USA Today: GPS devices aren’t always right!

It may seem obvious that the maps stored on GPS devices is not always correct.  Not only is the data collection itself prone to error, but they are a static snapshot.  Maps change overtime, new roads are built, natural disasters take out roads, and civil projects can lead many roads and towns to be at the bottom of a lake.

There was an episode of the office where one of the characters drives his car into a lake, because his GPS told him so, a clip can be found here.

The linked article doesn’t take into account error with the GPS itself.  GPS error is very common, especially in areas where the signal can reflect or be distorted.  A popular example of this can happen in an Urban Canyon.  I have seen a GPS estimate its location as being on a major highway, when a vehicle was traveling on a frontage road, as well as some very peculiar effects biking through New York City.

While not as readable as a USA Today article, Wikipedia has a very good article up on errors in GPS reception.

Caution: GPS devices aren’t always right. (via USA Today)

 

Shuttle Launch to Be Visible from U.S. East Coast (March 11, 2009)

(T = 9:20 EDT, March 11, 2009)

If it’s not too cloudy tonight, we should be able to see the Shuttle Launch!

Weather permitting, people within about a 500-mile (800-kilometer) radius of the central Florida coast will be able to see the flare from the shuttle’s solid-fuel rocket launchers two seconds after launch for about two minutes.

From two to eight minutes after launch, Discovery’s main engines will make the shuttle seem to burn like a flickering, yellow-orange star.

People with binoculars may even be able to make out the shuttle’s V-shaped tail.

Shuttle Launch to Be Visible to Most of U.S. East Coast. (via National Geographic)

 

RiskyRoads.org Maps Fatal Accident Hot Spots

RiskyRoads.org is providing maps of Fatal Accidents and DUIs.  A lot of useful information!

I’ve been looking up clusters in my area.  It seems that Union Blvd in East Allentown is pretty dangerous.  It is a four lane road roadway with a lot of businesses and intersections.. really it seems like a pretty deadly scenario.

RiskyRoads.org Maps Fatal Accident Hot Spots. (via prweb.com)

 

Microsoft Single View merging Business Data and Maps

It looks like even Microsoft is picking up on the current momentum of Neogeography.  This product seems to be pretty similar to its already existing MapPoint software, which is targeted at marketing and business uses, as well as some low-end GIS uses.  Microsoft’s Single View Platform is targeted more to goverment applications.  Microsoft has partnered with IDV Solutions to make this application, so I expect some decent results.

According to a write-up about the Single View session, SVP is designed to provide users with “a single, geographic view of complex information and data sets across multiple roles, locations, and user interfaces.”

I’m curious to see how this affects the government GIS applications market.
Maps + business data = Microsoft Single View. (via zdnet microsoft blog)

 

Point Breeze, Philadelphia in 1935

This is an interesting look at the Great Depression, and its impact on the Railroad industry, Philadelphia, and the environment.  Anyone who has ever driven down route 291 to the Philadelphia Airport knows of the vast oil refineries, and the horrible smell that is associated.  It’s interesting to see just how many railroad cars sat there waiting to be used.

Point Breeze, 1935 « THE NECESSITY FOR RUINS. (via ruins.wordpress.com)

 

Study puts Adult Entertainment Subscriptions on a Map.

A study at Harvard University shows that Adult Entertainment internet usage is very high in some of the most conservative states.  The linked article tries to make a correlation between Porn and Religion, as well as Democrat vs Republican voters.  The actual study seems to be a bit more fairly balanced.

It still does put a correlation on religious aspects (in table 4) and tries to come up with some explanations.  I think the reason for it in these states is that it is less socially acceptable to physically go out to a store and purchase these products than it is in the other states.  Although there are a lot of inconsistencies.  Maybe people

Will you buy porn tonight?: Study maps porn usage. (via windycitizen.com)

 

No More Cars on Broadway! At some points in midtown.

It looks like they’re keeping the bike lane, but otherwise, Broadway will become a pedestrian walk around the intersections with 7th and 6th Avenues.

They say this will increase traffic movement on both 7th and 6th avenues.  It looks like they’re removing parking from the one side of 7th Ave to put in another lane.  I’m all for this, because it reduces the chances of getting doored while biking down the road.

Streetsblog » Bloomberg Puts Forward a Bold, Transformative New Vision for Broadway.

 

Carbon Dioxide Emissions on Google Earth

The Vulcan project brings us a map of the US and the amount of pollution that can be found.  The Vulcan project is a collaboration of a few universities, NASA, and the US D.O.E.  Check out their site for more information, they do a lot of good work.

They have released a CO2 emissions map that looks like a pretty interesting application.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the right plugin for Firefox on my MacBook Pro to run this, but it looks like it is very well done, and I hope to get it up and running on windows at some point soon.  Please comment on this if you are able to get it to work.

Google Earth maps carbon dioxide emissions (via LATimes.com)

UPDATE:

I reinstalled The Google Earth Plugin, and now this works!  I think the problem was that I reinstalled Firefox since the last time I updated Google Earth.  Anyway, it works now, and the information is very impressive.  This is a screenshot from my local area.  Carbon County is one of the worst polluters, and it’s all from industrial uses.  So Carbon county is still aply named even after all these years!  (This is Pennsylvania’s Coal region, as well as the Slate Belt, and home to many Cement Factories.)

Gurney, K.R., D. Mendoza, Y. Zhou, B. Seib, M Fischer, S. de la Rue du Can, S. Geethakumar, C. Miller (2009) “The Vulcan Project: High resolution fossil fuel combustion CO₂ emissions fluxes for the United States”, http://www.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan/research.html.

 

Open Street Map in the News!

It’s great to see the news covering Open Street Map events!

Local contributions made to Open Street Map

Maplovers gather over the weekend at Bloc II Cafe, Photo by Russ Nelson

Map lovers gathered around a beautiful and intricate map of the Boston area, made by many contributors to openStreetMap.org, a sort of Wikipedia of maps, before heading out into Union Square with their GPS units to possibly make contributions of their own this past weekend.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

via The Somerville News.

 

The roads are still crumbling!

ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure:

Aviation: D
Bridges: C
Dams;     D
Drinking Water:     D-
Energy:     D+
Hazardous Waste: D
Inland Waterways: D-
Levees:     D-
Public Parks & Recreation: C-
Rail:     C-
Roads:     D-
School:     D
Solid Waste: C+
Transit: D
Wastewater D-

If this were my college transcript, I would have lost all of my scholarships!

I wonder how the extra $3B added to the transit stimulus will address these issues.  I guess only time will tell.

• 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure Reveals a Grade of D (gisuser.com)
• Engineers Give U.S. Infrastructure A ‘D’ (wbbm780.com)
• Advocates: Stimulus shortchanges mass transit (philly.com)
• Sinkhole Swallows Philadelphia Water Dept Truck (shameless plug)