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So I saw this early this morning:

The federal government and its geospatial partners today unveiled www.geoplatform.gov, a prototype Geospatial Platform website providing an initial view of the future of user-friendly, integrated, federal data collections on common geographic maps.

This prototype version of the Geospatial Platform combines map-based data and tools with the latest internet technologies to deliver geospatial information in a simple, understandable package. Users including the public, federal agencies and their partners can easily find federally-maintained geospatial data, services and applications, as well as access data from our partners across State, Tribal, Regional and local governments.

“The Geospatial Platform will provide a user-friendly “one-stop shop” for place-based data you can trust, and the tools to display that data on a map platform,” said Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science.

So it is just like every other government portal, irrelevant to most people and has a quirky interface most users can’t figure out. These geo-government portals just remind me of a movie where the day keeps repeating.

Unfortunately, this is not good news.

Paul Ramsey noted this morning that OnEarth is no more.

This server no longer provides full WMS services for any of the datasets. Furthermore, the MODIS daily mosaics are no longer being updated. The tiled WMS access, described in the Tiled WMS and Google Earth KML support will stay operational. This includes access to the archived of MODIS daily mosaics, which were built from 2006 to the end of 2010.

Interesting as this was a great resource that I’m not sure was freely available elsewhere.

It’s the One Earth that I know…

Seriously, this thing is actually free for most users. When it comes to design, designers always seem to choose SketchUp over solutions from Esri, Autodesk, and others (Believe me, I know. I used to work at one of the best). Now I’m not sold on this being something that drives the use of Google Earth which I guess in turn drives the use of clicking on ads. Basically, SketchUp was acquired when companies like Google bought things without thinking of how they will fit in with the company 5 years later. But lucky for us, SketchUp has survived and thrived with a free version driving users to design on their platform.

Now the SketchUp team has a new project called “Making Ideas Real”:

Here’s how you can pitch in: Use this form to tell us your SketchUp story. Send us an image of a SketchUp model with an accompanying photograph that shows your completed project. Anything goes for subject matter; architecture, archeology, industrial design, construction, woodworking, personal fabrication, model railroading, mousetrap design as long as SketchUp helped you make it, we want to see it. Professionals, semi-professionals and proud amateurs are all welcome.

Sounds pretty awesome, I know many people who as a hobby recreate the world around them in Google SketchUp. It also makes a huge 3D library available to the world for free. Seems like a great opportunity for the geospatial community to share our models with Google and get some great recognition. I love using SketchUp with my Wacom DTU-2231 Pen Display. It really frees me up to work with 3D models on how I think spatially. Cool stuff!

Update: SimpleGeo has posted a FAQ that will “answer many of your questions”.

The topic of SimpleGeo is usually a fun conversation starter in geospatial circles. Figuring out their business model was always sort of a crapshoot, but boy did they sure put together an all-star team. Arrington broke the news earlier this week that SimpleGeo, who had raised $10 million in VC money, was acquired by Urban Airship for $3.5 million of “stock”. I’m no math genius, but that sounds brutal for the investors of SimpleGeo. Clearly, what the money guys valued at SimpleGeo was the staff so we’ll have to see what plans Urban Airship has for the SimpleGeo team.

Hey! What happened?

One of the more interesting companies selling location-based data is Lead Dog Consulting. Chances are if you saw a map in the New York Times recently about the Arab Spring, you probably saw a Lead Dog Map. They specialize in making vector data products in areas that most companies don’t even know exist. Well over the weekend, Lead Dog pushed out over 350 datasets to the WeoGeo Market which are now available to customize and use.

If you are looking for data in Libya, Syria, Yemen or even Osama Bin Laden’s compound there probably isn’t a better, more up to date data source than Lead Dog. I love their new data in Mogadishu, Somalia which is very detailed and available in just about any vector format anyone might need.

Detailed vector data in Mogadishu, Somalia from Lead Dog Consulting in WeoGeo Market

If you sell location-based data and want to see your maps on WeoGeo Market like Lead Dog or Pitney Bowes, just let me know and I can let you know how you can get started for free.

Looks like there will be another Esri Dev Meetup in Phoenix next month. This one will be fun as it is in Tempe, rather than Phoenix so there will be ample opportunity to have drinks afterwards. If you are in the Arizona area, you should drop by and say hi to everyone. This one is at Robbie Fox’s so it should taste really good.

Something happened that is not too surprising:

Introduction of usage limits to the Maps API

To assist in evaluating whether your site is exceeding the usage limits we will shortly be adding the Maps API to the Google APIs Console. Once available you will be able to track your usage in the APIs Console by providing an APIs Console key when you load the Maps API. If you find that your site does exceed the usage limits each day you can opt to pay for your excess usage by enabling billing on your APIs Console project. We will then start billing excess usage to your credit card when we begin enforcing the usage limits in early 2012.

You know what? Good for them. I’d like to think that proving good-looking map tiles with a great API is a good business model. When Google gave away the farm, there was no business model. Everyone just used Google’s tiles and thought nothing of it. The rest of the world who tried to price their tiles so that they could build a business around it were beaten down (Remember something called deCarta?).

Now I suspect we’ll see some great creative choices out there that will give users with many options. I think back to this great blog post by Paul Ramsey many years ago. Now there is hope for everyone in this space to succeed because free beer isn’t sustainable.

Googlezilla’s foot seems to not be coming down just yet.

For those who are following (and hopefully have donated) here is an update from Atanas’ lawyer:

As you are well aware, on June 17, 2011 ICE Director John Morton issued a memo to ICE Field Office Directors to provide guidance on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. As has always been true pursuant to prior policy, prosecutorial discretion can be exercised at any point in the removal process, including after entry of an Order of Deportation. The memo lists the factors, both positive and negative, that should be considered when evaluating requests for prosecutorial discretion. An analysis of these factors shows that many positive factors and no negative factors apply to Atanas, Mayia and Enislav.

It will take a couple of minutes to read through the post but it is worth it to better understand immigration in the United States and how nuts it all is.

Brian Timoney has a way with words.

Having little faith in the efficacy of appealing to the better nature of politicians, I would nonetheless urge you to, in addition to the methods of support listed above, drop a line to Atanas’ Senate and Congressional representatives asking why taxpayer money is being wasted on imprisoning a non-criminal immigrant entrepreneur and his family members

If everyone who will read this post in the next 24 hours gives $3 to the Atanas Entchev support fund, we’ll have over $5,000 raised for Atanas’ defense. It doesn’t take much.