Links List 9.5.08

College students can return to school with peace of mind because of a new form of mapping technology, UCrime. Students, faculty and teachers can view crimes that occurred at all U.S. universities through a drop down list on the site or on iPhone. UCrime can also assist in finding areas to live, demonstrating locations that have high concentrations of crime. This tool is powered by Google Maps.

InLET Earthquake Simulator Map might be the solution for people who live in areas that are “earthquake” prone. Based on Microsoft Virtual Earth, the simulator creates scenarios for the different magnitudes of earthquakes in a given area. This new tool assesses damage of property, possible number of casualties and the bridges affected.

The Millennials are getting their feet wet with GIS. Starbucks, Wal-Mart, NVision Solutions and the U.S. Military are a few of the companies that hired GIS specialists to solve their spatial issues. The specialists that these companies hired are none other than certified GIS high school students. SpaceStars, a certification program for entry level GIS/RS technicians offers programs like the Spatial Projects and Community Exchange, and Spatial Technology and Remote Sensing (S.T.A.R.S.), which these students are certified under. SpaceStars hope to continue this program in an effort to let interested students experience on-the-job training.

MAPme, a map authoring service, announced the release of their Google Maps widget. This new application will let users embed flash apps as a widget anywhere they can edit HTML. MAPme widget is a pure flash object that allows users to add YouTube videos and even their own images to the ‘map’s hotspots.’ Facebook and iPhone applications will be available soon.