I'm spring-cleaning a few things I wanted to get done (my youngest daughter is sleeping, generating some 'free' time ;-). Following last January's suggestion by a Slashgeo user, you can now Flattr Slashgeo! What? In short, Flattr is a way to contribute very small donations (micro-payments), down to a few cents, to the websites you use and like. This new possibility has been added to the 'Using this site' sub-page. Thanks in advance for any contribution!

A new feature on Slashgeo, that doesn't happen every month! Anyone that contributes 5$ or more to Slashgeo won't see ads on the site for at least 5 years. You'll get more screen real estate, especially useful on tablets and smartphones. If you donated in the past and I haven't disabled the ads while you're logged in yet, let me know. Enjoy!

Another way to help Slashgeo continue aggregating the pertinent geonews for you is by using our DreamHost referrer code if you need an excellent web hosting service.

Two significant donations in a row! Thanks to Transitiva for supporting Slashgeo.

Here's what they do: "Transitiva is a top supplier of OEM GPS equipment. We supply equipment that is used within and for companies in defense, government, and commercial industries. We offer top brand name products manufactured by Hemisphere GPS, Trimble, Pacific Crest, Trimble, Septentrio, Ashtech and more. Our product categories include: GPS OEM Boards, Development kits, OEM enclosures, Antennas, and other accessories."

They made it to our list top donors (right-hand side column) - it's now getting harder to find your way there, since the minimum amount is above 100$ now - that said, even 5$ is a welcomed donation for our registered non-profit organization. Yes, yes, I'll update our open budget soon... (does taking care of two young kids succeeds in making you believe I'm not procrastinating? ;-).

Thanks Transitiva!

As most of you already know, we're a registered non-profit organization relying on community contributions to exist, both in terms of content (we favor quality over quantity) and financial terms to pay for hosting.

I'm glad to report that for the first time, a Slashgeo user gave a substantial donation, not once, but twice! Thanks to Eric Frost of MapForums for this additional donation, 4.5 years after the initial one, bringing MapForums back to our list of top donors (bottom right-hand column of the site). I now have an additional reason to update our Open Budget ;-)

Thanks MapForums!

Time flies - already 7 years! Slashgeo, formerly SlashGISRS, was launched on September 23rd in. It's obvious now that a 'blog' is not a sexy way to share information anymore, but hey, our readership grew by over 20% during that last year... maybe it means we're providing geonews aggregation that you, our users, somehow appreciate? If you're still ready to get your manually aggregated geonews a few days late from time to time, I'm ready to continue to share them with you :-) You're now over 8,600 RSS subscribers according to Google Feedburner, in addition to hundreds of daily newsletter subscribers and thousands of direct visits to the site.

I do plan many updates for the site, and want to actually deliver some of them (yes, including an update to our 'open budget'!). We still have close to no resources and exist only thanks to the voluntary work of enthusiasts. As usual, anyone is welcomed to contribute.

Will we make it to 8? The future will tell us. And of course, meanwhile, we'll try to shape that future as much as we can! :-) Thanks for using Slashgeo - Alex, aka Satri

I'll be not only away from computers with my wife and two daughters, but also away from electricity for two weeks! This means I'll be leaving the site in the hands of other Slashgeo moderators. I'll be back at the helm the last week of August, expect 'slow geonews mode' until then. Thank you for your comprehension - Alex, aka Satri

UPDATE: Last minute change, I decided to temporarily disallow comments on the site for the following two weeks, so we won't have to worry about spam comments bypassing the filters.

Please allow the unusual delays in geonews publication. It's summer and holidays happen :-) The good news: you won't miss any significant geonews, we will post them with some delay, but anything pertinent will be shared. Thank you for your comprenhension. You can always help and contribute geonews too.

Probably because of its unusual size, last Friday's newsletter did not reach all subscribers. Here are the stories published last Friday:

• Google Geonews: Analytics for Google Maps API for Business, Snapping in Panoramio, Titanic in Google Earth, Zombie Survival Map, and much more
• Ten Things You Need to Know About OpenStreetMap and SofM Registration
• FOSS4G - North America: Summary for Day 1 and General Notes
• FOSS4G - North America: Summary for Day 2
• FOSS4G - North America: Summary for Day 3 and Other Summaries

I'm glad to announce that Slashgeo is a proud media partner of the first FOSS4G - North America conference. We certainly have experience with these after having participated to the previous three FOSS4G conferences. We'll provide on-site coverage of the event and share with our users any pertinent related news. We already mentioned FOSS4G-NA a few times and here's how the about page presents it:

"FOSS4G conferences highlight the latest and greatest projects from the Open Source Geospatial foundation OSGeo.  This year’s program targets a range of interests with the following tracks:

• Technology & Tips Track: Learn about the latest open source software from the developers and power users themselves. What are the new features? How do you get the best performance? How do you configure for the best results? For power users, deployers, system integrators and developers!
• Deployment & Decisions Track: Learn who is using open source geospatial software, and what their experiences have been. What kinds of organizations are deploying? What scale are their systems? What were the business drivers behind their plans? For managers, project leads, consultants, and other decision makers!
• Ideas & Trends Track: Where the latest tastes meet and mingle! Open data and crowd-sourcing, balloon photography, personal sensor packages and hardware hacking. For everyone with an itch to scratch!

Over 900 international attendees came together for FOSS4G in Denver. The event fostered new ideas and enthusiasm to build great things. Join us in Washington, DC this spring to make magic again!"

A quick note to let you know that Slashgeo is a proud media partner of the Location Business Summit Europe. Thus the vertical banner on the left-hand column of the site.

We already announced the LBS Europe event last month, and here's the summary of the summary: "The 3rd annual Location Business Summit Europe, to be held in May 22-23 in Amsterdam, is the biggest meeting place for hands on knowledge and networking within the mobile and location industry. Following our blockbuster events in Silicon Valley and Amsterdam last year, the biggest and best companies in the community will come together at the most influential LBS focused summit in the world."