In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Some pretty interesting Google geonews in batch mode.

From official sources:

• Google announced Photo tours in Google Maps: "Photo tours are available for more than 15,000 popular sites around the world [...] To produce these photo tours, we use advanced computer vision techniques to create a 3D experience from public, user-contributed Picasa and Panaromio photos."
• The new 3D buildings announced last month are now available in Google MapsGL
• There's new 45° imagery available for 19 cities, International: Avignon, France; Reus, Spain; Rotterdam, Netherlands; L'Alcudia, Spain; Gandia, Spain; Sueca, Spain; Burgos, Spain; Los Palacios Y Villafranca, Spain, US: Albany, GA; Omaha, NE; Baytown, TX; Miami, FL; Amarillo, TX; Monroe, LA; Manchester, NH; Alexandria, LA; Rapid City, SD; Loudon, TN; Farmington, NM
• Street View is now available in Ukraine

From other sources:

• It's James that made me aware that the Google Maps game 'Maps Cube' is available, I couldn't test it yet on the Linux machine in front of me. Here's how James describes it: "Basically you use your mouse to tilt a 3D cube and have a ball travel down the transportation networks (road, trails, subways, etc). Since we in GIS all know about topology in these networks, the game isn’t as hard as you might expect. Still it’s a pretty amazing example of using HTML + WebGL for web mapping." APB also links to a short PC Mag article on the Maps Cube Game.
• The GEB shares an update on the impressive Data Appeal visualization tool for Google Earth
• Slashdot also ran the story named Google Releases FCC Report On Street View Probe
• If you want analysis of Trimble's acquisition of SketchUp from Google, read more from the GEB, from Spatial Sustain,
• Here's Plymouth, Michigan in 3D
• And to end with something funny, here's UFO Sightings in Google Earth

Google is clearly one of the most news-generating entity in the geospatial industry. Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From official sources:

• Google now uses live traffic data alongside with historical data  for trip durations in Google Maps, they use the My Location feature on Google Maps for Android to extrapolate live traffic conditions. This news was also discussed over Slashdot
• And if that isn't enough, we now get typical traffic for roads, not just highways
• Here are the finalists for the Google Model Your Town Competition 2012
• Google Maps for Android got a fresh look with version 6.5
• Google released the Google Maps Floor Plan Marker app, to help orient customer in businesses 
• Mix art and Street View and you get the Google Art Project
• You can now see service alerts for the London Underground in Maps
• Traffic and Transit Come to Google Maps in Malaysia
• And there's new 45° imagery available for 15 cities: US: Atlanta, GA; Canyon Lake, TX; Charleston, SC; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Lakeland, FL; Lubbock, TX; Orlando, FL; Port Charlotte, FL; Roanoke, TX; San Luis Obispo, CA; Smyrna, TN; Walker, LA. International: Adelaide, Australia; Cordoba, Argentina
• The Weather Layer is now available in the Google Maps API

From other sources:

• The GEB found out about the latest imagery update in Google Earth yesterday
• The GEB also shares an entry named Exposing Shantytowns in India with Google Earth

While this is an April Fools related story, it's 100% real and live, at least for today. I learned about it on Slashdot in a story named Google Maps Introduces 8-Bit Quest Maps. StreetView is quite bizarre in 8 bits...

From the official Google Lat Long blog: "With Google Maps 8-bit, you can do all the things you already do on regular Google Maps. Search for famous landmarks and sites around the world. Take an epic journey with 8-bit Street View. Get detailed directions to avoid dangerous paths, and battle your way through a world of powerful monsters and mystic treasures."

The Slashdot summary: "Today users of Google Maps will notice a new mapping option — 'Quest' — alongside the usual 'Map' and 'Satellite' views. Quest view renders the planet in a retro 8-bit fantasy video game style, including renders of famous landmarks such as the White House and the Eiffel Tower. Even Pegman gets in on the game, now taking on the appearance of a sword wielding 8-bit adventurer, allowing you to witness Street View through 8-bit eyes. Basically, imagine a fully functioning Google Maps on an NES."

The 2-minutes video shows what this is about and is funny (but you'll have to test StreetView yourself since they don't show it in the video).

Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From the official sources:

• Two days ago was announced Google Earth 6.2 for Android and iOS, which includes support for KML files and the Google Earth Gallery is available from within the app
• There's new 45° imagery available for 56 cities: 23 U.S. and 33 international locations
• There's New Satellite Imagery of Japan’s Disaster Areas in Google Maps
• There was an official entry named Google and Historypin launch online gallery to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
• And if you feel like it, you can explore San Francisco in 1938 through aerial photography in Google Earth
• And finally, an entry on protecting the world’s coral reefs through mapping

From other sources:

• Thierry links to an article about a new section of the Great Wall of China discovered in Mongolia thanks to Google Earth
• Ogle Earth answers the question whether Google is showing India’s Assam state as part of China or not, and the answer is 'no'
• Spatial Sustain has a short entry on Google Street View images on ski slopes

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode. My challenge in life is to find out what not to do - too much enthusiasm impacts focus. But don't worry, I'm not dropping Slashgeo just yet ;-)

From the open source and open data front:

• Here's an open source Kinect hack named Depthcam, doing live streaming of 3D points cloud via your webcam
• Via Simon, I was reminded about Graphserver, an open source multi-modal trip planner (we mentioned Graphserver in early 2009), on the same topic, here's OSM Explorer, for basic routing and spatial functions using OSM data on Windows (via OGD)
• MapQuest updated their OpenStreetMap tiles and mentions more OSM switchovers, such as FourSquare and in another entry, they updated MapQuest for Android
• Here's an entry on light styles for OSM layers in QGIS, making OSM great as a base map
• Quebec City is the latest city to open its data, with layers in shapefiles and kml, and here's an entry on Honolulu opening its data
• The OSGeo-Live DVD version 5.5 is now ready

From the Google front:

• Street View on Google Maps now available for Russia
• The GEB introduces Diorama, a presentation tool for Google Earth, helping you tell a story in Google Earth
• The same blog also look a the Power of Ten, the Google Earth version
• Google explains the enhanced search in Google Earth 6.2
• Here's an entry on the iNaturalist app and website using georeferenced pictures to document nature
• The GEB wonders if historical imagery is coming to Street View?
• And yes, there was fresh imagery released about two weeks ago and another round today

From the Esri front:

• Here's why ArcGIS 10.1 will be the “Biggest Release Ever”
• Here's Esri’s Federal GIS Conference Wrap Up
• Here's the recommended System Requirements For ArcGIS 10/10.1
• Mandown also shares an entry named Using ArcGIS.com For Quick Visualisation Of GPX Files

From the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft announced the Bing Maps and Nokia Release of a Unified Map Design

In the miscellaneous category:

• DM asks an interesting question, Should All GIS Users Learn to Code?
• While not all are geo-aware, this is an awesome categorized list of infographic tools and resources, because beauty matters when conveying information (via Thierry)
• The book "How Maps Change Things: A Conversation About the Maps We Choose and the World We Want" by Ward Kaiser is free in pdf for this month
• We previously mentioned that the world time zones database was in jeopardy, well, it's not anymore, EFF Wins Protection For Time Zone Database
• Here's an entry on OGC mobile case studies
• Here's a Product Review of BusinessWebMap by TexMobile
• Slashdot mentions the link between GPS navigation and in-car voice commands in Siri To Power Mercedes-Benz Car Systems
• APB informs us that DigitalGlobe published an image of damage to Homs, Syria

In the maps category:

• APB shares the map of sleep in the U.S.
• Slashdot discussed a story named LIDAR Map Shows Height of Earth's Forests
• Another story from the same source is named Need To Find a Hackerspace In Africa? Check This Map
• If your into astronomy, check this TMR entry on Moon maps
• Mapperz mentions Bristol's solar power hotspots map

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode.

From the open source / open data front:

• This interesting entry by Paul Ramsey on the challenges of polygon intersections when the polygons are huge and involve multiple cartographic projections, a case study in PostGIS
• Via Geonames, I found out that SRTM-DEM CGIAR-CSI is now at version 4.1, but I failed to find what's changed since version 4
• Geopaparazzi 2.6.0 has been released
• APB shares a few interesting OpenStreetMap news, including raising $800k to build maps for pedestrians

From the Google front:

• Here's an entry on the jQuery UI module for the Google Maps API
• In Google Maps, links to directions have been added to the saved locations in My Places
• There's the first Map your University competition with Google Map Maker
• Here's realistic SketchUp renderings using Maxwell
• And there was new Google Earth imagery released last Friday

In the everything-else category:

• Here's a pertinent O'Reilly article on the NoSQL movement
• mattwynn shared an entry named Why ESRI (as is) can’t be part of the open government movement
• The OGC mentions the Geospatial World Forum 2012 to be held in Amsterdam in April
• Here's a link to an article on the need of location standards for business intelligence, there's an OGC GeoBI DWG too
• Directions Mag offers an article named Safe Software Execs Address the State of GIS and FME 2012 and another one named Business models for LBS shift to freemium and advertising
• Slashdot reports that LightSquared will try using lawyers to save their plan to mess with the GPS spectrum
• Via O'Reilly Where, I found this infographic on the local and location-based advertisement ecosystem
• Are you ready? China’s Geographic Information Industry Takes the Lead Globally
• Here's a 5-minutes video on Microsoft Layerscape, I wasn't impressed - should I be? Spatial Sustain has an entry about it
• APB shared an entry named Pitney Bowes Software CEO O’Hara Discusses Autodesk Relationship and Software Strategy
• Slashdot shared a story named Scientists Print Cheap RFID Tags On Paper
• And another one from the same source named Australian Police Spying On Web, Phone Usage [including location data] With No Warrants

In the maps category:

• SS mentions the NASA release of a New Global Forest Height Map
• Slashdot ran a story named FCC Maps the 3G Wasteland Of the Western US
• APB shares a crowdsourced map of Iranian nuclear sites

Slashdot is running a discussion named How To Pull Location Data From Encrypted Google Maps Sessions.

Their summary: "In the last couple of years, Google and some other Web giants have moved to make many of their services accessible over SSL, and in many cases, made HTTPS connections the default. That's designed to make eavesdropping on those connections more difficult, but as researchers have shown, it certainly doesn't make traffic analysis of those connections impossible. Vincent Berg of IOActive has written a tool that can monitor SSL connections and make some highly educated guesses about the contents of the requests going to Google Maps, specifically looking at what size the PNG files returned by Google Maps are. The tool then attempts to group those images in a specific location, based on the grid and tile system that Google uses to construct its maps."

Here's the recent Google-related geonews in batch mode.

From official sources:

• Google released a major update to the bathymetry and seafloor display in Google Earth
• There's new 45 degrees imagery available for 24 cities:
  • "US: Charleston-Folly Beach, SC; Lee’s Summit, KS; Lexington, SC; Magna (Salt Lake City), UT; North Charleston, SC; Pine Island Center, FL; Plymouth, MN; Salinas CA; Santa Rosa, CA; Shawnee, KS; South Hill, WA; Spanish Springs, NV; Killeen, TX; Decatur, AL
  • Europe: Torrelavega, Spain; Pamplona, Spain; San Sebastian, Spain; Bailen, Spain; Rolle, Switzerland; Ponferrada, Spain; Wachtberg, Germany; Weinheim, Germany
  • South America: Buenos Aires, Argentina"
• There's a new biking directions legend in Google Maps
• Ed Parsons mentions the coming of Street View in Botswana

From other sources:

• The GEB shares a 3D tour of the Costa Concordia recent ship wreck
• While there's apparently no new data involved, the GEB shares an entry on the city lights of Earth at night in Google Earth
• The GEB also shares an entry on the Monster Milktruck game in Google Earth and an entry on a new book named Google SketchUp for Game Design
• To end with a funny note, APB shares a quote regarding the "removal" of Atlantis from the Google Earth seafloor by manually cleaning the data 

Slashdot runs a discussion named French Court Calls Free Google Maps Unfair Competition.

Their summary: "A French court has ruled that Google is unfairly subsidizing its free mapping products, making for unfair competition with paid services. This might seem ridiculous, but keep in mind that Google started charging for use of its mapping API once the free version had come to dominate the market."

We of course mentioned last October that Google decided to enforce usage limits for the Google Maps API.