Empowered by communication

by Ilse Genovese

The fall of the Berlin Wall is now history, but when it happened two decades ago in November, it was hot news. Sound bytes added to the growing chorus demanding political reform, galvanizing thousands of East Germans to walk through the Brandenburg Gate to freedom. more >>

Making sense of sensory data

Interview with David Barton, EchoStorm
by Ilse Genovese

A video and data management software—EchoStorm’s adLib—searches full-motion videos and produces situational intelligence needed by soldiers in combat, border patrols, and first responders to neutralize threat to life and property. more>>

Is renewable energy the impossible dream?

by Jessica Wyland

When Miguel de Cervantes wrote of the impetuous and noble hero Don Quixote 400 years ago, he could not have imagined that one day, environmental scientists and energy analysts would dream the impossible dream of stocking the electric grid with the power of the wind. more >>

Green technology:The next great global industry

by John Doerr and Jeff Immelt

America confronts three interrelated crises: an economic crisis, a climate crisis, and an energy security crisis. We believe there’s a fourth: a competitiveness crisis. This crisis is particularly evident in America’s worldwide standing in the next great global industry, green technology. more>>

Source:www.gisdevelopment.net

Ubiquitous cartography

by Georg Gartner

Digital mapping projects in the wetlands have received a boost with the new Wetlands Mapping Standard announced by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on August 18th. The standard is designed to guide current and future wetlands digital mapping projects and enhance the overall quality and consistency of wetlands data. more>>

Release of the 2009 Manual of Surveying Instructions

Remarks by Wilma Lews, Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Department of the Interior

About two months ago, the Secretary had the pleasure of recognizing, in a brief ceremony, 110 cadastral surveyors of the Bureau of Land Management for their expertise in professionally carrying on the rigors of the Public Land Survey System. Today, I am here to join you in celebrating not only the Public Land Survey System, but to also mark completion of the BLM’s update of the Manual of Surveying Instructions, fulfilling the Congressional mandate to the Secretary of the Interior to periodically update the Manual.
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In eastern Utah, history revisited

by Brandon Loomis
[from The Salt Lake Tribune]

What a story a 4-inch bronze cap planted under the pavement of State Route 121 has to tell! From this spot, the U.S. government drew the boundaries of the 2-million-acre Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation and later sold half the land to white settlers for $1.25 an acre. So much of the Uintah Basin’s bittersweet pioneer history emanated from this point five miles east of the farm village of Neola; a rededication ceremony in September brought this history to life again. more>>