Top Stories
Open Access: GIS in e-Government, a new title from ESRI Press
Open Access: GIS in e-Government, an insider's guide to how geographic information system (GIS) technology is assisting government organizations throughout the world to better serve their constituents and offer new services through the Internet, is now available for purchase. The delivery of government services to the public through the Internet and other digital means is rapidly transforming the relationship between governments and is empowering the governed. At the forefront of this e-government revolution are agencies that have discovered how GIS can magnify efficiencies many times over and provide services never before possible. Open Access: GIS in e-Government presents in-depth case studies of several innovative agencies that are leveraging their e-government initiatives with GIS technology.
Visit :
www.esri.com/esripress
Eurotunnel selects Maporama for complete cartographic solution
Maporama, European leader in online mapping and geocentric information services, and Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, the company that provides drivers and passengers of cars and trucks with the fastest, simplest and most efficient link between Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais, announce the launch of a complete cartographic solution, integrated into Eurotunnel¹s website. The Internet site of Eurotunnel offers a new functionality allowing visitors to plan efficiently their business and leisure journey. In one single click, Maporama provides the visitors of www.eurotunnel.com a detailed situation plan to an address of their choice, as well as detailed door-to-door itineraries.
Visit :
www.eurotunnel.com and
www.maporama.com
Vector Graphics adds IcoMap to product offerings
UCLID Software has announced that its IcoMap conversion and mapping software is now available through Vector Graphics, Inc. With offices in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Vector Graphics provides scanning and conversion software, hardware, training and other services throughout Louisiana and into Texas and Mississippi. Surveyors, engineers and GIS professionals use IcoMap to convert legal descriptions and other paper land records into digital parcel maps suitable for a GIS. IcoMap employs a patented Text-to-Vector® technology for efficient yet accurate conversion of paper documents. IcoMap has received numerous awards, and even claimed the 2001 National New Product Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers.
Visit :
www.uclid.com and
www.vgionline.com
TeleType GPS offers European wireless door-to-door routing for pocket PC's
TeleType Co. has announced the availability of WorldNavigator-Europe, a wireless GPS and mapping program with door-to-door routing features. The company also offers U.S. map based equivalent products. Their new Wireless PCMCIA and Compact Flash GPS receivers with built-in antennas have been designed especially for use with the popular Compaq iPaq Pocket PC. The combination of the GPS receiver and the TeleType GPS software allows travellers to navigate worldwide via land, air, and water using a completely integrated device eliminating cumbersome wires. The program also features free support of the Terra Server to import geocoded aerial and topographic maps. TeleType offers specialized add-on maps for marine and aviation. While the product has been designed especially for Windows CE devices the receiver also works on Windows laptops.
Visit :
www.teletype.com/gps/catalog
ArcView GIS to benefit British Columbia students-leading GIS software selected as the standard
Students and teachers are set to reap tremendous benefits with the British Columbia Ministry of Education's decision to license ArcView GIS software for all publicly funded schools in British Columbia. As a result of this decision, students and teachers will have access to state-of-the-art geographic information systems (GIS) software. ArcView is the world's leading desktop GIS software package and BC students will join more than half a million other users worldwide.
The Ministry is bridging the gap between tools used in classrooms and those in the marketplace. Tools developed strictly for the education environment are good for teaching theory, but often fall short of giving students practical experience. ESRI Canada's ArcView GIS will give students the opportunity to acquire skills that can be applied to the real world.
Visit :
www.esricanada.com
TRANSMAP delivers phase I of roadway mapping and asset inventory project
TRANSMAP Corporation, a leading GIS and asset management systems developer, successfully mapped tribal roadways for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (located near the Four Corners of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona) completing the first phase of a roadway mapping project. Using vans equipped with four digital cameras, a Global Positional System (GPS) receiver, and an inertial navigation system, TRANSMAP field engineers drove the roadways in the project area gathering digital images of roadways and roadway assets. During Phase II of the enterprise, which will be finished at the end of July, TRANSMAP will provide road network centerline development, as well as a comprehensive inventory of traffic signs, bridges, culverts, and guardrails found on tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) roads.
Visit :
www.transmap.com
Intuicom expands product line with SmartGPS Navigator
Intuicom, Inc., a leader in wireless data networks optimised for real-time Global Positioning (GPS) and data-critical applications, has announced the release of its SmartGPS Navigator(TM), an advanced transceiver that combines multiple Input/Output (I/O) capabilities, GPS positioning, and real-time wireless network accessibility to address a broad set of tracking, mobile data, and remote monitoring and control applications. The SmartGPS Navigator provides users with advanced data collection, control and flexibility. With a single device, users can network multiple data streams, monitor and control a variety of parameters ranging from data types, priority and transmission speed to GPS positioning accuracy. Also, consistent with the entire Intuicom family of wireless products, the SmartGPS Navigator provides a more capable alternative to cellular for "always on" transportation, automation, precision navigation and other remote or mobile data applications.
Visit :
www.intuicom.com
SRC first to deliver SF1 Census data free at www.FreeDemographics.com
SRC, LLC, of Orange, Calif., has delivered the first half of Summary File 1 (SF1) census data to its website, www.freedemographics.com more than 30 days ahead of schedule. Statistics for 25 states and the District of Columbia are available free of charge for custom analyses using the very latest demographic information. The new release complements the PL94-171 redistricting data already accessible on the company's site. SF1 data provides state-specific counts and basic cross tabulations of Census2000 statistics. It features age, sex, ethnicity, household relationship and residence ownership information. While SF1 presents most data at census-tract level, many calculations are offered at the block level. Summaries for other geographic areas such as zip code tabulation areas and congressional districts are also included.
Visit :
www.freedemographics.com
Asia News
World Map Dating Back to Qing Found
A world map dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was lately found in a museum of Shijiazhuang, which is quite different from other world maps because it takes Beijing as the first meridian instead of the Greenwich Observatory in the United Kingdom.
The map was made by Qing official Ye Zipei in 1845 and reprinted in 1851, consisting of eight scrolls that can be rolled up. Every scroll runs at 130cm in length and 28cm in width. Scrolls 1 to 4 describe the Northern Hemisphere and 5 to 8 the Southern Hemisphere.
Experts say it is a rare map for its special painting and rich contents, and it will be of great help to the study of the map-making history and early people's understanding of the world.
Experts also say that the map had been carefully made, with vivid and standard symbols in token of mountains, rivers, cities and so on. It corrected mistakes made in previous maps and has detailed notes for China's Nansha, Xisha and Zhongsha islands and nearly 400 other place names, being a map with the most of notes over others known to the time in Chinese history.
Source: People’s Daily 30 July 2001
Chinese Eye On-Line Shopping
"More netizens are attracted to online shopping, despite strong reservations on safety, quality and billing," said Wang Juntao, president of 8848.com, adding that the new style of shopping has spread from large cities to medium and small towns, and that household net shoppers are increasing.
A recent survey by the government-funded China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) shows that 73.9 percent of Internet users “sometimes” or “always” surf e-commerce websites while only 2.8 percent of users say they had never visited such websites.
CNNIC, the most authoritative data collector on the Chinese Internet industry, released the survey result yesterday. Already among the world's top five, China's Internet population hit 26.5 million at the end of June. The latest official statistics reported the figure was 16.9 million in 2000 and only 8.9 million a year earlier.
Netizens between the ages of 18 and 30 remain the driving force, but this age group's share of the whole community dropped steeply from 91 percent in 1998 to 52.9 percent at the end of June. This decrease was attributed to the steady growth in numbers of adults 35 and older, the report, released twice a year, said.
Meanwhile, netizens' attitudes towards the Internet are changing as they now exploit the Net not just for news, but for entertainment and business as well.
However, most of the netizens are confident about China's e-commerce future. About 60.5 percent of the Internet users think the most prospective course about Internet in future is online shopping
The CNNIC began to release information on the Internet users, as a whole, in 1997.
Source: China Internet Information Center
