tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64331080195255329802024-02-07T04:27:28.621-08:00Mostly Mapping...Mostly GIS and digital mapping, with a dash of other spices.Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-21994313640672574362016-08-22T20:01:00.001-07:002017-01-30T20:00:13.606-08:00Turn geotagged Flickr Albums into KMLI was looking for an easy way to add geotagged photos that I had stored in Flickr to an ArcGIS web map. While geotagged photos, hosted or not, can't currently be directly imported into an ArcGIS web map, there are several different paths you can take to accomplish the task.<br />
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One of the ways is to convert the geotagged photos in a Flickr album to KML, A quick Google search turned up a post at AdamFranco.com - <a href="http://www.adamfranco.com/2007/08/23/flickr-photo-set-to-kml/" target="_blank">Flickr Photo Set to KML</a>. Click <a href="http://www2.adamfranco.com/photosetToKML.php" target="_blank">Photo Set to KML</a> in the post to open the web utility.<br />
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First put the desired geotagged photos into a Flickr Album (formerly a Flickr Set). Next, open the album and obtain the album ID from the URL:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8YFd42I_SBjKoGLcWIRtH0KzxLprJPwulsmeRT5MbVfSQSirPZiS5qha_aRovpgh4oc6TXuqpQelB_-RVkZ_EGV-3NPJhD-joSMpj52qwjJaiEviiqBYWlZydKn1f5MgNdZ_yxGJ366p/s1600/kml-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8YFd42I_SBjKoGLcWIRtH0KzxLprJPwulsmeRT5MbVfSQSirPZiS5qha_aRovpgh4oc6TXuqpQelB_-RVkZ_EGV-3NPJhD-joSMpj52qwjJaiEviiqBYWlZydKn1f5MgNdZ_yxGJ366p/s1600/kml-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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Copy the album ID and paste it into the KML utility, then click Submit:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_80-UbECym0KxD4oTfjhEdHQ6upeoGuF2oPWOx_NzX6PudtwU0ll7v0ru4pMFSsbzIuXmBj2yjGd0a01bzrLLchSUaExwQUVeNS4x4sPXSrdcZGEADFcOriAQFt7lbFg37lswEf5nlsey/s1600/kml-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_80-UbECym0KxD4oTfjhEdHQ6upeoGuF2oPWOx_NzX6PudtwU0ll7v0ru4pMFSsbzIuXmBj2yjGd0a01bzrLLchSUaExwQUVeNS4x4sPXSrdcZGEADFcOriAQFt7lbFg37lswEf5nlsey/s1600/kml-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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The KML will be processed, and downloaded. Once downloaded you can add it to your ArcGIS Online account, then add it to a web map. You can also use the KML in Google Maps, Google Earth, ArcGIS Earth, or any other application that supports KML.<br />
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Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-82355694468315067832016-07-19T21:27:00.003-07:002020-08-08T21:24:19.545-07:002016 Story Map Contest Winners<a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">Story Maps</a> combine interactive maps and multimedia content into elegant user experiences. They make it easy for you to harness the power of maps to tell your stories. They've come a long way since first released, and this year's contest winners up the bar in storytelling with maps. At the recent 2016 Esri User Conference, the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">Storytelling with Maps Contest winners </a>were announced and posted on the Story Maps website. You'll get some great ideas and learn from these excellent examples that use a variety of different story map templates. <br />
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<a href="http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/story-maps/2016-contest-winners" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLI5eUlYUA4RsURpmWgsthBoVEmBcPHCJ_WoMUayl6Xi2F96mX4Ot-m9Fn8SyKTxTmSwMqEpm66TiBArxamYH77UISu8OCtRrXb2YfLuQt2x6SHs9cAaHkzly8nv4d372W6ORW5AT1vLF/s1600/storytelling-1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /> For more info see the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">Story Maps website</a>.</div>
Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-38563868430268427632014-12-02T14:44:00.000-08:002016-12-28T22:53:21.372-08:00An interactive perspective on Comet 67P and AucklandComet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko could have been just another unknown hunk of galactic stuff traveling through the enormity of space. According to Wikipedia it was discovered in 1969 by Klim Ivanovych Churyumov who identified it by working off of photographs taken by Svetlana Ivanovna Gerasimenko, who was shooting for a different comet. Even so, were it not for the fact that the 2.5-mile diameter comet became the target for the European Space Agency Rosetta mission, it would still have remained in obscurity. The historic mission, launched in 2004 and making its rendezvous with the comment earlier this year, became the first to ever land a space probe on a comet, subsequently creating a fascinated global audience.
I ran into a blog post about how the comet is being <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/2014/10/24/comet-internet-meme/#.VH49ljHF-VF" target="_blank">compared to cities worldwide</a> using digital wizardry. But even more interesting is this <a href="http://www.esri.com/software/cityengine" target="_blank">Esri City Engine</a> Web Scene authored by Zorko Sostaric of Eagle Technology in Auckland, New Zealand.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDx2xadrutjxvnpoXIhMS1CmjhQFoWMsTPCA2SG4z7_LOfMWdXY4w3aQJ6cNsXAAIB3XP2hOnsgH2h7KkBP5sTQkxkQDrgLOfEV6nSGx5XIT9-nAicLB4zpkuCMFZ5uEHuLj8GnpU6YEJq/s1600/67p-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDx2xadrutjxvnpoXIhMS1CmjhQFoWMsTPCA2SG4z7_LOfMWdXY4w3aQJ6cNsXAAIB3XP2hOnsgH2h7KkBP5sTQkxkQDrgLOfEV6nSGx5XIT9-nAicLB4zpkuCMFZ5uEHuLj8GnpU6YEJq/s1600/67p-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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For a few more details, including links to the actual web scene, see the related <a href="https://geonet.esri.com/blogs/bernszukalski/2014/12/02/mostly-mapping-map-of-the-day-december-2-2014" target="_blank">GeoNet blog post</a>.
Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-27904755436956698462014-11-17T16:29:00.001-08:002016-07-19T21:07:34.921-07:00The geography of our favorite pollinatorsA new <a href="http://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/" target="_blank">Esri Story Map</a> released today now ranks as one of my all-time favorites, perhaps because I love macro photography, my Dad was a beekeeper, and I'm a biologist at heart (and by degree). <a href="http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2014/bee-tour/" target="_blank">Geography Bee: A Global Gallery of Pollinators</a> uses the context of geography to introduce us to the fascinating world of bees using the incredible photographs of USGS naturalist Sam Droege (whose images can also be <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml" target="_blank">enjoyed at his Flickr gallery</a>).<br />
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<a href="http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2014/bee-tour/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMOMDTKcdyeY0C3RFfhdWiRfnwPNDkyTU0L1qrRDNQ82evJzjg59qg_d4DTb9sNMYGd4WFcn4P812WyeqNiqnX-4bc7qtHexxRhzmpLUJbsHJdvlE6GC_nAai7CwzcIEW4TuDLIk_co0m/s1600/beeblog-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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The Story Map is also a <a href="https://geonet.esri.com/blogs/bernszukalski/2014/11/18/a-preview-of-story-maps-to-come" target="_blank">preview of a new configuration</a> that will soon be available for the Story Map Tour, currently the most popular Story Map template. Browse the <a href="http://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/gallery/#s=0" target="_blank">Story Maps Gallery</a> to find more interesting map-based stories.Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-12740073301907998942014-08-19T13:23:00.001-07:002014-08-19T13:23:30.265-07:00Esri Storytelling With Maps Contest Winners<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/" target="_blank">Story maps</a> combine interactive maps and multimedia content into elegant user experiences. They make it easy for you to harness the power of maps to tell your stories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the recent Esri User Conference, the <a href="http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/story-maps/contest-winners" target="_blank">Storytelling with Maps Contest winners</a> were announced and posted on the Story Maps website. You'll get some great ideas and learn from these excellent examples that use a variety of different story map templates.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSYRZCOoIlLgWZWe3_ZmNRn5JiaaXwWrNGKKjlXR_fZxIHLaqoRGtUNSyekwrswwgDLPUjuDy9df3IIAkluy4-o4dafqPTPUKkJBocciDof-9r5aaPTD8ZnD6PK-80FD0cSk51HJad58A/s1600/contest-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSYRZCOoIlLgWZWe3_ZmNRn5JiaaXwWrNGKKjlXR_fZxIHLaqoRGtUNSyekwrswwgDLPUjuDy9df3IIAkluy4-o4dafqPTPUKkJBocciDof-9r5aaPTD8ZnD6PK-80FD0cSk51HJad58A/s1600/contest-1.jpg" height="252" width="400" /></a></div>
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Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-21822451000234740122014-07-31T11:54:00.003-07:002020-08-08T21:20:32.630-07:00A Few Clicks to Understanding California's DroughtUnless you've been on vacation and off the grid the last few days, you've likely seen the coverage of the massive 30-inch water main break on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA campus in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The break has spewed over 20 million gallons of water, flooding UCLA buildings, creating a massive sinkhole in the street, and heightening awareness of the fact that California is suffering through a drought of epic proportions.<br /><br /> As this map from the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">U.S Drought Monitor</a> shows, most of the state is currently under extreme or exceptional drought conditions.<div><br />
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<a href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKA8NUBGg39-mraNO96xXdrE1_Dpb3ItsE2TV7255ZL9cd3QAoEBFh6fnyw-gMiV97D8k4dw9PC-vVkgmFBHZln-_BleVt1Z4yr9PGT_Y-hADmFdGJLUN8gFoo7Dbn6NTYBx35DvkWxGqz/s1600/drought-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: arial, helvetica, "helvetica neue", verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span>I discovered this Story Map a few weeks ago, and it drives home in just a few clicks - one actually - how low this year's water levels are compared to three years ago - <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">click once to advance the tour</a> and see for yourself.<br />
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<a href="http://mwd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=d1cbc210bcba4f58b2a859a1d5e7a7d7&index=21" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRfmI_qlAXZ49rQLMGYSL7AlRVOiwcM8ptv28gdxevulziN-8MqrInLk_twNdKbQN5xausMocV8HFR6R3EAV6XwhT356TskKGm3Q5p8K1TTC7efhN76TDEGnAC0DJrB75rdgDALO57kqj/s1600/drought-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: arial, helvetica, "helvetica neue", verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span><br /> You can view the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">entire Story Map Tour</a>, authored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), to learn and see more. Zoom in to see where the photos were captured. This very simple, yet effective <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">application</a> tells the story in just a few clicks.</div>Bern Szukalskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08462328202134801619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-73472666427838253972012-08-25T22:20:00.001-07:002020-08-07T21:32:12.926-07:00Are You One in a Million?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you one in a million? As it turns out, you're definitely not. More like one in 314 million or so. Here's the US Census Bureau's population estimate at their headquarters in Suitland, Maryland (just outside Washington, D.C.). The photo was taken a while ago, as the out-of-date population estimate indicates.</span><br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tV_WMKIc-CCX6zqZLLIQ_okOovXeTF1vkZwoaD8b_NbQUmkGut8CpLvAysYX7vBm5XVV8siFHSXiLIn_2xKH11rgMCu54ZqAR1D7rFl3InpxiiUZn4rdIvp3md4mDBPb6IjLMcPkb4Os/s1600/census1.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the current population estimate check out the <a href="http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html" target="_blank">U.S. and World Population Clocks</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a few <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/" target="_blank">ArcGIS Online</a> maps that provide more information about US population. Zoom in or out to view more detail, and click any feature for more information.</span></div>
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<li><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?services=302d4e6025ef41fa8d3525b7fc31963a" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USA Population Density</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?services=d9c42930a5c74424a4ba0787b1ff1458" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USA Population Change 2000 - 2010</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?services=59ff4d5241cd46b09379cd91eb6ea18e" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USA Projected Population Growth 2010 - 2015</span></a></li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-743739324547590972012-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.576-07:00EZ Ways to Map GPX Files on the WebThis evening I was looking at some Web apps to map GPX files. There's lots of different alternatives, and here's few that I like that you can choose from.
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<b><a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/" target="_blank">ArcGIS Online</a></b><br />
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Using the <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html" target="_blank">ArcGIS.com map viewer</a> you can quickly and easily map your GPX files. It's free to use, and free to get a public account, so you can save your maps and share them with others. Using ArcGIS Online's tools you can use the maps you make in templates, embed them in websites or blogs, share them via links, and more. It's by far the best way to map your GPX data online. You can choose from a variety of different basemaps, and also search for additional layers to add to your map from other users and the GIS community.<br />
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First, open a new map and click Add, then choose Add Layer from File:<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Npl4_PG0u5lGnUpZgADav8V0idIY0ggYcTVJA-uJDrklaYffNzQgyPWpRcUJnbzrKU8CDfdCp_BBX5QaOTPLRV85Cp7ApLWXumhiEVgrz4p0mWQIZi3FtbrSMKsX4PMN3Dmlzkz45aIb/s1600/Untitled-3.jpg" /></div>
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Navigate to your GPX file and select it to add it to your map. You can choose from a variety of different basemaps, change symbols, and configure the pop-up for each GPS location. Here's our GPX file shown in the ArcGIS.com map viewer:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6R_MJgepe53IwyCvBNH6KvRinKybt8YyBpQTMJaFD8cVZUijpnsE0KDhsh7ojqV87Icvc2B6TyXQsgRpZ-KqjFs8v-j6O4EwUyFljigvM2xPcD_4NluV0dtTZHFqSFuHDCgdXuowUQ1C/s1600/Untitled-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6R_MJgepe53IwyCvBNH6KvRinKybt8YyBpQTMJaFD8cVZUijpnsE0KDhsh7ojqV87Icvc2B6TyXQsgRpZ-KqjFs8v-j6O4EwUyFljigvM2xPcD_4NluV0dtTZHFqSFuHDCgdXuowUQ1C/s400/Untitled-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to view larger image</td></tr>
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For more information, tune in to the <a href="http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/category/arcgis-online/" target="_blank">ArcGIS Online community</a> on the <a href="http://blogs.esri.com/arcgis/" target="_blank">ArcGIS Blog</a>.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/" target="_blank">GPS Visualizer</a></b><br />
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This site provides a great set of tools and options that not only let you create a quick map of your GPX data, but also provide lots of options like export (to KML or a variety of image formats), HTML generation to embed your map in a website or blog, view your data in Google Earth, and a lot more.<br />
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Here's the same GPX file as shown above that we exported to an HTML document. A few quick edits in Notepad and we were able to easily expand the map and change the symbols.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQhmpyp3yoeOWVjmJuLv6Z9Cjaq1qy1xJw09-JMHEP0nnr5oRWufMYeuoqP3GaJlp49o2iqFfBF-SksMC8AOyQ6yXQLmi5wU5hQOwtsjA0VQqXnyMm81IouXOhaDyOfCslT6YTzerHrm-/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQhmpyp3yoeOWVjmJuLv6Z9Cjaq1qy1xJw09-JMHEP0nnr5oRWufMYeuoqP3GaJlp49o2iqFfBF-SksMC8AOyQ6yXQLmi5wU5hQOwtsjA0VQqXnyMm81IouXOhaDyOfCslT6YTzerHrm-/s400/Untitled-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to view larger image</td></tr>
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Another very nice feature are the basemap options. Everything from ArcGIS Online basemaps, to Google, to Yahoo, and others are available for you to choose from. Here's the drop-down list of available basemaps:<br />
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<a href="https://chrislacy.net/map/" target="_blank">GPS GPX Interactive Map</a><br />
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<a href="https://chrislacy.net/" target="_blank">Chris Lacy's</a> website includes an app that provides a handy way to make a quick and easy Google map using your GPX file. Just <a href="https://chrislacy.net/map/" target="_blank">open his default map</a>, click Choose at the bottom of the page, and navigate to your GPX file to create a quick Google map. The app uses the Google Maps API, and while it's not necessarily intended for saving your map or sharing it with others, it does provide a quick way to visualize your data without any fuss. Basemap options include all the Google ones; Map, Terrain, and Satellite (with and without labels).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZtCA1gUJuuQEUBDx5NlfHFZqbzvlBa9yxuZhcMkbrUjybpm53HE4ow-yPiw1xCDhiKBeiRd-vp3G41A_-yExONbqdPRxIwd2oUfdlMUaFiYHlb8hU_JDyeFMCFu5_AIfj7Gpowy_Hlah/s1600/Untitled-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZtCA1gUJuuQEUBDx5NlfHFZqbzvlBa9yxuZhcMkbrUjybpm53HE4ow-yPiw1xCDhiKBeiRd-vp3G41A_-yExONbqdPRxIwd2oUfdlMUaFiYHlb8hU_JDyeFMCFu5_AIfj7Gpowy_Hlah/s400/Untitled-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to view larger image</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The above are just a few options that I've found. You can also convert your GPX file to a KML or KMZ file for use in Google Maps, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Explorer Desktop, ArcGIS for Desktop, and more. We'll consider some of these options in another post.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-81069024220370335992011-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.583-07:00Thailand Flood MapEarlier this evening I caught a tweet about this map showing flooding in Thailand. While I don't read Thai, it's obvious by "reading" the map the disastrous flooding going on. While not the most elegant map, it's yet another example of how maps communicate universally.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmMNp6cZKZdtHBtEYZiTf00BfXsq7PqQQWlZTeIpaFVAO2cvV00ES3i1bf_S3RbY5OdHunKoa0RJ3zi0z4JmTFVZDm-Xz6w96EjI2vpbNSNGynCjLww34AqPbWrkGpYPfRDcgo6LSwOXO/s1600/thaiflood-1.jpg" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmMNp6cZKZdtHBtEYZiTf00BfXsq7PqQQWlZTeIpaFVAO2cvV00ES3i1bf_S3RbY5OdHunKoa0RJ3zi0z4JmTFVZDm-Xz6w96EjI2vpbNSNGynCjLww34AqPbWrkGpYPfRDcgo6LSwOXO/s400/thaiflood-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to view larger image)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The application is familiar; it's based on a template built by Esri Technical Marketing that's available on ArcGIS Online.<br />
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<a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=f9a10a4ca542432ba180309dd5108d5d" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-LP2mdcsUUaTLTc4iBJptRA2IkfYFGuzFeu8gVQEB3TuIFrEdODoMGUyFWS37Cq-Byd2tEFcHoZ3xTFnJSOeUzWCYwo3SPmABzoC0z8dOXqndyaJ0yMYv-Pi_gSPruBA43FETLnXXJvX/s400/thaiflood-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Using templates like these with readily available basemaps and open APIs and services, it's easier than ever to stand up a custom application like this one in response to disasters and other events.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-91270666345498404492011-08-24T22:16:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.590-07:00A Tip For Adding Geotagged Photos To ArcGIS Online WebmapsRecently someone asked if they could add geotagged photos to their ArcGIS Online maps using the <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html">ArcGIS.com map viewer</a> or <a href="http://explorer.arcgis.com/">ArcGIS Explorer Online</a>. Currently these are not directly supported, but here's a way I found to add them using an intermediate step or two.<br />
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Geotagged photos have all you need to add them stored in the EXIF formatted data in the image. And ArcGIS Online webmaps support adding features to your map via a CSV file. It's easy to open a photo in a pop-up window from some Web location. With all that in mind, the only challenge was to find an easy way to extract the XY coordinates and get everything into a CSV file.<br />
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My plan was to copy the geotagged photos to some Web location, and create a CSV file with both the XY coordinates and the URL of each photo. If I could manage that, I could simply drag-and-drop (or import) the file onto my map to add points, and configure the pop-up for each point to display the photo.<br />
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After some Web searching I found a solution from <a href="http://www.br-software.com/index.html">BRSoftware</a> called <a href="http://www.br-software.com/extracter.html">EXIFextracter</a>. It's currently in beta with a final release coming soon, and a pro version also coming up on the horizon. After downloading and installing it I found it to be just the ticket for my needs. I could point to a folder of geotagged photos, choose what information I wanted to extract from each photo, and export the information directly to a CSV file including the filename. Great!<br />
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Here's the EXIFextracter dialog for choosing the folder, output CSV, and data:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_zl1iBkQbuOiiQONFnuPA7dVhtoJBG4fvqVRZOKLLWMTS8CwJ5aU2YIUYVQCL3umYyDrTd6JXHls7wos9saVJI23vGSFUYaGQiqEzfgbbVQzTiQ47cXcj7hYJ1fWmKUvw_h6n1kYo34K/s1600/br-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_zl1iBkQbuOiiQONFnuPA7dVhtoJBG4fvqVRZOKLLWMTS8CwJ5aU2YIUYVQCL3umYyDrTd6JXHls7wos9saVJI23vGSFUYaGQiqEzfgbbVQzTiQ47cXcj7hYJ1fWmKUvw_h6n1kYo34K/s400/br-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to view larger image)</td></tr>
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I tried this on several folders containing geotagged images, and the export worked perfectly. The only complaint I had is that I would have liked to see the field names in the first row for the data I extracted, but they were easy enough to add. Another minor issue was that some of the data I chose came across as empty or otherwise unrecognizable, though to be fair the photos were a combination of in-camera geotagged files of various vintages and some photos that were geotagged using other utilities.<br />
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A couple of other things that I did - I copied the photos to a URL location, and also edited the CSV file to add the URL location for each file. Here's my edited CSV with the first row containing field names and the updated file locations, lat/long, and date stamp following:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENkY9-M0t3HwTZWuBGlYzDIeRvpxBTdahi6FFFagNk0eLwGWgIlVCVwTWaztOyGmYXbj9BWE6oQHA9tTCcuX5ThW8z4hoKhbyd4IgxqLY-vcRvO7XfOESM9nUPNQuzOpMoGhldkOXZTYF/s1600/br-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENkY9-M0t3HwTZWuBGlYzDIeRvpxBTdahi6FFFagNk0eLwGWgIlVCVwTWaztOyGmYXbj9BWE6oQHA9tTCcuX5ThW8z4hoKhbyd4IgxqLY-vcRvO7XfOESM9nUPNQuzOpMoGhldkOXZTYF/s400/br-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to view larger image)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From there, I just dragged and dropped the CSV file onto my map, and configured the pop-up to display the photo from its URL location. Here's the photos in my map (shown using Explorer Online):<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirijfdwhtDB9PgPS5p7ZYy5PDARwMhb9n4bls7QFkUf15CRKfbm1drBkeveLPdlVXWXcDyS-H045pTXyXXvQmNi2RPSXa-C5aWDBe6H9qQ3oYbL4Zu4hY7KyimUy9F8h_QSdnRTls864B/s1600/br-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirijfdwhtDB9PgPS5p7ZYy5PDARwMhb9n4bls7QFkUf15CRKfbm1drBkeveLPdlVXWXcDyS-H045pTXyXXvQmNi2RPSXa-C5aWDBe6H9qQ3oYbL4Zu4hY7KyimUy9F8h_QSdnRTls864B/s400/br-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to view larger image)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-15623021755167575142011-07-24T22:12:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.553-07:00ArcGIS Online via Google Search - Myth Busted!Recently someone told me that items shared on ArcGIS Online could not be discovered via a Google search - but exactly the opposite is true. Anything shared publicly in ArcGIS Online is searchable using popular search engines like Google and Bing, though depending on how results are ranked your match mileage may vary. <br />
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For example, searching for <i><a href="http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS436US436&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=usa+tapestry+segmentation">usa tapestry segmentation</a></i> will currently show the first ArcGIS Online matches at 4th and 5th in the search results:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih00aBF4N-2eNPnREqGd91hpoRY9Q-yRKxgJvqMMS9SVbehyt5csPmAwrFGRsuzXke7bMZ4FqGBjuPqO4UKHOIpCnvQ-cr3GB4dEdaCOUWsuW9Cs1EWuvRvhYvNmbHtNgRSw0oGqsRQK0s/s1600/search-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih00aBF4N-2eNPnREqGd91hpoRY9Q-yRKxgJvqMMS9SVbehyt5csPmAwrFGRsuzXke7bMZ4FqGBjuPqO4UKHOIpCnvQ-cr3GB4dEdaCOUWsuW9Cs1EWuvRvhYvNmbHtNgRSw0oGqsRQK0s/s400/search-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The URL endpoint for shared ArcGIS Online items is actually from the arcgis.com website. The surefire way to search for publicly shared items is to use the site: keyword that Google search supports. Entering something like <i>site: arcgis.com</i> followed by a search string will search for that specific string at arcgis.com and return the publicly shared ArcGIS Online items that match:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYcOuNnuT_YH4HZg0VeHlxwqJYCF7d_NTUgPOyIZkor4gE4YmDvcy8YsUPT8rDHm4GRniIF2T3Hea2xK2zca0mjt3f4V6RQJEtsDehKz-gDauHMUMZcS6E9dXPWxkF81yymK5SQvoireG/s1600/search-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYcOuNnuT_YH4HZg0VeHlxwqJYCF7d_NTUgPOyIZkor4gE4YmDvcy8YsUPT8rDHm4GRniIF2T3Hea2xK2zca0mjt3f4V6RQJEtsDehKz-gDauHMUMZcS6E9dXPWxkF81yymK5SQvoireG/s320/search-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Google search will typically only return a subset of what you can find directly via an ArcGIS.com search. Why? I'm not entirely sure. So for best results go directly to <a href="http://arcgis.com/">ArcGIS.com</a>, but clearly the myth that public ArcGIS Online items can't be searched via Google is busted!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-14986274354020332662011-06-23T20:39:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.540-07:00Kentucky's ArcGIS Online Map PortalKentucky's geospatial data clearinghouse, Kygeonet, is a great example of a geographic information mart, offering a wide variety of data and maps as downloads or online applications. Recently KyGovMaps published a new page on the the site, one that leverages ArcGIS Online as a platform for delivering maps and apps, including iPhone/iPad apps. Here's the <a href="http://kygeonet.ky.gov/govmaps/">KyGovMaps site</a>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kygeonet.ky.gov/govmaps/"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-I4YSa0LtSyW_HWSowCNDCTU4S0IEOlgh2AEDCz70yr9lL0necGHdbfyKC8GeoWoGirmC1dLMn6hzETNg2kmHza6SV2ETkdI_TZOy5VH93NRMpw0a1Gpc_o3FZEXjVbRxWkpN07ogVDV2/s400/org-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The site leverages the <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html">ArcGIS.com map viewer</a> - a free, hosted application that's built into <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/">ArcGIS.com</a> - and it's used to enable anyone to view a variety of layers from farmer's markets to landuse. It also leverages some of the template applications from the map viewer's template gallery.<br />
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I recently posted on the ArcGIS Online blog about how organizations can <a href="http://blogs.esri.com/Support/blogs/arcgisonline/archive/2011/06/22/using-arcgis-online-for-your-organization.aspx">leverage ArcGIS Online</a> as a platform for their map publishing and viewing needs. There's a number of things in the works that will be announced at the 2011 Esri International User Conference that will really make a difference for organizations, and potentially change the landscape of how people use maps and publish geographic information.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-58862381638958882552011-06-14T19:40:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.573-07:00ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Release HistoryA new version of ArcGIS Explorer desktop was released earlier this afternoon, marking the 12th public iteration of what is arguably the best and most popular GIS viewer on the planet (and free to boot!).<br />
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Explorer releases occur on an independent release schedule (different than ArcGIS Desktop and Server) and rather than go by versions Explorer is tagged by its build number. The goal here is to simply have everyone install the latest, and never mind the version. But the build number helps to differentiate between releases and the functionality delivered, and for those organizations that need to verify enterprise-wide installations it serves as a useful tag.<br />
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Every now and then I'm asked when the first release occurred, and I came across an old slide that I've updated to include the most recent releases (shown below).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXYqRAwWfqvnzb8e17hWD4Vk-fJnR5yymdjbb_mnA8AQeXqGyE3cblv-DPis-CVU5egoQuq26y-T9-whjCoxyuPx6vwiPtdazjUaw7AaimbM4D-Y_MnNvVsBqv9xB5UkofylJHkyMd-wu/s1600/history.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXYqRAwWfqvnzb8e17hWD4Vk-fJnR5yymdjbb_mnA8AQeXqGyE3cblv-DPis-CVU5egoQuq26y-T9-whjCoxyuPx6vwiPtdazjUaw7AaimbM4D-Y_MnNvVsBqv9xB5UkofylJHkyMd-wu/s400/history.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
You'll see that the very first release was at the tail end of 2006, with more frequent releases in the early going as the product rapidly evolved, then slowing down as Explorer matured.<br />
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For an overview of this latest release see the <a href="http://blogs.esri.com/Info/blogs/arcgisexplorerblog/archive/2011/06/14/whats-new-arcgis-explorer-build-1700.aspx">What's New in ArcGIS Explorer Desktop (build 1700)</a> blog post.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-17644216743197804522011-06-08T21:52:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.559-07:00Adding CSV Files To The ArcGIS.com Map Viewer (coming soon!)Here's a sneak peek at something that we've been working on and will release very soon. It's the ability to drag and drop a CSV file onto your ArcGIS Online webmap.<br />
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This capability is already supported via one of the JavaScript sample applications (<a href="http://help.arcgis.com/EN/webapi/javascript/arcgis/help/jssamples/exp_dragdrop.html">check it out</a>) and will be part of the next round of updates to the webmap spec, meaning that it's supported in the ArcGIS.com map viewer and also ArcGIS Explorer Online. Your saved maps using CSV data can also be opened on your iPhone or iPad, and can be embedded in any website.<br />
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Here's our CSV file - it's a spreadsheet containing traffic cam locations with links to traffic cam snapshots that are updated every few minutes in Lincoln, Nebraska. Note that we've got the latitude and longitude for each cam, as well as the URL link to the latest cam snapshot.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFw8Cp5OdYz1oUcVEVrZgf7HeUqYDznUQ1i0BaI6f_OVGrxsjVodhW73ilQxF5T_6psMNaE398uVUj1s7yKRBa4EyvhA7MaB8O9GRKs9hxmp9nt8bxPb4SKg1Ox3IOhHt60gZWPOrNlg4/s1600/csv-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFw8Cp5OdYz1oUcVEVrZgf7HeUqYDznUQ1i0BaI6f_OVGrxsjVodhW73ilQxF5T_6psMNaE398uVUj1s7yKRBa4EyvhA7MaB8O9GRKs9hxmp9nt8bxPb4SKg1Ox3IOhHt60gZWPOrNlg4/s400/csv-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
To add the CSV file to the map, just drag and drop it:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQwO5Zk5pWKoYEqxFoMupU_XMnS3k3_PUZfFiTdij7owhTWL_r_jM-Y71XObqBTe7cEcGHmKUJeeSvpBEe9pcLc8eAsfVs-GJf_fJARBdz8BhxGkkrT7-ImAgMqkhMESyopmwuOPIpftc/s1600/csv-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQwO5Zk5pWKoYEqxFoMupU_XMnS3k3_PUZfFiTdij7owhTWL_r_jM-Y71XObqBTe7cEcGHmKUJeeSvpBEe9pcLc8eAsfVs-GJf_fJARBdz8BhxGkkrT7-ImAgMqkhMESyopmwuOPIpftc/s400/csv-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The coordinates are automatically read from the CSV file, and instantly we have the locations on our map with the ability to click each of them to view other data from the CSV. This includes the link (the <i>More info</i> link shown in the pop-up) to the cam snapshot.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGs3Enka-sGUx2RIjYoiEE5BOgAZkBYZT5Z0O8fE1_PTwvQox5cD87s1gas7VnYgZqXQGl5jZU7KAqpZwaoePwHV-OoVKoyjAlAT6ulZnQ_mlrynlhE9viNIpVjZ3bjU-926KURhE9R5x/s1600/csv-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGs3Enka-sGUx2RIjYoiEE5BOgAZkBYZT5Z0O8fE1_PTwvQox5cD87s1gas7VnYgZqXQGl5jZU7KAqpZwaoePwHV-OoVKoyjAlAT6ulZnQ_mlrynlhE9viNIpVjZ3bjU-926KURhE9R5x/s320/csv-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Configuring the pop-up window properties in the map viewer we can improve on the default. Below we've changed the symbols and also configured the pop-up window to display the current webcam snapshot directly in the pop-up.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKpEEbu5QAyJMigdUzVceklcuQLzG22duAHVkJ8ZXfY94DUVZtoVEslb_IV4nlmiqH5rQGZfKd7AmxC7XsxXNYA_XiJb4_JZCikbuMSrsedWVayVMf61R0QxfIYUz6Wq8WHHAz38r6KpC/s1600/csv-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKpEEbu5QAyJMigdUzVceklcuQLzG22duAHVkJ8ZXfY94DUVZtoVEslb_IV4nlmiqH5rQGZfKd7AmxC7XsxXNYA_XiJb4_JZCikbuMSrsedWVayVMf61R0QxfIYUz6Wq8WHHAz38r6KpC/s400/csv-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
And we can do everything else we can do with our map, including share it via a link,use it in an app template, or embed it in a website or blog post as shown below:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftFXH5J3mButjz8i_wy2yL-FwPYbRzP8teTRS-Q87Y3ag8ZiolC0FI0vWMRqwDW5H_gvgppCeSfXWJyh5c4mdnE4hMuZszlILbn1C9A4aKh9eaAUcy9Pbn5QyI-xHlYkbuT541f1oLuu2/s1600/csv-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftFXH5J3mButjz8i_wy2yL-FwPYbRzP8teTRS-Q87Y3ag8ZiolC0FI0vWMRqwDW5H_gvgppCeSfXWJyh5c4mdnE4hMuZszlILbn1C9A4aKh9eaAUcy9Pbn5QyI-xHlYkbuT541f1oLuu2/s400/csv-5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The above screenshots were made using the current development version of the map viewer, scheduled for public release prior to the upcoming Esri User Conference in early July. There's many other new features and capabilities which we'll cover on the <a href="http://blogs.esri.com/Support/blogs/arcgisonline/">ArcGIS Online blog</a> and perhaps provide more previews of here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-32084576221309716002011-05-02T13:21:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.561-07:00Using ArcGIS Explorer Desktop for KML Spatial QueryHere's another sneak peek at some soon-to-be-released functionality that will be delivered with <a href="http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/explorer/index.html">ArcGIS Explorer desktop</a>, build 1700, due out in about a month.<br />
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Below we've added a KML showing NOAA Snotel gauging stations to Explorer. We also created a 20-mile buffer around the peak of Redtop Mountain, just north of Crater Lake. The buffered area (shown in orange) was used in a spatial query to select the NOAA Snotel gauging stations in the KML falling within the buffer distance.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHT7DOo6rlfDFKlItm2QWmkPJyfayslLsIdWP_j1fN22ZaZ6v1cMvuCFxUORza55CynNiJ-f5eq9DsqPO04GlmwayVKMLC13nRFm7e7inv35_Ma52kbmFsY0W-OV5OPiQ3bU-0bdRWJJK/s1600/kmlspatial-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHT7DOo6rlfDFKlItm2QWmkPJyfayslLsIdWP_j1fN22ZaZ6v1cMvuCFxUORza55CynNiJ-f5eq9DsqPO04GlmwayVKMLC13nRFm7e7inv35_Ma52kbmFsY0W-OV5OPiQ3bU-0bdRWJJK/s400/kmlspatial-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The results of the query can be added to your map as notes, and saved as layer packages for use in ArcGIS Desktop. ArcGIS Explorer Desktop can already export any KML as a layer package, and can also convert any layer package to KML.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-53643336639940692612011-04-12T21:41:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:30:16.568-07:00Testing New GPS Tools in ArcGIS Explorer DesktopWe've been working on a new release of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop (which will be labeled build 1700 - to be released sometime at the end of May) for a while now, and one of the new features that we'll be adding is direct GPS support. We don't often post about futures on the official Esri ArcGIS Explorer Desktop blog, and I had such a fun time this evening driving around and exercising this new capability, so I thought I'd share the results here, unofficially.<br />
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I took the long way home using a USB GPS receiver I borrowed from a colleague (only $18) and ArcGIS Explorer in disconnected mode on my laptop which I placed on the seat next to me. Once the GPS receiver was plugged in, I could begin receiving locations and could capture waypoints at the click of a button, or set Explorer to capture waypoints, tracks, or both at regular intervals automatically.<br />
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Below is the map in 2D, showing the waypoints and tracks collected along my drive. I set the collection to automatic, grabbing a location every 10 seconds. As I drove along I could view my current location as a blue dot, and could center the map as I moved.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMf71ZrUBYG_5M9NHUMlqpzHFKE8g5R1R7OKV5aWxZ4_LsgIOF96Xa0NqQ9JXsmL1ZNQfrxEbnibCNxzgoPMjHXYxWuePfrHyPdwR2juAco3w9T1-dLyU13z8pCNJtKgQW08Fbh2c8L6A1/s1600/agxgps-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMf71ZrUBYG_5M9NHUMlqpzHFKE8g5R1R7OKV5aWxZ4_LsgIOF96Xa0NqQ9JXsmL1ZNQfrxEbnibCNxzgoPMjHXYxWuePfrHyPdwR2juAco3w9T1-dLyU13z8pCNJtKgQW08Fbh2c8L6A1/s400/agxgps-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Once captured, the GPS waypoints and tracks are stored as notes. The lat/long and elevation are automatically added to the note popup along with the date and time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokRivIKiPmKmbjb7TG7PH9S_-lFbho0uyaCmoTefiOpsQJL4whoiHjvAQ283DlV_fne2CcLfVN2q5AChMz7L49KXHd0TvB_S1lrEs81VdypVzqvtxDLvm8nc94uzd0WvmSyFfAN-eYPpZ/s1600/agxgps-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokRivIKiPmKmbjb7TG7PH9S_-lFbho0uyaCmoTefiOpsQJL4whoiHjvAQ283DlV_fne2CcLfVN2q5AChMz7L49KXHd0TvB_S1lrEs81VdypVzqvtxDLvm8nc94uzd0WvmSyFfAN-eYPpZ/s1600/agxgps-2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Below are my travels shown in 3D mode. The green flags are waypoints I collected via a click, and the yellow flags and tracks were collected automatically every 10 seconds.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8vP0hNkVTYVW2qDkvMHQMX8HSoJ3szQm7UspSNzCOYMBbcwVpiu09HkOBYtGK47RBN3XI-JFGxmBeX2zEAaQvJYBNp4J5fSOE7OOp-KG8S3sKNCUMooEvMmJNVqYaWVC3qmEOV3jludy/s1600/agxgps-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8vP0hNkVTYVW2qDkvMHQMX8HSoJ3szQm7UspSNzCOYMBbcwVpiu09HkOBYtGK47RBN3XI-JFGxmBeX2zEAaQvJYBNp4J5fSOE7OOp-KG8S3sKNCUMooEvMmJNVqYaWVC3qmEOV3jludy/s400/agxgps-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I'm certain this will be a welcome new addition to ArcGIS Explorer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-83249226582290514812011-03-28T20:43:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:29:46.235-07:00Exploring Buildings Virtually (or Geodesign in Miniature)I stumbled upon an application from <a href="http://floorplanonline.com/">FloorPlanOnline</a> that targets the real estate market, but I think has potential applicability for many other domains. While doing some online house-hunting I came across a listing that included a great virtual real estate tour. The first thing that caught my eye was a map; actually a floor plan that showed the locations of photos taken at various places in the condo. I could click to see what things looked like from each location, and the icons changed color as I visited the photos; red was not viewed, green were those I had seen, and blue was the location of the current photo shown in the panel in the upper left.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgBaEfue0PCrkdLwj9VuDjE0bozoZmE_0ixZmTl34w78y2f9X-_lXuNuqd-VB5FXRLoZP7c99ehpa11mfmVeA3PXwaZPomgiVdxdUbrqcF_shnFdi3fX_r8YeVFFDTW86YqjOtiumLwgp/s1600/page1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgBaEfue0PCrkdLwj9VuDjE0bozoZmE_0ixZmTl34w78y2f9X-_lXuNuqd-VB5FXRLoZP7c99ehpa11mfmVeA3PXwaZPomgiVdxdUbrqcF_shnFdi3fX_r8YeVFFDTW86YqjOtiumLwgp/s400/page1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I could also check how things looked when fully furnished by choosing objects from several menus with categories like bedroom, living room, kitchen, and also animals and garden objects. I could even drag and drop a golden lab in front of the fireplace (but somewhat disappointingly, could find no cats). Here was "GeoDesign" in miniature.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHSbUQ-IB3o7et_6T8fPfkrKdv-o5pzhqb-i55TeJK0dph6reElwSl8PperrkWklSO5mCHk1qwOWP_Ni_o62C6VJVclSwIJ6IVGpKs12Nuy-L7e_kTpj23DPsbTemeq_-6m4XJlQwp6e9/s1600/page2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHSbUQ-IB3o7et_6T8fPfkrKdv-o5pzhqb-i55TeJK0dph6reElwSl8PperrkWklSO5mCHk1qwOWP_Ni_o62C6VJVclSwIJ6IVGpKs12Nuy-L7e_kTpj23DPsbTemeq_-6m4XJlQwp6e9/s400/page2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've struggled to get similar floor plans and many other related kinds of maps into a GIS where I could manage objects that include links to photos, reports, and other media in a geodatabase. The struggle is that using a GIS all this works best if you georeference what you want to work with - a floor plan, a cave map, a site map for an archaeological dig - even if it makes no sense to do so, and your basemap is lower in resolution than the map you want to manage and (often by necessity) need to georeference.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpWL1mA2cFpvX1qJgLQWm2V-qQCFfCfnIAb94CqJqMuM3O9ldIngcaj3f6p3zlou1NWyrx8E1vbpIPXoE4wbo-R6z6WKbhDb5UpkLwPyawbPhZr6kNMeMwevF3JKoYAYIGR-4zaTgJ4Yg/s1600/page3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpWL1mA2cFpvX1qJgLQWm2V-qQCFfCfnIAb94CqJqMuM3O9ldIngcaj3f6p3zlou1NWyrx8E1vbpIPXoE4wbo-R6z6WKbhDb5UpkLwPyawbPhZr6kNMeMwevF3JKoYAYIGR-4zaTgJ4Yg/s400/page3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've evolved some workarounds to avoid the need to georeference maps of these types. But this is where I think GIS can take a lesson from CAD drawings - why can't we have a "paper space" projection that just treats scanned maps or vectorized diagrams in scaled page space, rather than UTM zone 12 or web mercator auxiliary sphere?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-82063472762201358632011-03-23T20:49:00.000-07:002011-03-28T19:37:49.714-07:00Most Popular Browser (subject to change)Chrome has been my browser of choice for quite a while now, and a recent news item about the popularity of Firefox among Windows users still parked on Windows XP led me to an interesting link from <a href="http://www.netmarketshare.com/">netmarketshare.com</a> which shows how things shake out today in terms of popularity.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7Kthy50wub6qy4zQiYdJsK9URNkGWInXmFap2Yuzbl-CYhGVakpqx1QzoX2mEHCOXMvUfVJ2G7LtNcrDVKXNnAX6iYG2NmJacNYDyLRBxhlN-1zQ1vH4M9S1c5WVSb5dh3zHJ3q-NwBs/s1600/browser_share.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7Kthy50wub6qy4zQiYdJsK9URNkGWInXmFap2Yuzbl-CYhGVakpqx1QzoX2mEHCOXMvUfVJ2G7LtNcrDVKXNnAX6iYG2NmJacNYDyLRBxhlN-1zQ1vH4M9S1c5WVSb5dh3zHJ3q-NwBs/s1600/browser_share.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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As of today the current marketshare trend shows Internet Explorer decreasomg, Firefox holding steady, but Chrome coming on strong. We'll see how things shake out over time, but it seems I'm among a growing number of Chrome-o-philes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-77170406801848367082011-03-08T21:14:00.000-08:002011-03-28T20:48:34.919-07:00The Most Popular Mobile Platform at the Esri DevSummitTom Brenneman, a colleague from Esri St. Louis, used a clever technique to judge the popularity of mobile platforms at the 2011 Esri DevSummit at the Palm Springs Convention Center today. He used an iPhone app that displays decibel levels, and had attendees cheer and applaud for the platform they were planning to use for mobile development. These were recorded during a session titled "Choosing a Mobile Deployment Platform." <br />
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Tom's website <a href="http://stlouis.esri.com/apps/dsmobile/">posted these snapshots independently</a> but I thought it might be interesting to post them all at once in a column. You can judge for yourself which is the most popular mobile platform at this event.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Baseline level<br />
(recording of maximum cheering and applause from the audience)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0M7Qsb521CtLNLTLSGaBoa2_ttkZok7-ZVP9Lk_tfWWLjJxp_sG_pmKLW5uChZ1BIJstI7vg3o1DJ8g1K97aS8OkXyHjzlzG3U1vAbXlILKWIyLoqfwa4X3JZ1_JlI3-jdELHt_YV8KK/s1600/baselineResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0M7Qsb521CtLNLTLSGaBoa2_ttkZok7-ZVP9Lk_tfWWLjJxp_sG_pmKLW5uChZ1BIJstI7vg3o1DJ8g1K97aS8OkXyHjzlzG3U1vAbXlILKWIyLoqfwa4X3JZ1_JlI3-jdELHt_YV8KK/s200/baselineResults.PNG" width="191" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">ArcGIS Mobile<br />
(seems like it even trumped the baseline level)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjtjuwQeEAFYgcKfE-FStRgkYTDlgp4GSaZnaVVAOusvHDRcgRBzaz3V51lC9Hyd3WLTae8sOsed9uHkZ5ZvmvHGzWta3HkMfbqLZBcbqC2x9ZLwVy8wJPxkGSVtB-Wqq_-g0R5Ye7tY0/s1600/agsmResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjtjuwQeEAFYgcKfE-FStRgkYTDlgp4GSaZnaVVAOusvHDRcgRBzaz3V51lC9Hyd3WLTae8sOsed9uHkZ5ZvmvHGzWta3HkMfbqLZBcbqC2x9ZLwVy8wJPxkGSVtB-Wqq_-g0R5Ye7tY0/s200/agsmResults.PNG" width="191" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">iOS</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gtyul0Q29VEIw605HleP0jCXgHcZvxquWSVYxtZga6Ajxnzg6vaqIo22hfwUJkTaHVeT2HYAd4ndBFxhipacUJMkuhyphenhyphenL8SwPVKKb9bXlSK0mdtRkLXYDbtoFKnjtAccs_6INIvE6v0xR/s1600/iosResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gtyul0Q29VEIw605HleP0jCXgHcZvxquWSVYxtZga6Ajxnzg6vaqIo22hfwUJkTaHVeT2HYAd4ndBFxhipacUJMkuhyphenhyphenL8SwPVKKb9bXlSK0mdtRkLXYDbtoFKnjtAccs_6INIvE6v0xR/s200/iosResults.PNG" width="192" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Android</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5hx8sQluNEdr36gXeEz0eyfZKjBavUNtgI0wJTQqvi5FiqzfQ2TX2XOQmk0YuG6-1wyTEtWe39g0KASOPEed5MsiqPMxJjyVqIoTwyQf6xHwGng2g9szxrJhJ_SmRD3dFavvgb1hJ_B-/s1600/androidResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5hx8sQluNEdr36gXeEz0eyfZKjBavUNtgI0wJTQqvi5FiqzfQ2TX2XOQmk0YuG6-1wyTEtWe39g0KASOPEed5MsiqPMxJjyVqIoTwyQf6xHwGng2g9szxrJhJ_SmRD3dFavvgb1hJ_B-/s200/androidResults.PNG" width="191" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">WinPhone</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih30ehcCMlyEHUerdK7WOutuOWKgcJRibIGuipp_-CG5pYqDkeGI432g2ZPGEe_lq-9-0wwa9v9ubAPMx46hzjMp7X5rxdeGtUUNtoynpZe1lJ9S_kwc2bXw4y2HGaf5vl63q3VuPgndwd/s1600/winPhoneResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih30ehcCMlyEHUerdK7WOutuOWKgcJRibIGuipp_-CG5pYqDkeGI432g2ZPGEe_lq-9-0wwa9v9ubAPMx46hzjMp7X5rxdeGtUUNtoynpZe1lJ9S_kwc2bXw4y2HGaf5vl63q3VuPgndwd/s200/winPhoneResults.PNG" width="192" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">JavaScript</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8szpNTG-SSLUiBOWwWKULGyjaxr2cDvcflp-vaLo8Nuy9-GfvE0LWmzjk3iscj8ftkxonxHE9iHIOLqPtLKiuXeJJqMQJXl9FjX0t_be6MctIRyCj4ufej9wzsyVTbMy3fMldwKfwXwAP/s1600/jsResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8szpNTG-SSLUiBOWwWKULGyjaxr2cDvcflp-vaLo8Nuy9-GfvE0LWmzjk3iscj8ftkxonxHE9iHIOLqPtLKiuXeJJqMQJXl9FjX0t_be6MctIRyCj4ufej9wzsyVTbMy3fMldwKfwXwAP/s200/jsResults.PNG" width="191" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Flex</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqsta7HqSXUjTQuiKOFPvFGil7ZkHLAokncJ76fm5_dfHjmcYvFMZSzlXOk-lgOZVF-WohI81TVp1WphzCFVKiZd8vVbOeD4z7RafZ322LSrXKPcBgN0gKKFUNnGjS_9GhtnbFSHcKXM9/s1600/flexResults.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqsta7HqSXUjTQuiKOFPvFGil7ZkHLAokncJ76fm5_dfHjmcYvFMZSzlXOk-lgOZVF-WohI81TVp1WphzCFVKiZd8vVbOeD4z7RafZ322LSrXKPcBgN0gKKFUNnGjS_9GhtnbFSHcKXM9/s200/flexResults.PNG" width="192" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And the winner is... the developer who has so many great options!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-18637535246088983252011-02-22T22:53:00.000-08:002011-03-28T19:38:41.300-07:00My Feedly Succumbs to Paranoia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I like to stay tuned to a bunch of feeds, though I often forget to check them. After having tried a few ways to manage feeds over the last year I'm currently parked on Google Reader. That's certainly adequate for my needs, if not compelling.<br />
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Browsing through my Reader feeds I came across a suggestion to check out <a href="http://www.feedly.com/">Feedly</a>, and finally tonight I did. Visiting the Web site it seemed like it was getting rave reviews. Awesome!!!! said one. Brilliant!! said another. On the site I found some quotables from some notables:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQh8ZhXgrXLa9lCZb2C8TxDmIVcQQb3xqoYAcRD13ccOwFK_6-fRyoE6iuDfxZN8tig8-kZxq1kcKcfsp5UE_0AkiQjB7UijRvzMynwxYOGVV-1oeWLqHdQXGgpKl0AujyFR7TVzZRNSQ/s1600/feedly1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQh8ZhXgrXLa9lCZb2C8TxDmIVcQQb3xqoYAcRD13ccOwFK_6-fRyoE6iuDfxZN8tig8-kZxq1kcKcfsp5UE_0AkiQjB7UijRvzMynwxYOGVV-1oeWLqHdQXGgpKl0AujyFR7TVzZRNSQ/s1600/feedly1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I admit to listening to Leo Laporte when puttering in the garage on the occasional Sunday, already have the RWW on my Reader list, so those endorsements were on the plus side in my book. I wasn't quite so sure about the endorsement from Scoble since he seems enthusiastic over just about anything, and I usually raise an eyebrow on "really rocks" endorsements.<br />
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But the Big Hesitation came just as I was about to download Feedly. I saw sidebar with a note about what the app can do.<br />
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Clicking <i>Learn more</i> I learned more about the following:<br />
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Maybe it was the bank account part, or maybe it's the time of year (sounds like a song, almost), but that was the one caution that caused me to stick with Reader. I'm sure I've already crossed that line with other blind check-the-box-and-install apps I already use, but for some reason my paranoia threshold had been reached, and so Feedly remains the awesome (!!!!) app of choice for some folks, but not me (at least not tonight).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-44748621488898661122011-02-19T20:44:00.000-08:002011-03-28T19:39:06.773-07:00Did Real Estate Websites Really Trump Google?I've been kicking the tires on the housing market for a while, and have been using Google maps to do so. Rather than visit real estate websites directly, I found it easier to turn on the real estate layer in Google maps and do my virtual home shopping from the comfort of my browser.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJAPVgf-IudU4qrn35R7nVYUOgGHYqc_pYpwPPdlbzRgkJODQYltzHP1M6PxrV8OWgLYbOvdvZedEly1pu0fU7ZP5yHs_uqaZJHGiyj9db_KMFCMvdM8n6g1s7pKXH17bpz5FtdHEdO_9/s1600/aspen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJAPVgf-IudU4qrn35R7nVYUOgGHYqc_pYpwPPdlbzRgkJODQYltzHP1M6PxrV8OWgLYbOvdvZedEly1pu0fU7ZP5yHs_uqaZJHGiyj9db_KMFCMvdM8n6g1s7pKXH17bpz5FtdHEdO_9/s1600/aspen.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To heck with California, how <br />
about a little Colorado Dreaming?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I loved this feature, and could let my imagination run wild with the possibilities. Search for an interesting place, pan, zoom, and dream a little. Let's see, a little bungalow in Aspen - ouch! Maybe a condo in Portland? Or how about some oceanfront property near Bellingham? It was easy and fun.<br />
<br />
This evening I turned towards Google once again to check out a few things, but I could no longer find the the real estate layer in Google Maps - what happened? Well, as I soon discovered via a <a href="http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/retiring-real-estate-on-google-maps.html">Google Lat Long blog post</a> they've pulled the plug on it, saying:<br />
<blockquote><i>In part due to low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API (used by listing providers to submit listings), we’ve decided to discontinue the real estate feature within Google Maps on February 10, 2011.</i></blockquote>Maybe it's the housing slump, or the API issue, or maybe there's something brewing behind the scenes. But I can hardly believe that real estate websites have trumped Google. Certainly the website my current realtor plugged me into doesn't even come close to its ease of virtual home browsing. I want my Google back!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-37880290530787600352011-02-19T10:23:00.000-08:002011-02-19T20:05:11.246-08:00Foursquare Teaches Me About Geo-Social Comfort ZonesI've been checking in on Foursquare for what seems like forever, but I've only managed four mayorships. I'll admit two of those are very low-hanging fruit and easy to pick and hold, and that the only one I feel pretty proud of is my local neighborhood supermarket (doesn't sound like an exciting life, does it?). <br />
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Though a modest goal, my current Foursquare Everest is to gain mayorship of the coffee shop I visit just about every morning on my way to work. I'm pretty much a regular, and have yet to even come close to snagging it, so I can only think the mysterious mayor must be a workaholic employee.<br />
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I'm still not really sure why I instinctively reach for my iPhone or Android to check-in when I'm out and about, but I do. I sometimes view the details of the mayors and check out their friends and where they've been - a little Foursquare voyeurism of sorts.<br />
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I've managed to collect a small list of Foursquare friends, though most of them friends in only a distant sense - more like folks I've run into but only vaguely know. One of them I have never met, and can't recall how they made it into my Foursquare friends list at all.<br />
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One thing I have always thought was - wouldn't it be interesting to map all these locations and see the latest comments and tips?<br />
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What I finally discovered earlier today while using Bing maps was that there's a <a href="http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/maps/archive/2010/03/31/new-bing-maps-application-foursquare-everywhere.aspx">Foursquare Everywhere</a> app in the map apps gallery (announced about a year ago - where was I?). I clicked it and soon found updates scrolling by and notes on the map that I could click to view comments and tips. Pretty neat. <br />
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After logging in I could also see my Foursquare friends latest locations. Since many of those friends I hardly know, that made me pause to think about that some more.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlXA8GU38WUyYd8HOSxBosDJjNuLddcKkXrKiIPV8WXyegnVB6HrGSTVEH5BGNfv1bP3oHHMSpIdo1f3BG72pIlJbeFZeEuxXuxf-9aMjSVMY9t3TFMdMFlsR5a5Lns6bWXqxf0PeQOoG/s1600/foursquare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlXA8GU38WUyYd8HOSxBosDJjNuLddcKkXrKiIPV8WXyegnVB6HrGSTVEH5BGNfv1bP3oHHMSpIdo1f3BG72pIlJbeFZeEuxXuxf-9aMjSVMY9t3TFMdMFlsR5a5Lns6bWXqxf0PeQOoG/s1600/foursquare.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's my location at the restaurant where I had dinner with friends last night.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Was that a little too much geo-social information? I could find the homes of some very distant Facebook "friends" on my list (why they would add their home as a check-in location is another issue). Would these distant "friends" really want to advertise where they live? Did I really need to know that a "friend" was at the dentist recently? Would a very casual acquaintance really want me to know that they hang out at Starbucks, frequent the local dive bar, go biking on Saturdays, and where they get their hair done? On the other hand, why would I, or anyone else for that matter, care?<br />
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As I scrutinized things I realized the friend locations were a bit out of date, and the scrolling marquee of tips and comments included lots from the generic "a foursquare user." And of course everyone has opt-out capabilities in announcing their whereabouts and can make decisions about who their friends are.<br />
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While I'll continue my quest to become mayor of my favorite morning coffee stop, I'm also thinking I'm going to be a little more aware of what I announce and selective about my friends. Perhaps most significantly, and thanks to Foursquare, I have now become more aware of my personal geo-social comfort zone.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-60849735394318671342011-02-10T22:44:00.000-08:002012-09-26T20:31:43.929-07:00A Planning Maplication from the City of Dublin, OhioI discovered this application featured on the <a href="http://arcgis.com/">ArcGIS.com</a> gallery pages the other day, and it's a great app with some very interesting features and capabilities. The application was was created by the city's GIS and planning staff to make community plans more widely available. According to the detailed description of the application:<br />
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<blockquote><i>This maplication includes graphic concepts and design recommendations developed for nine geographic areas as part of the Land Use Plan. Click an area plan title in the legend to zoom to a specific plan on the map. Hover over the icons on the map to see design recommendations and illustrations. Use the 'swipe' or 'spotlight' tools to view aerial imagery behind an area plan. Access the published versions of each area plan by clicking the PDF link in the legend.</i></blockquote><br />
What caught my eye in the thumbnail preview on the <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/home/gallery.html">ArcGIS.com gallery</a> was that the map didn't look like your usual map, and appeared more like a drawing. That was indeed true, as once I opened the app I found georeferenced plan diagrams on top of the aerial imagery basemap. The next thing I noticed was that it offered some very nice tools that let me examine the plans in the context of current geography. This is a really great idea, and a great app that was a snap to use.<br />
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A swipe tool enabled me to slice back and forth between the plan and the underlying imagery. The yellow arrow below points to the swipe line, and you can see the high resolution imagery underneath the plan:<br />
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A clever spotlight tool, with an adjustable spotlight size, let me peek through the plan to the underlying basemap. The yellow arrow below points to the spotlighted area:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJqY-eCS357cayYsY01PD8MHws4ld7u8TdXnZq3VifU6S_jHeKmjHwCD6GohcUkiMq2LGc_uO_fLYmou7qEz3ZsYmSInK1SaoLS9CtSF4AFXpXHC4O1t12i6WLt_S6qvjo7yVcs1SMCkL/s1600/dublin2.jpg" /></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>You can enjoying the app yourself by opening it from the Dublin <a href="http://dublin.oh.us/planning/community/maplications/index.php">community plan maplications page</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-32226116302724158382011-02-04T19:20:00.000-08:002012-09-26T20:31:43.919-07:00Esri Super Bowl FanMap Goes Viral (more or less)Could this end up being the most popular GIS-powered app to date? The <a href="http://thebiggame.esri.com/superbowl/">Esri Super Bowl FanMap</a> has gone viral, at least as viral as GIS ever goes. I just happened to notice it come up in a handful of tweets last night while online for only a short while. The interesting part was looking at the tweet authors, and realizing they have no association with GIS or even mapping. It seems that while GIS and geography might matter, football matters more.<br />
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Here's the map in case you're one of the few in the Esri camp that haven't seen it. Click to open it and cast your vote (and beer preference).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYBu4-TzTH8LBl1AQ9lkmddYPLHJuwjthy69CdlHjw44PaeGdOnEDT2tBZsx2ebf5ZO30aVVBTDaGzihEP4Mfpr4TBrQ-uQxN2Jkfj5aSdanLPWY1teJ5yZXwwMyiuPEsokMbjN_3zUOd/s1600/fanmap-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYBu4-TzTH8LBl1AQ9lkmddYPLHJuwjthy69CdlHjw44PaeGdOnEDT2tBZsx2ebf5ZO30aVVBTDaGzihEP4Mfpr4TBrQ-uQxN2Jkfj5aSdanLPWY1teJ5yZXwwMyiuPEsokMbjN_3zUOd/s1600/fanmap-1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The app is powered by ArcGIS Server and is built using the <a href="http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/index.html">ArcGIS API for Flex</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433108019525532980.post-10284406494096959562011-02-03T22:27:00.000-08:002012-09-26T20:31:43.910-07:00Make An Easy Hazard MapI'd almost forgotten about the <a href="http://www.esri.com/mapping-for-everyone/index.html">Esri Mapping for Everyone</a> site that has some nifty apps that enable you to quickly and easily make a demographic, health, or hazard map leveraging ArcGIS Online content. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.esri.com/mapping-for-everyone/index.html" target=_blank><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidL00jVoqa1DjuMdeqnS2iKzqcEfRnv5wWXOqZNxS-f48jpY-7yTfjbpmAENXBaNr8D9LqO-f9GzV8cdYPF-LnEsW0M9GVagp99oDQZOANcbqt49LdnbdPffKrI1H8msUrqzvwgLKMttAc/s1600/every.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I ran into it again this evening and made this quick live earthquake map using a service from the USGS Natural Hazards Support System (NHSS) showing events within the last 7 days. Try panning or zooming to your own place of interest.<br />
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<iframe align="center" frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://mapapps.esri.com/disasters/create-map/hazard/embed.html?width=570&height=300&xmin=-126.8679371781032&ymin=29.379274528076333&xmax=-101.81910905310985&ymax=42.8090797951647&query=true&sb=true&hazLyr=Earthquakes&basemap=0&weather=false&scale=18489297.737236" width="570"></iframe><br />
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You can embed the live map like I've done above, or make a more complete map that includes a title and your email and share it via a link, tweet, or Facebook.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0