AA New Zealand has now launched a service called AA Smartmaps which provides an online mapping service for the far away nation. The service is provided by New Zealand company GeoSmart, that makes a wide range of digital map data services, including GIS data, driving data, and satellite images for New Zealand.

An enterprising developer has used Google Maps as the basis for an implementation of Risk (a game originally from Hasbro). Play right now is limited to person vs. computer, but the author is working on a PvP version (person versus person).

Apparently the folks at Google just don't sleep as evidenced by the release of Google Maps for mobile phones today. While Yahoo Maps and others were busy playing catch up, the folks in Googleville, CA were taking their amazingly popular web-mapping application and making it work for mobile phones. As of now it only works for phones that support Java applications and unless you have an unlimited data plan it may run up your phone bill. However after toying around with it for a little while, it has some cool functionality. Read more about the specs and a brief review …

Cnet News has an interesting article about how Tele atlas creates their road databases. Interestingly, they state in the article that its not their fault if you get the wrong directions, rather its a data refresh problem not an data error. Anyway, for anyone who has ever wondered how they create their database this is a short but interesting read.

With all of the talk about Google Maps, you'd think they were the only game in town. On the contrary, Yahoo! on Wednesday, put into beta a new version of Yahoo! Maps that has some new and nifty features for users, especially in the area of viewing. More after the Jump. Since Google's made a name for itself with cool satellite data, the folks at Yahoo! are betting that you'll enjoy more up-to-the minute information on their maps. As with their previous mapping solution, they will provide overlays of restaurants, ATM's, schools, and what-have-you from their "yellow pages" database. They …

Akamai, one of the largest traffic pushers on the net (they push traffic locally for web sites that want to get the word out but don't want to have to put servers in every hosting center just to be fast), has a very cool page which displays the Net Usage Index, an indicator of how many people are using the internet for news information based on the sites that they serve for new organizations. The relevance is that the information is displayed geographically (since Akamai is a geographically distributed organization, both in the physical and network senses). Plus, to be …

UIUC has a Gangland Map on the UIUC Library website that was done in 1931 and shows the various gangs involved in the famous gang wars, their respective territories. More about the library's online offerings after the Jump. The UIUC site contains a large array of maps, mostly historical and with detailed descriptions, very well suited for searching. For a list of maps available try the search term maps in the library search engine. It appears that MrSID versions were or will be available of some of the offerings, although when I tried to access them, the web server gave …

Five years from now we may look back on 2005 and realize that this was a watershed year in the growth and development of GIS and spatial analysis software in general. From Google maps and all of its press to Hurricanes a plenty in the Gulf region, the world has gained new recognition for the information that maps can provide. However, to make sure that this truly is the year of the map, the GIS industry needs to strike while the iron is hot and to diversify the product line to bring in more people. More after the jump. At …

The New York Public Library is hosting an exhibition entitled Treasured Maps, which runs from September 9, 2005 through April 9, 2006 and features 80 fine maps dating from the 1600s to the present. Although I haven't been, it looks like another great excuse to go to New York. More details after the jump. The exhibition is pulled from some 400,000 maps in the collection of the Library and represents a fascinating cross-section of the holdings, according to the press material. The collection's home is being renovated (to reopen in December 2005) and this exhibition is to serve as …

Fellow all-things-spatial obsessed blog Cartography has a review of all the major web mapping applications (Google Maps, Map24, Maporama, Mapquest, MSN Maps, Rand McNally, and Yahoo Maps). Categories reviewed in this 9 part series include: types of searches, map display, data layers, directions and overall use. Overall this is quite a nice review including tables to help make it all that much easier to get the high points.

I missed this macabre little map in time for Halloween, but better late than never. As pointed out by others, the Golden Gate bridge isn't just a famous tourist attraction, its also the site of over 1,203 suicides. For the truly macabre the San Francisco Chronicle also has an accompanying article and chart of suicides by year.

In a flurry of announcements yesterday, venerable GPS manufacturer Garmin announced the StreetPilot 2730, the StreetPilot 7200, and the StreetPilot 7500, each with XM Satellite radio, weather, and traffic capabilities. More details after the jump. Add a subscription to XM and you have weather, traffic, and music along with your navigation. So, why 3 new models you may ask? Well, it's simple (more or less), the 7XXX series uses a monstrous 7" LCD display that's designed for "larger vehicles such as RVs, semi-trucks, and buses". They're a bit huge for a little car, but look gorgeous. As you would expect …

MapAbility.com has a nice set of information about VMAP0 and VMAP1, data sets created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (a branch of the US Government) to provide a basic world-level dataset. The data sets are large and quite detailed, with VMAP0 being at 1:1,000,000 and VMAP1 being at 1:250,000. Although the NGA has a data portal with navigation, the site at MapAbility.com provides points for direct access to the data files, which is a bit nicer if you want to collect the whole set.

An article on MobileVillage describes a program in North Carolina, partially funded by a grant from the CDC to provide Rapid Needs Assessment in times of health crisis in the state. The program will use handheld computers, networking, and GIS to pinpoint problem areas, establish routing of emergency services, and maintain up-to-date information. Although it is unclear how this kind of coordination would happen if this kind of emergency was coupled with massive power and infrastructure loss (such as what we saw in September with Katrina), it is definitely of interest in situations of major health crisis, or in the …

It seems like GPS is showing up in everything these days, including dog collars which can help you locate your lost pooch should they run away. Read more after the jump. The new product from a company called Environmental Studies, integrates GSM and GPS to allow you to SMS your dog's collar to locate the missing dog. Apparently, once the collar is called it provides the user with a location that is sent back to the owner for use in plotting a location. The company claims it can be used with almost any GSM cellphone capable of viewing maps, although …

An article from Auntie Spam entitled Rental Car GPS Leads to Nightmare Vacation, details the story of a family that rented a vehicle in New Zealand and ended up on a harrowing bit of single track road. Sometimes, there's no substitute for a good map. And, although a GPS is a fine device, they can have optimistic views of what the road network actually looks like. It's unclear from the story if the problem is pre-dated road upgrade information or settings on the GPS that indicated they would be happy with single track. Either way, it's a good reminder to …

Continuing my recent fascination with the National Geodetic Survey, here's a pointer to their FAQ list, which covers all sorts of great questions about GPS, NGS, Datums, and positions. Even more interesting are the links to ask your scientific questions of real scientists.

While GIS professionals already know this, new research by the Department of Labor indicates that in the future those who know how to perform analysis using GIS will be in demand. Read more from the article in Nature after the jump. This isn't the most groundbreaking news, or the newest news, but those people who have GIS and GIS analysis skills will be in demand in the future as the world evolves. The Association of American Geographers has a link to a PDF article in the highly regarded journal Nature, discussing a Department of Labor study that identified geotechnology as …

The National Geodetic Survey has a web service for providing geodetic reference data in shapefile format, suitable for use in GIS software. For those unfamiliar with the US NGS, they are a part of NOAA (go figure, they're not part of the USGS) that "defines and manages the national coordinate system." They're also the people who maintain the little metal "points" in the ground. The National Spatial Reference System is a central part of the maintenance of a successful national coordinate system. For those interested in more information on geodesy (the study of the shape of the Earth), there's a …

Just in case all of this discussion about governmental censorship of maps has you down, you should take a look at this map of Champaign, Illinois. The national map has some data at resolutions of 1m per pixel, which is unbelievably detailed. And if you thought that was close up, try clicking the zoom and you'll find that you can get even closer. By the way, for those unfamiliar with Champaign, the spaceship-looking thing is the UIUC basketball stadium. For personal grins, check out Forbes Hall (the upper-left of the 6 rectangular buildings in the middle of the frame), where …