Welcome to the Geospatial Platform

"The Geospatial Platform provides shared and trusted geospatial data, services, and applications for use by government agencies, their partners and the public"

http://www.geoplatform.gov/home/index.html

About the Geospatial Platform 
"Federal agencies and their partners collect and manage large amounts of geospatial data - but these data are often not easily found when needed or accessible in useful forms. The Geospatial Platform provides ready access to federally maintained geospatial data, services and applications. The content of all datasets and services demarcated with the Data.gov globe (below) have been verified by the Agency to be consistent with Federal privacy, national security, and information quality policies. As an additional service to our users, we also provide access to data from our partners across State, Tribal, Regional and local governments as well as non-governmental organizations."

Comments:
This platform is launched on Esri ArcGIS server technology. However, Esri has recently added support for OGC capabilities so I believe WMS will be supported. This system  has been in development for a long time and is in coordination with Data.gov which was loaded with data from the Geopsatial OneStop. This plat form should effectively retire the GOS portal.

 http://www.data.gov
Data.gov continues to develop and supports open government and open data standards. This platform is more encompassing and supports multiple information systems and is eager to launch the Data.gov Next Generation platform. This platform "makes public data universally accessible in a new engaging online experience. Data.gov users can now interactively discover, explore, share and contribute to data. Whether it's finding relevant data, visualizing it with charts and maps, or sharing it on social networks, Data.gov Next Generation makes it easy."

Overall both platforms are intended to uplift federal and partner data to provide higher accessibility and discoverability to the public.

This is an cloud and enterprise solution for IT and further supports GIS as a component technology.

Press release: http://www.fgdc.gov/fgdc-news/fgdc-launches-new-geospatial-platform-website

Watch Samsung Unpacked Nexus Prime Live on YouTube

According to the invitation that has been shared in many articles the Unpacked event will be held in a google flavor and may not occur on the traditional Unpacked channels indicating that the device is tuly a pure Google device.

The video is schduled to be live on YouTube.com/android on October 11 @ 11 to 11:30 AM Pacific from SanDiego CTIA Mobile Business Conference.

The event is called "Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 - Google Episode". The reason for the Google Episode is the release of Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) version of Andoid OS.

Here is the teaser trailer by SamsungMobile.The phone is displayed in the inverted horizon.  

UPDATE 5: I give up trying to track this phone. Verizon has fouled up the release with what looks to be greed and proprietary turf wars. Here is a relative article: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/why-does-verizon-keep-delaying-the-galaxy-nexus/

At this time I have friends going from excited to disappointed. Some have done a 180 and bought an iPhone regardless of the lack of 4G and newer technology. They said they just wanted a reliable phone.  




UPDATE 3-4: "An inside source tells us the two have moved their plans for the Unpacked event to October 19th in Hong Kong (interested US residents should clear out the evening of Tuesday the 18th, time zones), timed to coincide with the AsiaD: All Things Digital event there next week. Naturally, we'll be in the house, but with not long to go before the potential date, we'd expect to hear something concrete soon". - engadget


YouTube.com/android : 7PM Pacific / 8PM Mountain / 9PM Central / 10PM Eastern
Engadget Live Blog: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/18/samsung-and-googles-ice-cream-sandwich-event-liveblog/

UPDATE 2: Another Unpacked event is being planed for late October and rumors indicate the phone will be launched on November 3. FCC has also approved a non-Verizon (GSM) phone.


UPDATE: Google and Samsung have delayed the arrival of the next, much-anticipated Android smartphone, due to the passing of Steve Jobs.

In a statement today, the companies said they won't be showing off the upcoming device at the Samsung Unpacked event next week during CTIA as had been expected. They are looking for a "new date and venue" to unveil the smartphone, which has been dubbed both the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus Prime.

"We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product," the companies said in a statement. In a follow-up statement to CNET, a Samsung spokesperson said that Steve Jobs' recent death has prompted the decision.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20117161-17/galaxy-nexus-launch-delayed-due-to-jobs-death/#ixzz1a79E32SF

GIS on a thumb drive

GIS on a thumb drive: OSGeo-Live 4.5 is a self-contained bootable DVD, USB thumb drive or Virtual Machine based on Xubuntu. http://goo.gl/6170q

For any one interested in entering the open source geospatial realm here is a pretty easy gateway. Simply save the image to a thumb drive and boot your PC into an open source GIS desktop. An overview of the contents lists a very impressive list of software and opensource systems. There is a nice summary of each item, links to the site and often a quick start guide.

This is definitely worth checking out considering the costs and complexities of the average GIS. A similar system from Esri would cost well over $10,000. Thanks OSGeo and all the contributors and volunteers!

Samsung Galaxy S2

Back in December I bought a Samsung Galaxy S phone. All-in-all it was the best phone I have ever owned and the first smart phone that I thought was truly smart. However, I took it back for one reason. It didn't have Android 2.2 as intended. Instead it had a patchwork of Android 2.1, Samsung, and Verizon applications. Worst of all the Microsoft Bing overtook the search engine and could not be substituted.

Since then I have been hot and heavy in research on the Samsung Galaxy S2 phone. It was just announced at the WMC and new content is becoming available.

Here are the best links I have found so far:

• http://www.samsungunpacked.com/html/stream.html 
• Samsung's video of the WMC announcement
• http://galaxys2.samsungmobile.com/html/ 
• Official webpage
• http://mwc2011.techradar.com/2011/02/hands-on-samsung-galaxy-s2-review/
• Good hands on review
• http://telecomjunction.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-hands-on-pictures-and-video-plus-1080p-sample-video-recording/
• Video review and sample video
• https://picasaweb.google.com/samsungmobilepress
• Samsung Mobile Press Images
• Other form factors
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_II
• Wikipedia (new info is surprising)

I'm now waiting to see when the phone will be released on the carriers, specifically Verizon.

UPDATE: Samsung has posted an information sign up page for the Galaxy SII - http://www.samsung.com/us/register/galaxysII/

I suspect advertising and promotions will start August 1st, 2011. Then estimated sales are on August 12, 2011.

It's likely that infromation will be posted to http://samsungmobile.com as it has in the past.

GISCI Invites Comment on Proposed Examination Requirement.

"After much consideration and deliberation, the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) invites you to review a proposal to update requirements for GIS Professional (GISP) certification. Key among the proposed updates is the addition of a required examination. As part of its deliberations, the GISCI Board of Directors will consider comments received between February 1 and February 28, 2011. A Board decision about proposed changes is expected in April 2011. We are excited to have your involvement in this decision-making process. Here are some key links for this initiative:" (gisci.org)

• Press Release:
  http://gisci.org/PDFs/GISP_update_press_release_1-28-11%20(2).pdf
• Proposal:
  http://gisci.org/PDFs/GISP_Update_Proposal_public_1-21-2011.pdf
• GISCI mailing list:
  http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001rlsB_VLrUOnE_Zpzl2KIkQ%3D%3D

• Register Your Comments:
  http://gisci.ideascale.com/

In support of the recent Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) and labor standards released by the Department of Labor. The competency exam is intended to increase the value and importance of the GISP in the GIS Profession

.

Links to GTCM information:

• O*NET:
  http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/15-1099.06
• CarrerOneStop:
  http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/pyramid.aspx?geo=Y

With over 5,000 certified GISPs a competency exam has remained a hot topic and now has industry support to provide a consistent and accepted standard.

Whether a certified GISP or not you are likely still a GIS Professional and I encourage you to review the proposal at full length and comment on the opportunity to include and examination component in the certification process to add value to the GISP.