Thursday, February 14, 2013

Bing Maps vs Google Maps - Both could use toll cost information

I use Google Maps weekly. It's a great product. But one thing that lately has bothered me about Maps is that there should be toll cost information as part of the package. They've given us Street View, traffic conditions, alternative routes and they tell us about sections of roads that have tolls. Why not give the toll costs as well? I need this information for several reasons but sending in reimbursable receipts is one I think many could related to.  I tried Bing Maps to see if this was an improvement. Not at all. See the figures and red circles. In the past I've tried Bing Maps and the only thing that I found "different" was they gave us a Bird's-eye view option which I find annoying. And, unfortunately Google Maps adopted that feature when you zoom in closely. 


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hello world!

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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Helping Spread the Word: #GIS is STEM, Just Like Jack Says


Screen_shot_2013-01-05_at_7

In a recent ESRI blog, GIS is STEM!, post written by Jack Dangemond, he calls for GIS to be included in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)  education. Personally, GIS can be the glue linking disparate disciplines in the liberal arts, the sciences being one, in my mind, obvious benefactor. 

From ESRI's Education Manager, Joseph Kerski: Just as STEM disciplines share such goals as using the scientific method to solve problems, employing quantitative techniques,  and integrating technology, so too can GIS be used across these disciplines. GIS by its very nature is a multidisciplinary tool.  Therefore, students and educators using GIS in STEM understand  phenomena from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives.

You'll want to look at the pamphlet (Advancing STEM Education With GIS, From Aug 2012) linked to in the blog post and where I got the quote and photo.

I guess I'm posting this because I'm surprised that Jack needs to write such a post. Seems clear that GIS and using it to see phenomena, events,  relationships spatially can be many things for many disciplines. I guess I'm helping spread the word.