Here’s the latest geonews in batch mode.

On the open source / open data front:

• Ready for FOSS4G, the geospatial open source software collection named OSGeo-Live 8.0 has been released
• Pictures tell you everything, OpenStreetMap contributions around the world
• Informative charts, The OpenStreetMap Contributor Activity Report – Edition
• We mentioned QGIS Cloud two years ago, here’s an entry named Share and manage your Data with QGIS Cloud and WFS-T
• Curved lines coming to GeoServer, Getting curvey with Oracle Spatial and GeoServer
• Here’s Esri report at an open source conference, Esri’s OSCON Wrap-Up

On the Google front:

• An article on how Google makes its maps, Making of Maps: Reaching a milestone - you know how I wish Google would use OpenStreetMap’s data
• The second article of the series is this one, Making of Maps: The cornerstones
• There’s a mention of Google unveiling The Cartographer – its backpack for mapping indoors
• The GEB has an entry on the Google Earth automatically generated 3D areas
• On the state of driverless cars, Hidden Obstacles For Google’s Self-Driving Cars
• If you care about it, New Google Earth Imagery – August 13th and 26th

In the everything-else category:

• There’s geo-content in there, and it’s a generally useful free online book with live examples, O’Reilly’s Interactive Data Visualization for the Web by Scott Murray
• Useful list of Esri’s Ready-to-Use Content Included with Your Online Subscription
• Viva competition, Post-Microsoft Nokia Offering Mapping Services To Samsung
• Haven’t we forgot already about privacy? New Usage-Based Insurance Software Can Track Drivers Using Smartphones
• Downunder? MapBox got Fresh imagery for Australia
• It’s WorldView-3, New High-Res Satellite Sees Through Smoke to Image Fires
• An upcoming webinar, Developing an Aerial Image Workflow for UAVs
• Oculus Rift may not be there yet, but VR is coming back our way, Samsung Launches Virtual Reality Headset For Galaxy Note 4
• A new OGC standard in development, InfraGML, a new standard for land and infrastructure information
• Also at OGC, they seek comments on candidate OGC Web Processing Service (WPS) 2.0 standard
• Not the first time we see this navigation efficiency trick, How UPS increases efficiency by never making left-hand turns
• More about geotagging photos, Geotagging and Picasa Web Albums API, or was it Google+ Photos?
• Why not, a new algorithm finds the most beautiful route from A to B
• VerySpatial mentions Alastair Bonnett’s Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies book

In the maps category:

• It’s so popular, maps from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, 1937 and 1954
• Mapping other worlds, Mapping Mars’ Missing Ice