GeoWorld

Integrated Content EDITOR IN CHIEF, GEOWORLD, GEOPLACE.COM AND GEOREPORT Todd Danielson, tdanielson@geoplace.com L. Scott Tillett CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT GeoTec Event CONFERENCE PROGRAM MANAGER Todd Danielson, tdanielson@geoplace.com Contributing Editors Peter Batty, Joseph K. Berry, Ron Bisio, Mark Dolezel, Ron Lake, Janet Jackson, Mark Reichardt, Erik Shepard, Daniel Sui, Nigel Waters, Patrick Wong Editorial Advisory Board Dan Adams TOMTOM Peter Batty UBISENSE Tim Case AUTODESK INC. Jack Dangermond ESRI Charles H. Drinnan EWAM ASSOCIATES Connie Gurchiek TRANSCEND SPATIAL SOLUTIONS William Holland REDGIANT ANALYTICS INC. Anup Jindal RMSI Roy Kolstad NAVTEQ Ron Lake GALDOS SYSTEMS David Linden SAIC Xavier Lopez ORACLE CORP. Dale Lutz SAFE SOFTWARE Carey Mann BENTLEY SYSTEMS INC. Carl Reed OPEN GEOSPATIAL CONSORTIUM INC. Walter S. Scott DIGITALGLOBE David Sonnen IDC Mladen Stojic ERDAS INC. Steve Woolven APPLANIX CORP. Production Mary Jo Tomei, mtomei@m2media360.com ART DIRECTOR Kathleen Sage, ksage@m2media360.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR FROM THE ARCHIVES GeoWorld magazine has built a reputation as a trusted source of information with consistently forward-looking and authoritative content. We were the first publication to address the needs of the GIS user community, and we have enjoyed much success as the industry "found its footing" and expanded into a wide range of disciplines. We feel lucky to have served a dedicated readership for more than two decades. The content of each GeoWorld issue has been posted online at www.geoplace.com since 1996. This rich resource provides perspective on technology development and clear relevance to the challenges faced today. To highlight some of the informational resources available, each issue will feature archived stories relating to that issue's cover story. Simply click on "Articles & Archives" at the top of the menu bar on GeoPlace.com, and type in a few of the key words from the following list to find the full article on our site. BY PAUL DURAN AND ALAN BEVERLY Septermber 2012 Cloud Computing Helps Fleet Managers Ensure Safety and Efficiency during Difficult Times Cloud Computing Helps Fleet Managers Ensure and Efficiency during Safety By Paul Duran and Alan Beverly Difficult Times W May 2012 Going Google: A New Way to Visualize Transit Information By Ya Wang and George Naylor hen it comes to fleet management of land Cloud Computing Basics mobile, aviation and marine assets, safety is To bring some clarity to the definition of cloud computthe most important element. And to ensure ing, this article looks at it from a fleet-management that safety is guaranteed, around-the-clock communi- perspective. Cloud computing cation is imperative. enables users to access powerful fleet-management software But how do you ensure consistent from any PC or connectivity when mobile device via a standard Web browser anywhere fleets within these sectors are traveling to some of the and anytime, without users having to install specialmost remote locations in the world? Or when a disas- ized software or hardware. ter occurs and power is lost, how can you guarantee With cloud computing, users can connectivity with essential assets? remotely access The answer: cloud powerful computing resources centrally located in a computing. datacenter and comprised of servers, storage and 22 G E O W O R L D / S E P T E M B E R 2 O 1 2 (22-25) blue cloud feature GEO0912tddn.indd 22 9/14/2012 4:29:28 PM BY YA WANG AND GEORGE NAYLOR A New Way to Visualize Transit Information November 2011 Just Let Go: Dublin, Ohio, Unlearns to Learn Web Mapping "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." This quote by Henry Miller is about the meaning of travel—it's supposed to help broaden our perspective of life. However, his wisdom also applies to geovisualization. After all, an ongoing challenge of the latter is to represent the physical environment in a way that would help "uncover the undiscovered" and "see the unseen." For transit agencies, the spectrum of Google Map technology offers a powerful toolset to present transit information in a brand-new way. Google Earth, with its high-resolution satellite images, 3-D buildings and road-network data layers, offers a spatial geo-context that's richer in information than ever before for presenting users' own spatial information draped over the Google Earth 3-D globe. The Google Earth plug-in also enables the exploration and navigation of a 3-D globe in a Web browser. In addition, application programming interface (API) technologies allow the extension and customization of various types of Google data and functionalities with transit agencies' own data and functionalities. By Brandon B. Brown Advertising Cloud Computing 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 www.geoplace.com Infrastructure Management Vol. 26, No. 9 26 G E O W O R L D Why Start from Scratch? Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority The online interactive transit-inventory project carried out by California's Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) exploits Google's powerful toolset to develop an interactive online transit-map application that will help the general public and planners visualize transit information from a new angle. Hopefully, this will stimulate new insights regarding the transit system. Project deliverables will serve two purposes: 1. Communicating transit information to the general public in an engaging and entertaining way. 2. Providing insights to help planners reshape and rehabilitate the transit system to better serve the public. Google API technology was implemented to create Web-mapping applications. API technology is a set of rules and restrictions that one computer application can use to access data and tools contained in a third-party application. In an era of fast-evolving technology, API technology provides an effective and efficient way to leverage resources already out there in the world. The cost-saving aspects of an API are especially appealing to government agencies in a time of tight budgets. Espousing the wisdom implied in a famous metaphor, "dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants," development of the VTA online transit-inventory application started out by examining samples in the online Google API demo gallery. Drawing on technology knowhow already embedded in those samples, a few Web applications particular for VTA's transit uses were developed. The first application is a virtual transit tour, which allows users to take a surrogate transit tour via the Internet through areas served by VTA. It was inspired by a "Driving Simulator" contained in the Google Earth API demo gallery to "simulate a scenic drive through your favorite neighborhood or familiarize yourself with an unknown route to a new destination." The sample Web page was redesigned, and the existing scripts were modified and customized to serve transit-map needs. The ensuing VTA Virtual Transit Tour application enables users to select a transit line, "travel" along the space traversed by the selected transit line, "hop" on/off a stop to visit attractions in the virtual neighborhood, speed up or slow down the tour, and toggle 3-D buildings. Figure 1 is a snapshot of the virtual tour, where the animation of the Google Earth view in the upper-left map panel is synchronized with that of the Google Figure 1. A map shows scenery captured on a virtual transit tour along Bus Line 11 (Downtown Loop). Because it's in the downtown area, many tall 3-D buildings are visible. Users can reset to restart the virtual tour, pause the tour to zoom in/out, tilt the view to a different angle, or toggle buildings on and off. / M A Y 2 O 1 2 (26-29) google feature GEO0512tddn.indd 26 M A Y 2 O 1 2 / 5/11/2012 10:32:45 AM W W W . G E O P L A C E . C O M (26-29) google feature GEO0512tddn.indd 27 27 5/11/2012 10:32:54 AM WORLDWIDE ADVERTISING ACCOUNTS MANAGER Craig Miller, cmiller@m2media360.com, 213-596-7228 List Rental, Reprint Marketing Services Cheryl Naughton, cnaughton@m2media360.com GeoWorld is published monthly by M2MEDIA360, a Bev-Al Communications Company. Authorization to photocopy items for educational, internal or personal use, or specific clients, is granted by M2MEDIA360, provided appropriate fees are paid prior to photocopying items, please contact Cheryl Naughton, cnaughton@m2media360.com M2MEDIA360 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 Phone: (847) 720-5600 Fax: (847) 720-5601 e-mail: tdanielson@geoplace.com Web: www.geoplace.com CIRCULATION: For subscription inquiries and customer service questions please call 845-856-2229. © 2013 BY M2MEDIA360 All rights reserved. ISSN# 0897-5507 Canadian GST# 82917 9944 RT 0001 Canadian CPM #1528653 Single Copy Price U.S $8.00, Single Copy Price Canada/Mexico/Foreign $12.00 2 G E O W O R L D / S E P T E M B E R 2 O 1 3 GeoWorld Services GeoWorld Online Visit GeoWorld at GeoPlace.com for online reviews, features, news, classified ads and event listings. GeoMarketplace The GeoMarketplace resource directory provides an easy means to connect with product and services vendors. 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List Rental Order custom mailing lists from GeoWorld if you are looking for professionals in the geospatial industry working with GIS applications in government, utilities, education and the private sector. Contact Cheryl Naughton by phone, 678-292-6054, fax 360-294-6054, or e-mail cnaughton@m2media360.com. All names are proven direct-mail responsive, and they are all selectable by title and business. One phone call will guide you toward the best list choices for your needs.

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