August 2007

GIS 14 Conference

14-15 August 2007

Vietnam

2nd Indonesian Geospatial Technology Exhibition

29 August – 1 September

Bakosurtanal; Jakarta

http://www.geospatial-exh.com/

September 2007

First International Summer School on Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Sep 02 – 09 2007

Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, …

Motorola RF switch enables location services
Motorola has announced several new enhancements to its RFS7000 RF Switch to support location services, management and security services including own and and third-party vendor services. www.motorola.com

European Union to sole-fund Galileo
Financing for Europe’s GNSS, Galileo, will come solely from the public sector, the European Commission declared, May 16, in Brussels. The public-private partnership (PPP) that had crippled the ambitious project was abandoned. EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said that the 27-nations bloc’s biggest-ever joint technological project could only reach orbit altitude if the public sector took full financial responsibility. He made the announcement as he presented three options for the bogged-down Galileo project: a complete EU takeover, partial public financing, or total elimination.
Barrot prefers to take over the project now, at an estimated public cost of about E2.4 billion in addition to the E1.5 billion already allocated in the 2007-2013 budget, and to issue a new tender to operate the system once it is built and in space by the end of 2012, according to recent forecasts. The European Space Agency would oversee construction and deployment of the satellites, though European aerospace companies would still supply technology, without assuming financial risk. EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen ruled out cancelling Galileo. “Galileo is from the European Commission standpoint an absolutely essential project,” he stated. “We don’t have an option of giving up on Galileo.” http://sidt.gpsworld.com

GPS navigation for athletes
eSymetric GmbH, Germany, has invented a computer program for use on mobile Pocket PC devices that offers navigation for athletes named “Run.GPS”. It makes navigation possible outdoors without looking on the screen. This is accomplished by speaking all the relevant information. www.businessportal24.com

Two years ago, we had a dream.
We started on a mission.
With con? dence and conviction.
Set out on a journey of positioning, navigation. And beyond.
Discussing, deliberating and debating
We navigated through technology and took a position.
This month, the 25th issue, it is time for us to think
What we have achieved. what more could have been accomplished.
It is …

Jack Dangermond, ESRI President receives honor from ASPRS
ESRI president Jack Dangermond has been awarded the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Outstanding Service Award for 2007. Dangermond is being recognized for his endowment of the ESRI Best Scienti? c Paper in GIS Award. Established in 1991, the award is given each year by the ASPRS Foundation to individuals who publish papers of scienti? c merit that advance the knowledge of GIS.

Pitney Bowes completes ccquisition of MapInfo
Pitney Bowes Inc. announced completion of the acquisition of MapInfo Corporation. Now MapInfo will be called as PB MapInfo Corporation. The merger followed the successful completion by Magellan Acquisition Corp. of a tender offer for all outstanding shares of MapInfo at $20.25 net per share in cash. Pitney Bowes, having 87 years of technological leadership, provides the world’s most comprehensive suite of mailstream software, hardware, services and solutions to help companies manage their fl ow of mail, documents and packages to improve communication. www.pitneybowes.com.

WHEN Jack gave us the above statement we found ourselves wondering what other experts, from both sides of the stated divide, felt about the matter. We set ourselves the task to find out.

To create no residual global rotation with regards to the crust in time evolution in orientation, IERS in the first ITRF88 retained the BIH Conventional Terrestrial System (CTS) and its Conventional Terrestrial Pole (CTP) 1984.0. Since then, it has realized the same “Pole”. However, IERS changed the name “CTP” to International Reference Pole (IRP).
Historical Start
The Earth’s first Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) was called Conventional International Origin (CIO) 1905 where the mean orientation of the Z-axis was defi ned by International Latitude Service from six years of observations between 1900 to 1905 (Note: There is NO other “CIO” ever defi ned). The records are not clear whether ILO ever provided a specifi c defi nition for the X-axis and/or the zero meridian.

Mission of National Geographic?
The mission on National Geographic is “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge” taken more broadly it also entails inspiring people to care about the planet.
What kinds of maps are prepared? What’s so unique about them?
We create a variety of political, thematic, physical, and topographic maps. With few exceptions …