Archive for the 'GIS' Category

Yahoo launches FireEagle - a service to track your locations

Published
by
joesonic
on August 13, 2008
in GeoWeb, Internet and Webservices
. 0 Comments

Yahoo has launched their contibution of “track your location” sites with the release of Fire Eagle. The basic idea behind Fire Eagle is to become the link between your location and the services that you want to give your location to. You can feed your location to Fire Eagle from your GPS unit, cell phone, laptop, etc, then their applications can use it for whatever task you give them permission for. Even though it has just launched, there are a large number of sites already using it (e.g., Dopplr, Facebook, etc.), many of which tie into Google Maps.

In other words, Yahoo’s Fire Eagle, what I like to call a meta-app because it manages many location-enabled apps, is now open to all.

Links:

[via Google Earth Blog]

Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.

ESRI ArcGIS 9.3 JavaScript API and Google Maps

Published
by
joesonic
on August 9, 2008
in GIS, GeoWeb, Internet and Programming
. 0 Comments

Since ArcGIS 9.3 ESRI provides a JavaScript API of ArcGIS Server.

The video shows how to build powerful business applications by dynamically querying information contained in map layers.To query geometry properties you can use the esri.arcgis.gmaps.Query class.

More information for developers can be found at: http://resources.esri.com/arcgisserver/index.cfm?fa=jsapis

Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.

More than 13000 people at ESRI User Conference 2008

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by
joesonic
on August 6, 2008
in Event and GIS
. 0 Comments

Currently (4th - 8th August) the International ESRI User Conference takes place in San Diego, Convention Center San Diego, California. More than 13,000 people from 123 countries are attending the conference. You can follow the most important news about the conference at the official blog. The next conference is planned on July 13–17 2009.

Attendee Map: http://www.esri.com/events/uc/welcome/attendeemap.html

Blog: http://blogs.esri.com/Info/blogs/ucblog/default.aspx

Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.

4 Years OpenStreetMap - Details & Interviews

Published
by
joesonic
on August 3, 2008
in GeoWeb and Internet
. 0 Comments

Two years ago OpenStreetMap (OSM) was completely unknown in the german-speaking community and central Europe. Today several places in the world have already very detailed and sophisticated maps, produced by volunteers. People uses GPS devices or local knowledge to make existing maps more detailed.

Frustration about the high prices for geospatial data was the motivation for Steve Coast to start the OpenStreetMap project in 2004. Four years later the project developed from an idea to a world-wide map, where thousands of people are participating. Everyone can use the map for free, to embed it on the own web site.

In the past every five months the user doubled, and in the end of 2009 there should be ten times more users than today. And these users will add 200.000 km per day, so the estimations. Indeed, OpenStreetMap is more than a simple streetmap. The map includes information about roads and their environment as well as Points Of Interest (POIs). Questions like, “Where is the next postal office?”, “Where is the next toilette?”, or “Where can I find the next WiFi Access Point?” can be answered. How this can look like shows the POI Control. This web site used OpenStreetMap and analyzes stored POIs.

Of courses some places, especially important towns, are very detailed while other parts are more or less empty. If inhabitants didnt know about OpenStreetMap this can also be seen on the map. For example parts of Spain are not collected. In the USA freely available TIGER data was integrated in OpenStreetMap.

This picture shows a comparison of the city Villach, Austria (pop. 58000) in Google Maps and OSM.

One other important service is routing. An important service which uses OpenStreetMap data is OpenRouteService.org as reported in June.

Following I have summarized important issues form an interview with Frederik Ramm about OSM:

Q: There is Google Maps. Why is there also OpenStreetMaps?

Ramm: Google Maps doesn’t offer their data. You can view their maps, but you can not render maps in your own style. You also cannot put your own routing algorithms on to of the map or calculate the density of letter-boxes for German towns. Google has maps - OpenStreetmap has geodata. That’s an enormous difference. Everyone can participate; a corrected error, a new build road can be found within hours on the map. And finally OpenStreetMap has a free licence, you can use the data for all of your own projects. With Google Maps you cannot do this.

Q: Google has introduced Map Maker and Pedestrian routing recently. Is this a reaction to the OpenStreetMap project, which does not only concentrate on vehicles? Or only a logical improvement?

Ramm: Map Maker a Google services which is based on a technique, that was used for internal data acquisition in India. Google would like to buy map data simply form agencies but for a lot of areas there are simple no useful data available. With Map Maker Google tries to fill these gaps. But we see it relaxed. Google will encourage a lot of people for this project and OpenstreetMap will also benefit. For pedestrian routing it is similar.

Q: Where are the strenghts of the OpenStreetMap project?

Ramm: Free accessibility of data is an enormous potential for creativity. Every few weeks there is somebody who has worked on a software fir OSM. One further strength is that everyone can participate and provide her/his expert knowledge about a local region. The community is the core of the project. Competitors are driving their surveying vehicles. With this technique you cannot get the secret paths between two house blocks.

Q: And where are the weaknesses?

Ramm: There is no complete worldwide coverage. Yet. Further, the community is fixed on map visualisation. This leads to missing Information. There is also no mechanism which can evaluate the completeness and correctness of the data.

Q: What’s about mobile devices?

Ramm: At this years ‘State of the Map’-Konferenz Nick Whitelegg has introduced Freemap Mobile, a J2ME-application for hikers. A complete editor for a mobile platform is not available but moving map and routing works for a lot of applications. Navit is one example which works with the Nokia N810, but also with other Windows mobile devices. Definitively, there is potential.

[via Golem.de]

Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.

Features planned for ArcGIS 9.4

Published
by
joesonic
on July 31, 2008
in GIS and Software
. 0 Comments

The next release of ArcGIS (9.4) will focus on the following four key themes:

Enterprise Readiness
Continue to expand ArcGIS Server’s capabilities in respect to platforms, scalability, and security through focus on UNIX/Linux and Java support, dynamic map performance, and rich Internet application support (Flex) as well as enhancements to Tracking Server.

Productivity for ArcGIS Professionals
Simplify the user experience, streamline workflows for increased productivity, and promote collaboration with easier sharing of information. Enhancements are planned in the areas of advanced modeling, 4D analysis and visualization, map scripting, and modeling of non-spatial and temporal features among others.

Geospatial Enabled Application Development and Rapid Deployment
Building on the new capabilities at ArcGIS 9.3, the next release will continue to expand the functionality to easily and quickly deploy systems throughout the enterprise. In ArcGIS Explorer, a new look for the user interface, 2D and 3D integration, and mark-up/collaboration are planned. In ArcGIS Online, enhancements include universal find, geoprocessing, and catalog services. ArcGIS Mobile will include enhanced routing and navigation as well as support for professional GPS and additional platforms.

GIS Solutions for Business Users
ArcGIS 9.4 will extend the solution product offerings to the ArcGIS platform to build a set of tiered solutions for business and logistics. Within the Business Analyst suite, Business Analyst Online will be migrated to the Business Analyst Server platform. Also an integrated logistics solution that leverages ArcLogistics, Network Analyst, and StreetMap Mobile is planned.

Additional Features

ArcGIS 9.4 will support the ability to check out licenses and borrow licenses from a central license manager and for use in the field.

At 9.4, ESRI will focus more on desktop to desktop (CAD and GIS) interoperability with particular emphasis on improving and simplifying how Microstation and AutoCAD data is integrated into ArcMap and migrated to the geodatabase.  This will include improvements to the way GIS data is shared with Microstation users.  Improvements to the ArcGIS for AutoCAD plug-in are also ongoing. This activity will move forward with the goal of making ArcGIS for AutoCAD an editor of the geodatabase and a rich client of ArcGIS Server.

Search - At 9.4, ESRI is launching an ambitious effort to have search capabilities deeply integrated into all elements of ArcGIS. This will allow users to automatically create and discover various GIS resources using simple search tools.  Users will have search tools integrated in their desktop that search local files, workgroup servers, enterprise servers and the open Web.  For example, a user may need a water resources data set in England. He would simply type that in and search.  This will require that ArcGIS automatically stamp simple discoverable metadata on all objects that it touches—data, models, maps, workflows, documents, etc.

ArcGIS 9.4 will have a strong focus on improving the desktop user experience with an editing environment that relieves users of the need to manage geodatabase details, new geoprocessing tools that perform editing functions; powerful search functionality, a new user interface that will let users simplify applications (e.g., ArcMap) for an optimal workflow, and more flexible toolbar behavior and management.

We will be overhauling the metadata editor as part of our metadata creation, management, and data sharing improvements in ArcGIS 9.4.

Analytical Tools. ArcGIS 9.3 supports a suite of new 3D analytical tools (i.e., proximity, intersection, etc.) exposed through the ArcObjects API.  At 9.4, ESRI plans to extend this functionality as geoprocessing tasks and end user tools, exposed directly in the user interface. Also at 9.4, ESRI will be introducing a whole series of new tools for 3D editing (moving 3D objects around), interactive texture rendering, terrain editing, and higher performance visual display.

In ArcGIS 9.4, ESRI plans to add additional collaboration tools to allow easier sharing of notes and markups.

[via http://events.esri.com/uc/QandA/index.cfm?fuseaction=printall&ConferenceID=85D7FF7F-1422-2413-199D382F1109DE0A]

Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.