Links (17th November 2008)

Still catching up with my backlog of links...

• Welcome to Geography Awareness Week
  It's the third week in November, which means it's time again to celebrate Geography Awareness Week.
  
  
• Where 2.0 2009 Call for Participation
  Next year's Where 2.0 conference (May 19-21, 2009) is accepting proposals until December 2nd.
  
  
• Improve your relationship using web mapping tools
  Kevin Burke explains how he used Finder! and Maker! to plan that perfect night out for his special lady.
  
  
• Operator Demands Berlin Subway Maps Removal From iPhone
  GeoCarta reports on how the operators of Berlin's subway system don't want iPhone users to be informed of the closest subway station.
  
  
• Google offer grants for compelling ideas based on Google Maps.
  Non-profit organisations can apply for grants of between US$5,000 and US$100,000 for using maps to enhance their work.
  
  
• New York City Rat Map
  The "a one-stop resource website for New Yorkers’ rat prevention needs." now includes a map.
  
  
• UpMyStreet turns 10 and gets a re-design
  The UK local search site UpMyStreet celebrates it's tenth birthday with a new design, improved business listings and better search functionality.

Links (12th November 2008)

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, largely because I've been far too busy working on this.

To make amends, here's a round-up of recent activity in a more conversational style than the usual list of links.

The beginning of this week saw The Society of Editors gather in Bristol for their annual conference. The local newspapers opposition to BBC plans to introduce video content on 65 local websites across the UK was once again raised by Sly Bailey, although former Trinity Mirror editor Chris Rushton had something different to say. Journalism.co.uk has a good summary on the overall discussion theme of What next for local media?

Moving away from newspapers, Ed Parsons reports on the news that Microsoft's Windows 7 will have a core location API. How long until the question of how to let your digital world know where you are currently located in the physical world is no longer a question but almost effortless?

Still on mobiles, if you have any interest in the collection or use of live traffic data then check out the Mobile Millennium project, an interesting collaborative project taking place in San Francisco involving Nokia, NAVTEQ, and UC Berkeley.

Andrew gives an insight into his election night experience and also posts a recent presentation given by him and Mikel Maron on the Trends and Technologies in Where2.0.

Having previously mentioned the Show Us A Better Way competition it's good to see that a number of location-related ideas are included in the winners. I know I will be using the Location of Postboxes service as soon as it has launched - I still don't know where my nearest box is and I've been living here for 8 months.

...that'll do for now... part 2 coming very soon, promise!

Links (20th October 2008)

• The Guardian publishes first ‘geolocated’ article
  Journalism.co.uk reports that The Guardian has published its first article including geolocation data.
  
  
• Dataset of the Day: Globalizing IKEA
  View the global expansion of furniture retailer IKEA on a map.
  
  
• Mapped Panoramas Viewable in Google Earth
  More features available on the panoramic photo site 360Cities.net which allows people to upload/view geo-tagged 360 degree panoramas from around the world.
  
  
• How Mapping Companies Collect Street-level Data
  Interesting insights on how TeleAtlas and NavTeq acquire their local data.
  
  
• Beyond GoogleMaps (FOWA London)
  View Andrew Turner's presentation on web mapping technologies given at the Future of Web Apps conference in London.
  
  
• USA National Fuel Price Map
  Colour coded guide to gas prices across the USA - good visual use of a map to display data.
  
  
• WAN: 'Newspapers must become hub of local activity'
  Newspaper websites must become the "hub of all local activity" if they want to keep growing their audience, according to Newspaper Association of America vice president for business development Randy Bennett.
  
  
• BBC reports live event with map tools
  The BBC uses a series of mapping tools to provide live web coverage of the parade in London of Britain’s Beijing Olympics team.
  
  
• Interior 3D Building Tour With Google Earth Plugin
  Peekspy have used Google Earth technology to go indoors and provide a virtual 3D walkthrough of the National University of Singapore Library.

Links (9th October 2008)

• Geo Microformat Tool
  Select a point on the map and give it a name to instantly generate a geo microformat.
  
  
• Finder of the equidistant location
  A new website that will suggest a suitable meeting place halfway between two locations.
  
  
• Tracking Mobile Phones to Track Spending and Shopping Habbits
  Path Intelligence have developed a tracking technology that has proved that the longer people spend in shops, the more they spend - no? really?
  
  
• Google Looks for More 3D Cities
  Google Earth now has 30 3D cities containing hundreds of photorealistic buildings - here's how to get your city in on the act.
  
  
• Should local newspapers run press release feeds?
  Jane Singer proposes a plan to free up the reporting time of local newspaper journalists.
  
  
• Local newspapers must be 'information provider of choice' online, says industry panel
  More discussion from the Journalism Leaders Forum at the University of Central Lancashire.
  
  
• Mozilla Launches Geode for Location Management in Firefox
  An experimental Firefox 3 add-on that uses surrounding Wi-Fi to share your current location information whilst browsing the web.

Links (3rd October 2008)

• Think tank: One click away from anywhere
  Damien Mulley suggests that Ireland should forget about introducing a postcode system and instead encourage the sharing of data to implement the first GPS based national household location system.
  
  
• Which smartphone would you like?
  A rough poll on the AnyGeo blog suggests the N95 is the most desired smartphone.
  
  
• Nokia announce new music service and touchscreen
  The S60 5th Edition has been announced and will include Nokia's first touchscreen user interface. An "all you can eat" music download service has also been unveiled for the UK market.
  
  
• GeoCommons Maker! launches
  Providing anyone who's interested with an easy-to-use mechanism to create useful maps, and export as KML should you wish. Further detail from Andrew Turner.
  
  
• Hyperlocal news site outside.in confirms UK launch
  outside.in, the US website that aggregates local news and blog content, has confirmed it will launch in the UK.
  
  
• Show Us a Better Way: Local To Me prototype
  Competition entries are now closed, and here's just one of the many ideas submitted around aggregating local content.
  

Links (16th September 2008)

• The future is local
  Howard Owens argues that the internet is making us more local and this is where the future lies.
  
  
• Virtual Earth 6.2 Coming September 22nd
  Some details of Microsoft's upcoming release which includes a host of enhancements and also claims expanded mobile support and international features.
  
  
• Announcing: OpenLayers 2.7
  The OpenLayers development team has launched a new release.
  
  
• The 10 Best Google Maps Extensions for Firefox 3
  Mashable suggests these clever Firefox additions.
  
  
• See Large Hadron Collider in Google Earth
  The world hasn't ended (yet) despite this scary looking creation.
  
  
• Top 25 Blogs in GIS, GeoWeb and Cartography
  A fun but interesting round-up of some of the top ranking (according to technorati) Geoweb blogs, with a good response from The Map Room.
  
  
• Media company has more websites than newspapers
  Northcliffe Media has launched an additional 45 local news websites in the UK, taking the number of "thisis" websites beyond the number of print publications from the company.
  

Links (2nd September 2008)

• Nikon’s Digital SLR Geotagger
  Another technological step closer to getting geolocation information into an image's EXIF data at the point of capture.
  
  
• Mapping Hurricane Gustav
  Lots of blog posts and information on the mapping of Hurricane Gustav and here is a good round up by The Map Room.
  
  
• Cartography is dead, long live the map makers
  Mary Spence has sparked quite a debate with her recent comments on the damaging effect of internet mapping... here's what Ed Parsons thinks.
  
  
• Android winners announced
  Google have announced the winners of its Android mobile application developers challenge.
  
  
• EveryBlock adds Boston, LA, Seattle and Washington DC
  The neighbourhood information site now caters for 9 US cities.
  
  
• Do Beer Drinkers Make Better Maps?
  OK, it's not much of a story, but I liked the headline...
  

Links (18th August 2008)

• Another UK crime map - this time it's London
  The Metropolitan Police have launched their own crime map site based on an implementation of Google Maps.
  

• Mapping the West Bank
  Mikel Maron has some fascinating posts on his blog about his current project to map the West Bank area, OpenStreetMap style.
  
  
• Local 2.0 reference site now updated
  Michael Bauer has updated his reference site for Local 2.0 websites around the world, including the addition of an RSS feed.
  
  
• Google mobile phone due in October
  Google are set to launch their first mobile phone through T-Mobile in the US in October. It will be powered by Android, Google's mobile software, and the handset will be produced by Korean firm HTC.
  
  
• The Huffington Post goes local
  Arianna Huffington has launched the first local version of The Huffington Post in the city of Chicago. "HuffPost Chicago is part local news source, part resource guide, and part virtual soap box -- featuring a collection of bloggers who know and love Chicago."

Links (13th August 2008)

• Yahoo's "Fire Eagle" Comes Out of Beta
  Fire Eagle, the tool designed to manage your location information, is now fully released.
  
  
• Mapping the 2008 Olympics
  A map-related round-up of coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
  
  
• How the regional papers use video
  Andy is taking a look at how the top seven (by circulation) regional newspaper websites in the UK are starting to incorporate video.
  
  
• Flickr introduces a new way to geotag photos
  Dan Catt explains some new methods of adding location metadata to your photos in Flickr.
  
  
• Flickr uses OpenStreetMap for improved coverage of Beijing
  OpenStreetMap tiles of Beijing now in use on Flickr to help you plot your Olympic photos onto a map.

Links (5th August 2008)

• News gathering and reporting with Twitter
  An informative guide to why Twitter is an essential tool for local newsgathering and reporting.
  
  
• Google expands Street View imagery to Japan and Australia
  Yet more detailed street images available via Google Earth and Google Maps.
  
  
• Mapufacture joins with FortiusOne
  Exciting times ahead in the world of freely available mapping and geodata applications.
  
  
• Nokia N82 phones used as newsgathering tools
  Nokia has partnered with Bizcommunity.com to offer journalists at the title Nokia N82 phones to produce multimedia reports for the site using the five megapixel camera and ‘DVD-like quality video capture’.
  
  
• New Beijing Olympics Satellite Imagery now in Google Earth
  Google has quietly slipped in brand new satellite imagery taken by Geoeye on July 19th, 2008 showing the Beijing Olympics venues.
  
  
• Yahoo drives 100 million users to local newspaper websites (in the US)
  Yahoo's partnership with local newspapers in the US has caused a surge in traffic to the titles' websites.

Links (29th July 2008)

• Crime Mapping from the British Government makes Telegraph Front Page
  More developments in crime mapping make front page headlines.
  
  
• Feel like presenting at the 2008 Location 2.0 Conference?
  SiRF Technology announces details of its second annual Location 2.0 Summit which will be held in San Francisco on September 10, 2008.
  
  
• Mobile use on planes moves a step closer
  Widespread use of mobile phones on UK airlines moved a step closer today following a ruling by the communications watchdog Ofcom.
  
  
• EveryBlock teams up with the Chicago Tribune
  Journalism.co.uk reports that "EveryBlock, the local news and data aggregation service, has gone into a beta partnership with the Chicago Tribune."

Links (23rd July 2008)

• No Entry: 51 places that you can't view on Google Maps
  Whether it’s due to government restrictions, personal-privacy lawsuits or mistakes, Google Maps has slapped a "Prohibited" sign on the following 51 places.
  
  
• The Starbucks store closures map
  A map showing the locations of all the US Starbucks stores currently facing closure.... I wonder if anyone has put together a UK Post Office closure map anywhere?
  
  
• Google Maps introduces walking directions=
  Want to walk from A to B? A new feature in Google Maps will provide walking directions between two points via a route that's "direct, flat, and uses pedestrian pathways when we know about them".
  
  
• Thematic Mapping Engine
  A simple tool that enables you to visualise global statistics on Google Earth. The primary data source is the freely available information from the United Nations.
  
  
• Steve Outing writes an open letter to Craigslist on behalf of the newspaper industry
  Steve suggests that Craigslist might want to think about providing more support to a declining newspaper industry in the name of keeping strong journalism alive.
  
  
• Google's Street View cars hit the UK
  Jon gets excited whilst spotting one of Google's camera cars crawling the streets of Birmingham, UK.

Links (16th July 2008)

I'm on hols this week, attempting (rather unsuccessfully) to spend some time away from the Internet and live in the 'real world' for a few days. I have some longer posts on the way but in the meantime here's another roundup of links.

• whereyougonnabe to enable more integration
  whereyougonnabe has a new release in July focused on integration with apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Dopplr and Google Calendar.
  
  
• iPhone 3G review from Engadget
  A full review of the new iPhone, including a look at the GPS functionality.
  
  
• Location-based applications for your iPhone
  Some recommended location-based applications to help you get the most from your new iPhone - from GPS World.
  
  
• ... and more iPhone applications
  LBSzone.com has put together their definitive guide to the 'Must Have LBS Applications for your Apple iPhone 3G'.
  
  
• Google Earth gets another imagery update
  Full details of the latest imagery update on Google Earth, deployed on 12th July.
  
  
• MapPoint 2009 / Streets & Trips 2009
  Microsoft announce the release of MapPoint 2009 (in September) and Streets & Trips 2009 (in October).

Links (9th July 2008)

• Top Innovators in Geospatial in 2008
  Google tops the All Points Blog 2008 innovators poll in the geospatial field.
  
  
• Is Citizen Media Skipping Small Town America?
  Steven Clift is looking for examples of user content displayed on maps in the less urban areas of America.
  
  
• PushPins Put Capital One on the Map
  Capital One's lastest US ad features pushpins falling from the sky - even though the mapping on their own website doesn't use pushpins.
  
  
• Newsquest relaunch local newspaper websites… is that it?
  The Online Journalism Blog is not particularly impressed with the latest website re-launch from one of the UKs main local newspaper groups.

Links (8th July 2008)

• The June Carnival of Journalism discusses the potential influence of 'local' on 'digital' journalism
  Andy Dickinson asks the question "Is (digital) journalism better the more local it is and what does that do to growth?".
  
  
• Making Maps Work When Disaster Strikes - from Business Week
  Can open source tools react quicker to your mapping and location based information needs in an emergency?
  
  
• What Map Maker is / is not
  Ed Parsons discusses some of the differences between Google Map Maker and open source tools/projects such as OpenStreetMap.
  
  
• The Focus on Locus: Symposium on Location Based Services
  Location based services event taking place on Friday 11th July at Columbia Business School, New York.

Links (4th July 2008)

• Channel 4 ponders move into regional news as ITV retreats
  Channel 4 holds talks with Ofcom and ITV over a potential move into regional news.
  
  
• Relief for Torbay as Facebook rave is called off
  A local event advertised on Facebook has been cancelled as organisers urge people not to go to Torquay after a police chief said last night the event would not be allowed to go ahead.
  
  
• Paradigm Shift: News is Community
  "You don’t have to run a community alongside a news organisation... ...News is a community, with news items (articles, video, etc.) as the objects people gather around."

Links (30th June 2008)

• Review of the new Local Priorities web service from the Dept of Communities and Local Government
  Nick Booth likes the idea (but not the execution) of a new web service from the Dept. of Communities and Local Government.
  
  
• Weather Tweets
  Walter Rafelsberger has created a weather map which uses an analysis of tweets to determine current conditions.
  
  
• Why local and digital is better for the environment
  Alex Lockwood explains why local journalism is the best place to report environmental
  
  
• Google Signs 5-Year Deal With Tele Atlas
  Search engine giant Google has signed an agreement with Tele Atlas that gives Google access to the firm's maps it was announced today.

Links (25th June 2008)

• Y! Geo
  A new Yahoo blog focusing on geo technologies. The Map Room reports that "it replaces the mapping side of the now-defunct Yahoo Local and Maps blog".
  
  
• The MetaCarta Blog
  Metacarta have launched their own blog which they aim to be "a community forum to discuss the evolution of the Geoweb".
  
  
• Google Releases More Map Crowdsourcing Tools
  For the first time, Google has released to the public a big part of the map creation tools which they call Google Map Maker.
  
  
• Nokia to Acquire German Social Networking Co. Plazes
  Mobile phone giant Nokia announced today that it plans to acquire German mobile social networking startup Plazes, which has plans to release an app for Apple's iPhone, a Nokia competitor.

Links (24th June 2008)

• Online, all journalism is potentially local | Online Journalism Blog
  This month’s Carnival of Journalism is asking whether journalism is better the more local it is.
  
  
• News aggregator Topix adds six new content partners
  News aggregation service Topix has signed deals with six new content partners to expand its local information offering, TechCrunch reports.
  
  
• Newspaper Society launches site to aid advertisers understanding regional differences in the UK
  The Newspaper Society has launched a website aimed at aiding advertisers understand of social, behavioural and political differences between regional communities in the UK.

Links (16th June 2008)

• Google Maps - More, Not Richer Data
  Work to do for Google when it comes to searching on the map.
  
  
• iPhone GPS and Google Mobile Search
  More on the GPS capability of the iPhone.
  
  
• Is GoogleMaps GIS? :: High Earth Orbit
  Andrew Turner discusses the definition of GIS and the relationship with mapping technologies/services such as Google Maps.
  
  
• The AnyGeo Blog - Anything Geospatial: iPhone 2 - GPS, WiFi, Bletooth, 8GB flash (or 16) only $199... nice
  iPhone 2 is on the way with plenty of location relevant tools included, not least GPS at last.