My Think2011 presentation
Hopefully the first Google annual event in Amsterdam, my topic was the trend towards egocentric maps and LBS apps. Written and submitted from the BA Lounge, Schiphol (52.309N, 4.775E)
Cultural differences..
This one very rare tweet from Andy Rubin, lead on the Android Programme at Google in 140 characters perfectly embodies the open and geeky culture at Google. This is of course not always initially a great advantage when building consumer facing products, for my non geeks readers “mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git …
The Open Government Licence
Last week in addition to the new more open OS licesning, another in many ways more fundamental new license was introduced with little fanfare, but I would argue it’s impact if widely adopted could be far more important. The new UK Open Government licence (OGL) developed by the National Archives, is a robust licence developed using Creative Commons like …
Well done OS ! derived rules clarified..
I could be snarky and say better late than never, however the guidelines and new licenses today published by Ordnance Survey are a really positive step forward. As requested by many, myself included, the OS in their documents have tried to explain with examples what is now possible to create and then distribute in terms …
Build your own Liquid Galaxy..
Just beside my office in London is what is known as a “Liquid Galaxy”, a network of computers running big LCD screens giving you a true panoramic Google Earth experience. Almost everyone who sees a Liquid Galaxy makes the off hand comment, how do I get one. Until now we have said, “well is a custom …
A tale of two days in Stratford-upon-Avon
This evening I find myself in Dublin, Ireland looking at my glass of Kilkennys and reflecting on the past two days and the W3G and AGI Geocommunity events in Stratford upon Avon. Is this glass half full or half empty, is the UK GI industry on the way up, or doomed to go the way …
Argleton it’s back !!
Great fun programme on BBC Radio 4 as part of the Punt PI show this Saturday, how did the mysterious non-village of Argleton appear on Google maps and in your satnav… Like the sound of an Argleton Pie ! Was it a mistake or a conspiracy? you decide tin foil hats at the ready… Written and submitted …
Germany doomed never to innovate ?
An interesting article by the BBC’s Berlin correspondent on Germany’s problem with Street View. The article suggests part of the reason why Germany seems to have such a problem accepting a service that is used in many other developed countries is a cultural distrust of the new, and an inability to innovate. The article quotes …
Placeroulette anyone..
As a fun demostration of just how extenive StreetView coverage now is, it’s hard to beat Globe Genie, the product of MIT student Joe McMichael. Try it without the Map display to test just how powerful our ability to identify places from just visual clues is or is not 🙂 Can you tell where this …
After where, is when the next big thing?
So it seems where is as mainstream as its possible to get with most popular online services rolling location into their products to improve the quality of the service, be that finding friends, the location of interesting restaurants or where is the best place to buy a Nikon camera. As noted here on previous occasions, it is very easy …