NIM: Green Roofs, James Fee Interview, Goosh, Adobe/ESRI to include PDF add-ons for 9.3,

I really love this recent article from No Impact Man. Beaven, aka NIM explains why green roofs are a synergy of solutions. First, green roofs absorb heat and use water that would otherwise go to waste. Second, in poorer neighborhoods locally grown food is a great solution to those who can only afford cheap, unhealthy calories. And green roofs also connect city residents to the natural landscape.

Image from NoImpactMan.com

Check out this James Fee Interview from the folks at Off The Map.

Image and selected text from Off the Map

FortiusOne: Do datasharing and crowdsourcing have a place in GIS?
James Fee: Yes, but the problem is how do you give GIS professionals the ability to use the data and make decisions about its accuracy. I guess it brings up the question, do you trust a Biologist in the field with at GPS more than a hobbyist? I’d guess most GIS professionals would pick the Biologist, but a degree in Biology doesn’t mean the data is necessarily good.
Datasharing and crowdsourcing are great ideas but for GIS to use them, they need metadata, documentation, and possibly a rating system. A “marketplace” should allow users to rate the quality and accuracy of the data which both helps others make decisions about the data and gives feedback to the creator on how they can improve their dataset. OpenStreetMap has been a great example on how “experts” can help “novices” grow to be experts in data collection.
FortiusOne: What emerging technology trend will have the biggest impact on GIS?
James Fee: I think putting a GPS in so many “ordinary” things is going to impact GIS immensely. Walking around with a GPS in your phone should give you access to many GIS applications, digital cameras and video cameras with GPS will spatially enable tons of datasets. read more here

A new Linux-like Google search portable called Goosh Search developed by Stefan Grothkopp

Adobe and ESRI teamed up fro ArcGIS 9.3 to include PDF/GIS features.

Image from MacInstruct.com

And I just added another GB of RAM to my old powerbook G4 at home. It was very easy using this guide from macinstruct.com. Apple charges a decent amount to install additional RAM so I saved about $100-150 doing it myself. I managed to break a tiny piece of plastic (!) but it was not critical. Plus doing things DIY always makes you feel pretty good once the damn thing starts working.