Google Earth banned after images of army base appear online

Military Police watching out for Google? (US Army Photo)

I guess the Google teams missed the really big sign that said "RESTRICTED AREA - No Photography Permitted"

Army Times and AP reports -

"Citing security risks, the Pentagon banned Google teams from making detailed street-level video maps of U.S. military bases after images of a Texas base ended up on the popular Internet site.

A message sent to all Defense Department bases and installations around the country early this month told officials not to allow the mapping Web site to take panoramic views inside the facilities.

Google said taking such pictures is against its policy and that the incident was a mistake."

- Jeff

CarbonTools PRO Update Enhances OGC Support, Opens Source Code

The latest release includes the full source code for some of the CarbonTools PRO libraries, shown in action above

We just announced the latest update to CarbonTools PRO, a geospatial-interoperability toolkit for .NET developers. The release includes updated support to OGC specifications, primarily WFS 1.1.0 and GML, and improved support to Microsoft Virtual Earth and Yahoo! Maps. In addition, the latest release includes the full source code for some of the CarbonTools PRO libraries. The source code provides a reference point for developers and allows further enhancements and modifications by users.

CarbonTools PRO is in use around the world with Microsoft .NET developers, and we’re getting great feedback. This latest release lets developers access, visualize and share an array of location content in their .NET applications - including Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo! Maps, OGC KML, GML, GMLsf, WMS, WFS, WCS, Filter Encoding, Catalog, OSGeo, ESRI Shapefiles, MapInfo, Autodesk and more.

The release includes source code for the Gaia 3.1 geospatial viewer, making it possible for developers to create and deploy advanced .NET applications in minutes. The Gaia 3.1 geospatial viewer application is available as a free download here.

It's also cool that CarbonTools PRO is available under a per developer license that has no limits, royalties, restrictions or fees on deploying applications - ever.

For more information please contact info@thecarbonproject.com.

- Jeff

Satellite Technology Could Help Ease Suffering in Dharfur

This story from ABC News helps put geospatial technology in perspective.

Boston University Egyptian-American geologist, Farouk El Baz, believes he has found a massive lake, the size of Lake Erie, hidden under the desert in Dharfur - a water resource that could help ease violence and poverty in the region.

El Baz is the Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, and an expert at radar topography — a scientific technique he has used to find out what lies below the land's surface. From the ABC News report -

"For the last three years, El Baz has been scrutinizing radar images from satellites and a space shuttle mission, hoping to find water under the miles of sand in Darfur.

Now he believes he has found a massive lake, the size of Lake Erie, hidden under the desert. El Baz believes this discovery means a possibility for peace in the region lies buried beneath the desert."

Click HERE to learn more about the "1,000 Wells for Darfur" project.

I created the application above using Gaia 3.1 as I was watching the ABC News story.

The following organizations provided software or OGC SDI services used in this example - CubeWerx, NASA, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and Yahoo! Maps.

- Jeff

DirectionsMag asks "Five Questions About ((Echo))MyPlace"

((Echo))MyPlace is featured this week in Directions Magazine. Nice article with some quotables -

"What's cool is that the content is likely to be created and shared by the same people you see in your local grocery store or coffee shop, not some big company thousands of miles away pumping you up with what they want you to see."

"We took a fresh approach, based on a new generation of Internet media technologies, that gives power back to users. This is different because Echo is powered by everyday people and a philosophy that says, 'Let people create their own channels and target their message to their local community.'

"This is different than being fed content from some cable TV network or a massive Internet company."

New Gaia Makes a Splash

Gaia users rejoice! Gaia 3.1 Beta 2 is now released.

This version includes many changes and corrections and is based on the latest CarbonTools PRO 3.0.1.1 assemblies - and improved the support to OGC web services (especially WFS 1.1.0).

We also added new features, such as the 'Splash Image' feature that allows an image to show over an empty map. This feature is fun and useful for demos and presentations. You can even customize it with your own logo - or your MySpace pictures if you are geospatial renegade.


-Jeff

Ballmer does the Web Developer Monkey at MIX08

We had a great time at Microsoft MIX08 in Vegas this year.

Met some incredible people, with awesome sessions and parties - and the added bonus of witnessing the Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer "Web Developer" monkey dance.

Awesome event!

- Jeff