Map Watch News

BMW and Honda are offering GPS units for their motorcycles. These handlebar units can replace many of the functions previously done by a speedometer plus they have the navigational features of a GPS.
Read more about at Motorcycle GPS at mwerks.com

A proposed bill in Massachusetts would require high risk sex offenders to wear GPS bracelets as a condition of their parole. These devices would track the movements of the offender and transmit their location to a central tracking computer. If the offender enters an "off limits" area that information would be transmitted to the law enforcement agencies. The bill also proposes methods that will track the movement of offenders who have previous restraining order violations.

The Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has assembled a team of expert surveyors and climbers to climb Mt. Everest (Mount Qomolangma) for the purpose of making the most accurate measure ever of its elevation. In 1975 the peak was measured at 8,848.13 meters above sea level. This measurement was confirmed by three subsequent surveys. Improved surveying technologies combined with tectonic activity may result in a new elevation report.

The State of Indiana is having one-foot resolution aerial photographs taken of the entire state in an effort to create a database for GIS and mapping projects. This data will be used to support homeland security, emergency management, and other business and government applications.
Read more at 2005 Indiana Aerial Photography Project.

Stephen Regenold, a syndicated columnist known as the "Gear Junkie" has given MyTopo.com's print-on-demand topo map and aerial photo service his "Favorite Product of 2004". MyTopo.com specializes in providing topographic and aerial photo base maps via an easy online ordering process. MyTopo.com allows the customer to center any place in the United States, choose the map's grid lines, give it their own title, and designate whether they wanted it printed on waterproof, laminated or glossy paper. Several size choices are available and the maps range in price from $9.95 to $60.00. MyTopo.com prints the map to the customer's specification and ships it within 24 hours. Stephen Regenold's column naming MyTopo.com a Top 10 Gear Junkie Product of 2004 appeared in late November and early December in newspapers across the country, including the Seattle Post Intelligencer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Reno Gazette-Journal, Spokane Spokesman Review, Cape Cod Times, St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Billings Gazette, among others.

Get your Custom Printed Topo Map or Aerial Photo.

United States Lighthouses and others throughout the world have become much less useful with the widespread use of GPS and other navigation technology. An article at spiegel.de gives a good summary of this trend. Read more about United States Lighthouses and International Lighthouses are being replaced by GPS

I just got a good look at Google's new map website and the maps that they are making are impressive. As is typical for Google their interface is Spartan in design but I don't think that many people will have trouble figuring out how to navigate and change scale. Try searching for your hometown, state + pizza and see what you get. The locational data is not perfect but it seems to be about as good as any other online map website or GPS-type database.
Checkout what might be the best Online Street Maps at Google.

Rand McNally is now offering custom city maps for Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Tucson and Washington DC. Their easy to use tools allow you to zoom in on an address or neighborhood and center the map exactly where you want. Printing can be done in three different sizes and the maps are laminated for a high quality desk or wall map.

Order your Custom City Map at Rand McNally.

How would you like to be able to transfer GPS coordinate data between your GPS and a text file, Excel file, Windows clipboard or mapping program. Now you can do it easily with a program by Frontbase GPS. Download a free trail version or purchase the full version at their website.
GPS Coordinate Transfer Program