Little Info about Digital Mapping

March 18th, 2011 by author No comments »

It seems that with instability of nature that has been going on lately, the need for reliable digital map and software is growing. Some digital mapping software and programs and available to help people and the experts determine what would happen to the environment and condition within the future. Digital mapping are now even available for download for people who want to keep on watching the nature activities, although not many people are interested to have such applications within their reach.

For example, you can have the application to keep on watching the earthquake activity and also power stations. If you use the software, you could find out about areas which have active nature activities below the earth. You can determine the locations by using the Google Maps and also Fusion Tables, which goes along with the Heat Map. If you use this digital mapping application, you can see how the ring of fire in Pacific area is very active. You can see the activities very obviously. Another digital mapping application is the OpenEcoMaps. This application is available for free, even if you use all the data and maps from the OpenStreetMap.

A lot of people would choose to have this OpenEcoMaps when they want to have reliable digital mapping application. Why do they choose it? Well, basically there’re a lot of digital mapping applications available. Unfortunately, most of them share the same downsides, which focus on duplication and tools. A lot of digital mapping applications usually copy or duplicate from other previous works, so there’s no really new applications or benefits that users can gain from such applications. In certain sense, it would be okay, but when people are need in deeper and more comprehensive information, such duplication can be boring and useless. A lot of digital mapping developers lack of the right and suitable tools to develop their applications, which result in lack of features. Such things won’t be found in OpenEcoMaps, because it provides all the data as open data for users. It will provide fresh data in hourly basis and then display everything on the map.

Japan: befor and after the devastating earthquake and tsunami

March 14th, 2011 by GIS No comments »

Please check out this sample photos taken from Google.

You can also check this one to have another way to look at those photos.

I can do nothing but pray for Japan. May God bless all the victims and things will be better in the near future. Again, let’s pray for Japan.

World Topo Basemap by DeLorme

February 13th, 2011 by GIS No comments »

DeLorme Vice President Caleb Mason : “Whether you’re planning personal travel or managing GIS projects, the DeLorme World Base Map is a highly affordable, reliably accurate resource no matter where on earth your map needs may be”

It’s available for download for a minimum purchase of $10 (.01 per 100 square km).Download the map and integrate to your software and gps. Simply sign up to Delorme for free, find the area you wanna catch and choose the type of map to download, then select grid locations. Name your selection, click Submit and your map is ready to be downloaded. You can transfer this map to your PN-Series GPS or any other compatible DeLorme mapping program. Enjoy!

International Conservation Mapping Competition

February 12th, 2011 by GIS No comments »

A special recognition for everyone conserving the nature, Esri in association with the Society for Conservation GIS are opening the International Conservation Mapping Competition.  With a total prize of $10,000 this would be an interesting competition not only for the effort to conserve the nature but also the effort to make a better environment. Here is a list of the prizes:

  • Grand Prize: Best exemplification of conservation mapping
  • Best Traditional Cartography: Best design and art in a static map (hard copy or online)
  • Best Interactive Web Map: Best design and usability in an interactive web map
  • Best Use of Science: Best design and impact in presenting challenging scientific concepts
  • Best Societal Impact: Most compelling impact on society
  • Best Innovation: Most creative use of mapping tools to communicate a conservation message

If you are individual or a nonprofit conservation groups it’s time to show your skill and care to conserve the nature. Details and Deadlines

  • Entries must be created using Esri GIS as a primary tool.
  • An essay describing your map is required.
  • The deadline to receive entries is 11:59 p.m. (PST) March 15, 2011.

Here is more details on the competition.

Art Galleries’ Street View

February 2nd, 2011 by GIS No comments »

Offering some amazing tools, Google Art Project, has been just unveiled. THis project will help art lovers to explore ‘what ever’ they wanna especially the venues and paintings of the art. Take a look at the brushstroke feature. This new feature will help you to have more detail and see images in high resolution, result in great pictures. Here is an example of pics taken from http://www.gearthblog.com/

In this update, google also added another interesting feature i.e. world famous galleries street view, you can easily access them here and find lot of the list of museums there. Enjoy the greatest galleries of the worlds online! There are Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, National Gallery London, State Tretyakov Gallery Moskow, The Frick Collection and some others. Lot of room to be explored there. Check it out.You’ll enjoy the beauty of the most famous galleries.

The Art Project is a collaboration between Google and some of the world’s most acclaimed art museums. Using Street View and a suite of Google technologies, you can now explore the world’s museums and great works of art online. Here is one of gallery i found there.

Go there and enjoy the world’s galleries online!!!