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So, g'day to all fans, followers, supporters, surveyors, purveyors, promoters, proponents, exponents, experts, converts, conceptualisers, advisers, advocates, sophisticates and enthusiasts requiring to visualise and simulate both urban and rural geographic information (GIS), cartography, photogrammetry, remote sensing, digital elevation modelling (DEM) and general mapping.

By the spelling of "Visualisation" you may have already guessed that we're not US based – that's a good thing, or at least not a bad thing. This comes to you from the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia, where it's beautiful one day and perfect the next.

The link between visualisation and mapping may seem a little esoteric if this is your first encounter with this sort of stuff, but let me tell you, the bond is significant… but enough of that: on with the show… I hope you like it. Any feedback you might have is highly appreciated. E-mail me hereto make your comments.

Graeme Brooke
VizMAP Pty Ltd

A rotary wing part-task trainer, proof of concept demonstrator, has been designed & constructed by Geosim Technologies to demonstrate the feasibility of a locally manufactured low cost flight crew training device.  The part-task trainer, proof of concept demonstrator, will be used to demonstrate a variety of training applications including:  Both VFR & IFR procedural proficiency  Pilot screening & recruitment  Enhanced familiarisation & procedural preparation for ab-initio training leading to less time required in actual aircraft, lower costs & lower risks  Improved standards & instructor productivity  Initial route or landing site proving for pilots & other flight crews  Special mission introduction, familiarisation & recurrent training

The out-of-window visuals of made-to-order geographic scenery compliment the on-board instrumentation and true-to-form helicopter controls and cockpit. All these factors combine to give an "uncanny" feeling of flight at a very affordable cost.

Helicopters are very expensive to operate, and because of their capabilities tend to conduct missions with a significantly higher risk than fixed wing aircraft. Most operators have to constantly balance the high cost of training with an even higher cost of not training. 

The primary design concept of the Aviation Australia – GeoSim Technologies part-task trainer is to achieve a highly viable training solution, for a very low cost, by effectively integrating proven off the shelf technologies. 

San Francisco, August 13, 2002 – Linux World 2002 – DellTM PowerEdgeTM  servers running Red Hat® Linux®  will play an important role in IMAX's first-ever digital re-mastering of Universal Pictures' and Imagine Entertainment's Apollo 13, scheduled to hit IMAX theaters this Fall.

IMAX's new patent-pending technology, IMAX® DMRTM  (Digital Re-mastering), uses the processing power of Dell PowerEdge servers to re-purpose individual frames of 35mm film into IMAX's 15/70mm format in a matter of seconds. IMAX films are projected on screens eight-stories high and 120-feet wide with high caliber sound and image quality. Apollo 13 is the first theatrical live-action film to be digitally re-mastered for The IMAX Experience.

The IMAX DMR technology resides at IMAX's Toronto data center which processes several hundred gigabytes of data daily and is one of the largest rendering farms in Canada. IMAX uses dozens of Dell PowerEdge 2550 servers running Red Hat Linux for its DMR process, as well as an additional cluster of Dell PowerEdge 2550 servers for testing. IMAX chose Dell PowerEdge servers running Red Hat Linux for its IMAX DMR process because of the easy-to-use industry-standard platform, outstanding price and performance, and superior Dell support.

"With the help of Dell's technology, we have successfully transformed 'Apollo 13' into a larger than life movie experience. Star fields that were three points of light in 35mm become full galaxies in IMAX theaters," said Brian Bonnick, senior vice president of technology, IMAX Corporation. "These Intel-based systems running Red Hat Linux have provided the high quality of performance, availability and scalability necessary to handle our data-intensive applications. Dell's service and support have been invaluable and have helped keep our system running smoothly throughout this ground-breaking project."

The themes in this map primarily concentrate on issues like biodiversity and conservation where the Arctic has a special status, with vast expanses of still untouched nature, important fish stocks and large seabird colonies. Other environmental problems that the map touches upon are ecological footprint, land based pollution and climate change.

The major sources used are some of the best global publicly available collections of data and maps that have been collected and projected to show a polar view, and implemented in this interactive map service. The Arctic Environmental Atlas also draws from work that UNEP/GRID-Arendal has done for various Arctic projects over the years, in everything from conservation to pollution monitoring.

Click on these small resampled images to view the full screen images on the VizMAP website. Bear in mind that these are just screen dumps from a dynamic, interactive, 3D "flythrough". 

• DirectionsMag Events
• GeoCommunity Year 2002 Events  
• GISCafe Upcoming Events 
• GIS User Calendar of Events 
• Geoinformatics Calendar  
• ISPRS Events Calendar  

Far out on the horizon, the USS New Jersey was conducting a night gunnery exercise. The ensign, seeing the flashes of light from the battleship, ran excitedly up to the signal bridge and pointed out, mistakenly, the "Morse code" coming from the other ship.

Ensign:  "What are they saying? What are they saying?"

Signalman:  "Boom. Boom."