Volume 27 • No 04 • 2004
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 …
• DigitalGlobe Imagery Helps Mississippi Protect Coastal Marine Resources While Promoting Economic Growth. Land Development Suitability Model Incorporates Satellite and Geospatial Data Across Many Government Levels
Details Here
• County’s maps need accuracy overhaul Federal officials were eager to map the Gallatin Valley (Montana) into sections during the 19th century, as settlers pushed into the area to farm and ranch. Section corners were staked out with the equipment of the day. But in today’s high–-tech world, when accurate maps are essential for emergency responders, officials need a better picture of where things are. “We’re 100, 200 feet off in some areas,” according to County GIS Director Allen Armstrong. Details Here
• Commissioners OK GIS contract County commissioners approved a contract this morning between Morgan County, CO and the Denver-based Carter and Burgess firm for a geographic information system. The goal of the contract, according to Commissioner Mark Arndt, is fourfold. First, the contract will provide mapping of elections information to the level of each individual ballot. Elections mapping in the county is “something that should have been done a long time ago,” County Clerk and Recorder Fay Johnson said. Details Here
In Technology …
• Apple Makes a Play for NT Orphans. Microsoft’s competitors smell blood in the enterprise waters. They are swarming around NT 4.0 like sharks. And Apple is among the school of circling predators. Apple Computer Inc. sees a silver lining in Microsof’s decision to phase out support for NT Server 4.0 at the end of this year. To capitalize on potentially disenfranchised Windows server customers, Apple is planning on providing an NT migration tool as part of the Mac OS X Server 10.4 Tiger release, due out in the first half of 2005.
Details Here.
• Fujitsu Plans World's Fastest Database. Fujitsu and Japan’s National Institute of Genetics are working on building what they expect will be the world’s fastest database when it opens later this year. A prototype of the system based on Fujitsu’s Shunsaku XML database engine has already been completed and is currently undergoing in–house testing at the genetics institute, which is also known as Shunsaku in Japan. Idenken’s database is one of the world’s three main genetics database. It includes 35 million records including the DNA pattern of 39.8 billion bases and its size is doubling every year.
Details Here
• Lindows Settles with Microsoft. Lindows Inc. settled a trademark infringement case with Microsoft Corp.The San Diego, California software company, which develops a version of the Linux operating system for consumers, had been planning to go public over the last few months, even as the dispute over whether its name and products were too similar to Microsoft’s “Windows” tied up senior management. Lindows, which applied for a Nasdaq listing under the symbol “LINE,” said it will stop using the name Lindows and adopt a previously announced name, Linspire. Microsoft will pay upstart Linux seller Lindows $20 million
Details Here
In Utilities …
• The largest corporate scandal in US history is one step closer to being resolved. Prosecutors have brought charges against Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron which was once America's seventh-largest publicly owned company by revenue. If found guilty, Lay could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Details Here
• Lessons learned from 2003 blackout, industry says.
From the control room of New York state's electrical grid, dispatchers
sitting in front of computer screens can for the first time monitor the flow
of current as far away as Florida and the Midwest. In New England, which was
barely affected by the massive outage that left 50 million people without
electricity, power dispatchers have begun collecting more detailed
information about what is happening with the grid beyond the region’s
borders, rather than depending on other operators for alerts. Officials in New York and New England said they are sharing more information about the condition of the power system with other grid operators through regular conference calls and e–mails. Details Here
• For the second time in the past month, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a key piece of San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) plan to enhance reliability in the San Diego region and to meet the growing energy needs of its customers. The CPUC granted SDG&E’s request for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to add a much–needed electric transmission line to help ease the electricity logjam in the San Diego area. The commission’s action clears the way for SDG&E to begin construction of a new 230,000 volt (230 kV) electric transmission line along its existing right–of–way from its Miguel substation in the southeast region of San Diego County to its Mission substation in Mission Valley.
Details Here.
• Ohio Consumer Advocate Asks Regulators to Reconsider FirstEnergy Rate Plan Decision
State regulators should reconsider the portions of a decision that may cause FirstEnergy customers to continue to pay high monthly bills, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), the residential utility advocate said.
Details Here.
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