Top Stories
Unitronix Acquires Mineral Potential Analysis Software Tool: Beta Testing Underway
Unitronix Corporation has announced that it has acquired sole ownership of Geo-Sleuth, the mineral potential analysis software tool, from its subsidiary Interactive Mining Technologies LLC (IMT). The primary function of the tool, now being Beta tested, is to transform raw data into information to automate the early stages of mineral (grass roots) exploration by identifying the areas worthy of further investigation in a uniform, objective manner at a sharply reduced cost. Geo-Sleuth significantly reduces the size and number of the areas over which these surveys must be run by pinpointing the areas with the most potential from within the much larger region examined. Geo-Sleuth analyses the available geoscience data by utilizing a deposit model, commercial GIS components, Remote sensing techniques, geo-technical data and a series of proprietary algorithms to select and prioritise areas for exploration. For further details contact:
mready@unitronix.com
Baker Receives GIS Services Contract From SBC Services
Michael Baker Jr., Inc., has been awarded a Professional Services Agreement from SBC Services, Inc. to perform landbase construction and other Geographic Information System (GIS) support services related to SBC's Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell (PB/NB) Telephone Companies. Additional services provided by Baker included the specification of systems requirements, database design, and implementation of a geodatabase model based upon ESRI's ArcGIS GIS software, including ArcSDE. The geodatabase has been developed to support long-term landbase data maintenance using software developed by Baker using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and the ArcObjects implementation of ArcGIS 8.1. Baker is also providing on-site support staff for the maintenance activities in Nevada Bell's telephone facilities in Reno, Nev. The landbase constructed under existing work orders will ultimately be maintained in Nevada Bell's Reno, Nev., facility.
Visit :
www.sbc.com &
www.mbakercorp.com
Holdings plc subsidiary to develop kiosk application for Ordnance Survey
TPN Holdings plc, which provides Internet, new media and advertising related services to businesses and consumers through its subsidiaries, has announced that Ordnance Survey, a leading mapping agency, has commissioned its Avatar Interactive subsidiary to develop a generic kiosk application suitable for deployment on third party kiosk networks. The objective of this application is to make Ordnance Survey's generic mapping content available to all the UK's kiosk networks, if required with minimal redesign work. Users of the system will be able to view and print maps for the entire UK. Ordnance Survey states it is the first mapping agency to complete the conversion of all of its large-scale maps to computer form. Data products now account for the largest portion of Ordnance Survey business.
Disaster Response: GIS for Public Safety-A New Book from ESRI Press
Disaster Response: GIS for Public Safety, the latest title from ESRI Press, is a beautifully illustrated book showing a dozen different ways in which geographic information system (GIS) software is being used to save lives and protect property before, during, and after a disaster or emergency. It is now available for purchase. The forces of nature are uncontrollable. We cannot stop lightning from striking and igniting wildfires, we cannot stop tectonic plates from shifting, and we cannot stop rivers from rising. We can, however, study the ways these events affect people and communities and, with the help of GIS, find ways to prevent what can be prevented, prepare for the inevitable, mitigate consequences, and respond quickly and effectively when lives and livelihoods are in jeopardy. Disaster Response: GIS for Public Safety is written by Gary Amdahl. A glossy, full-color, softcover edition, Disaster Response: GIS for Public Safety (ISBN 1-879102-88-9) has a list price of $19.95.
Visit :
www.esri.com/esripres
Avenza announces MAPublisher Map Competition
Avenza Systems Inc. of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the developer of MAPublisher, is pleased to announce the inception of the annual MAPublisher Map Competition. Over the years we have found that maps made with MAPublisher have been turning up everywhere as the winners of mapping competitions around the world. So, we have decided to hold our own map competition as a forum for our users to showcase their work, share ideas and compare their productions with those of other MAPublisher users from around the world. The competition is scheduled to begin July 1st and run through September 3rd at which point an internal group of "experts" will evaluate the submissions and select the winners. This competition is open to all MAPublisher users and a number of categories have been created for the various types of maps, including two special academic categories. Prizes will be awarded for the map judged as the best in each category along with a grand prize of a Palm Vx to go to the best overall map.
Visit :
www.avenza.com/MPcomp
DMTI Spatial awarded ESRI Worldwide new business partner for Canada
DMTI Spatial is has announced that it has been awarded ESRI's New Business Partner of the Year for Canada. The award recognizes DMTI Spatial for building creative and innovative solutions so clients can solve today's critical spatial business challenges. Since June 27, 2000, DMTI Spatial has partnered with ESRI Canada to develop vertical market data and software solutions. Today's profitable fleet managers now use DMTI Spatial's CanMap® RouteLogistics data product with ESRI Canada's ArcLogistics Route software to capitalize on operational efficiencies by improving dispatch operations. DMTI Spatial is also committed to supporting other ESRI initiatives including: ESRI's Geographynetwork.com, RouteMap IMS for Canada, and ESRI Canada's K-12 Schools and Libraries Program.
Visit :
www.dmtispatial.com
ESRI Chooses HJW to Fly Santa Monica Mountains
HJW GeoSpatial (HJW), Inc., has been selected by Environmental Systems Research Institute, (ESRI), Inc. to acquire aerial photography of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area; located north of Malibu and West of Hollywood, it is the last undeveloped region in west Los Angeles County. Approximately 900 exposures of true-color photography will be shot next week at a 1" = 1,000' scale of a 600 sq. mile area to support a vegetation classification project. HJW has worked on similar projects for ESRI, including color photography of the National Park at Joshua Tree, CA. They also acquired stunning Color Infrared (CIR) photography of Glacier National Park, Montana, in which the glaciers were depicted as stark white, the lakes as brilliant blue and the lush forests as candy apple red.
Visit :
www.hjw.com
Asia News
Guizhou to Host Int'l Symposium on Forest Protection
An international symposium on forest protection and sustainable development will be held during July 16 and 20 in Guizhou Province, southwest China. As of June 29, a total of 23 Asian and European countries, including Finland, Britain, Italy, Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korea, and 61 EU representatives had signed up, an official with the organizing committee said Wednesday. More than 120 representatives from China will also participate in the workshop, jointly sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and State Forestry Administration, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Finland. During the five-day symposium, the attendees will discuss policies and strategies for as well as technologies related to forest protection and sustainable development, the sharing of information about forest protection and sustainable development, the impact and contributions of forests to the environment and the building of forest eco-systems.
Bangalore to have tech museum, a la Silicon Valley
BANGALORE: Jet-lag has not squelched their exuberance. Karnataka's IT delegation, back from a week-long whirlwind tour of the US, has new plans. If all goes well, the San Jose-based `The Tech Museum of Innovation' will lend its expertise to model a similar museum in the city. During the visit, the state IT department officials had negotiations with consultants of the institution. The department aims to collaborate with corporate and individual donors to make the project a reality. The plan was to set up a centre in the city which would train companies to streamline quality processes and achieve the stringent SEI-CMM levels, considered to be key for global recognition.
Source: Times of India, Thursday 5 July 2001
Trove of old Japan maps turns up in U.S. library
A chance remark to a librarian in Washington led to the discovery of Meiji-era copies of remarkable Edo-era maps of Japan that had been thought lost forever, researchers said Wednesday.
The manuscript copies, 206 of a series of 214 drawn around the time Capt. James Cook was charting then-unexplored Australia, are by Ino Tadataka (1745-1818), the first Japanese to use scientific methods in surveying the entire country, according to the Japan Cartographers Association and other researchers.
The maps, covering almost the entire country, are drawn to a scale of 1:36,000 and stored in the Library of Congress. They originally were hand-drawn on paper the size of tatami mats and presented to the shogunate in 1821, after Ino's death.
The maps in Washington are thought to be copies made by the Imperial Army in 1884, Watanabe said. But how they ended up in the U.S. capital remains a mystery. Although smaller manuscript copies exist, only about 60 full-size copies of the original set of 214 were previously available.
