Exclusives

BLOG POST

<a href="http://www.visitorville.com/">VisitorVille</a> is a website log analysis program that uses an <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63767,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1">graphical urban metaphor</a> to visualize website traffic flow.<br /> <img src="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/files//200406609-visitorville.jpg" alt="VisitorVille Screenshot" align="right" /><br /> <blockquote>"A company's entire Web presence is seen as an urban or suburban neighborhood, with each individual Web page presented as a building. The more visitors on a site, the taller the buildings, and the brighter the lights on each floor...each visitor is represented by a small avatar that, when clicked, presents a passport that offers several pieces of information about the user, such as her or his IP address, where that person came from and more. Avatars from dot-com domains wear a suit. Those from dot-edu domains dress as students."</blockquote>

June 9 - Abhijeet Chavan

BLOG POST

The US Environmetal Protection Agency has launched their daily <a href="http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html">Ultra Violet Index</a> website, where you can search for your zip code's daily UV Index rating.<br /> <br /> Tomorrow's Los Angeles UV Index rating is 9: "Try to avoid the sun between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Otherwise, seek shade, cover up, wear a hat and sunglasses, and use sunscreen. " <br /> <br /> The UV Index is computed using forecasted ozone levels, a computer model that relates ozone levels to UV incidence (incoming radiation level) on the ground, forecasted cloud amounts, and the elevation of the forecast cities.

June 8 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

The <a href="http://www.grants.gov/">Grants.gov</a> initiative is seen as a model e-government project but it has had <br /> <a href="http://www.gcn.com/23_13/news/26113-1.html">trouble attracting users</a> according to an article in Government Computer News. The website enables citizens to apply for grants online. <br /> <br /> <img src="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/files//20040608-grantsgov_01.gif" alt="Grants.gov Logo" align="right" width="200" height="75" /><br /> <blockquote>"[The Office of Management and Budget] officials are working to define utilization -- how e-government projects are used after they’ve been fully implemented -- and plan how the projects will reach the marks they set. Project managers must decide who their customers are and how they’ll measure use of the service...<br /> <br /> [Officials] have identified several obstacles to finding users: informing them about the portal, making it easy for them to use and getting other agencies to participate....<br /> </blockquote>

June 8 - Abhijeet Chavan

FEATURE

June 7 - Don Morehouse, Amy Ansong, Jeffrey Johnston

BLOG POST

New York - An interesting observation about the impending demolition of Hollywood landmark restaurant Perino's here courtesy of the "LA Cowboy" blog.<br /> <br /> So, why <em>don't</em> they just <a href="http://lacowboy.blogspot.com/2004/06/last-of-perinos.html">move it</a>?

June 6 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

New York - I'm in Manhattan, at a hotel in Times Square. It's been more than a year since I was here. And I'm struck by the increase in active signage, even here, the heart of inventive building-side ads. Just about every building here in Times Square is coated with multicolored, programmable screens. Some of them just do text; others are nearly as good as a television.<br /> <br /> So just an observation, but as flat-screen technology gets better, as LEDs get brighter, we're going to see a lot more TV-like screens replacing static billboards.

June 6 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

San Francisco - We've got a newish mayor here in SF, Gavin Newsom, who worried some of the town's liberal voting block when he beat a fellow county supervisor, Matt Gonzalez, to win the top spot. Gonzalez was a Green, way left; Newsom was perceived to be allied with the city's establishment, specifically the politically efficient machine built by former mayor Willie Brown (term-limited out) and a group always referred to in the press as "downtown developers." As far as I can tell, these are the people who want to build tall buildings.

June 2 - Anonymous

FEATURE

While growth is inevitable, the overcrowding and overuse of transportation is not. Using technology in conjunction with politics, private transportation will be more efficient using centralized computing to clear current roadways.

May 31 - Oded Roth

BLOG POST

<p>Reason magazine did a very provocative this month &#150; for each of their 40,000 subscribers they printed a customized cover including an aerial photo of their house. The magazine headline started with the homeowner's name in big orange letters followed by the subtitle &quot;They Know Where Your Are!&quot; Click <a href="http://www.placematters.us/Graphics/reason.jpg" target="_blank">here</a> to see the cover of the issue mailed to my neighbor &#150; my house is 2 houses to the right. <br><br /> <br><br /> On the inside cover, the Editor's Note includes several local facts embedded into the text &quot;&#133;as a telecommuter I don't envy your area's average commute of 27.

May 28 - Ken Snyder

BLOG POST

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Navstar.jpg"><img src="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/files//20040526-gps.jpg" alt="NAVSTAR GPS Satellite [Source: Wikipedia]" title="NAVSTAR GPS Satellite [Source: Wikipedia]" border="0" align="right" /></a><br /> <br /> This <a href="http://www.informatics.bangor.ac.uk/~jdl/gnss2004.pdf">keynote speech</a> [PDF, 28 kb] by David Last of the University of Wales, UK provides an overview of the U.S. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS">Global Postioning System</a> (GPS) and the European <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_positioning_system">Galileo Positioning System</a>

May 25 - Abhijeet Chavan

BLOG POST

Pew Internet & American Life Project<br /> <br /> A new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, "<a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=127">How Americans Get in Touch With Government</a>", shows that 97 million adult Americans, or 77% of Internet users, took advantage of e-gov in 2003, whether that meant going to government Web sites or emailing government officials. This represented a growth of 50% from 2002. At the same time, citizens who contact government said they are more likely to turn to traditional means - either the telephone or in-person visits - rather than the Web or email to deal with government.

May 25 - Chris Steins

FEATURE

May 24 - Patrick H. Hare

BLOG POST

The <a href="http://www.urisa.org/PPGIS/2004/Prelim/ppProgramAtAGlance.htm">Preliminary Program</a> has been published for the 3rd Annual URISA Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) Conference. <br /> <br /> The event will be held from July 18-20, 2004 at University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin.<br /> <br /> The Conference features 5 tracks with presentations divided into the<br /> following subject areas:<br /> <br /> <li> Data, Organizational, and Policy Issues Affecting PPGIS Practice<br /> <li> PPGIS in Rural Settings and Small Communities<br /> <li> PPGIS Theory, Science, and Scientific Methods<br /> <li> PPGIS Practice and Implementation<br /> <br /> </li>

May 19 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

The <a href="www.gita.org">Geospatial Information & Technology Association</a> has published their sixth annual survey of organizations implementing <br /> geospatial information technologies. While the full report is $145, <a href="http://www.gita.org/resources/geo_report/gtr_excerpt.pdf">a free excerpt from the Executive Summary</a> is available online. <br /> <br /> One interesting question posed by the report: Given the strong interest in "Web-based GIS, could the industry be preparing for a dramatic increase in outsourcing of GIS to third-party providers enabled by the Internet? The ASP (application service provider) model, which some longtime industry experts feel was ahead of its time, could well experience a serious boost from these developments.

May 19 - Chris Steins

FEATURE

May 17 - Catherine Stineback, Jason Gaines, Michael Boettcher

BLOG POST

Thanks to Adam Rogers at <a href="http://www.wired.com/">Wired</a> for this reference to the Transportation Research Board's participation solicitation for <a href="http://gulliver.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=3692">XML Schemas for Exchange of Transportation Data</a>. <br /> <br /> XML tells the web browser software about the structure and type of information it's displaying, distinguishing content from format by adding metadata.<br /> <br /> We predicted that planning specialties would begin developing their own XML schemas in a 1999 article for APA's Planning magazine, <a href="http://www.planning.org/planningpractice/1999/feb99.htm">'X' Marks the Spot</a>

May 12 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

An article in the Christian Science Monitor looks at the <strong>information environmentalism movement</strong> in an article titled "<a href="http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0510/p11s02-stct.html">E-serenity, now!</a>" [May 10, 2004].<br /> <br /> <img src="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/files//keyboard.jpg" alt="keyboard" align="right" /><br /> <br /> <blockquote>"The newest polluters are not chemical manufacturers leaking toxins into the air. Neither are they logging conglomerates clearing ancient forests nor avaricious developers turning wetlands into strip malls. The newest polluters are in your pocket, atop your desk, or clogging your telephone lines with streams of digital effluent."</blockquote>

May 11 - Abhijeet Chavan

BLOG POST

Accenture has just released a new e-Government report (May, 2004), <a href="http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/industries/government/gove_egov_value.pdf">e-Government Leadership: High Performance, Maximum Value</a> (PDF, 3MB). <br /> <br /> This is the fifth year that Accenture has surveyed international e-Gov efforts, and they report that they have found five overall trends: eGovernment advances are diminishing; eGovernment leaders are reaping tangible savings; Adoption of e-gov remains a challenge; The challenge of integrating e-gov is changing; and Personalization is emerging.

May 10 - Chris Steins

FEATURE

May 10 - Stefanos Polyzoides

FEATURE

The American Planning Association and the planning profession as a whole have lost their way. Constant compromise has led to mediocrity. Now it's time to get re-focused.

May 3 - Konrad Perlman