There's a great article from VerySpatial making the case that the use of "analog" maps in cases where differential information is being compared might night be the best way to display data online. We've been looking into this space recently and already have excellent KML Export in Cartographica, which can be easily paired with online tools like Google Layers and Leaflet. The original article from The Washington Post is an interesting piece about use of time across the US.

The USGS has announced that the National Atlas will be taken out of service as of September 30, 2014. According to the detailed product availability information, much of the data will be available via the to-be-enhanced National Map system, or as data downloads "at no cost" from Earth Explorer". This transition appears to be mostly a resource realignment (basically reducing the number of sources and web sites they need to maintain. In addition, the USGS has also announced that "[L]ater this year we will deliver these new framework datasets at one million-scale: networked hydrography, updated streams and water bodies …

We at ClueTrust integrated support for OpenStreetMap into both Cartographica and CartoMobile some time ago because it provides an avenue for public updating and curation that is unequaled and also provides data licensing that allows liberal reuse. We are happy to see the wide range of OpenStreetMap in Government outlined on the OpenStreetMap.US blog. There are lots of opportunities to improve the data set and make your mark on open data, while improving available map data for everyone. For those with little background with the organization, it didn't start in the US, but in Europe, where most Geospatial data …

MapQuest has recently made available, through information on their developer website, access to their tile servers for OpenStreetMap-style tiles of satellite imagery (mostly from government sources) and their street databases. Because both CartoMobile and Cartographica support customized OpenStreetMap-style tile sources, you can now add these to your maps. Cartographica Desktop Within an existing mapset, add a new live layer by choosing File > Add Live Map… Choose Other OpenStreetMap Server: from the list of sources Type the following into the URL box: http://oatile1.mqcdn.com/tiles/1.0.0/sat Click Add A new layer named OpenStreetMap Live will …

In an article released last week it was reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has released the names and locations of Organizations approved for flying drones within the U.S. Drones have become infamous over the past several years due to their use for military purposes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and many other places. The use of the military technology for domestic purposes should not be unexpected as we have seen many military technologies cross-over for domestic purposes. Many argue that the use of such Military technology in local police agencies may be problematic and seen as an increase in …