Google Latitude Goes Desktop

Google Latitude Goes Desktop
Google have launched Latitude with a desktop iGoogle gadget to help you stay in touch with friends and family that may not have a smartphone. Google learned that a desktop experience is important to you even if you’re already using Latitude on your phone. Today, you can now visit a dedicated site that makes it easier than ever to use Latitude when you’re already on your computer. From the Friends tab, you can:

• See where your friends are on Google Maps
• Add friends and accept sharing requests
• Control your privacy settings

Do more with Latitude
You’ll also now find Latitude and Latitude apps together in one place. After browsing your friends list, go to the History or Apps tabs to turn on optional Latitude apps such as:

• Google Location History (Beta) to see your personal history dashboard
• Google Location Alerts to get nearby friend alerts
• Google Talk Location Status to post your location in your chat status
• Google Public Location Badge to publish your location on your blog or site

Google Latitude Apps (must be signed into Google)
https://www.google.com/latitude/apps

Easy OpenStreetMap Editors

Easy OpenStreetMap Editors


One early frustration with wanting to help the OpenStreetMap project was how do you edit the data easily?

OpenStreetMap has lot and lots of data already, though more and more people are required for their local knowledge and to do the mamouth task of keeping the 'map up-to-date'

Well there are lots of different applications from online editors to compiled source code are out there. Which is easiest and user friendly?

These two are mapperz best picks

Merkataartor (v0.14) - fairy new software - but nicely laid out user friendly. Has great potential and is supported by most OS
see the list
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Merkaartor#Download
http://www.merkaartor.org/Download/

Small download, very simple to use - download by area/map of your choice.
No knowledge of OSM to start using. (But advise you to research first)
uploading does require a osm account so you can contribute but downloading and viewing data (in cartographic map-form) does not require a login.


Software is updated regularly and many features have been added - recently Area digitising and tagging tools have been introduced.
Offline mode.
Map Style mode - set one from the list or make your own.
Documentaton: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Merkaartor_doc_0.12
(requires an update to v0.14)



Potlatch - long standing Open Street Map 'online editor' but now more user friendly than ever (thankfully).
Back along mapperz liked the idea of editing in a browser (as all GIS will be in the future).
But Potlatch back then was slow,buggy and choked the browser up - all those issues are long gone and now it is a really fast and easy way to edit 'live'.


Potlatch has greatly increased productivity due to the 'drag and drop' POI (Points of Interest) tool. Tip you reuse tag names with the 'r' button (repeat tag) remember to give as much infomation as you know.
Note: There are many tag names (too many to list) please visit
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features
for a full list of tags.

Yes, there are many, many other OSM editors out there but this is for the curious potential new user, that just wants to help out.

others:
JOSM is currently the most popular desktop editor. It is a standalone Java application (requires Java 1.5) which allows fluid zooming, panning, and editing of a locally stored dataset, before uploading changes in a batch.

OSM2Go is a mobile mapping solution currently supporting the Nokia Internet Tablet family (N800 & N810), can also be compiled for the Linux/GTK+ desktop.

Vespucci [1] for android devices.

Amenity Editor is a simple online editor for creating and editing nodes and POIs. (ATM only in German)
source:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Editing

Vector Magic - Raster to Vector - update

Vector Magic - Raster to Vector - update

"One of the best products out there that really does vectorize raster images to enable editing/scaling and just makes life easier in the cartographic world."



Vector Magic takes a raster image and recreates it in a vector format.
image sources: Vector Magic



The new version (26th Feb '09) v1.11 (pc) v1.14(mac) has a number of new features including:

• Now export to AI (Adobe Illustrator), DXF (CAD) (in addition to EPS, SVG, and PDF)
• On PC, export to Microsoft Office EMF format
• More export options (group by colour, stroking mode)
• More compatible EPS output

Get an order in by 6th March for the Desktop Version using the promotion code VMDE0306 before March 6th and get a $50 discount.

Mapperz has seen Vector Magic develop from Stanford University Artificial Intelligence research project into a fully commercial and viable product in less than 2 years. Well done to the creators in making and continuing to develop this excellent product.

Desktop Version
http://vectormagic.com/desktop/

Online Version Available (less functionality)
http://vectormagic.com/online/how_it_works

Source:
http://vectormagic.com/blog/posts

Yahoo! Zimbra Maps - New! & Updated Yahoo! Local API

Yahoo! Zimbra Maps - New!

"Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop is the next-generation email application"

Easily set up Zimbra, Yahoo! Mail Plus, AOL and Gmail email accounts with the Account Wizard

Web mash-ups

• View addresses as Yahoo! Maps
• Automatically detect your location and find points of interest with Yahoo! Local
• Preview web pages at thumbnails instead of opening a browser
• See your calendar schedule from within an email message if you hover over a date
• Web Search powered by Yahoo! is built directly into Zimbra Desktop

Larger View

Updated Yahoo! Local API
Other Yahoo Local News is that Version 3 of the Local API has been released.
One new feature is the ability to find locations along a route
Here is an example XML output
http://tinyurl.com/6xc8n9
For this map and nearest pizza restaurants
http://cartosoft.com/lab/ygeo/index.htm
"We are releasing a new version of the Yahoo! Local API (V3), that gives developers a key new feature – the ability to search for convenient points of interest for a given user defined route. For example, as you are driving from San Francisco to Sacramento, you could search for a Starbucks or for a hardware store."

The RESTful API now includes a “route” parameter that is a series of latitude/longitude coordinates, with the first pair of coordinates as the starting point and the last pair of coordinates as the ending point. A string sent as the route paramater would be structured as follows:

lat1 long1,lat2 long2,...,latn longn

The API returns XML, JSON, or serialized PHP"

MapSpeller™ for ArcGIS® Extension

MapSpeller is a spatially-smart map spell-checker.


Image: Edgetech America, Inc

The MapSpeller for ArcGIS extension is for all ArcGIS Desktop users who want to avoid the embarrassment, delays and costs of typos on their maps. Before printing, MapSpeller quickly checks for, and suggests corrections to, spelling errors in and around GIS maps using patent-pending processes. Simple to install and easy to use, MapSpeller is an ingenious and effective tool that will quickly pay for itself by saving users the cost of expensive reprints.

Currently Edgetech America, Inc.has filed for a U.S. patent for, and reserved international filling rights to, a GIS map spell checking and correction system.

As we all make the odd spelling mistake. Don't we?
Hope that more than just US English is Supported.
Mapperz just needs a dyslexia corrector

ArcGIS 9.2 Service Pack 1 Released

For the select few that have ArcGIS 9.2 installed the Service Pack 1 (of?) is available.
It will not solve ArcGIS 9.2 crashing, but hopefully it will, a little less often.

List of files changed here (notice the KmlLayer.dll and PDFExporter.dll to name a few)
Top Tip - Make tea or coffee before reading the links above.

Note: You must download separate ArcGIS Desktop (44MB), ArcIMS(29.3 -148 MB) and ArcSDE(7-14MB) service packs.

If unsure of existing service packs/patches use the service pack checker.
Install as an Administrator

ArcGIS Server for the Java Platform is not yet available.

One not listed is ArcGIS Explorer?