As promised, here’s the deck from tonight’s GovHack kickoff in Sydney. Enjoy!
GeoRabble GovHack Sydney Intro Slides
…and here’s the PPT file with the notes from the preso: PPTX
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The Boundary Mapper’s Cookbook
Dots on maps don’t always tell you the full story behind the numbers. In cases where you’ve got postcode, suburb or council based data – you’ll want to be able to map those boundaries to tell a richer story than text, numbers or dots can do.
Here’s a quick and dirty guide to getting up and running with boundary data just in time for GovHack:
1 – Install PostgreSQL 9.1 : http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload
2 – Install PostGIS 2.0 : http://www.postgis.org/download/ (there are now 64bit binaries for those who want serious spatial power)
3 – Download some Shapefile (SHP) formatted boundary data and load it into PostGIS (there’s a GUI – PostGIS Shapefile and DBF Loader 2.0 – inside the PostgreSQL Admin Console). If you’ve got another format there are OS tools you can use – try OGR2OGR (handy guide here)
4 – Download some data to go with those lovely boundaries – e.g. some juicy hot off the press ATO Tax data
5 – Install PHP 5.3 on your web server with the PostgreSQL PDO drivers : http://php.net/downloads.php
6 – Download the PostGIS RESTful Web Service Framework 1.1 (PRWSF)
7 – Edit the PRWSF /inc/database.inc.php file to set your PostgreSQL database connection
8 – Download Leaflet Javascript API
9 – Get a Cloudmade account for a free API key to access to an OpenStreetMap tile layer of your choice
10 – Edit the PRWSF /v1/ws_geo_attributequery.php file to support callbacks for cross domain JSON:
echo $_GET[‘jsoncallback’] . ‘(‘;
require_once(“../inc/format.inc.php”);
echo ‘)’;
11 – Leech some code from GitHub
FYI – the ABS has a rich collection of boundaries for you to use under Creative Commons licensing. This links directly to their own stats as well as the stats of many other agencies and organisation, such as the ATO (who recently released a tonne of tax data!). This data is ripe for rich visualisation:
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/ABS+Geography+Publications#Anchor8
Note: 2006 Census data uses he ASGC boundaries. 2011 Census data will use the ASGS bdys when the data is released on June 21.
Cool Australian Boundary Comparison
Here’s a cool site which allows you to compare the size of various map objects: http://mapfrappe.blogspot.ca/2011/02/australia.html
If we could move Uluru to Manhattan:
GeoRabble Melbourne #2 Speaker Registration Now Open
Hello there! The first Melbourne GeoRabble was held last year, and it was lots of fun. Now GeoRabble Melbourne #2 is in the pipeline for 5.30 pm on Wednesday, 30th of May 2012 at Lanai Bar at CQ (Melbourne). GIS Recruitment has been confirmed as exclusive sponsor for the event.
If you haven’t been to one before, here is the run down. It’s an evening to share geo-ideas, full of fun, and free from sales-pitches! Each presentation is light, relevant to geo-something and is only 10 minutes long.
Agile speaker or passionate Geo-Geek? To get the ball rolling, we are looking for some presenters. Will you be one of them?
Send an email to Melbourne@georabble.org with your name, presentation title and a short description. You can also get our attention on Twitter via @georabble or using the #GeoRabbleMelb hashtag, join us at the online GeoRabble Melbourne Meetup Group or the Facebook GeoRabble group
We’ll announce the speaker line-up and ticketing very soon!
Bend it like Queenslanders at GeoRabble Brisbane #1
GeoRabble Brisbane #1 rocked! We had 107 registrations and although the numbers on the night are uncertain it was BIG. As the hordes arrived the organizers gave up on checkins, threw the pages of sticky name labels into the crowd and joined the party. Rain threatened and Lord of the Rabble Rob Clout was stressing, but on the night it was perfection and the outdoor venue (PigNWhistle) overlooking the river was sublime . The show went on and many people stayed on to rabble on late into the night. If you were there, or if you took any photos, we’d love to hear from you! If you weren’t there but wish you were, well, we’d love to hear from you also. Add a comment or send a tweet to @georabble !
Continue reading Bend it like Queenslanders at GeoRabble Brisbane #1
NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2012
GeoRabble is excited to be associated with this year’s NASA International Space Apps Challenge, a perfect opportunity for geo-geeks to meet, and work with like-minded developers, scientists and other space experts from all over the world.
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is an international codeathon-style event that will take place over a 48 hour period in cities on all seven continents – and in space – on the weekend of 21-22 April, 2012. The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing solutions to global challenges.
With under a month to go, the hype of the event is gaining momentum around the world. The Space Apps Challenge in Australia now welcomes two new satellite events to the programme, one being in Adelaide at the Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century at Flinders University. The other will be hosted at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. This will now open up the opportunity for more participants from other cities in Australia to get involved.
You can be part of this great event as a participant, subject expert or volunteer. If you’re interested, there’s more information on the website, you can register as participant or volunteer, or follow the challenge on Twitter.
Hope to see you there!
GeoRabble Sydney #4 – Final Speaker List
The speaker list for GeoRabble Sydney #4 has been finalised!
In keeping with the GeoRabble tradition – we’re once again presenting a great variety of excellent geo-related topics.
We are very proud to present the following awesome lineup:
Jack Zhao (Small Multiples) : Are casino operators targeting vulnerable community groups?
Gambling problems are more prevalent in Asians than other Australians. Are casino operators targeting these vulnerable community groups by offering shuttle bus services? Inspired by the SMH article “Casino buses in migrants who hope ‘to live beyond their means” (Heath Aston; December 11, 2011), we created a series of maps to show the influence of The Star casino on migrant communities in Sydney.
Bio: Jack is an interaction designer who specialises in data visualisation with keen interests in tactile interfaces and networked urbanism. He loves tinkering and brainstorming ideas. Jack graduated from the University of New South Wales as a Bioinformatician and completed a Masters degree in Interaction Design and Electronic Arts at the University of Sydney.
Andrew Cook : 10 Good Reasons to Share Data
We all need data, without data there would be nothing. Is there a utopia where data is born, lives and dies? If there is a data utopia, where is it? How will we get there? By sharing data! Because sharing drives innovation. If we all share data more, then the principles (and importance) of Good Data Management will proliferate and data can be perceived as an asset (or a tradable commodity).
Bio: Andrew is a Chartered Geographer and Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society (so not a boffin). Andrew started from the bottom, in a field with a stick and a notepad. 14 years later and having contributed to Spatial Analysis and Spatial Application Development teams for Desktop, Mobile and Web (including implementing Spatial Data Infrastructure) Andrew now works as Asia Pacific GIS Coordinator for ERM (environmental consultancy) – and it is all back to first principles of data management as he works across the Asia Pacific region.
Kathryn Howard (Bookcrossing) : Books Just Wanna Be Free!
What if the whole world was a library where books were free and travelled the world over? Bookcrossing is a smart social networking site. It’s a celebration of literature and a place where books take on a life of their own. They assume a unique identity and their progress tracked as they pass from reader to reader. The bookcrossing community is changing the world, engaging and connecting people – touching lives one book at a time.
Bio: Kathryn’s day job is as an IT Service management consultant, improving the IT service support and delivery experience one step at a time. In this fast paced social media networking world, work/life integration brings global conversations to a device near you. Collaborative consumption and networking are the new norm and she believes it’s the way to engage people by sharing and building both knowledge and experiences to make the world a better place.
Paul Wither : Set your data free from the typing pool
Standards in any form are an inherently stale topic, arguably more so when applied to GIS. However, the future growth and mainstream use of geodata depends heavily on their wide spread adoption. This presentation looks at what are standards? And explores why they are important and how they can help free you from the typing pool. Also my in-laws are in town and giving this presentation gets me out of the house for a night.
Bio: Paul is widely regarded by friends and colleagues as an insufferable geo-geek. Having only recently returned from the UK, Paul has a very Euro-centric view and a strange hybrid accent but please don’t hold that against him. Paul has spent the last 13 years designing spatial applications and GIS implementations for organisations around the world covering industries such as Government, Insurance, Military, Financial Services, Transport/Logistics and Emergency Services and will babble on about them unless plied with lots of free beer…
Natasha Rawlings, David Jones (Street Hawk) : Retail – The next tech roadkill or benefactor?
How SmartPhones are changing the way we shop in the real-world.
Bios: Natasha is a Direct Marketing specialist who has spent her career acquiring and keeping customers using data for a number of the world’s largest direct marketing companies including Harlequin Mills & Boon, International Masters Publishers, Guthy-Renker and News Corporation. Natasha’s role at StreetHawk is to juggle the multiple hats of CEO including shopper and retailer recruitment, and provide thought leadership in mobile marketing. Mother of one and wife to a gadget loving Lego geek, she is thrilled she can now combine one of her biggest passions – shopping – with work. Natasha aims to revolutionise the shopping world by providing easy tools to retailers to acquire and keep customers, profitably, in the real world, in real time.
David is a serial internet company founder who previously started SurfControl Email Filter (now WebSENSE), SpamMATTERS and ThreatMetrix – now a Gartner “Visionary” company for Web Fraud Protection. Each of these companies are distinguished by filtering large amounts of “big-data” as automated analytics engines. The results provided significant revenue generation and cost reduction value to customers. David’s role as co-founder at StreetHawk is in driving the product development of the StreetHawk’s ‘RRR Engine’ and initial iPhone and Android StreetHawk apps. In his copious spare time (not) David can be found freezing in Freshwater ocean pool, mangling mandarin and aiding the Australian Startup scene via initiatives like StartMate.
Sarah Pulis, Stewart Hay : Are your online maps really reaching everyone?
We’ll be taking a look at how online mapping solutions fail to consider people with accessibility difficulties, and what can be done about it.
Bios: Sarah is a web accessibility expert working for Media Access Australia, Australia’s only independent not-for-profit organisation devoted to increasing access to media for people with disabilities. Sarah is an active member of the accessibility community and representing Media Access Australia on a number of W3C accessibility working groups. She is also the organiser of OZeWAI, Australia’s only web accessibility conference. Sarah has a Bachelor of Computer Science/Bachelor of Cognitive Science and has also completed a Master of Science entitled Interpreting the DCMI Abstract Model to support software development for Dublin Core Metadata. Her Master’s thesis was completed as part of an ARC-funded project to develop a semantic web application for cultural heritage management, during which she also worked as a developer on that project.
Stewart is the Principal Consultant for OneSphere and is an expert at designing, developing and implementing GIS solutions for organisations both large and small. His experience encompasses a range of industries from Environmental Management and Utilities to Emergency Services and all tiers of Government. He has held key roles within the spatial industry including General Manager of the Spatial Sciences Institute/Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute and Manager GIS for the NSW Rural Fire Services. Stewart has a BSc (Curtin) and MBA (UNSW) and sits on the Advisory board of the UNSW School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems and the SIBA NSW Region Management Group.
Many thanks to our speakers, who are graciously offering their free time to share their passion, their experience, their stories with you!
Come and hear their great talks next Thursday March 29 at the Shelbourne Hotel (doors open 5.30pm, talks from 6.30pm).
Get your free tickets at GeoRabbleSydney4.eventbrite.com.au
GeoRabble Brisbane #1 speakers are warming up …
Bronze(d) Speakers, a photo by mgjefferies on Flickr.
We’re lining up the awesome speakers for GeoRabble Brisbane #1 (5.30 pm Tuesday April 17th at the Pig N Whistle! Order your free tickets )
Speakers lineup….
GeoRabble Welcome from Stewart Hay, OneSphere
Dr Ben Guy, UrbanCircus 3D
Damon Oehlman, Sidelab
Simon Elvery, Web Developer, Left, Right & Centre
Bryan Reeves
Megan Cope, Artist
Dr Ben Guy – Insights into virtual 3d planning
Dr Ben Guy, founder of Brisbane-based infrastructure visualisation company Urban Circus 3D, has demonstrated the power of 3D visuals to express the narrative of design and data in a clear and compelling manner, to expidites process and “sell the story”. Ben is an urbanist and environmental psychologist who has worked in the design industry for over 10 years. Ben’s doctorate is from the UK in place-based urbanism and regenerative planning.
” The problem with planning and managing precincts – from projects to places like cities – can be the fundamental difficulty in common understanding of what everyone is talking about quickly and easily. This is the cause of so many misunderstandings, errors, reworks, redesigns, disappointments, anxieties and construction errors! One of the main reasons is the limitations is using words and line drawings to describe an organic, complex spatial world. When we change that by using tools to help people understand through seeing projects and results move thrice as fast.”
Megan Cope – Maps, aboriginal art & place names
Megan Cope’s work explores notions of environment, identity, geomorphology and mapping; decolonizing methodologies and toponymy are a primary aspect of her practice. A descendant from the Quandamooka region (North Stradbroke Island) in South East QLD, Megan is a member of proppaNOW, the Queensland collective of urban Aboriginal Artists who are making waves in Australia and internationally with their intelligent brash art. Megan has exhibited her works at Australian Embassy in Washington DC, the Koori Heritage Trust in Melbourne, City Gallery in Wellington NZ, Cairns regional art gallery and the 2009 ARC Biennial in Brisbane.
Megan will take us to an unusual place, melding cartography, toponomy, aboriginal art & place names.
“Toponyms – Place names are an important aspect of culture and identity as they provide location where history, events, landscapes and people are remembered, celebrated and continued. The use of language and basic cartographic symbology reveal a multilayered fluid landscape with dual histories & dual identities.
Simon Elvery – Web Developer, Left, Right & Centre
The use of personal geographic data on the social web has excited Simon since the day he discovered he could geotag his photos on Flickr. Entranced by the possibilities exposed by attaching geographic data to online content, Simon strapped a GPS to himself for a year (see more at “All the places I go” ). He provides a fun, different look at the idea of geospatial and a window into the Brisbane Web Design community.
Damon Oehlman
Damon founded a company called Sidelab which offers solutions and services in the area of location based web applications. Damon is a very well known and vocal member of the Brisbane open source and mobile web development community. He has a number of very interesting projects and is a very engaging speaker. He adds a passion and experience for mobile web applications and experience in diverse communities.
@damonoehlman
GeoRabble Brisbane organizers update
The second GeoRabble Brisbane Organizing Team meeting has an offer of sponsorship, giving courage to proceed, and (Woot!) a door-prize, thanks to a #fatfinger error by a Perth based vendor on the Georabble Twitter login: Beautifully exploited by Rob into a compensatory “offer” of an anonymous door prize for this event.
The venue: The Pig and Whistle has two options: The back beer garden is a good venue as long as the weather is kind. There is a smaller area within the bar so we’ll see how registrations go.
Now, we do already have a great shortlist of speakers but are still entertaining ideas, so contact use the brisbane@georabble.org email. The next meeting date is Mar 22 so move quickly.
Yours,
The organizing team
Nick Lawrence, Yvonne Thompson, Megan Stanley, Graeme Browning, Karl Warschau, Rob Clout, Jody Garnett
Speakers at GeoRabble Sydney #4
We’re building an excellent lineup for GeoRabble Sydney #4!
Here’s the list of confirmed speakers so far to whet your geo-appetite (bios and abstracts to follow next week):
Jack Zhao (Small Multiples) : Are casino operators targeting vulnerable community groups?
Andrew Cook : 10 Good Reasons to Share Data
Kathryn Howard (Bookcrossing) : Books Just Wanna Be Free!
Paul Wither : Set your data free from the typing pool
GeoRabble Sydney #4 is on Thursday March 29 at the Shelbourne Hotel (doors open 5.30pm, talks from 6.30pm). Get your free tickets at GeoRabbleSydney4.eventbrite.com.au
GeoRabble 