Archive for August, 2006



Satellite pictureIt is a while ago after last explorer update. Latest multimedia extension was audio from the Freesound Project. I’m interested for a long time in digital video and so videos on the map was in the pipeline from the beginning of this project.

Now here is the complete list of all multimedia extensions:

  • New: geotagged Videos from VlogMap.org
  • New: geotagged Videos from YouTube.com
  • geotagged Sounds from FreeSound Project
  • Podcasts with geoFeedExplorer

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Now downgraded to a tropical storm Ernesto is targeting Cuba and the southern tip of Florida. It may strengthen up to a hurricane again before hitting Florida.

Govorneur Jeb Bush issued a state of emergency Sunday for all of Florida. Immediate concern centered on the Keys, where visitors were ordered out and plans were enacted to evacuate special-needs residents to Miami.

NASA delayed launch of Atlantis again and returns the shuttle
from launchpad to hangar.
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International Children's ConferenceCurrently the Tunza International Children’s Conference is hold in Malaysia at the
Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC). The Conference is for children between the ages of 10 to 14. Participants are nominated by their schools and community organizations.

One of the conference goals is to bring together children from accross the globe and “create an impact to the mass, locally and globally, that action must be taken now for sustainable development to happen”.

The International Children’s Conference was first held in 1995 in Eastbourne, England, and has been held approximately every two years since then.

From 17 to 21 June 2008, Norway will host the conference in Stavanger. If you like to go there as a member of the junior board, contact UNEP and apply.

SeasonsA new research, led by Dr Annette Menzel from the Technical University Munich in Germany and Dr Tim Sparks of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire focused on phenology - the timing of natural events.

The analysis of 125,000 records with observations of 542 plant species and 19 animals in a time range from 1971 and 2000 shows that leafing, flowering and fruiting happens now earlier in the year. Migratory birds suffer from late arrival, because they do not find the food needed after the long journey.
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Satellite pictureWhat looks like fog over Amazon rainforest at first sight are hundreds of fires turning trees and oxygen into carbondioxyd. Switch between Landsat and Daily Terra layers to see what happened in some years, only.

Satellite picture taken by Daily Terra, 2006-08-24.

Satellite pictureA forest fire in the area of Cassandra in Halkidiki, northern Greece, caused the deaths of two people and devasted some 5,000 hectares of pine trees. Captured by Daily Aqua, 2006-08-22. Via: ekathimerini.com

YouTube video

2.56min, youtube, Veredictum, uploaded August 5, 2006

A video stultifying Al Gore and Global Warming was released on YouTube.com not by an existing person, instead the DCI Group, Washington, D.C., lobbying for Exxon Mobil was found behind.

Read: wsj.com Where Did That Video Spoofing Gore’s Film Come From?

Satellite pictureLightning caused wildfires in Oregon, USA, seen by Daily Aqua, 2006-08-20. Daily information and satellite photos prepares the MODIS Active Fire Mappping Program every day (US only).

The EU is in process of releasing INSPIRE as the Proposed European Commission Directive on European Spatial Data Infrastucture. There is a last chance to stop them from making Geographic Data collected by National Mapping Agencies all over Europe a property owned by such agencies and not owned by the Public.

In short they want you to pay again for collected data you have already payed with your tax. European tax payers should get open access to the geographic data collected with their own money.
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newlayout Google AdSense Quality Team has forced me to change the layout of the map explorer. Now there is a toolbar on the right side with permallink and clickmap. Registered Users will find the permalink in the info section of the flyout menu .

I’d like to say thanks, they gave me 72 hours to make the changes. On the bad side: only registered users can experience the full screen Google Map from now. But I think first time users will appreciate better placed map controls.

Any ideas or proposals? Use the comment function!