I finally found some time to blog on what I deem a revolutionary software solution released by Universal Mind. Having my head in GIS solutions; ESRI, MapQuest and the players they integrate with I state knowing full well based on what I have seen over this 7 year period that the approach taken to this solution goes far beyond any solution on the market and will provide tremendous benefits to any organization that retains and/or analyzes location based data.

You may be asking yourself, what is the benefit of Spatial Key with regard to the data in question? The quick response is that if you are dealing with large datasets spread globally, regionally, or even locally this software will save you time. Please follow the Law Enforcement link to see how Spatial Key is currently being utilized by the Ogden Police Department.

Imagine millions of data points immediately organized allowing the user to drill down, expedite reporting, and understand relationships of data that may not have been realized prior to using Spatial Key. This last item is important with regard to statistics associated with location data spread over time. A real world scenario would be an event that created increases and or decreases of a given activity in certain locations (i.e sales, travel, instability, etc). With Spatial Key the timeframe of this event can be filtered graphically in which the analytics behind this filter can be readily deduced. See the demo here and try out the various example applications here

As human beings we are visual creatures and when it comes to crunching numbers or aligning information what better approach is there than to understand where the data points are generated from and then drill into this data with a better understanding of what is occurring. I have just touched on the surface at this point with regard to data integration with Spatial Key.

In closing I have to comment on the incredibly intuitive visual cues built into viewing the data across a map backdrop. These are features such as heat maps, heat grids, and graduated circles which will show you hot and cold spots within your data points. There is also timeline playback support where animation of data across time will show how data changed within a given time period.

I look forward to your comments and questions regarding Spatial Key.

Recently Andy Powell won a WII for his submission into the 360 Flex | API Contest.

His winning application is a great example of leveraging multiple APIs that at first glance, one may be challenged in connecting the dots with regard to how they could be integrated into a single intuitive application. When I first looked at Andy's initial layout and functionality as intuitive as it was, I got stoked because I could see that this application could be enhanced visually and functionally; so I am blogging about the enhancements I made to that effect.

First, I had some .css in mind to give it that Ribbit Green theme. I adjusted the layout of the various nested canvases and converted them to use a form which allows for formitem conciseness with regard to alignment etc and allots for a default button (integrated form 'enter key' functionality).

I sized down the respective API images into the main panels control bar (will be applying links shortly) and enhanced the map functionality which allows for a unique icon (hotel) to identify the selected hotel from other hotel POIs on the map. Each time a search is performed the past icon is returned to its initial state and the newly selected hotel gets the new icon (member variables used to allow for this). I will be styling the MapQuest info windows that pop up with selection of a POI shortly as the very customizable MapQuest API is 100% extensible.

I then relocated the RIBBIT dial up interface and adjusted dialing status to persist in the connection labeling area rather than separately at the bottom of the form to save real estate. Lastly, I wrapped it in a panel with the hotel details form and nested it within a panel along with the MapQuest tilemap component. This panel will soon be a slide in that will open/close via grid selection and panel close feature. Please check out the new app on Andy's site here; Ribbit, Kayak, MapQuest Mashup and book your hotel today 8-).

FYI, souce code is located at Andy's Google code site here: AP's GCode site