At the GeoCommons Office some of us are into Foursquare.  Foursquare is a location based game with social networking aspects.  Essentially when you go somewhere you “check-in” and you can get points for that.  Whoever has the most check-ins at a location becomes the “Mayor” of that location.  Here is the page for FortiusOne/GeoCommons, as you can see I’m currently the Mayor.

You can get your check-in feed as RSS, KML and ICS from the feeds page.

From the Finder! API you can register URLs.  Below is a sample curl command to register a KML feed of your Foursquare check-ins.

curl -i -X POST -u “yourusername:yourpassword” -d “overlay[wild_url]=http://feeds.foursquare.com/history/yourkmlfeed.kml” http://finder.geocommons.com/overlays.xml

Replace “yourusername:yourpassword” with your GeoCommons username and password and “http://feeds.foursquare.com/history/yourkmlfeed.kml” with your Foursquare KML feed.

By default your layer is not shared in Finder!, if you want to make a map though you have to share it.  In order to share it go to Finder and login.  Once logged in press “My Layers” and share your layer there.  If you ever decide you no longer want to share your check-in feed you can mark it “not shared” here as well.

Once your layer is uploaded and shared you can create a map.

I embedded the map I made in my personal blog’s about page.  To embed your map click on the “Details” button while viewing the map and then click on “Do you want to embed this map in your website?”  Copy the code that appears and paste it into the HTML of your blog or other website.

If you enjoy playing Foursquare and want to share your feed try this out.  For more information on the Finder! API checkout it out here. Also if you ever happen to visit us in the GeoCommons’ office, check-in it is an order from the Mayor.

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Many companies are on Twitter, but how are they using this social media tool? Glenn Letham of GISuser discusses how organizations, for example ESRI, use Twitter to keep their readers informed of industry and company news as well as a communication tool to their customers. Letham encourages other GIS/Geo Technology companies to use Twitter as a medium for customer relations and technical assistance. Follow us on Twitter!

Harvard launched AfricaMap. The map is based on the Harvard University Geospatial Infrastructure (HUG) platform and was developed by the Center for Geographic Analysis.  AfricaMap, a OpenLayers-based app, aims to expand existing initiatives for globally sharing spatial data and technology. 

Google Maps created a fun quiz where you get to test your geographic puzzle solving skills. To play the quiz, you have to rearrange letters in a map, using visual clues in the form of a Panoramio photograph, to spell a world capital or U.S. state capital.

The USGS National Geospatial Program Office launched a new version of The National Map website. Revisions include The National Geospatial Program and The National Map web site.

Discussions about the auto industry bailout have been percolating the blogosphere. How would this affect auto industry workers? CNN created an interactive map showing the number of auto industry jobs in each state.

Popularity: 25% [?]

It’s been three years since Hurricane Katrina hit and with hurricane season here, it is no wonder why the Lt. Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu, stated the importance of Google Street Maps to the New Orleans community. The tool offers the people the opportunity to view the progression in New Orleans. For a better perspective on the recovery, visit The New Orleans Index Anniversary Edition: Three Years After Katrina.

The use of GIS for natural disasters is now trickling over to emergency preparedness. The World Vision International, a faith-based disaster aid organization, is beginning to embrace GIS. The main mission of the organization is to ‘overcome poverty and injustice by reducing the impact of natural disasters with area development programs that concentrate efforts with long-term commitment to maximize their impact.’ Because there is a direct correlation between poverty and areas prone to natural disasters, World Vision International will use GIS to help save lives and prevent loss of life.

The Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) is now official. A meeting was held this week at the ESRI User’s Conference in San Diego, where organization members voted on their new officers. Currently the coalition has 11 organization members including, the Cartography and Geographic Information Society, the GIS Certification Institute and the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping.

Geospatial professionals are integrating with social networks. Apparently, social network creator Ning has about 22 members and is steadily growing in their Geospatial Professionals Network. Fellow professionals are encouraged to join and engage.

Finally, as the Olympics get underway, we want to say good luck to Director of Operations Matt Madigan, who is currently in Beijing coaching the women’s quad sculling team.

Popularity: 14% [?]

With Monday’s unveiling of Google’s Map Maker, Google account holders now have the ability to edit and add to certain Google Maps. The Map Maker currently only allows for map editing in a select group of countries including Cyprus, Iceland, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Caribbean nations. Functions of the tool include custom map creations, borders and regions, places of interest and road networks.

ESRI released their downloadable application, ArcGIS Explorer 480, this week. The upgraded version still offers the same basic function of geoprocessing services, but with major improvements such as KML improvements and increase in performance.

Nokia acquired Plazes, an LBS social mapping network. Plazes provides updates of friends’ activities in a find me/follow me type of service. The social mapping application will take Nokia one step closer to “bringing people and places together” and also acknowledges the rise and demand of LBS.

Microsoft and Virtual Earth launched a program that allows state and local governments to share their imagery, called GoVE. All of the imagery from these governments, municipalities and aerial photographers gets sent to Microsoft, which in turn is published by Virtual Earth.

Popularity: 21% [?]