tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30469449174630751402024-03-08T14:20:18.475+00:00GeoSpatial and TechnologyA nerd who works in the GeoSpatial Industry thought it was time to share the links and thoughts that he shares any way. Main interests are anything GeoSpatial from Cartography to Remote Sensing, Location Based Services, Augmented Reality, QR Codes, etc etc blah blahGeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-48156817672132181912010-12-02T09:56:00.001+00:002010-12-02T10:02:23.507+00:00Google Earth 6Recently there was a new release of Google Earth 6.<br />
According to Google:<br />
<i>With Google Earth 6, you can explore the streets in 3D like never before. Fly from outer space down to the streets with the new Street View and easily navigate your way around. Switch to ground-level view to see the same location in 3D.<br />
<br />
Now you can see 3D trees in locations all over the world. We have also made it easier for you to know when historical imagery is available in the location that you are viewing</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<object width="427" height="260"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p_G91NGfq2A&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p_G91NGfq2A&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="427" height="260"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
<object width="427" height="260"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p5cCccXPsvE&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p5cCccXPsvE&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="427" height="260"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
<object width="427" height="260"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/L6lZzY4wagA&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/L6lZzY4wagA&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="427" height="260"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
<object width="427" height="260"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vwHGG1dgujc&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vwHGG1dgujc&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="427" height="260"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
I think the Streetview and the historic mapping are big steps forward for Google Earth, I will definitely be making use of the Historic Mapping functionality on a regular basis.GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-34619498514697200042010-12-01T13:48:00.000+00:002010-12-01T13:49:13.943+00:00Data Visualisations: Art or useful?Recently with a plethora of datasets becoming made freely available there has been a surge in data visualisations as illustrated below. These are a particular favourite of WIRED magazine. I know look amazing but what actual use are they? Are they designed purely as Art, then great. Would I use one to illustrate a point for one of my projects? Probably not. Don't get me wrong I think they look great but what is their real value?<br />
<br />
Thoughts on these visualisations welcome......<br />
<br />
<object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=16115046&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=16115046&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16115046">Airspace: Europe</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/itoworld">ItoWorld</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-74244922945300821862010-11-25T08:37:00.000+00:002010-11-25T08:37:44.303+00:00Could it happen.......This is a great presentation from the recent Ignite (www.ignitelondon.net/about) presentations in London.<br />
<br />
Shows the real essence of the internet at the moment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<object style="height: 312px; width: 512px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RyMdOT8YJgY?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RyMdOT8YJgY?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="512" height="312"></object>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-79529971865651181042010-11-04T14:57:00.000+00:002010-11-04T14:57:26.875+00:00Growing Knowledge - The Evolution of ResearchThe latest exhibition at the British Libray is focused on 'The Evolution of Research', if their previous exhibitions ar eanything to go by this will be well worth a visit. I haven't been yet but will do in the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
On the website is also a huge selection of digital research resources and tools.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.growingknowledge.bl.uk/">http://www.growingknowledge.bl.uk/</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-14731618534009152982010-10-31T22:11:00.000+00:002010-10-31T22:19:31.406+00:00Location DataAs Location Based Services and Location/GeoSpatial Data become more mainstream introductions to the subject for non-geospatial increase in number. The article below one of the better ones a and is a good introduction to and an overview of the industry at the moment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228000281">http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228000281</a><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228000281"></a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-72633792947392059182010-10-28T08:28:00.000+01:002010-10-28T08:28:10.221+01:00Esri Releases ArcGIS API for iOSESRI officially released a few weeks ago its API for the iOS.<br />
<a href="http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-ios">http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-ios</a><br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="292.5" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HrX03Q8FElo?rel=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
<br />
The video gives some worked examples of the API in action. Please note the ESRI word of choice 'Leverage' used remarkably early in the video even for ESRI..........<br />
<br />
A colleague and I have been using the beta version of this for a few months now and have an 'App' going live in a UK City within the next couple of months and a proof of concept for another city. This is a great step forward for the providing and sharing of geospatial data to a demographic that wouldn't neccessarily be interacted with otherwise by Local Authorities.<br />
<br />
A note of caution for UK users is that the API does not have the out of the box capacity to project to British National Grid from the APIs native WGS84, this becomes an issue when using the GPS to locat the phone, giving a positional error. There has been no support from ESRI on this and requires it to be hard coded by the user to do the projection.GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-4790455038973945182010-10-26T22:08:00.000+01:002010-10-26T22:08:33.374+01:00Beauty of MapsThis is a great mini site on the BBC website produced to support the Beauty of Maps series earlier in the year.<br />
<br />
<u><span style="color: #0066cc;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/beautyofmaps/index.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/beautyofmaps/index.shtml</a></span></u><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/beautyofmaps/digital_worlds.shtml#/digital-worlds/highlights/"></a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-25077268085613089472010-10-26T21:36:00.000+01:002010-10-26T21:39:51.264+01:00Expanding OpenStreetMapWhatever your thoughts on OpenStreetMap are it is an amzing crowd sourcing project.<br />
<br />
Have a look at this video to see it scoverage expaning across Europe over time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16148504" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/16148504">Evolution of European OpenStreetMap coverage</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3440377">skobblertutorials</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-59871098578709739622010-10-14T09:13:00.000+01:002010-10-14T09:59:39.724+01:00Sound MapsEver wondered what nothing happening at Stansted Airport sounds like??? <br />
Below is a link to the British Librarys UK Sound Map, its what it says it is.<br />
<a href="http://sounds.bl.uk/uksoundmap/fusionmap.aspx">http://sounds.bl.uk/uksoundmap/fusionmap.aspx</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-70844536583483581212010-10-14T08:48:00.000+01:002010-10-14T08:53:27.485+01:00Open DataSince 1st April 2010 when the OS released its Opendata many other bodies have been ploughing their data sets into the free data area. <br />
Anyone who has explored the open data in the the UK will soon find the variation in the quality and usefulness of a lot of the data is huge. Previously the data was only really available through data streams requiring web skills to get the most out of the data, this is currently changing with many of the data sets being made available as standalone datasets. <br />
This is all great but I think there needs to be greater promotion of this data to ensure the uptake and utilisation of the data as it is still something that people are aware of and that they know how to get it. It’s not the geospatial geeks that need to be informed it’s the public and industry in general, if you get use from outside the geospatial nerdosphere then thats when the real benefits will be seen.<br />
Searching for the available datsets can be hit and miss through <a href="http://www.data.gov.uk/"><span style="color: yellow;">www.data.gov.uk</span></a> it is now a huge repository of data, offering nearly twice as many data sets for general use than its counterpart in the US.<br />
<br />
Once you have found the data set you need it may still take you through to other portals to actually download the data set, this needs to be tightened up as it can be easy to get lost when following the links through. If you are not familiar with the data set then help may be needed to extract and the best from it.<br />
<br />
These are all small moans and niggles, compared to where we were a year ago the quality and breadth of data freely available is amazing. This resource should be being used immeasurably more than it currently is. To this end education of whats there and how to use it should be the next focus. No point it being there if its not being used. This education is now starting to happen, although on a limited basis <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/datablog/2010/oct/13/free-data-nottingham-classes"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/datablog/2010/oct/13/free-data-nottingham-classes</span></a><br />
<br />
It is a paradigm shift for a lot of people in the industry to have all this data freely available, methodologies need to change, if that happens then this data will make a huge difference to many areas of industry in the UKGeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-69538551162122883212010-10-12T13:30:00.000+01:002010-10-12T13:30:06.882+01:00Interesting use of QRI have thought of many uses for QR codes, but oddly never this one.......<br />
<a href="http://www.japantrends.com/qr-code-graves-give-a-memorial-window/">http://www.japantrends.com/qr-code-graves-give-a-memorial-window/</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-49197275083086075542010-10-12T09:07:00.000+01:002010-10-12T09:07:47.897+01:00GADM database of Global Administrative AreasWhislt trying to find some administrative areas for Kenya in a GIS format<em> </em>I found this website: <a href="http://www.gadm.org/">http://www.gadm.org/</a><br />
<br />
This is a great resource; admin boundaries for most if not all countries, easy to use and downloadable to shapefile, geodatabase and kmz. <br />
<br />
The coordinate reference system for the data is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system" jquery1286870684117="27">latitude/longitude</a> and the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System" jquery1286870684117="28">WGS84</a> datum.GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-119784692759963662010-10-12T08:25:00.000+01:002010-10-12T08:25:55.745+01:00Face in SpaceGo on you know you want to.........<br />
<br />
<a href="https://faceinspace.nasa.gov/index.aspx">https://faceinspace.nasa.gov/index.aspx</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-6022940754051713682010-10-11T08:27:00.000+01:002010-10-11T08:41:18.345+01:00Map ProjectionsMap projections are such fun.......<br />
<br />
Here is an article that discusses similarities between projections with animations.....<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.esri.com/Support/blogs/mappingcenter/archive/2010/09/16/Map-Projection-Animations.aspx">http://blogs.esri.com/Support/blogs/mappingcenter/archive/2010/09/16/Map-Projection-Animations.aspx</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-84465876688365230582010-10-10T21:31:00.000+01:002010-10-10T21:31:58.518+01:00Google - AntarcticaNot sure if its what we've all been waiting for but Google Street View has now hit the snowy landscape of Antarctica. Lets try and see the Daily Mail get upset over the invasion of penguin privacy......<br />
<br />
<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&t=h&q=Antarctica&layer=c&cbll=-62.59609,-59.901651&panoid=ZzuMubmHCfCGGo3ePSlpCQ&cbp=12,233.34,,1,0.48&hq=&hnear=Antarctica&ll=-62.59609,-59.901651&spn=0.0008,0.00243&z=19">http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&t=h&q=Antarctica&layer=c&cbll=-62.59609,-59.901651&panoid=ZzuMubmHCfCGGo3ePSlpCQ&cbp=12,233.34,,1,0.48&hq=&hnear=Antarctica&ll=-62.59609,-59.901651&spn=0.0008,0.00243&z=19</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-28807738983429621842010-10-09T20:07:00.001+01:002010-10-09T20:07:45.698+01:00World Freedom AtlasWell worth a look.<br />
<a href="http://freedom.indiemaps.com/">http://freedom.indiemaps.com/</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-2986488055507765832010-10-09T19:55:00.000+01:002010-10-09T22:02:13.628+01:00Way Finding AppsThere are many SmartPhone Apps that have been developed for way finding internally within a building and externally. These vary dramatically in quality and actual practical use, there are many problems to overcome to make these applications user friendly and an efficient way finding system. This is an area that I am new to and currently working in and have my own thoughts as to what the key components are.<br />
Here are a couple of examples that show the breadth and difference in applications available.<br />
<br />
The Good: <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/153037/2010/07/amnhexplorer.html">http://www.macworld.com/article/153037/2010/07/amnhexplorer.html</a><br />
<br />
The Ugly: <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/design-district-helsinki/id331268726?mt=8">http://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/design-district-helsinki/id331268726?mt=8</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-27120726704125058302010-10-09T19:24:00.000+01:002010-10-09T19:24:47.134+01:00GeoTagged PhotosFlickr has for a longtime allowed the posting and plotting of geotagged photos.<br />
Here is an interesting use of the data, well worth a look; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/</a>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-83603976703431253502010-10-01T21:44:00.000+01:002010-10-01T21:44:55.868+01:00OS Licensing and PricingToday I have been to the release of the latest lincensing and price release for the Ordnance Survey. After a quick read of the new data contracts, credit has to be given as they are actually readable and understandable. It will be interesting to see what happens when the new contracts are run side by side for the next year, recipe for disaster?GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-39617339213512740852010-10-01T21:34:00.000+01:002010-10-01T21:34:39.916+01:00AGI 2010Finally time to sit down and think about the conference, here a few thoughts and comments on what I saw.<br />
<br />
The plenarys were interesting Andrew Hudson Smith from CASA gave a very interesting and enthusiatic talk on the wide variety of CASA's work, he spoke with freedom and wasn't scared to say anything slightly controversial, Vanessa Lawrence huffed indignation sitting behind me a few times which was most amusing<br />
Rob MacFarlane from the Civil Contingency Secretariat gave a talk essentially on commanility and finding a set of common operating procedures, gave a good insight into a things from a central Government point of view.<br />
The final pleanary was given by the head if ESRI UK. Hmmmm. It was a strange old presentation, saying that the Geospatial 'Community' has to do more to promote what we doin general and specifically to Government, strange thoughts from the major GIS supplier in the UK.... It sounded to me like a talk that could have been given many years ago.<br />
<br />
The individual paper presentions were good, may have screamed if I had heard the phrase "in the current climate" one more time though. The papers at the AGI in the past I have found to be purely a mechanism for advertising and this year that ones that spoke about a concept were the better ones.<br />
The two talks that I enjoyed and took the most from were by Phil Francis from Informed who spoke on Linekd data(<a href="http://linkeddata.org/">http://linkeddata.org/</a>), a very interesting new subject and the future..?<br />
The other talk that I really took something from was by Ian Coady on Output Geographies Census 2011, as a regular census user it was fascinating to hear how geographies are designed and decided upon.<br />
<br />
The second day's plenary speeches a pair of contrasting speeches. Lai Wah Co from the CBI gave a great presentation on the current state of the economy and where the CBI see it going. A fantastic talk well pitched and good to hear something different.<br />
The second plenary was by Vanessa Lawrence, head honcho of the OS. Her message was very similar to that of the head of ESRI UK on the first day i.e. we struggle as an industry to get our message across. Apparently her way of getting her message across is to fill her presentation with pictures of her with famous people........GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-77814707807710514482010-09-27T22:21:00.000+01:002010-09-27T22:43:01.430+01:00Mapping the globe: from the Greeks to Google Earth, by Professor Jerry Brotton<div>Tonight I attended the first of the Monday night season of Lectures at the Royal Geographic Society. The lecture was<span style="color: #a32929;"> Mapping the globe: from the Greeks to Google Earth, by Professor Jerry Brotton (<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s77pc">http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s77pc</a>).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;">The lecture was on 'World' mapping as opposed to 'Local' mapping. Starting with Ptolmey through to Google Earth.</span><br />
<br />
Until 1972 and a photo taken from Apollo 17 'World' mapping had been an imaginative act. Till that point it was purley something that was available to the minds eye, that was purley driven by cultural, social and ideological issues rather than a true projection.<br />
<br />
He had some strong and interesting views on where Google Earth is taking the process of cartography. Aside from comparing Google to the 1st stage in Marxism, his concerns are that the 'World' map is really collections of localized data, leading into specialised information, restaurants, etc etc rather than the World map it alludes to be. Another concern he raised were that the main drivers of Google Earth are technical experts as opposed to geographers, he posed the question are these the people we want to be driving our future mapping? As the Professor stated Google take Toblers 1st law of Geography(Everything is related to everything, nearer things are more related than others) by personalizing spatial data, his view is that this is driving map mapmaking to a tipping point. With little or no peer review or 'control' of the data there are versions of the truth that are pushed towards us, using the maps as an ideological, political, commercial tool.<br />
<br />
It was a fascinating lecture and his views on Google were fairly negative and entertaining, Ed Parsons who was present was surprisingly quiet. Where we are going with 'World' mapping is a interesting subject, who forsore Google Earth? Who could have imagined how ubiqitous it has become. I think what it has done technologically has been innovative and driven the market in 'World' mapping for the last few years, creating a new market place which has brought 'World' mapping to the masses, which can't be a bad thing. As a tool for geographers, I understand his reservations but time will tell which way 'World' mapping will go and what the next Ptolmey and Google Earth moments will be......</div>GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046944917463075140.post-89912473147740405472010-09-26T16:36:00.000+01:002010-09-26T16:40:21.206+01:00HelloAfter contiually trudging through the net and sending interesting links to fellow geeky type people I decided it was time to do it all in one place.<br />
<br />
I have worked in the GeoSpatial industry for over 10 years and now getting to grips with LBS and Augmented Reality.<br />
<br />
Any thoughts, comments on anything even remotley connected would be welcome.GeoSpatial and Technologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04021634507228208069noreply@blogger.com0