FANTOM PLANET

See, the quake was the website update for Adobe Acrobat 9 Extended!

…A friend once told me, “PDF is where data goes to die.” If that holds true, then geoPDF is where maps go to die…

Word on the street is that ArcGIS 9.3 will natively export to this new Acrobat format. Schweet.

The other neat thing that I’d like to point out is the Flash embed capability for Acrobat. Could the ArcGIS Server 9.3 Flex API be embedded in the PDF for dynamic mapping?

Just forget about workflow for a moment. Is it possible?

Ok, now think of the workflow. Could it have the potential to be another SharePoint-like pain in the butt?

Adobe = Upgrade (with the potential to Fail!)
ESRI = Upgrade!
TerraGo = Fail!

Hey if millions of people aren’t having an edit war on this, then I might as well be the one who starts it. . .

Wikipedia defines GIS as:

A geographic information system (GIS), also known as a geographical information system or geospatial information system, is a system for capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the Earth. GIS is referred to as geomatics in Canada.

In the strictest sense, it is an information system capable of integrating, storing, editing, analyzing, sharing, and displaying geographically-referenced information. In a more generic sense, GIS is a tool that allows users to create interactive queries (user created searches), analyze the spatial information, edit data, maps, and present the results of all these operations. Geographic information science is the science underlying the geographic concepts, applications and systems, taught in degree and GIS Certificate programs at many universities.

Geographic information system technology can be used for scientific investigations, resource management, asset management, Environmental Impact Assessment, Urban planning, cartography, criminology, history, sales, marketing, and logistics. For example, GIS might allow emergency planners to easily calculate emergency response times in the event of a natural disaster, GIS might be used to find wetlands that need protection from pollution, or GIS can be used by a company to site a new business to take advantage of a previously underserved market.

It’s not so different than from what is in all of our textbooks. It says nothing about neogeography. Huh?

That doesn’t mean that neogeography isn’t GIS. The definition of GIS itself above is as a system, but can mean a science, or a service. Data in, gospel out. Same would hold true for neogeography applications and knowledge using the systems, the science and the services. I hear often enough from certain people in town that the web mapping applications that neogeographers build aren’t GIS and their data isn’t reliable. It’s all about the right tools for the right job folks, and it’s the right data for the right job too. As Tim O’Reilly once said, “It’s about the data stupid.”

We know our media is changing, but know that some things will remain the same: the geoid as an equipotential “lumpy potato”, Tobler’s First Law of Geography, and people will always say they like maps when you tell them you’re a geographer. I suggest we as GIS and geographer folk understand that change is happening otherwise. If you’re not down with change, get your acetate out and exacto knife and go start a hobby and preserve that lost art.

It has always been about the story of human life. Mine, yours, and the Fake Ed Parsons. (BTW: When the Fake Ed was at OS, he wrote the story of human life.) And we better damn well work together to help us tell it together. It does us no good to dump software packages into the deepest darkest collection of cubicles and say, “This is GIS, this will make your life so much better.” Then leave with no training and no discussion about sustaining a GIS. Employees with spatial info will blow it off, and it’s already been blown off inside the home. That’s why building the canvases of geography around the world are important. Google Earth, Virtual Earth, Yahoo maps, just to name the big guys. The likes of OpenStreetMap and Wikimapia, and Flickr and others where we’re mapping our communities and mapping our lives. Yes, this is great stuff. We need to let it grow and understand it, and not to kick your grandma off of Google Earth while she’s mapping her life’s story because “she’s not a geographer.”

(Written from the ESRI infirmary using Jack’s laptop.)

Yesterday, the talk radio station at American University, WAMU,  in Washington, DC, ran a news segment on digital mapping.  The summary online says that the discussion focused on how the new mapping technology is penetrating our lifestyles and changing our interaction with our communities. I only found this interesting to note because of the guests on the show:

• Douglas Richardson, Executive Director, Association of American Geographers
• Henry Poirot, President, International Map Trade Association
• Cliff Fox, Senior Vice President, Navteq Map
• Gavin Maurer, Vice President of Marketing, National Geographic Maps

 You can listen to the segment here.

Problem with the Universe is you can only do so much at once.  The Birds of a Feather sessions at Where 2.0 this year are the perfect example.

Sean did hint in a blog post that there may be beer at his.  Giving his session a greater weight.  Man, you got to love GeoIQ just for that purpose. 

Data Mining had a good intro to Atlas, the collaborative atlas site that has some pretty schweet UI aesthetics’s in it. It’s pretty straight forward. Give it a try.

Yes, I’m on the ESRI crack, but. . .

A few weeks back ESRI announced its code challenge for the Dev Summit and a lot of concern was flying around about, “What about the Desktop?” Well, I may have an answer for you. . . If you don’t mind being objective?

Well, think about this, I’m making plans with server-based GIS (in all its flavors) to enable my enterprise and to enable non-GIS users. This is important because not everyone in my enterprise has the want or skill to use desktop GIS. They are, however, smart enough to use the GYM maps, Mircosoft Excel 97, and MediaWiki (which they just learned.) What they constantly ask of me is, “Can I map “this” information?” Or they ask, “Is there an application I can use on our network that I can plot this info on?”

I have to say, “No. Not right now because, our network’s configuration management doesn’t allow for it. I am trying.”

So, I’m trying to be responsive. Sometimes my peeps ask me for a copy of ArcMap when they can barely spell GIS. I do work with them to get set up, but it’s a long learning process for them. So, I’m working towards the server-based GIS environment to crate a layer of data services and map services that will allow non-GIS folk to look up information. This is an important first step to what I’m getting at.

So, why is server-based GIS important and why is ESRI having a code challenge?

The two most hated words in our industry: Data Entry.

Remember how I mentioned that my non-GIS peeps can use GMaps, Excel, and MediaWiki? Well, if you aim to build a collaborative environment that allows your folks to edit your GIS themselves, with some structure, your data entry time shrinks tremendously. It also allows for your folks to fill in gaps in your database and to provide a level of quality assurance. This is largely why server-based GIS is important to an enterprise.

I want to emphasize that the Desktop is still important! GIS experts can still manage and analyze data with the tools the desktop offer. Perhaps even utilize geoprocessing services for higher-end geoprocessing of large datasets?

So, refering to Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, that’s probably why ESRI has issued a code challenge for the Dev Summit. It sees its customers being just more than power desktop GIS users. Probablybecause GIS software is useless without data.

. . . And that’s why server-based GIS is important. (At least, in my ESRI crack smokin’ mind.)

I was telling Steve the other day why I hate “Enterprise GIS.” I have some bullets:

1)  “My enterprise’s IT staff.” I could wrap so many expletives in this space right now that it won’t do me any good. In the end, I cop out and just point my (middle) finger to these guys.

2)  “My enterprise’s IT infrastructure.” Again, pointing the finger to numero uno. “Dummy, you can’t do enterprise GIS without an environment that can handle it.”

3)  ESRI and the Slippy Map Guys. For getting my hopes up, then dashing them when I realize that I have to work with my IT staff.

4)  Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris gets GIS and even the concept of Internet technology. Why doesn’t my IT staff

Anyway, just a few goodies to get off my chest. I’m frustrated as hell lately and can’t stand my IT staff.

Just browsing through collaborative atlases again tonight, and something on the 43Places front page caught my eye.

 Lindie_Lou Wants To Go To Omaha

I found that. . .  interesting, yet. . . um. . . nuts.

Yes.  I read Lindie’s post. 

I’ve been to Omaha. You ever been?  Yeah, not much at steak.

On Friday I saw a demonstration by The Carbon Project about CarbonCloud and ((ECHO))MyPlace. Talk about some wickedly cool apps—especially ((ECHO))MyPlace.

“Echo” does exactly just that; it uses peer-to-peer (P2P) technology to share geotags and information across its user’s web. The demo The Carbon Project gave was focused on security at a Carolina Panther’s football game and utilized ultra mobile PC’s (UMPC’s) to connect to everyone in their network using WiFi connections. It was pretty schweet. Now, you don’t have to be on a UMPC or using WiFi to connect, you can also use your land-line Internet connection to be a part of the group too.

So, notes, chats, and tags were flying back ‘n forth. Tracking unruly Pittsburgh fans. Pointing out car accidents and such. A lot of people were impressed.

Anyway, questions came out of the crowd like: “Can you make this for Windows Mobile?” “How about voice and audio?” Finally, “Can I have you UMPC?”

So, a pretty cool app. It’s like having a collaborative atlas like Platial, CommunityWalk, or 43Places, but on a live feed.

Perhaps this could be a Where 2.0 2007 feature?