Loki

So if you have a laptop (equipped w/ wireless), and you use firefox to surf the web, you'll want to download this extension. Here is the homepage http://bzz.loki.com/firefox/. Here is the url for the firefox download --> click me. You'll need to allow firefox to install software from bzz.loki.com. Very easy to geotag photos and blog entries. Have fun!

My ark better have broadband

Here's a good use of webGIS: Flood Maps combines NASA elevation data with Google Maps to show who will be underwater when ice caps start to melt and ocean levels start to rise. Take a look at the Bay Area with a 1 meter rise in sea level. Via WorldChanging

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MapWindow GIS

Does anyone have any experience with MapWindow GIS? It seems like another open source GIS solution, with potentially more of a focus on functionality thatn just viewing data, but it's Windows only. I might give it a whirl tomorrow. This screenshot is pretty.

Sudden Oak Death from Google Earth

While browsing Karin's sudden oak death KMZ file for Google Earth, I noticed some signs of SOD in Google's images. Take a look at the forest patch just northwest of China Camp State Park around confirmation number 1339597. There are a host of yellow, reddish, and bare crowns surrounding the area. Unfortunately, Google does not release the dates of image acquisition, so we can't use this for any sort of tracking (not sure how we could swing that anyway). On the bright side, this is a very visual and accessible way to show people the impact of sudden oak death in the Bay Area.

Erdas Imagine 9.0

The GIIF has recently acquired Erdas Imagine 9.0. It is currently installed on all machines in the GIIF. See What's New in Erdas Imagine for all the details.

Public geodata under threat in Europe

Via BoingBoing (of all places), recent moves by the European Commission to orchestrated sharing of government-collected geodata between member nations are become increasingly embroiled with licensing and copyright issues that may limit or completely illiminate public access to the data, data collected using public funds. Now I confess I know next to nothing about this situation (I don't even really know the difference between the EC and the EU), but I understand that public geodata is already a scarce commodity in Europe, so this is probably bad news for Europeans or anyone doing research in Europe.

Soliciting new names for MapRoom!

Apparently there are bunch of other entities called MapRoom out there, some of them closely related to our own project, so we need your help to think of a new name! Here are some ideas: MapDrawer, MapHouse, MapHaüs, Mapository, The Giifer, MapBase...

Visualizing Infrastructure

WorldChanging recently linked to this neat 1957 San Francisco Bay Area Hydrological Model, an actual physical model built by the Army Corp Of Engineers to model hydrology in the Bay. WorldChanging also makes the point that visualizing the hidden infrastructure on which urban areas depend is an important way of understanding urban environmental impact. I've always wanted a mapping tool that tells me where my water comes from, where my power is generated, where my sewage goes, etc. But, uh, that might just be me. Anyone know of some good infrastructure visualizations out there?

Finally, someone explains California geography

Clarification
Originally uploaded by Michael Kuker.

Maybe we're not in Northern California... (Click on the photo to see all the annotations on Flickr...)

Google Mars Maps

with lots of landmarks so you wont get lost up there. though it looks like some kid's finger painting was made into a map. http://www.google.com/mars/