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Something that will either bring make warm memories or horror to people who studied Physical Geography at School is the creation of valley profiles, in particular to illustrate the erosional effect of glaciers in the recent Geological past..

OK, so that’s at least 50% of my readership which have clicked away.. the rest of you, welcome you are true geographers – be proud !!

Well now the process has become a little easier, a few weeks ago Google announced the latest extension to the Maps v3 API which provides programatic access to the underlying global terrain model used in Google Maps/Earth.

So now a profile across Snowdonia for example is easy..

From a techie point of view as well as the familiar  javascript API interface to this, there is also a RESTful web service API that provides output in JSON or simple XML.

Written and Submitted from the Googleplex (37.426N, 122.070W)

It’s amazing how much copy a Lib-Dem MP on the run up to the general election can generate by calling up the press and mentioning street view in the UK has pictures of the “secret” SAS base.

There is actually a serious and rather worrying point behind this nonsense, there seems to be evidence of an increasing number of  innocent photographers being interview by constables or any jobs-worth wearing a day-glow jacket, sighting anti-terrorist legislation which make taking pictures of public buildings a security threat.

This is from the country with the highest concentration of CCTV cameras in the world.

By the way, I won’t tell you whose building is behind the CCTV array (for the congestion charge actually) but if you watch the 1999 James Bond film, “The World is not Enough” you might just get a clue.

Written and submitted from London City Airport (51.503N, 0.049W)

The past couple of months seems to have offered a cathartic opportunity for the relatively small UK Geographic Information Industry to get some long terms issues off its collective chest.

In no particular order we have seen the following public responses to the Consultation for the future of Ordnance Survey. (Let me know if  you know of any more.. updated – thanks for all the links, keep them coming)

• Local Government Association Group
• Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
• Locus Association
• Tom Hughes
• Association for Geographic Information
• Free our Data Campaign
• SystemeD.net
• Traveline
• OSGeo UK chapter and the Open Knowledge Foundation Network
• Andy Robinson
• Simon Brooke
• Stutchbury
• CycleStreets
• The Ramblers
• Christopher Roper
• The NHS Information Centre
• Leeds City Council
• Will Abson
• British Cartographic Society
• Bob Barr

All these responses share a common opinion that the status-quo or Ordnance Survey’s own strategy (remember that?)  for it’s future is not acceptable.

In many cases the responses quite rightly identify the issue as something wider than just should OS make some data free, but what is the UK strategy for the use of Geographic Information in general.

This strategic view is something which has never been defined clearly, but is something OS has unfortunately tried to remain gatekeeper for, as it’s Director General is advisor to Government on all things geographical.

The consultation understandably and in my mind quite rightly has remained focused on the specifics of making OS data free, and in the great tradition of Civil Service options papers offers a Goldilocks Choice; one too cold, one too hot and one option just about acceptable.

Option 1 appears to maintain the status-quo and I don’t see anyone outside the Romsey Road distortion field supporting it.

Option 2 is perhaps something that may be achievable in the long term with continued technological change and changing market requirements, however at the moment this would put Ordnance Survey in a position where it’s current operational processes are financially unsustainable.

So Option 3 represents the obvious compromise,  some small scale data for free while allowing the cash cow of MasterMap to continue to fund a reduced but largely similar OS to the one we have today.

There are of course two rather large Elephants in the room, one of which appears to have been put into the “too difficult” bucket and the other is not mentioned perhaps because by making data free the issue will disappear ?

Postal Geography, the fact there is no single address register which can be used without major limitations is a national embarrassment, for a knowledge economy this is the equivalent of trying to run railways before a single standard time was introduced.   This is an issue bigger than Ordnance Survey, although OS has had it’s part to play in the current mess, this really does need strategic leadership from the centre.

Derived Data, OS must stop its current practice of claiming intellectual property rights to any geospatial product created with even passing reference to Ordnance Survey products as “derived” information. There is no direct mention of this is the consultation, and if OS data is made available using a CC-BY license then this may not be an issue, but I would really like to see this clarified.

I just can’t help thinking however them is a dreamlike / fairy tale element to this process, Goldilocks aside.  The consultation process ends today, and Government will probably shut down and enter Purdah in 2 weeks, I just hope we don’t wake up after the election and find the whole process was a dream and the new administration has much bigger issues to deal with.

Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)

In a real test of democracy, a widely regarded poor piece of legislation is currently making it’s way through parliament without much scrutiny to make sure it becomes law before the upcoming election. The Digital Economy Bill is wide-ranging and addresses an increasingly important part of the British Economy, yet it’s hard not to get the impression that due process is being sacrificed to meet the needs of some very vocal lobby groups.

Write to your MP if you think its wrong that your connection to the internet could be removed on evidence that would so weak that no criminal case could even be made.

“Alright mush.. we know you were in WH Smiths when someone nicked the packet of smarties.. we going to take your car keys to make sure you never visit the shop again !”

Of course there is also the wider argument, who is actually suffering the music industry or the record business ?

Written and submitted from the Google Offices, London (51.495N, 0.146W)

A public note of congratulations to the organisers of the weekendsWherecamp EU , well done it was a massive success!

It is often said that the most useful part of any conference are the conversations that happen in the hallways or over lunch, and the bar-camp format used this weekend makes the most of this by doing away with a formal agenda, and making the whole meeting spontaneous.

To many this might seem like madness, but the resulting selection of talks would be hard to improve upon in terms of breath and interest.

Despite a few snarky comments, almost everybody I spoke with at the event, and the feedback I have seen since has been completely positive, highlighting the quality of talks and the discussions which then followed.

The voice of the individual often drowned out by corporate messaging at traditional conferences is prominent at events likes wherecamp EU, and  it is a real step forward to see such events taking their place alongside more traditional industry shows now in Europe.

Wherecamp is an established brand in North America, the next Wherecamp there follows Where 2.0 later this month and is hosted once again by Google at the Googleplex , but at least now we can say there is a real alternative this side of the pond.

Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)

It is always a nice opportunity to speak to people who are not GI Industry experts or mapping mavens but who are “normal” people whose lives are however impacted by Geospatial Technology.

On Monday I has the massive pleasure of meeting some of the business owners located on Shambles which was a winner in one of this years Street View Awards.

Shambles is not your usual shopping street, it looks like a set from the latest Harry Potter film and is populated by various specialist shops including Past Images whose owner Ian I got talking to.

Now you too to can explore this special part of York here virtually , but if you get the chance visit York, make sure you visit yourself !

Ian and his fellow shopkeepers are all enthusiastic users of the web, have websites and appreciate how much difference tools like web search and online mapping have made to their business. Rather than driving trade away, the web is making it easier for potential customers to find their businesses.

Finding is the key point here, I think we in the GI industry often forget just how powerful a simple map showing the location of a business really is.  While we talk about the virtues of Foursquare vs Gowalla or debate how to represent disputed boundaries, real people are using the easy access to mapping to improve, in little ways, their lives !

No my blog has not been hacked, but to help the other Dad’s out there who will come across this problem here are the instructions to set the time on a Brio Watch.

Not heard of them, you don’t have a tweenager then.

My Daughter returned from her hols with her new watch..”Dad can you set it ?”

“Of course..”

20 minutes later.. “OK do you have the instructions”

“No”

One hour of fruitless searching on the web later.. the instructions were found, and the problem of a very sensitive “m” button resolved by a sharper pencil, everybody happy again.

To save you the time, here are the instructions.. just keep pushing button “m” even though it seems not to be working !

Love being a Dad !

Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)