Thanks to Robert Scoble for introducing me to Qik, a way cool app that enables smartphone users to stream live video to the Quik site. You can also chat in real time… way cool! See quik.com
Archives for May 2008
North Dakota streaming ArcIMS data web service
For a refresher on how to use the streaming web services on the GIS Hub, which allows you to use data without downloading it, please visit http://www.nd.gov/gis/mapsdata/web/. In the section titled, “ArcMap – ArcIMS Web Services” you will find information how you can stream both image data such as aerial photography and vector data such as roads. In the sections referring to “OGC Web Map Services (WMS)” you will find information on how you can use a web service with both ESRI and non-ESRI software.
The Sony Ericsson Paris Video of the UIQ P5 smartphone
An interesting video from Paris has been “leaked” to the public. The clip shows the P5, a UIQ smartphone that appears very sleek, has a touch UI, boasts mapping (GPS-enabled??), camera, video, and all the other goodies that come with such a next-gen device.
Indeed, this device is sweet to say the least!
For more on the P5, check out Engadget
or IntoMobile
Space Shuttle Discovery Launch update STS-124
Just reading up on details tomorrows Space Shuttle Discovery Launch. This mission is of interest to yours truly as friend and past neighbor in Florida, Air Force Col. Ron Garan is a mission specialist for NASA on his first NASA space flight. This mission will carry the largest payload so far to the station and includes three spacewalks. It is the second of three missions that will launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. The crew will install Kibo’s large Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo’s robotic arm system. Discovery also will deliver new station crew member Greg Chamitoff and bring back Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who will end a three-month stay aboard the outpost. Good luck to the crew of STS-124
Relevant links:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts124/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news
For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information see: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Twitter over capacity… oops!
Looks like Twitter has really caught on and too many people are tweeting this morning… OOPS! See www.twitter.com if you have no idea what I’m talking about.
Hello to the Google Earth Web Browser Plug-in
The folks at Google have made a huge leap today, enabling developers to not only embed maps (via the maps API) into your website but now you can extend teh functionality of Google Earth to the web… sweet! This from the Google Lat/Long blog… “Today, I’m happy to announce the release of the new Google Earth Browser Plug-in, which brings the full power of Google Earth to the web, embeddable within your own web site. Driven by an extensive JavaScript API, you can control the camera; create lines, markers, and polygons; import 3D models from the web and overlay them anywhere on the planet. In fact, you can even overlay your content over different planets, stars, and galaxies by toggling Sky mode, letting you build 3D Google Sky mashups.” The Google Earth Browser Plugin is now live at http://code.google.com/apis/earth.
Details… The Google Earth Plug-in and its JavaScript API let you embed Google Earth, a true 3D digital globe, into your web pages. Using the API you can draw markers and lines, drape images over the terrain, add 3D models, or load KML files, allowing you to build sophisticated 3D map applications. If you have an existing Maps API site, you can 3D-enable your page with as little as one line of code.
hellotxt – update all your social networking apps
A quick tip on a nifty tool called Hellotxt. The app provides a simple online interface, enabling users to quickly update over all their social network apps (well, almost all of them) like jaiku, twitter, facebook, myspace, linkedin, pownce, etc… See http://hellotxt.com/
Heads Up, Mobile Web 2.0 Event slated for July 4 in Barcelona
An interesting event planned for this summer… The MOBILE 2.0 EUROPE conference brings together experts and thought leaders from all aspects of the mobile ecosystem, including startups, investors, mobile carriers, device manufacturers, and mobile application developers and web technologists. This is event is a fine opportunity for companies to connect to industry leadership and startup innovation and broaden your C-level relationships. See http://mobile20.eu/
National Geographic Provides Metalens over Windsor, Colorado
I was interested to notice today in “the paper” that NGS has developed a Metalens app for Windsor Colorado that enables users to tour the recently damaged town in Norther Colorado. From National Geo… National Geographic Maps provides these applications as a tool to visualize the effects of this tragic event and the powerful forces of nature. It is hoped that this will help viewers to experience the community restoration in progress without having to add traffic to the community. An interesting idea, particularly if people in the local area are receptive to view such an application rather than head out and drive around the affected area and add to the congestion. In a small meet-up with the Windsor Mayor and city officials this morning I noted that the Mayor was particularly concerned (and ticked off) with the number of looky-loos in the tornado damaged area of town. Indeed he was not only upset by the congestion but with the lack of sensitivity people from outlying areas had for those who had been directly affected.
I have to admit that I was touring the outlying area myself a couple of days ago and likely adding to the traffic problem, although I made a point of staying clear of the neighborhoods that were directly affected because indeed, traffic was becoming a problem (I stayed in the industrial area). I was also thinking while in the region that I would have liked to have conducted a small photo mapping experiment myself using my Nokia N95 8GB and the Nokia Research Labs application, Sports Tracker – very suitable for such an application. Indeed such an application could be used by onlookers to have a glimpse while also staying out of the way of emergency responders. While the MetaLens does indeed show how geotagged photos can be used in such a case, I’m still a big advocate that any small town, a consultant, or ?? with a small budget can quickly and easily photomap a small area and publish results on the web (with a map interface) perhaps providing another option for the curious. See the National Geographic Windsor Metalens at http://www.metalens.org/ngmapspro/products/
View the Windsor MetaLens using Google Maps here
Geogathering 2008 for Oil and Gas professionals
Don’t know how I missed this one but Geogathering 2008 is scheduled to take place next week in Estes Park Colorado, June 2-3 (my local contact Rob from New Century has moved on so I didn’t get the oblogatory heads-up this year!) GeoGathering 2008 is a conference dedicated to providing oil and gas gathering system professionals a venue to share their experiences and best practices with geospatial information while learning about current industry regulations and GIS solutions. The event’s main sponsors are ESRI and New Century Software – see http://www.geogathering.com/