 2013 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM MDT

Continue reading →

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Posted in education, events |

Getting Started With iOS 6 LBS / Mapping Apps – 10 Useful Docs

Posted on April 15, 2013 by glenn

Are you Creating Location Aware Apps and Mapping Apps for Apple iOS 6 and the iPhone 5? Here’s 10 Must have documents for developers looking to migrate to iOS 6 or those looking to get started creating location-aware apps and services for the iPhone 5 or iPad. The Apple Dev Center is a great starting point and there’s a wealth of material there. Of particular use to developers and those wishing to get started with iOS 6 are the following 10 documents and developer resources:

Continue reading →

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Posted in apple, developer, ipad, iphone, mobile |