WhereCampPHX Update and Hack the Map
WhereCampPHX Logo
WhereCampPHX is getting close to being filled up so if you are still on the fence, now is the time to secure your spot. Saturday October 1st will be something special at the Cronkite School at Arizona State University. Don’t miss it!
Hack the Map
For those who want to continue the hacking, Hack the Map will be held October 2nd at Co+Hoots also in downtown Phoenix.
Geospatial Data and Content Management for School Projects
It has been a long time since I was matriculating at my alma mater but clearly I can tell that school is starting up for a lot of people. My inbox is full of emails from students asking where they can find data for their projects (I like students who are proactive and not reactive to their school work).
WeoGeo has over 8 terabytes of free and inexpensive data available in the WeoGeo Market for inclusion in your analysis. Just this week we uploaded some great data from the State of Hawaii on Hawaiian Natural Areas and data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on U.S. Diabetes and Risk Factor Prevalence.
Hawaiian Natural Areas
We’ve also have the complete USGS National Hydragraphy Dataset and USGS Earthquake, Fault and Seismic Hazard data available for customization. Bonus points for using the WeoGeo Tools for ArcGIS to import these datasets into your ArcMap projects.
Another great option for students is our WeoGeo Library. Generally after the end of the school year, students need to archive off their projects to some personal stoarge device. Students using WeoGeo Library know their projects are available semester after semester no matter where they are. Since WeoGeo Library is a system of record, you’ll always have them at hand. My masters thesis was stored on a Brother Word Processor which meant that the minute I lost access to that hardware device, I lost all my hard work (At least I remember it as hard work, ’twas a long time ago). That’s why a real geospatial content management system like WeoGeo is the best way to manage your school work. Plus you can get started today, for free.
Browsing WeoGeo
Geospatial Data and Content Management for School Projects
It has been a long time since I was matriculating at my alma mater but clearly I can tell that school is starting up for a lot of people. My inbox is full of emails from students asking where they can find data for their projects (I like students who are proactive and not reactive to their school work).
WeoGeo has over 8 terabytes of free and inexpensive data available in the WeoGeo Market for inclusion in your analysis. Just this week we uploaded some great data from the State of Hawaii on Hawaiian Natural Areas and data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on U.S. Diabetes and Risk Factor Prevalence.
Hawaiian Natural Areas
We’ve also have the complete USGS National Hydragraphy Dataset and USGS Earthquake, Fault and Seismic Hazard data available for customization. Bonus points for using the WeoGeo Tools for ArcGIS to import these datasets into your ArcMap projects.
Another great option for students is our WeoGeo Library. Generally after the end of the school year, students need to archive off their projects to some personal stoarge device. Students using WeoGeo Library know their projects are available semester after semester no matter where they are. Since WeoGeo Library is a system of record, you’ll always have them at hand. My masters thesis was stored on a Brother Word Processor which meant that the minute I lost access to that hardware device, I lost all my hard work (At least I remember it as hard work, ’twas a long time ago). That’s why a real geospatial content management system like WeoGeo is the best way to manage your school work. Plus you can get started today, for free.
Browsing WeoGeo
Weather in Google Maps? Natch!
Is there nothing Google Maps can’t do?
Google Maps with Weather
Now we’ve got a weather layer in Google Maps that will probably end up replacing the need for things like Weather.gov or even NOAA.
Given the budget issues in Washington, why not outsource the Weather Service to Google? While they are at it, why not the Postal Service (Why does every U.S. government entitity end in “service”?) to Google Mail?
Seriously though, after the coffee shop example, is there a better GIS mapping demo than weather?
Weather in Google Maps? Natch!
Is there nothing Google Maps can’t do?
Google Maps with Weather
Now we’ve got a weather layer in Google Maps that will probably end up replacing the need for things like Weather.gov or even NOAA.
Given the budget issues in Washington, why not outsource the Weather Service to Google? While they are at it, why not the Postal Service (Why does every U.S. government entitity end in “service”?) to Google Mail?
Seriously though, after the coffee shop example, is there a better GIS mapping demo than weather?
Updated — You Can’t Edit Spatial RDBMS with ArcGIS for Desktop without SDS
So the answer is? No.
From the Esri Support Forums: Edit spatial data with “ArcGIS for Desktop 10.1” in non-SDE RDBMS systems?
ArcGIS Server 10.1 will include a new technology component called Spatial Data Server (SDS). It is a separate installation from ArcGIS Server and will be included with all editions of ArcGIS Server. SDS is a low-memory footprint application that enables you to publish feature services of your vector data stored in a database or geodatabase. SDS will allow you to edit spatial data in a standard database and does not require ArcSDE technology. Editing for SDS is done via the REST API only which ArcMap does not support at this time [editors note: see below].
Oh snap, not only can you not edit spatial data in other RDBMS without Esri’s Spatial Data Server, you can’t even do it via ArcGIS for Desktop. [editors note: see below] To be fair though, Esri’s business model is built on being the middle man to everything.
‘I don’t know how this whole business started Of me thinkin’ that I could edit PostGIS But if you think that we’d be better parted It’s gonna hurt me but I’ll break away from you`
The latest:
Craig Williams clarifies a key point:
Derek’s comments about ArcGIS for Desktop 10.1 not being able to edit SDS are incorrect. ArcGIS for Desktop 10.1 can edit SDS and all other types of ArcGIS feature services. These edits are performed via the REST API for SDS and hosted feature services.
So what does that mean? Says Craig
you connect to SDS, drag the service into the map and it draws via REST calls. To edit you check out / check in
So the final word on this is that you still need middleware to get this done, but you don’t need ArcSDE anymore. Esri views editing spatial databases differently that many of us do, I don’t fault their thinking too much on this, but 99.9% of the time in the real world no one cares about deltas. So to fix my thoughts from above:
Oh, snap, you can’t edit spatial data in other RDBMSs without Esri’s Spatial Data Server.