Points of Interest: January 7, 2005

Lucky 7 from Adobe. Acrobat Version 7 was released Wednesday. It comes in two versions, the $299 Standard edition and the $449 Professional edition with some higher-end features. Adobe changed the name of Acrobat Reader to Adobe Reader and added some key features: Reader can now add comments and make modifications to PDF files--as long as the original PDF creator permits it and uses the Professional version. This may help Bentley in its quest make PDF the engineering exchange format in its competition with Autodesk's DWF.

Re-mapping Could Take Months. The AP reports that NGA "is working around the clock to gather information, warn mariners and begin the time-consuming task of recharting altered coastlines and ports throughout the region." It may take months. Shipping channel depths may have changed significantly, and so far most warnings say simply that effectively, things may not be where they have been.

GIS in Insurance: A Ways to Go. According to a new report from analysts at the Tower Group, insurance companies need to look beyond GIS use as a point solution. The report offers that more return can be expected when applying GIS to property management, real estate investment, company-owned agency management and employee benefit services.

SRTM Data of South Asia/Islands. The final data release of the year 2000 Space Shuttle Endeavour Radar Topography Mission covers Australia and New Zealand. It also covers more than 1,000 islands in Polynesia and Melanesia in the South Pacific, as well as islands in the South Indian and Atlantic oceans. "Many of these islands have never had their topography mapped," Dr. Michael Kobrick, mission project scientist of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.. "Their low topography makes them vulnerable to tidal effects, storm surges and long-term sea level rise. Knowing exactly where rising waters will go is vital to mitigating the effects of future disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami," he said.

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Source: Material used herein is often supplied by external sources and used as is.