Off to San Diego/Las Vegas; Google Deep Web & Rail Dev.

I'm off to San Diego/Las Vegas midweek for a well-needed vacation.


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Read about how Google is trying to open up the deep web.

And from Treehugger read about new high-speed rail networks possibly being built in the US by the new economic stimulus plan. This is good news for my company and for me who is car-less.

Cellphone as Nav device & wasting energy with digital picture frames

The NY Times published an article on "The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives" that discusses the usefulness of location-based services for the cell phone user, points of interest and the location of friends with location-enabled phones.

It has been 25 years since the desktop, with its files and folders, was introduced as a way to think about what went on inside a personal computer. The World Wide Web brought other ways of imagining the flow of data. With the dominance of the cellphone, a new metaphor is emerging for how we organize, find and use information. New in one sense, that is. It is also as ancient as humanity itself. That metaphor is the map.

“The map underlies man’s ability to perceive,” said Richard Saul Wurman, a graphic designer who was a pioneer in the use of maps as a generalized way to search for information of all kinds before the emergence of the online world.

As this metaphor takes over, it will change the way we behave, the way we think and the way we find our way around new neighborhoods. As researchers and businesses learn how to use all the information about a user’s location that phones can provide, new privacy issues will emerge. You may use your phone to find friends and restaurants, but somebody else may be using your phone to find you and find out about you.

Digital map displays on hand-held phones can now show the nearest gas station or A.T.M., reviews of nearby restaurants posted online by diners, or the location of friends. In the latest and biggest example of the map’s power and versatility, Google started a location-aware friend-finding system called Latitude in 27 countries early this month.

On its face, Google’s new service — available on dozens of mobile systems — is simply a way for friends to keep track of one another and meet up, for families to stay in touch or for parents to find comfort in knowing where their children are.

But it will generate a gold mine of new information about where millions of people travel each day, and there is no doubt that Google and others are planning to dig in that mine. “Everyone is watching Google, and this will open a floodgate of location-oriented applications and services,” said Greg Skibiski, the chief executive of Sense Networks, a New York City firm that mines the millions of digital trails left by cellphone users for marketing purposes......

And NPR's All Things Considered has measured the possible impact digital picture frames may have on our energy consumption. The dropping price of these electronics has some worried that they will be used by everyone and be one more thing that needs to be plugged into the wall.

Tragedy near Buffalo, NY; The GIS Forum & Google Mapmaker

In a stark contrast to the "Miracle on the Hudson,"a tragic plane crash occurred in Erie County, NY near Buffalo last night. There's speculation that the plane went down due to ice buildup/weather. Buffalo is a great place with great people so our heart goes out to the family and community that lost loved ones.
The GIS Forum: an online GIS community and learn about Google Mapmaker from Mapperz.

Wynton and Willie & Wilco DVD

Wynton and Willie were at it again in New York City, creating some of the best damn American music there is, with a little help from Norah Jones. Must have been a great show. Willie Nelson is really on the radar as of late. It'd be interesting to hear his reaction to Phosphorescent's Willie Nelson covers album.

MP3:> Phosphorescent: "Reasons to Quit"
[from To Willie; due 02/03/09 on Dead Oceans]

New Wilco Ashes of American Flags DVD out in April 2009 (possibly coinciding with a new release...?). View the trailer here.

NYC Apartment Finding Tools & Phosphorescent: To Willie

Rent NYC:
It's a renter's market here in NYC and their are several online tools renters may use to their advantage. The NY Times featured renthop.com in 'Getting the Agent Without the Fee.' Another great renting resource is Streat Easy.

Music:
Bed-Stuy, BK-based Phosphorescent's latest effort is To Willie, a rollicking romp through Willie Nelson's catalogue. Muzzle of Bee's gives it a great review. Pitchfork covers it here. And they say there's another Phosphorescent album coming out soon. In my opinion 2009 already blows away 2008's releases when considering this, Andrew Bird, Animal Collective and also Bon Iver's new release Bloodbank EP (perhaps a new Wilco release too).


I picked it up on vinyl at Sound Fix (see map below) and am loving the way that it sounds as if it could have been released 30 years ago. Here's what blogger Captian Obvious had to say:

If I could redo my best of 2007 list, I'd have Phosphorescent's Pride firmly slated in the top three. The LP is a subtle work of genius and has grown to become one of my go-to albums. It also prompted me to gobble up Matthew Houck's entire back catalog. Luckily for fans, Houck and company are back with new material entitled To Willie, which consists entirely of Willie Nelson covers. They say imitation is the biggest form of flattery and one of Nelson's most memorable releases, entitled To Lefty From Willie, was in itself a tribute consisting of songs by Lefty Frizzell. Now Nelson gets the same treatment, with similar album cover font and all. On the album's 11 tracks, Houck sifts through less obvious tracks from Nelson's catalog. The best cover songs are historically the ones in which an artist puts his own stamp on the material and Houck exhibits his owned hushed style throughout To Willie. "Reasons To Quit," a song written by Merle Haggard and performed by Nelson, kicks off the album nicely. Houck's woozy delivery fits the subject matter and his backing band provides a laid-back lounge-band aesthetic. All in all, To Willie has plenty to offer both fans of Phosphorescent and fans of Willie Nelson. My dad, who made me listen to my share of Willie Nelson as a kid, said "This is good" when I was playing To Willie the other day. If that's not a glowing endorsement, I don't know what is. -- Capt. Obvious

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Steve Martin: Comedian and Banjo player

Steve Martin, acclaimed comedian and now highly regarded banjo player, has been getting a lot of press about his new album. NPR has done an article on him as well as the NY Times in the music section. Learn more about Martin's career here and watch this hilarious clip of Martin on the Muppets playing dueling banjo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gzTn6f5a0s.

excerpt from NPR: Over the years, Martin used his banjo in his comedy. But there is another side of him that clearly takes the music seriously.

"When I first started doing my comedy act," Martin explains, "I just desperately needed material. So I took literally everything I knew how to do on stage with me, which was juggling, magic and banjo and my little comedy routines. I always felt the audience sorta tolerated the serious musical parts while I was doing my comedy.

"I just have an affection for it offstage and the sounds it can make. It's like listening to a mystery when you hear some people play. I just say, 'I have no idea how they do that.' It's magic, and it's beautiful."

Google Latitude

Along with the Google Earth updates, Google has released a new app called Google Latitude. It's basically the same idea of other lesser known spatial social networking apps but released by Google. NY Geog (nygeog@gmail.com) is on Google latitude. Should be on my iPod Touch when the new app is released for the iPhone.

Here's what The Map Room has to say about it.

Gizmodo’s Brian Lam says, “I tested the service with some people I know, but it’s been hard to say if it’s useful for a guy who has loved ones in generally predictable places.” Indeed: over the past year, my location could probably be expressed as one of the following four options: (1) at home; (2) at work (which frequently is at home); (3) in transit between home and work (unless they’re the same); or (4) none of your goddamn business. In other words, services like Latitude are aimed at a certain lifestyle — urban, active, and not chained to your desk, i.e., Googlers — that may not apply to everyone.

Google Earth 5.0

Google Earth 5.0 learn more here.

New! Explore the ocean with Google Earth

• Dive beneath the surface and visit the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench
• Explore the ocean with top marine experts, including National Geographic
• Learn about ocean observations, climate change, and endangered species
• Discover new places including surf, dive, and travel hotspots and shipwrecks