After too many late nights wrapping up bug testing and deploying production servers the folks here have Maker! and an upgraded Finder! ready to go. It is a great feeling to get a first version of the full intent of GeoCommons out to the public. There are still lots of enhancements and polishing we’d like to do, but everyone is excited with what we’ve achieved with our initial release.
One aspect we are particularly proud of is the access non-technical users will now have to data, allowing meaningful mapping of a whole new world of information. Data that was once the sole providence of GIS professionals can now be mapped by anyone. Not only can they access the data but be guided through a process of creating a cartographically and statistically accurate map. We are indebted to Dr. Mark Harrower and his team at Axis Maps for baking their years of GIS and cartographic expertise into Maker. Specifically the “Map Brewer,” an homage to Mark’s adviser at Penn State Dr. Cindy Brewer and his first foray into cartography for the masses “Color Brewer“.
We’d also like to thank several folks in the community for their feedback on the application as it went through development. Whether it was Wherecamp, FOSS4G, GeoWanking or State of the Map, we benefited from many great conversations and feedback from friends passionate about both the GeoWeb and GIS. We hope that GeoCommons can play a small part in bringing the two communities closer together. I believe there is a huge benefit to the public of convergence between GIS and the GeoWeb – with the potential of making Geography relevant and important to everyone. If we can play even a small part in this I see the project and work as a great success.
Borat Wishes GeoCommons Great Success and Asks Users for Patience When Loading Big Data Sets in Maker! Like Location of All 25,000 Borat Haters in Great Nation of Kazakhstan
7 Responses to Maker! Launched at Midnight – Giddy Up
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[...] Sean Gorman (Off The Map/Fortius): Maker! Launched at Midnight – Giddy Up [...]
[...] [Update 14:07 GMT: Sean Gorman blogs the launch.] [...]
[...] provides you with easy-to-use mechanisms to create useful maps, again including Google Earth maps. Read Sean Gorman’s announcement (CEO of GeoCommons). Also, Stefan Geens does an excellent job of summing up the importance of [...]
[...] is] happy to report that GeoCommons Maker! has launched today. FortiusOne’s CEO Sean Gorman nicely sums up what Maker (I’m going to go ahead and drop the exclamation point henceforth) is all about: Data [...]
[...] Relaunched a little while ago, the “Finder!” part of the service is designed to discover interesting publicly sourced datasets through browsing tags and categories, as well as upload, organize and share personally owned data. [...]
[...] Relaunched a little while ago, the “Finder!” part of the service is designed to discover interesting publicly sourced datasets through browsing tags and categories, as well as upload, organize and share personally owned data. [...]
[...] GeoCommons Maker! launchesProviding anyone who’s interested with an easy-to-use mechanism to create useful maps, and export as KML should you wish. Further detail from Andrew Turner. [...]