Points of Interest: January 14, 2005

Vote for Top Images. Somehow I managed to miss this announcement in the past few weeks. Space Imaging is asking the public to help pick the 10 most spectacular images of 2004. This is the fifth year Space Imaging has named the Top 10 Images, but it's the first time the public has been asked to help select the Top 10 Images through voting. Visitors to the online voting webpage will select from 24 images. The final Top 10 Images of 2004 will be announced in late January. Voting ends next week.

Analyzing Tsunami Images. Specialized analysis of recent satellite imagery of a tsunami-ravaged section of Porto Nova, India, near Sri Lanka, has revealed a devastating impact to local water quality. According to Applied Analysis Inc. of Billerica, Massachusetts, contaminated sediment has impacted a large number of inland water bodies in the area and is evident more than two kilometers offshore in the Indian Ocean. Images are online. While some of these press releases are self-serving, I like the idea that the public may be learning that capturing data is one part of the equation, while analysis is a second part.

Maps and Ads. Bugaboo makes baby strollers. Its latest campaign provides maps of several U.S. cities (the promo started in the UK) with suggested tours for adult and baby. Specific adult/baby landmarks are noted on the maps, along with, you guessed it, pictures of the strollers.

Colwell in India. In a timely article about Dr Rita Colwell, the author reiterates that filtering water through cloth can trap cholera bacteria. But GIS creeps in, too. "GIS contributes to science and technology and improves the human condition," said Colwell in a lecture on prevention techniques of cholera on the recently concluded Indian Science Congress.

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Source: Material used herein is often supplied by external sources and used as is.