Carnival Of The Geospatialists #3 – Musings and Down-Right Cool Things Shared by the Geo Faithful

It’s been a couple of weeks so that means time again for another Geo Carnival… a fun roundup of GeoMusings and down-right cool, GeoGeekery from around the web.

Lightning Talks in The Springs

Spring is in the air and that means that the Esri Dev Summit is just around the corner… myself, I’m really looking forward to getting out of the cold, grey, and rain of the Pac NW so the dessert should be a real treat! Continuing with the tradition, Esri will be opening up the stage to GeoGeeks via a couple of hours devoted to lightning talk presentations. If you have something very cool to talk about (and it really better be hot and cool at the same time!) then submit your pitch to present so the crowd can vote for you. The deadline to submit a Lightning Talk proposal is March 2, 2012. See more about DevSummit lightning talks at http://www.esri.com/events/devsummit/get-involved/lightning-talks.html

GeoGeeks To Hit Tampa

Thos of you looking for an excuse to hit the Tampa area for a week-end, take note of WhereCamp Tampa. This 2 day event features the popular WhereCamp unconference format as well as the ever popular Ignite Spatial networking event. The organizers has set in the works plans for an Ignite Spatial on Friday evening, Feb 10, 2012 in Tampa, Florida followed up by a WhereCamp unconference the following day, Feb 11. You can also follow the event on Twitter for updates @wherecamptb and hashtag #IgniteSpatial. The Ignite event has some great talks lined up including presentations on OSM Tampa, fighting authority, graffiti mapping (I love this!) and more! See complete details on the website http://wherecamptb.org and grab a ticket at http://wherecamptbunconference.eventbrite.com/

How To Give a Lightning Talk

This post is obviously inspired from the previous one… lightning talks are becoming very popular, particularly as the Ignite format events spread around the Globe and traditional conferences adopt the lightning talk format as a part of their lineup. The Esri dev group offered up a link to a fine resource that explains just how to deliver a lightning talk. Some tips that I might offer up include: forget the text on the slides, just use an image; ditch the notes and bring your iPad PPT on stage with you; finish with an offer or a link; try to use one bacon reference; use a bit.ly or tiny.urls for sharing. See http://www.speakerconfessions.com/2009/06/how-to-give-a-great-ignite-talk/

The Open Domeseday Book

This gem was shared with me via @BillDollins who notes he got tipped off from Sean Gillies (@sgillies) … this is an online map version of the Domesday Book. Released under creative commons, the book offers up images from the book and uses a very creative and pleasant format making it simple to navigate and enjoy. View records by name or geographic location – I could really picture this format being adopted for other projects. Developers will also appreciate details of the API that have been shared. See http://domesdaymap.co.uk

So Long Navteq Developer

I guess it’s no huge surprise but nonetheless, still a big deal as NN4D has shut down. I never did find any official statement about this but searching online has revealed some interesting comments on Nokia’s decision to pull the plug (and funding) for the Navteq developer resource. NN4D was the developer program supporting developers creating apps and services that used Navteq data and tools. With the constant changes that Nokia has been implementing over the past year this is the latest victim to result from reorganizing. See details on my blog http://blog.gisuser.com/2012/01/26/nokia-shutting-down-navteq-mobile-developer-resource-nn4d/
and you might also consider following + Greg Rose on Google+ as the former NN4D staffer may have info to share in the future.

Meet Siri

We’ve all heard about Siri and love joking about her… if you happen to be a fan of The Big Bang Theory then you likely howled as much as I did when Raj fell hard for Siri and even managed to meet her at the end of the episode. Raj getting Siri to call him Sexy is down-right priceless! Even if you aren’t a fan you gotta love this one, definitely destined for the "Best of" list. Checkout the video clip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5529ghwysM or if it gets removed just try a Google search on "Raj Siri" – enjoy!

Minimalist OSM Maps

James shares his affinity for simple basemap layers, in particular via an OSM map layer. James shares some fine inks in the post and references a detailed article from Development seed (http://developmentseed.org/blog/2012/jan/17/designing-minimalist-openstreetmap-baselayer/) describing how to create a simple OSM "minimal" layer. Great stuff and a must read for any GeoGeek interested in taking advantage of OSM. See the post on Spatially Adjusted http://spatiallyadjusted.com/2012/01/19/a-minimalist-openstreetmap-baselayer/

Changing The Map

You gotta give tiny Samoa credit for having the "balls" to make the decision to change their position relative to the International Date Line.. or did they actually changed the boundary of the Date Line? The tiny Pacific nation is a close trading partner with Australia, however, as a result of being on the other side of the Date line the country basically has only been able to shared 3 business trading days with the Aussies. So in a bright move the country made the move and has flip flopped to the other side. An interesting tale you may have missed over the 2011 holiday season. See more in this BBC news report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16351377
http://www.gisuser.com/images/samoadate2.jpg

Managing Spatial Data

Well know cartographer (and author) Gretchen Peterson (@petersonGIS) asks the question, "What should managers do with their spatial data?" Addressing the new manager, she offers up some useful tips like: debriefing your staff, taking inventory, visualize the data, and get your team in place. Some sound advice here http://www.gretchenpeterson.com/blog/?p=1607

GeoGeeks That Love Dogs

I’m a dog lover, and I also love mobile technology.. so why not combine the two! That’s exactly what MapMyFitness has done in their latest offering (iOS and Android coming). MapMyDogWalk is a spin off app from the company designed for walkers to store, track, and share their dog walks. Interesting stuff and a nice spin-off by the company that will no doubt exposure their app to a whole new crop (and demographic) – a great business lesson here! Checkout www.MapMyFITNESS.com

Marketing 101 – WOM

A final goodie, if you’re a small business owner, or perhaps an exec with a huge company, have you considered upping your commitment to "Word of Mouth" marketing (WOM)? It’s a real art but can payoff with massive dividends. I highly encourage you to give it some consideration and to help you, check out this video from WOM guru (and friend of yours truly) James Whatley (@whatleydude) – the vid is 20 minutes in length but well worth it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utMAsCRC12Q

PS: I’m thinking about rolling the GeoCarnival into a video format… what’s your thought about this?? Any tips or feedback?? Ping me on G+ + Glenn Letham or @gletham

Carnival Of The Geospatialists #2 – Musings and Down-Right Cool Things Shared by the Geo Faithful