may 2003 archives

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Recently tried to access the MapBlast website? From now on, you'll be redirected to MSN Maps and Directions: Our goal is to merge the best content from each site and continue providing you with fast and accurate mapping and trip planning free-of-charge. The MapBlast! Web site is no longer supported. No LineDrive maps anymore for now, but these will soon be included in MSN Maps and Directions.

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Yesterday, the ESA member states reached an agreement that clears the way for the official launch of Galileo Joint Undertaking foundation that will coordinate ESA and EU involvement in Galileo, Europe's initiative to develop a global satellite navigation system. Galileo will complement the existing satellite navigation system, which presently relies entirely on GPS, the American Global Positioning System which is controlled by the military. Galileo is designed to provide a complete civil system.

After some posts on Ordnance Survey's pricing policy, it is interesting to read John Fisher of DMTI's view on free data: generally speaking, you get what you pay for. The main concerns he raises regarding free geographic data are:

Updated infrequently, if at all.
The accuracy, currency and completeness of the data itself are often questionable or unknown.

Update cycles are certainly an issue at this point in time, but soon enough everyone has access to location-aware devices, allowing everyone to contribute to create free geographic data all the time. Based on a “Web of Trust”, everyone can make their own decision to use freely-available data for one task, and use maps from commercial online map providers for another. In his view, government departments in the United States and Canada would not be up to the task of creating and maintaining base geographic data, including attributed street networks:

It would require the coordination of different government departments across the nation.
It is not really the mandate of any government department.

The first point is certainly valid in a federal country, but in the United Kingdom and other non-federal countries, this is not an issue, as it is usually one government organisation that creates the national, large-scale, geographic database. I am not too sure about his second point, but it is certainly debateable. Why would the Ordnance Survey create the Integrated Transport Network (ITN), if commercial providers such as TeleAtlas and NavTech already provide similar products? In John Fisher's view, the private sector is very well positioned to execute this task:

No need for coordination between multiple stakeholders.
Autonomy and authority to make unilateral decisions about how, where, and when to collect data and how to present it.
Create, and strictly enforce, a unified data standard across the entire geography, and employ a wide variety of methods and sources to ensure this consistency.
Accountability: must produce and maintain a good product that meets specific market needs or it will not be saleable.

Especially in the light of these points, it is interesting to re-assess the role of national mapping agencies...

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

For some time eBay has enabled whole new trades between individuals, therefore making more established facilitators of person-to-person transactions, e.g. estate agents, almost redundant. Well, they don't seem to put up much of a fight in the online arena. The Guardian recently checked out the “battlefield” and found that online house-hunting has a lot of shortcoming.

Thousands and thousands of homes are advertised online, some with pictures, particulars and contact details. However, as soon as you start house shopping seriously, most estate agents fail to state the most basic information in their particulars, such as the number of bedrooms, or the asking price. Interesting, the article makes a case to provide as much locational information as possible, as it is location, location, location what matters with a home. A map of the area and the location of the property tells potential buyers whether the property is at the end of the street near the nightclub, or the end next to the park. Furthermore, details of local amenities or at least a link to UpMyStreet would be very useful, as it reveals how busy the local criminals are. Not only the presentation of the property would benefit from a locational touch. A postcode (or, better, street) search allows you to see which estate agents are working the area. Suddenly, whole towns can be combed for exactly the kind of home you want, narrowing the search enough that you might want to physically visit only those on your shortlist...

Monday, May 19, 2003

Usually webmapper.net reports on the latest developments and innovations in mapping on the Web, but as I am human, I have some soft spots, one of which: historical maps. Recently, Copenhagen's Royal Library and the National Library of Wales have been victim to a “map ripper”. More than 4,500 maps are missing from libraries across Europe! You'd think that appropriate security measures were put in place since the publication of “The Island of Lost Maps”?

Friday, May 16, 2003

Missed the Cartographic Congress on Tuesday? Not to worry, some people have published their notes. There were even some pictures taken.

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Good news for UpMyStreet! They've been bought by uSwitch.com, an impartial online comparison service which helps consumers compare prices on utilities (e.g. gas, telephone). The recently launched localised message board service “Conversations” would be developed further in order to get people to return more often.

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Couldn't be more timely for tonight's event: just found out that the Waag Society has struck again! This time round, location of events is Riga. It is part of Art+Communications - 6th International Festival for new media culture, not the Eurovision Song Contest in case you were wondering. Using a PDA and GPS, festival participants create a real-time map of Riga!

Monday, May 12, 2003

Tomorrow evening, I'll be attending the Collaborative Mapping Week at Limehouse Town Hall. Really looking forward to meeting up with other people interested in open source mapping, geospatial annotation, and “grassroots GIS/LBS”. There were quite a few talks covering similar topics at the recent O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference:

Let's hope tomorrow's meet up will be just as inspiring... If you cannot wait until then, have a read of the BOF session write up.

Friday, May 09, 2003

Recently, both GI News and Geo:connexion Online brought the news that several GIS companies joined forces in the Geographical Industry Forum (GIF) to press for a better and fairer balance in market power between the private sector geographical industry in the United Kingdom and public sector bodies such as Ordnance Survey. Members include:

Ordnance Survey has rejected the allegations and says it is committed to working with partners to help develop the market for geographic information in Britain. The OS is disappointed that a small number of its partners and others have chosen to make unsubstantiated claims about its activities.

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

Shell GeoStar and Maporama have teamed up again. Scene of the action this time is Shell GeoStar South Africa. A few months ago, ShellGeostar.com ceased to operate and started redirecting its users to the ViaMichelin website (the Shell dealer locator, since powered by Multimap.com, still reads “Shell GeoStar” in the title bar). Maporama has been able to gain grounds again within the Shell group. Looking forward to see how things will develop in this arena...

Friday, May 02, 2003

Sending out the wrong message? The Ordnance Survey recently set up a website dedicated to g-intelligence. G-intelligence is the intelligent use of digital geographic data for business advantage. The website presents the OS as THE enabler and as the one-stop shop for geographic data. Not difficult though, if you have a monopoly protected by Crown Copyright.

All good and well, but is the OS really THE enabler? Only the other day, Multimap.com removed the capability to search for building names off their public website: ...Ordnance Survey is now charging Multimap on a transaction basis for the use of this data. We therefore must remove the input field for building number/name from our free public site; the increase in price is simply too high for us to sustain on a free service. Furthermore, most of the maps for Great Britain formerly sourced from the OS have been replaced with equivalent maps from other data providers.

Just wondering whether the Ordnance Survey also charge themselves for their Get-a-map service?

Thursday, May 01, 2003

This is so cool! How local can you go?

The other day, someone pointed me to an article from 2001 that talks about location-based services. Already then, it was felt that on-board navigation systems have seen their heyday: The problem with mapping is that the data is in one device. In most automobile GPS, data is stored on a DVD, making it hard to update. I think there is a better way. When you are at home, you find your weekend get-away spot using your PC. That data seamlessly moves to your car's GPS, and mobile device. Nevertheless, they still seem here to stay, even 2 years from then.

Two other interesting scenarios described in this article:

The home network detects defective appliances and request maintenance from a dealer or manufacturer. The device broadcasts the location of the home, along with any parts needed. The service person is dispatched to the home with the correct part, and is able to find the home. It also lets the home owner know when the service person will arrive based on his/her location.
The home network sends a message to your on-board navigation system, or mobile device that it has detected that the upstairs bathroom light in your house is burnt-out. The system went shopping (using “smart agents” fo this) for you and found three stores that have the best price for that bulb. Your smart agent did some bidding for you and managed to get the best price based on some factors you set. As you drive home, your on-board navigation system alerts you that one of those stores is near-by. You head towards the store. The stores system recognizes you (based on your agent's exchange this morning) and prepares the product for you.

But still, here we are in the dark ages... How long will it take before “location” really becomes a mainstream information aspect?