deCarta now supports OpenStreetMap

Last night deCarta announced that they are now supporting OpenStreetMap with their APIs.

In keeping with the spirit of the OpenStreetMap community, OSM data in deCarta format will be free of charge. deCarta plans to make the product available for both server and client-side solutions to its customers. This includes self hosted solutions using deCarta’s Drill Down Server, deCarta’s Hosted Web Services, Personal Navigation Devices, and Mobile Phones. Developers will also be able to quickly prototype and demonstrate location-enabled applications using OSM content through deCarta’s Developer Zone available to developers a www.decarta.com.

When it comes to LBS services, deCarta is clearly well positioned with their APIs and they’ve been successful at selling them. That deCarta is now supporting OSM is a clear sign that the project is getting mature and that there is demand for it. Given that deCarta is used by the large wireless phone companies, one can expect to see OSM maps in your mobile devices soon.

The deCarta devZone is here and a demo is here.

Update: deCarta will be making quarterly updates to their service.

The deCarta dev team celebrates the real genius” move to support OSM.

The deCarta dev team celebrates the real genius move to support OSM.The deCarta dev team celebrates the real genius move to support OSM.

September 17, 2009 Thoughts






WhereCampPDX 2009

I’ll be heading up to Portland for WhereCampPDX 2009 this year. In fact, I’m keynoting. WhereCampPDX will be running October 2-4 at the Metro Regional Center. There is still time to propose a session so make sure you add your topic as soon as possible. As with any WhereCamp, all you need is a will to share what you know about anything geospatial, you don’t need to be Peter Batty to propose and host a session.

Even Clyde the Glide Drexler will probably show for WhereCampPDX

Even Clyde the Glide Drexler will probably show for WhereCampPDXEven Clyde the Glide Drexler will probably show for WhereCampPDX

September 16, 2009 Thoughts






WhereCampPDX 2009

I’ll be heading up to Portland for WhereCampPDX 2009 this year. In fact, I’m keynoting. WhereCampPDX will be running October 2-4 at the Metro Regional Center. There is still time to propose a session so make sure you add your topic as soon as possible. As with any WhereCamp, all you need is a will to share what you know about anything geospatial, you don’t need to be Peter Batty to propose and host a session.

Even Clyde the Glide Drexler will probably show for WhereCampPDX

Even Clyde the Glide Drexler will probably show for WhereCampPDXEven Clyde the Glide Drexler will probably show for WhereCampPDX

September 16, 2009 Thoughts






Google Data Liberation” probably doesn’t mean spatial data

Look, I get it. Letting me get data in and out of SaaS products is critical. But I can’t see how this will ever truly affect Google’s spatial data product given their licensing restrictions. The OSM guys are thinking that Google could just do what Yahoo! did and let people digitize off the imagery. Of course that is based on the assumption Yahoo! actually had the right to give users the ability to digitize their” imagery in the first place. Spatial data owners rule the world…

The open data crasher squirrel is on the case…

The open data crasher squirrel is on the case…The open data crasher squirrel is on the case…

September 15, 2009 Thoughts






Google Data Liberation” probably doesn’t mean spatial data

Look, I get it. Letting me get data in and out of SaaS products is critical. But I can’t see how this will ever truly affect Google’s spatial data product given their licensing restrictions. The OSM guys are thinking that Google could just do what Yahoo! did and let people digitize off the imagery. Of course that is based on the assumption Yahoo! actually had the right to give users the ability to digitize their” imagery in the first place. Spatial data owners rule the world…

The open data crasher squirrel is on the case…

The open data crasher squirrel is on the case…The open data crasher squirrel is on the case…

September 15, 2009 Thoughts






Depreciation plans for ArcGIS 9.3.1 with a little what’s coming in 9.4

ESRI has an updated FAQ which outlines depreciation plans for the 9.3.1 release and what is coming at 9.4. Some key highlights:

ArcGIS Desktop 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 contains the last release of the Crystal Report Wizard in ArcGIS Desktop; we will no longer provide this technology in ArcGIS 9.4. Much more here (http://www.spatiallyadjusted.com/2009/07/15/esri-arcgis-9-4-reports-updates/).
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting Microsoft Visual Basic 6 (VB6). All I can say is move on guys…
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system for all ArcGIS products. _** Please anyone tell me they are still running Win2k. I’d love to know.**_
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release to support Internet Explorer 6 (IE6); we will no longer support this browser with the release after ArcGIS 9.3.1. w00t!
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting Sun Solaris 9 for ArcReader and ArcGIS Engine. We are all running Solaris 10, right?

ArcGIS Workstation 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3 was the last release of ArcInfo Workstation on AIX; we will no longer support this platform at ArcGIS 9.4. We are dropping this platform as we no longer see demand for it. _*side note: I don’t miss AIX at all!_

ArcIMS 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release of the ArcMap Server Extension to ArcIMS; we will no longer provide it in ArcGIS 9.4 release. So if you want to roll MXDs, you have to use ArcGIS Server 9.4.
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release of ArcIMS on HP-UX; we no longer support it in ArcGIS 9.4. HP-UX is not a popular platform for ArcIMS and will be retired due to limited demand. So you HP-UX users have no one to blame but yourselves for letting the rest of us abandon the platform. But don’t feel too bad because ESRI?will continue to support ArcSDE technology on HP-UX on the Itanium processor.

ArcGIS Server 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release of ArcSDE for Oracle 9i. We no longer support it in ArcGIS 9.4 due to this platform no longer being actively supported by Oracle. Sounds like fighting words to me…
  • Solaris 9 is dropped, but you can still roll ArcSDE on it.
  • See IE 6 note above.

The Tragic Prelude beyond ArcGIS 9.4

ArcGIS Desktop 9.4

  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); we will no longer support VBA beyond the ArcGIS 9.4 release. Microsoft no longer promotes or updates VBA. So unless you want to be like your VB6 friends, time to move on.
  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of Solaris support for ArcReader and ArcGIS Engine; we will no longer support the Solaris platform for this functionality beyond ArcGIS 9.4 due to limited demand for this platform. So if you migrated from Solaris 9 to run 9.4, know that it was all a wasted effort because 9.4 drops Solaris support for ArcReader and ArcGIS Engine.

ArcGIS Workstation 9.4

  • At ArcGIS 9.4, ArcInfo Workstation will be decoupled from ArcGIS Desktop 9.4, so users will be able to upgrade to newer versions of ArcGIS Desktop without impacting ArcInfo Workstation. See any writing on that wall?
  • At ArcGIS 9.4 ArcInfo Workstation will be supported on Windows 7 (this will be the last expected Windows platform upgrade). _** I see the end don’t you?**_
  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of ArcInfo Workstation on Solaris; we will no longer support this platform after ArcGIS 9.4. So the abandonment of Solaris by ESRI users is just about complete.
  • The next major release after ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last planned release for ArcInfo Workstation on Windows, which will be the last supported platforms. Users will continue to be able to use their existing versions, but we will not release newer versions. Ah there it is, the end of ArcInfo Workstation is here.

ArcIMS 9.4

  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of ArcIMS on Solaris; we will no longer support it after ArcGIS 9.4.
  • The next major release after ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last planned release for ArcIMS on Windows and Linux, which are the last supported platforms. So there you go, more writing on the wall. ArcIMS is near the end. Time to move on folks.

ArcGIS Server 9.4

  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last ArcGIS Server release with support for Solaris (with the exception of the ArcSDE technology component); we will not support this platform after ArcGIS 9.4 due to limited demand for the Solaris server platform. We will continue to support the ArcSDE component of ArcGIS Server on the Solaris platform beyond the ArcGIS 9.4 release. So essentially after 9.4, only ArcSDE will be supported on Solaris.

September 15, 2009 Thoughts