Volume 26 • No 07 • 2003
ISSN 0742-468X • Since 1978
On-line Since 2000
Out of the Box
Editor's note: In “Out of the Box” we bring you news snippets that are not necessarily related specifically to GIS. These are items that come across my screen that help me understand our industry, by understanding the world around us. For the complete article just click “Details Here.” Think of it as thinking Out of the Box
In State and Local Government …
• A new digitized soil survey of Sandusky County is now available on compact disc, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The CD, which offers many advantages over printed soil surveys, is available through the Sandusky County Soil & Water Conservation District in Fremont at 419-334-6324. Details Here
•Wisconsin Farm Service Agency offices are currently in the process of digitizing their land records using Geographic Information Systems
Details Here
In Technology …
• Xybernaut Corporation (NASDAQ:XYBR), an Oracle Partner, today announced that the Company's wearable computing technologies, including the MA V® and the Atigo®, will be showcased in the Security Command Center (BOOTH #1736) portion of OracleWorld 2003–the annual Oracle Corporation international conference scheduled for September 7 - 11. The Security Command Center is a showcase of advanced technologies that are being used in a variety of security applications -- particularly homeland defense, national security, military/government and emergency preparedness/response.
Details Here
• Geographic Information Systems Manager for Euless
TX helped map debris from space shuttle The Columbia Accident Investigation Board recognized David Allen for his efforts.
Details Here
• Two British researchers have invoked the aid of hi–tech software to find the location of one of English literature’s most famous buildings. They used geographic information systems (GIS) software to pinpoint Blandings Castle, immortalized by the novelist P G Wodehouse. Details Here
In Utilities …
• U.S. electrical grid vulnerable to terrorism. A growing number of security experts in and out of the U.S. government are worried that potentially hostile states and even a rebuilt al Qaeda could wreak havoc through simultaneous and coordinated assaults on sensitive points on the electrical grid. Industry officials said that during the second half of last year, 60 per cent of the country's power and energy companies experienced hacking attacks, however, none were successful. According to Steven Flynn, a senior fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations, the grid has many other vulnerabilities. If the electrical transformer for the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California were blown up, for instance, it could take months, even under a crash programme, to bring electricity back to the vital port facility, which handles more than 30 per cent of the nation's imports in terms of dollar value. There are no spare transformers, he said, and it normally takes two years from order to delivery for a new one, and most are built in South Korea.
Details Here
• Electricity council says it's too weak. The electric industry group that oversees the nation’s power grid, born in an attempt to prevent disruptive blackouts, says it doesn't have the resources or authority to do that job in today’s complex, deregulated market. The voluntary system of standards under which utilities and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) work is no longer adequate, according to NERC officials and many outside experts.
Details Here
• Utility group-Power grid upgrade may cost $100 billion
U.S. consumers would have to foot a $100 billion bill to upgrade the nation’s rickety electric transmission grid but could reap five–fold savings from cheaper power costs, according to an industry report.
Details Here
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