Here’s an interesting article in Wired about keeping all of these online GIS databases fresh. As they point out, sometimes you just have to send someone out to drive the route and see what’s out there. Electronic methods are great but they only take you so far.
I think the most interesting quote is on the first page: “our version of finding a brave new world. We’ll drive it until it connects to some point (already) in the database.”
Via Wired
It’s good to hear that, even though the current US administration has failed to support the Kyoto Protocol, individual US states are at least trying to do something to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. One such effort is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont. The initiative was started by New York’s governor in 2003, and on December 20, 2005, the seven states announced an agreement to implement the initiative to stabilize and eventually reduce carbon dioxide emissions beginning in 2009. I know that other states and cities are also working on similar efforts, so I will try to blog those as well.
The AAG, GITA, and Wharton School of Business at the Univ of Pennsylvania have created a preconference questionaire for the second and final Leadership Rountable on the Geospatial Industry.
The feedback form can be found at White Paper: Feedback for Defining the Geospatial/Geographic Technologies Industry
Just before Christmas, the European Space Agency issued a press release reviewing the use of geospatial technologies and data in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 and discussed some of the ways in which these technologies are aiding in regional redevelopment and rebuilding
Via GeoPlace
Apologies, I mistyped the link for the Epi23 direct download, but it is fixed and ready for download. Show notes should be up tonight.
I am thinking about putting together a series of 5 minute howto videocasts for beginners. These would be screen grabs and voice overs of common computer related activities in Geography such as GIS, RS, stats, and some scripting and entry level programming that could help steer folks in the right direction. What I would like to find out from our readers and listeners are two things:
1) what topics/activities do you think we should cover.
2) does anyone think they would like to submit a howto on a specific topic
If you have any ideas please email me at howto@veryspatial.com and we will see how things go. I hope to have a demo episode of what I have in mind up by the middle of January though I don’t think we would go live until February based on the other things going on right now.
An interesting article from The Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland) discusses the impact of rising sea levels on the Maryland coastline, including the submergence of numerous small islands and talks briefly about a joint project between the USGS and Maryland DNR that mapped portions of the coastline using highly-accurate LIDAR technology.
A VerySpatial Podcast
Shownotes – Episode 23
December 25, 2005
Main Topic: 2005 Year in Review
Click to directly download Episode 23
Click for the detailed shownotes
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Main Topic: 2005 Year in Review