Cool Stuff





National Geographic Challenge for PS3, XBOX360, and Wii

Oct 3rd, 2011 | By

As you know, many of our discussions here on VerySpatial have touched on the increasing convergence between geography, geospatial technologies, and games and gaming technology. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the announcement and trailer for National Geographic Challenge, a new console game that will be available for all 3 of the [...]



A Post of Extremes in Mapping

Sep 28th, 2011 | By

Artist Yataka Sone has created what may be the heaviest map ever – a marble carving of Manhattan, called ‘Little Manhattan’. The 3D model map of the Big Apple was carved out of a block of white marble that weighs over 2 ½ tons. The artist used photographs, helicopter rides, and Google Earth to make [...]



Another Threadless classic

Sep 22nd, 2011 | By

It has been a while since I have posted one of the awesome Threadless t’s hocking geo awareness. I think this one definitely makes up for the gap. Sharing the things we all generally know about the various states of the union, this tee would go nicely with a side of How the States Got [...]



Transportation… OF THE FUTURE!

Sep 14th, 2011 | By

If you’ve ever heard me chatting with Elvin of the ArcPad team, you’ll know that I can wax poetic about cars almost more easily than I can about GIS. I think an awful lot about transportation (mostly old cars, but still…) It always fascinates me to think how well all get around in the future. [...]



Intro to Culture, Space and Place

Aug 10th, 2011 | By

Dr Jon Anderson of Cardiff University has created a fun video that ties into a class he is teaching. It shows how a short video can lead to many thoughts, questions and ideas. Give it a look and contemplate where it takes you.



Architect or Grad Student?

Aug 4th, 2011 | By

With many popular sites picking up on Barbie’s new architectural design (the house) I finslly took a look at this year’s “I Can Be…” Barbie. You may recall that last year was the computer geek Barbie which was, quite honestly, awesome and can of course be called the GIS Barbie if you so choose. This [...]



Group Me and Group Texting

Aug 3rd, 2011 | By

The Wall Street Journal has an article on GroupMe, an Android application that allows multiple users to text together at the same time as a group. According to the article, “The secret behind GroupMe is that it assigns one phone number to a group, so the most basic cellphones will be able to send text [...]



ESRI EDuc Plenary Session – ArcGIS Online Improvements

Jul 9th, 2011 | By

At the ESRI Education User Conference Plenary this morning a few things struck me as significant for GIS use in the classroom.  Bern Szukalski reviewed some of the ArcGIS.com revisions that occurred last Wednesday and these are what I thought could enhance the use of GIS in the classroom: Intelligent Mapping – Essentially pop ups [...]



They had me at ‘Help Me Obi-Wan’

Jul 6th, 2011 | By

Engadget has a link to this really cool video demoing using iOS’s String Augmented Reality SDK and the Microsoft Kinect together. The video mentions a few potential uses, but it is a pretty cool combination of technology. Is 3D going to become the new Mashup? For me, the obvious high point is when he makes [...]



Must – Have – Coffee!

Jun 24th, 2011 | By

Where you live might decide where you get your AM cup of joe (unless you get your fix from a local favorite).  Numbers Run has a neat series of maps that shows the number of store locations (Starbucks Vs. Dunkin Donuts) by zip code.  Living in New England I can already tell you that I [...]