GIS Edu Weekly: Mapbox license change is a teachable moment

Mapbox Changes it Software License

Mapbox powers AccuWeather maps

I saw this news last week but did not understand it, so I decided to wait until I did to write about it. Thankfully, Paul Ramsey explained what's going on in a reply to Joe Morrison's post on the topic. In short, going forward Mapbox is changing its licensing of Mapbox gl-js such that at version 2.0 it's no longer open source. "Updates to the v1 releases [with the BSD license] will be made only for critical browser compatibility or security issues for a limited time" per a Mapbox blog post. 

From 2.0 onward, the license is this one detailed on GitHub, that includes fees when an application passes a threshold (which is further detailed in the Mapbox blog post). That's akin to what Google Maps does; the service is free to a point, then you pay. Mapbox was among the companies who tried to "woo" disenchanted Google Maps users to Mapbox after its 2011 price change.

GIS Education Weekly: Save the University of Wyoming Department of Geography

Courses and Programs

gvSIG poster featuring
crime applications

The gvSIG Association launched a free course (several video tutorials) focusing on GIS applied to criminology. The materials seem to be from Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche.

The Tribune (India): GNDU, PRSC join hands for geospatial research - "Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) and Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of geospatial technology on Thursday."

Marketing in Geospatial: What's New

I saw two interesting marketing moves from geospatial companies this week. Each one is "off the beaten path" just enough to be considered clever.

CartoDB ran an audio ad in the Data Stories podcast. One of the hosts read the text and pointed listeners to the company's gallery page. "Learn how CartoDB is shaping the world of location intelligence at cartodb.com/gallery." The topic of the podcast, ironically, is turning data, gravitational waves, into audio, rather than anything visual. I didn't listen to the podcast since I'd heard about the concept some time ago on NPR.

Mapbox is running a series of "ask me a question" posts on Reddit/GIS. These are not "Ask me anythings (AMAs) exactly, but an offer by Blake Thompson, a software engineer at Mapbox, to answer questions about specific GIS topics. First up were: algorithms and Web map APIs. As you can see, there was a good amount of interaction/engagement.

What happened in GIS while you were away...

Most of us have been on vacation since about December 23. Here's some of what happened while you were away. 

Esri is using a What3Words-like Format in its Esri UC Marketing

A physical mailer for the 2016 Esri Usr Conference appeared at the end of December with MEET.MAP.MASTER. on the front. I tried it in the What3Words tool and it's not a place. The mailer included a number-filled infographic with data to convince the recipient to attend the event. My favorite factoid:

76% of attendees gain an understanding of what others in there are doing.

Why the early mailing?

Apply your 2015 budget to the 2016 Esri UC 

GIS Education Weekly: DIgitalGlobe Shares Imagery, Health GIS Course, PCI Center of Excellence

Newsletter

I've set up a newsletter for GIS Education Weekly News. Future editions will be delivered to your e-mail box each Thursday when you sign up here.

---

Maps and the geospatial revolution: teaching a massive open online course (MOOC) in geography

Penn State's Anthony Robinson shares lessons learned from teaching the Maps MOOC in this article. It's now readable (open access) to all for free. To be clear, Penn State paid for it to be free. That's how publishing works nowadays.

---

Mapbox Education

I have an interview in the works with Lyzi Diamond of the education team at Mapbox, but for now you might want to read this Twitter conversation.