New and pretty cool: WikiLoc beta, a website where an open community of GPS enthusiasts share their GPS data from around the world. It's completely free, based on the Google Maps API & Google Earth, and allows one to visualize GPS data overlaid on maps coming from any freely accessible OpenGeospatial Web Map Service [WMS].

If anyone start using this site, we'd love to hear about it. The developer, Jordi L. Ramot, notes that there's a lot of room for improvements and welcomes any suggestions.

there was a cute [well, quirky anyway, and somewhat offensive to the geotagging community] and informative article on flickr and geotagging in today's new york times, "pictures, with map and pushpins included." the article defines geotagging, mentions different ways to do it, discusses EXIF headers, and even mentions a product the labs uses and endorses, robogeo. it also questions [and provides several different takes on] the rationale for geotagging.

(more…)

haven't used it yet, but we're intrigued:

GPS Visualizer is a free, easy-to-use online utility that creates maps and profiles from GPS data [tracks and waypoints], street addresses, or simple coordinates. Use it to see where you've been, plan where you're going, or visualize geographic data [business locations, scientific observations, events, customers, real estate, etc.].

GPS Visualizer can draw maps in SVG, JPEG/PNG, and Google Maps format, and can also create map overlays and KML files for Google Earth. For non-Google maps, JPEGs are easier to deal with, but SVGs are interactive—to view them, make sure you've installed Adobe's free SVG Viewer plug-in [see also "Adobe to Discontinue Adobe SVG Viewer"].

cost? free.

from hack a day via Jason:

Kevin Zeits sent in his diy Nikon d200 gps cable and hot shoe gps mount. Nikon sells it for $150, but has a 3 to 6 month eta. Ok, it’s really just a ttl to rs-232 converter with proprietary connectors—but I love tagging photos with gps info. Now if only I could do this for my canon rebel xt. (It would take a firmware hack at the minimum) If you’re not blessed with a d200, check out gpsphotolinker.

[[ Even though the majority of the post is here, check out the original for a lot of useful and interesting comments [plus a lot more hacks] ]]

This is amazing work and exactly what we want. In fact, as soon as we get settled in NY, we plan on building one ourselves.

Oh yeah, check out RoboGEO as well, a software only solution for geocoding photos with latitude and longitude information. It's not freeware, but it does write to the EXIF headers and enable the easy creation of Google Maps, Google Earth KML files, ESRI Shapefiles, AutoCAD DXF files, and more.

Wayland, Mass., July 20, 2006—The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) has approved and released the OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) White Paper as an official public OGC White Paper (OGC Document 06-046r2 [http://www.opengeospatial.org/pt/06-046r2]).

A sensor network is a computer accessible network of many spatially distributed devices using sensors to monitor conditions at different locations, such as temperature, sound, vibration, pressure, motion or pollutants. A Sensor Web refers to Web accessible sensor networks and archived sensor data that can be discovered and accessed using standard protocols and interfaces.

In the OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) activity, members of the OGC are defining, testing, and documenting a consistent framework of open standards for exploiting Web-connected sensors and sensor systems of any type. Sensor Web Enablement presents many opportunities for adding a real-time sensor dimension to the Internet and the Web. This has extraordinary significance for science, environmental monitoring, transportation management, public safety, facility security, disaster management, utilities' SCADA operations, industrial controls, facilities management and many other domains of activity. The OGC voluntary consensus standards setting process coupled with strong international industry and government support in domains that depend on sensors is expected to result in SWE specifications that will become established in all application areas where such standards are of use.

The OGC^® is an international industry consortium of more than 300 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS^® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at opengeospatial.org.

The Labs has just acquired its first GPS unit, a Garmin eTrex Legend^®. After figuring out how to use it, we intend to collect data points for our Milwaukee GIS project and geo-reference our photos. Ultimately, we'd like to tag a location; connect the GPS unit to our cell phone; send the coordinates to our blog, which will publish them via a GeoRSS feed; and then have a Google mashup plot the point. Before we can do any of this, though, we need to find a way to connect the unit to our computer. The eTrex Legend ships with a "PC interface cable," but the interface is serial. Who has a serial port on their laptop? Why not USB, Garmin? Why not USB?