Vector One

Mapping Mathematical Topolgy from Perelman

Vector One — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:57:18 +0000

Grigory Perelman is a Russian mathematician who solved the Poincaré Conjecture, a model that describes the relationship of 2D-3D spatial models. He was asked to accept the Fields Award for his work, but declined — many times. The Toronto Star writes about the scientist in an article entitled ‘A mad principled genius.’ From the article — [...]

Stuart Nixon — Spatial Innovator

Vector One — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:23:27 +0000

All Things Spatial posts a note about Stuart Nixon. For those unaware, Nixon began ER Mapper, a company that developed an image analysis software and the image compression software. He later sold that company to ERDAS before beginning NearMap, a web mapping company which was later sold to Ipernica in Australia. I once interviewed Nixon who [...]

The Biodiversity Lifecycle — Markets for Geospatial Tools

Vector One — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:22:19 +0000

The Policy and Innovations website has a an article entitled ‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity’ that describes the economic relationships of biodiversity. I’ve talked about ecological services on this blog several times. particularly with an emphasis on land management and monitoring with geospatial tools. The article also describes a need for monitoring. Can we compare [...]

GIS — Animation — Is there quality time?

Vector One — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:17:39 +0000

Most of us talk about data quality in terms of location. But what about time? For applications like watching trees grow around the world, time probably is not a big deal. But other applications involving 4D may have higher time related requirements. Firstly, how do we know the time of an application or animation? I’ve watched [...]

Spatial Data Quality: OpenStreetMap

Vector One — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:53:55 +0000

Muki Haklay discusses data quality and OpenStreetMap on his blog. He explains Linus Law and how these techniques can apply to projects like OpenStreetMap. From the blog — “For mapping, I suggest that this can be translated into the number of contributors that worked on a given area. The rationale behind it is that if there [...]

The City as Platform for Urban Games

Vector One — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:15:53 +0000

Pruned blog posts - “You’re walking home alone one night through pedestrian unfriendly, darkly lit corridors. All of a sudden, you trigger a sensor and projectors spray the pavement with technicolor lights. Ebullient geometries seemingly float above the asphalt. “Wanna play,” a disembodied voice rings out from a speaker. “Umm, sure,” you instinctively respond, even [...]

To the Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan

Vector One — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:21:57 +0000

Thank you. We support you and think of you often. Keep up the good work and we look forward to your return home. All the best.

European 3D Simulation and Visualisation

Vector One — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:11:04 +0000

The European 3D Simulation and Visualisation event promises to be interesting and will cover a wide number of topics. Jean Nouvel, Architect – Urban Designer, Ateliers will provide a keynote address. In addition, the Green building: 3D simulation at the service of sustainable architecture [...]

Digital Cities and Spatial Data Infrastructure

Vector One — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:08:54 +0000

A relative of mine and I were talking last night about digital architecture, urban planning, spatial data infrastructure (SDI) and related topics. He comes from a architecture and sustainable design background. As the discussion moved toward SDI and digital cities, it veered a little to the traditional arguments between economics and environment. He said, “the environment [...]

The Paradox of GIS Simplicity

Vector One — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:35:23 +0000

Many people talk about simplifying GIS and other geospatial tools today. This resulted from the realisation that some people were having to wade through large amounts of functionality embedded into software and hardware, much of which they personally did not feel that they used. That evolved into many of these people voicing the opinion that the [...]

European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDIN) Report

Vector One — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:11:19 +0000

The annual report of the European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDIN) participants is now available. The project stakeholders present what was accomplished during the year point-by-point. Included is a generic presentation of the work.

“Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you”

Vector One — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:56:48 +0000

The first words of Alexander Graham Bell to colleague Thomas A. Watson, over the first telephone call. I walked into the place where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone carrying a Nokia E71. Bell spent his summers in a place called Brantford, Ontario where the homestead overlooks the Grand River from high above. He was [...]

Book Review: Rethinking Maps

Vector One — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:48:46 +0000

I read the book Rethinking Maps by Martin Dodge, Rob Kitchin and Chris Perkins while flying over the Atlantic Ocean last week. The review is online here. The authors hit the nail on the head with their varied list of contributors to the book, capturing the thoughts of many people at the forefront of cartography [...]

Marzone — Australian Marine Zone Boundary Map Software

Vector One — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:52:58 +0000

The Melbourne School of Engineering, Department of Geomatics has developed Marzone, a software for determining marine boundaries through user-defined specifications. From the downloadable user guide — “MarZone is a stand-alone maritime zone boundary delineation software package consisting of two integrated parts. The software has been specifically designed to implement all provisions relating to the determination of [...]

The Berlin Wall 20 Years –Through Geospatial Eyes

Vector One — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:25:51 +0000

In the ‘Perspectives’ column this week — “The Berlin Wall 20 Years –Through Geospatial Eyes” I thought I would try something a little different this week given that the fall of the Berlin Wall will be remembered November 9. The 20th Anniversary will give rise to festive occasions both within Berlin and Germany in [...]

Satellites for Precision Farming and Agricultural Prescription

Vector One — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:14:11 +0000

The Economist publishes an article entitled ‘Harvest Moon’ that describes (artificial satellites are helping farmers boost crop yields) — whatever artificial satellites are? Last I looked, the satellites were real and actually existed and were doing real remote sensing. In the article, examples from France that using precision farming techniques are described. Infoterra and RapidEye are [...]

EU — €200 Million for Nearly 200 New LIFE+ Projects

Vector One — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:46:37 +0000

The European Union is making available €200 Million for nearly 200 projects. These projects cover topics related to conservation, nature and communication. This combination is a common one these days and can be found around the world. More and more people are collaborating on conservation and sustainability isses and using geospatial and IT tools to [...]

Geo-Buffett — Burlington Northern Sante Fe

Vector One — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:50:31 +0000

Have you seen the map of the BNSF system? I’ve been thinking about Warren Buffett all day and his purchase of the BNSF Railway. This is a bold move, although not out of line with most of what he has been talking about the last few years in terms of energy efficiency, transport and the [...]

Density Map of Geo Blogs

Vector One — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:25:11 +0000

World Map Geo Blog has published a density map of geoblogs. The map shows those areas with high levels of ‘production bloggers’ and low levels of non-production bloggers, or irregular bloggers. It appears to me that the level of ‘production’ is higher in Europe. From the site — “This is the first density map of GeoBlogs. [...]

India See’s China Building Dam — by Satellite

Vector One — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:47:54 +0000

The Indian National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) see’s China building a dam on the Brahmaputra River. An image of the site shows the partially completed project. Indian authorities have decided to go around the traditional hydrological channels and talk to the decision makers higher up in the Chinese government about the matter. From Indian Express [...]

Vector1 Media Expands International Reach with the Acquisition of the Asian Surveying and Mapping Newsletter

Vector One — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:11:48 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Berlin, Germany and Denver, Colo., 03 November 2009 South Pacific Science Press International Pty Ltd, the publishers of ASM Newsletter, have entered into an agreement to sell ASM to Vector1 Media, publishers of V1 Magazine, V1 Newsletter, V1 Energy, and the editorial services of V1 Research. This new arrangement will [...]

Maslow’s Theory and Spatial Data Infrastructure

Vector One — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:01:15 +0000

In the paper ‘Enabling Sustainability: Hierarchical Need-Based Framework for Promoting Sustainable Data Infrastructure in Developing Countries’ by David O. Yawson, Frederick A. Armah and Alex N.M. Pappoe it is proposed that spatial data infrastructure (SDI) can be brought about through the realisation of higher needs — Masow’s theory. On the other hand, think about capitalism in [...]

Geolocation: European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre

Vector One — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:25:42 +0000

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre continually monitors seismological activity around the Mediterranean basin and also includes world wide activity. The results of this monitoring are output in map form and are available here. The data are also presented in Google Earth form. A quick glance of the table information shows that earthquake activity is continuous within Europe [...]

Game — GEO H1N1 1.0

Vector One — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:00:41 +0000

A game for learning about H1N1 is available online. The purpose of the exercise is to learn about H1N1 rates of spread through game strategy.

H1N1 India: Graphs and Maps

Vector One — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:41:28 +0000

The World Health Organisation publishes updated information about the rate of spread of the H1N1 pandemic. The latest information is available here and shows the rapid and increasing rate of spread for that country.