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Wild about GIS? |
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MapInfo Professional® provides the solution for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Responsible for 95 sites and covering in excess of 6300 acres, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust manages assets within different territories, maps and tracks the ownership of site boundaries, collects, stores and visualises extensive conservation data from surveys, and also carries out market research. Having such a broad and varied data set meant that it was vital for the Trust to be able to view and analyse the information they were gathering on a digital map. MapInfo Professional, as a leading digital mapping system that is quick, easy and effective to use, enabled the Trust to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage and present all types of geographical data essential to site management and the daily work of the Trust. Similarly, using MapInfo with Ordnance Survey data has allowed YWT to provide background mapping for site location maps, project maps, membership distribution maps and maps for funding bids. Read more here… (March 2013) |
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2011 Census release - free download |
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Initial Release of Census 2011 Data This initial release can be requested in MapInfo TAB format for FREE from PB Software. To download the free data click here When available the full set of 2011 variables will be split into packs such as Economic Activity, Health, Housing, Social Class, Migration, and Workplace to make navigating the thousands of variables easier. |
![]() ![]() 2011 Population Density by Output Area |
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Sign up for “The MapInfo Professional” |
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What is “The MapInfo Professional”? Here is a link to the first issue (April 2012). The journal is delivered via e-mail, please click here to subscribe. |
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CDR Announce a New Partnership with Everbridge |
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CDR Group and Everbridge are pleased to announce a new partnership in tackling the current challenges that Local Government face from a Business Continuity, Mass Communication and Emergency Planning aspect Everbridge are the World leaders in Mass Notification and Emergency Notifications Systems –as recognised by Gartner’s 2012 Magic Quadrant. CDR Group has teamed up with Everbridge in a new partnership to bring this tried and tested platform to the UK market. We think you will be impressed.
The Everbridge system can help Local Government alleviate these challenges and improve the communication that members of the public and staff receive from their local authority. About Everbridge |
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MapInfo Professional® Maintenance Release (v11.5.2) is Now Available |
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Another new release!
MapInfo Professional supports SQLite databases through OSGeo FDO Data Access Technology, so that you can work with spatial data stored in SQLite database files. A format that you can use in both MapInfo and AutoCAD products There are also some MapInfo Supplemental Fonts available to download from the PB Software site at http://www.pbinsight.com/support/product-downloads/item/mapinfo-professional-additional-fonts For those who like to program with MapInfo MapBasic, there is also a patch to MapBasic v11.5.2. And more... MapInfo Manager v1.3Announcing the NEW Version of MapInfo Manager PB Software's spatial data management solution designed to allow organisations to harvest and catalogue their metadata. The new version incorporates a host of new and improved features and greater integration with MapInfo Professional
Along with features such as:
MapInfo Manager is fully compliant and linked to the INSPIRE directive and can be an important and major step forward toward compliance. |
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MapInfo Pro update for Microsoft Bing™ Service |
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The Microsoft Bing™ Imagery service that is available within MapInfo Professional is provided for customers who continue with their Annual Maintenance contracts. As the Annual Maintenance covers new versions of MapInfo automatically, it may be expected that all customers will be on the latest version of MapInfo. However, for various reasons, some customers have yet to upgrade their installations and also still require access to the Bing™ Imagery. Clients who are running version 10.5.3 and 11.0.x will require a patch update, as the Bing™ Imagery will not be available after 31st December 2012. CDR has communicated this to all of our clients with details of how to obtain the patch (as it is not generally available). Don’t forget that you could also upgrade to take advantage of a Premium service that includes Bing™ Roads and the Bing™ search to move your map to anywhere in the world by an address or a place name with “Move Map To” Service. Keep a look out for another patch to MapInfo v11.5 in the New Year with new features and updates. (December 2012) top of page |
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Mapping Showcase 2012 – Discover What’s New in Mapping Community |
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For one day only on Thursday 6 December 2012, Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, Mapping Showcase 2012 once again brings together the GIS, surveying, cartography and GPS industries to provide a free to attend, commercial exhibition with a range of education and support sessions, keynote presentations and fun activities throughout the day. The event aims to attract those who use maps at home or at work and want to find out about the latest products and solutions, learn about new technologies technologies through a series of focused masterclasses, receive best practice advice from industry bodies and experts and network with those who share a common interest. It will especially appeal to those within the property, utility, transportation, local and central government, environmental, insurance and surveying markets who rely on mapping in one form or another. CDR Group will have an exhibition stand at the event, so come along and see examples of some of the work that we have been undertaking lately. Keynote talks, to be conducted in the Lord’s Media Centre, and a full programme of enlightening masterclass sessions will cover an array of mapping-based themes within the GIS, cartography, GPS, surveying and computing fields. These are also free for delegates to attend on a first come first served basis as places are limited. (October 2012) |
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MapInfo Professional® Maintenance Release (v11.5.1) is Now Available |
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More than just a Patch! This patch does more than just fix a few bugs though.
In particular, users will find the new Workspace Error Handling to be a much kinder process. In previous versions of MapInfo Professional, any error that occurred when opening a workspace halted the processing of that workspace. In MapInfo Professional 11.5.1, you can now continue loading a workspace, even if some of the tables could not be opened. And more... Encom Discover™ 2012 The release of Encom Discover 2012 from Pitney Bowes Software showcases the ongoing innovative developments that have made Discover the ‘must-have’ GIS application for geoscientists worldwide. This release includes the visualisation of 3D vector models on cross-sections; automatic notification of maintenance releases; new data capture and validation tools; the display and modelling of multi-banded grids, in addition to a wealth of other new features and improvements.
(September 2012) |
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PB Encom’s Discover 3D updated |
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Encom Discover and Discover 3D 2012 introduces a more accessible and intuitive 3D GIS environment for MapInfo Professional users. With its extensive range of features purpose-built for geosciences application, Encom Discover 2012 continues to unlock the power of MapInfo Professional that extends beyond geologists and geoscience professionals. Many users are now making use of the Hydrological modelling in Discover to define river catchments.
Discover 3D 2012 also includes:
And more.... (July 2012) |
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Introducing MapInfo Professional® v11.5 |
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We are delighted to announce the launch of MapInfo Professional 11.5. The official launch of MapInfo Professional in the UK took place at the MapInfo User Group Summer Conference in Birmingham on 20th June 2012. For clients on the Annual Maintenance Program, you will receive your notifications by email shortly after this date for a digital download of the new software. The primary focus of the 11.5 release is enhanced usability. This means that the many common tasks are easier and therefore quicker to perform, requiring fewer mouse clicks. Also the quality of the output is enhanced making work look more professional. Finally there is a continuation to integrate products, such as MapInfo Manager and Stratus to give a better experience across the suite of Location Intelligence applications. Version 11.5 introduces key customer benefits through the following capability enhancements in the area of:
And more... Visit CDR on July 6th at our next Open Day to see for yourself. (July 2012) |
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Moving in Maritime Circles |
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CDR Group was recently approached by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for help in mapping the cruising ranges of lifeboats. The RNLI utilise over 330 active lifeboats based at 235 lifeboat stations around the coastline of the UK and ROI. These lifeboats can travel at speeds of 25 knots and have a range of up to 250 nautical miles. Determining the areas that can be serviced by each lifeboat within target response times is a critical factor in the RNLI’s operations. Calculating isochrones (lines of equal distance or time) from points on a linear coastline such as parts of Eastern England is relatively simple. In the complex marine geography of, say, the north-west coast of Scotland the task is significantly more difficult. Following detailed discussions with the RNLI regarding their requirements, CDR Group developed MICruise. This is a MapBasic application running within MapInfo Professional® that rapidly calculates marine isochrones from any given coastal location or set of locations. Key facts about the RNLI |
These isochrones can be generated as either polygons or polylines at distances selected by the operator.
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Summer News and Events |
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As we just get over the latest weather glitch (blizzards causing havoc in the Peak District in April), we are looking ahead to a busy summer of events and product releases. The Association for Geographic Information (AGI) continues to host a number of very useful seminars, meetings and conferences and CDR Group will be exhibiting at the AGI North Conference in Manchester on 3rd May. If you want to keep up to date with all things MapInfo related, then Pitney Bowes Software have just published online “The MapInfo Professional Journal”. Here you will find useful tips, tricks and information. Sign up here. We have also scheduled another one day Vertical Mapper Training Course on the 17th May, for those interested in the 3D and grid analysis that Vertical Mapper offers. Easter has interrupted our schedule of monthly Open Days but keep a look out for your invitation to our next themed presentation on May 4th. Get in touch with our Sales Team if you want to be added to our mailing list.
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MapInfo Professional Patch Release 11.0.4 Now Available |
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Pitney Bowes Software is pleased to announce the latest update to MapInfo Professional. This release is available for free to MapInfo Professional v11.0 users. You can obtain this update by opening MapInfo Professional 11.0, and selecting the “Check for Update…” option under the Help menu. Click here to download the v11.0.4 patch. Thank you for your support and for your business.
(April 2012) |
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Site Centred Mapping – Real Maps |
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CDR Group has teamed-up with Hope Digital to provide a new service that delivers site-centred Ordnance Survey laminated maps. You can specify the location of anywhere in Great Britain to centre a customised map at a range of 4 scales to suit your own needs. Not only will it be printed to your area of interest – it will be laminated in the all-weather Aqua3™ coating. With Aqua3™ you can still fold the map without the lamination cracking, it is tearproof, it is lightweight and you can rewrite on it. The Aqua3 Series 10, 25, 50 or 250 Ordnance Survey range puts you in the centre of your map. Aqua3 is the first site centred map to include magnetic data provided by the British Geological Survey. If you're a keen walker, horse rider or organisation based in any outdoor activity, take a closer look. The benefits of using Aqua3 are that all maps are printed using UV inks. The papers used are synthetic so are less affected by water and over-laminated to protect the print. Available folded or flat for wall use, the choice is yours. Scales available are:
The Aqua3 Series also allows you to add text notes in the key section. Great for recording grid references, emergency contacts or your personal itinerary. |
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MapInfo Professional Patch Releases for v10.5.3 and 11.0.3 Now Available |
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Pitney Bowes Software is pleased to announce the latest update to MapInfo Professional. This release is available for free to MapInfo Professional v11.0 users. You can obtain this update by opening MapInfo Professional 11.0, and selecting the “Check for Update…” option under the Help menu. MapInfo Professional 11.0.3 is a cumulative update that includes everything that was updated with 11.0.1 plus additional fixes. You can apply this update to MapInfo Professional 11.0, 11.0.1, or 11.0.2. New in v11.0.3
Version 10.5.3 patch For those customers who are under Annual Maintenance but have not yet upgraded their copy to version 11, you may have noticed that from January 1st you have not been able to access the Microsoft Bing™ Imagery. You will need to apply the 10.5.3 patch to continue to use the Microsoft Bing™ imagery until the end of 2012. Nominated representatives for each client will have received an email with details on how to obtain this patch. If you have any difficulties just contact the CDR team. Thank you for your support and for your business. |
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Bringing History to Life in Southwark |
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As part of their wide range of GIS services to clients, CDR Group has been making historic maps and drawings accessible for more than ten years. Their skills were recently called upon by the London Borough of Southwark. The GIS Manager at Southwark, Stuart Carter, had discovered an old archive of maps. Recognising the quality and potential interest of these maps Stuart realised that it was a shame if they were to remain hidden away. Stuart therefore engaged CDR Group to make this historic record of the Borough available both internally to the Borough and externally to the wider public via the internet. CDR’s task involved firstly scanning each of the maps using our large-format scanning equipment. Each of the images was then cropped along what is known as the “neat line”. The cropped images were further manipulated to produce a true rectilinear image with the top edge of the map being horizontal. The fourth stage is to generate geo-referencing data for each image so that they can be loaded into a GIS such as MapInfo Professional. This was successfully completed and the public can view the finished data on Southwark’s website under the “Maps” tab, along with the modern day mapping and imagery. |
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CDR at the Mapping Showcase Exhibition |
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CDR will be exhibiting at The Mapping Showcase 2011 event as part of The London Mapping Festival (LMF). This is a new, free of charge event dedicated to the diverse range of mapping-related technologies and services available in the marketplace. The event is designed to bring together attendees across the public and private sector interested in the latest mapping innovations, products, technology and services. It will especially appeal to those within property, utilities, transport, government, environmental, insurance and technology markets. Free keynote talks and workshops will cover an array of mapping-based themes within the GIS, cartography, GPS, surveying and computing industries. Pop in to see us on our stand where we shall be showing examples of our work in and around London.
(November 2011) |
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New OS MasterMap® user support documentation |
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Following feedback from customers, Ordnance Survey has now completed a six-month pilot project to deliver the next generation of user support information for OS MasterMap. A 'getting started guide' (GSG) pdf has been written by a technical author with expert knowledge of the ITN layer. The GSG is a major step towards helping people work out whether they should be using ITN, and if so, helping them through the key hurdles and decision points in implementing the product. Next steps There will now be a review period to assess the benefits realised, before further projects to update other OS MasterMap user documentation are started. User feedback required The Ordnance Survey really want to find out whether this new style of documentation is the improvement that users require. Please send any feedback on the ITN GSG or online support pages to: osmastermap@ordnancesurvey.co.uk Keep an eye out for your invitation to CDR’s December Open Day, when we shall be presenting ways of using ITN in routing applications.
(October 2011) |
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MapInfo Professional Maintenance Release (v11.0.1) is Now Available |
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Pitney Bowes Software is pleased to announce the latest update to MapInfo Professional. This release is available for free to MapInfo Professional v11.0 users. You can obtain this update by opening MapInfo Professional 11.0, and selecting the “Check for Update…” option under the Help menu. The update addresses over 40 customer reported issues. These fixes are likely to help you in your daily work with MapInfo Professional. Below are a just some of the highlights of this update.
Thank you for your support and for your business.If you need any further advice or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at CDR Group. (Sept 2011) top of page |
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MapInfo Manager v1.2 |
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Announcing the NEW Version of MapInfo Manager PBBI's spatial data management solution designed to allow organisations to harvest and catalogue their metadata. New Features
A key element of the MapInfo Manager application is the improved productivity associated with the whole process of building catalogs from masses of data. Harvesting data and adding metadata records to Catalogs is now available as a Contact the CDR sales team for more information or a demonstration. |
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CDR Supports the London Mapping Festival |
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CDR Group is proud to be a sponsor of the London Mapping Festival. The London Mapping Festival (LMF) 2011 – 2012 is an 18 month programme of activities designed to promote the unique range of mapping, innovative technologies and applications that exist for the Capital. The festival will showcase all mapping-related disciplines including cartography, surveying, GIS, GPS and remote sensing. The activities are organised by LMF supporters (both commercial and non-commercial organisations) and combine existing events with new specially organised ones to provide something for everyone. These will include workshops for schools, public lectures, professional conferences and mass participation activities. CDR became involved with this exciting initiative following a project to scan and incorporate some historic mapping of Southwark – which can now be viewed online by clicking here There are a range of activities for all and more details can be found at the LMF website by clicking here (August 2011) |
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WindowHelper 1.5 |
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There is now a free tool available for MapInfo Professional that allows you to manage the many windows that are regularly used. Most users will have come across issues when dealing with lots of Map, Browser, Legend, Info Tool, Statistics and Layout windows. With this tool you can:
WindowHelper version 1.5, has been made into a floating, dockable window in its own right, that also shows a list of currently open windows. What is more, this tool is completely free to download and use. As WindowHelper uses some of the same capabilities as the new Layer Control, WindowHelper requires MapInfo Professional 10.5.2 or later. One extremely happy user has already been quoted as saying “WindowHelper Rocks!”. What greater endorsement could you need? In order to download this free utility click on the link below: http://www.pbinsight.com/support/product-downloads/item/windowhelper
(July 2011) |
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Introducing MapInfo Professional® v11 |
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We are delighted to announce the launch of MapInfo Professional 11. The official launch of MapInfo Professional in the UK took place at the MapInfo User Group Summer Conference in Bristol on 21st June 2011. For clients on the Annual Maintenance Program, you will receive your notifications by email shortly after this date. Benefits of MapInfo Professional v11 include:
Visit CDR on July 1st at our next Open Day to see for yourself. |
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CDR Sponsors Cotton Grass Theatre |
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CDR has had a long relationship with the Cotton Grass Theatre company, since it first helped stage the production of Blue Remembered Hills in the grounds of Birchfield Hall 16 years ago. Now the theatre company has a new production of “Street Child” by Berlie Doherty - It is based on the true account of the boy who inspired Doctor Barnardo to set up his ‘Ragged Schools’ and ‘Cottage Homes‘ for orphans. |
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MapInfo Manager version 1.1 released |
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Announcing the NEW Version of MapInfo Manager PBBI's spatial data management solution designed to allow organisations to harvest and catalogue their metadata. MapInfo Manager is part of the solution from PBBI to help our customers meet their INSPIRE requirements. MapInfo Manager is INSPIRE compliant. The metadata catalogue adheres to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Catalog Services Web (CSW) standard. MapInfo Manager is a server based catalogue that can be accessed by anyone with a browser but also from within MapInfo, where you can search, interrogate and even open the data into your MapInfo session. Contact the CDR sales team for more information or a demonstration.
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Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) for England and Wales |
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As of 1st April 2011, the new Public Sector Mapping Agreement for England and Wales came into being. The PSMA is centrally funded through Communities and Local Government (CLG), who have entered into an agreement with Ordnance Survey to provide geographic information. This means that public sector bodies will not have to pay separate fees to use Ordnance Survey data provided through the PSMA. |
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Launch of NEW Browse-A-Map |
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At our March Open Day, we launched the new version of Browse-A-Map. After months of development and beta testing, the New Browse-A-Map follows with the same concept of ease and affordability. (Other products are available for the Enterprise). New Browse-A-Map is a rich web mapping application based upon Open Source software that allows your users to share geospatial data using nothing more than a standard web browser. Data can be published from a number of standard spatial data sources, enabling true Cloud computing. The application includes the facilities to quickly pan, re-centre, zoom, find features and retrieve attribute information from data stored in various file formats. Simple theme files, analogous to workspace or project files used in other systems, define and control the mapping available to users. Click on the image or visit www.browse-a-map.co.uk for more information and a live demo. Choose a theme pulling
mapping from ViaEuropa (OS OpenData®) or OpenStreetMap or
OS OpenSource® data in British National Grid. (March 2011) |
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CDR Expand their Ordnance Survey portfolio |
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Ordnance Survey launched their new Pricing and Licensing Model at the end of 2010, which aims to enable greater access to its products and geographic datasets under a simplified structure. Among the changes to be presented is the introduction of terms to allow partner businesses to licence and resell almost all Ordnance Survey products, including its flagship dataset, OS MasterMap Topography Layer. Partners will also have greater flexibility in how they can onward license Ordnance Survey products, with the choice of how much or how little they want to include in their offerings. This will give customers greater choice of where they source their Ordnance Survey data. CDR has signed up to the provision of the new datasets, which includes; 1:10,000 scale raster, Points of Interest, LandForm Profile+, OS MasterMap Topography and Integrated Transport Network. When combined with the free availability of data through OS
OpenData, the new pricing and licensing model means high quality
digital mapping has never been more accessible. Indeed, CDR
has already supplied the new data to clients in the New Year.
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OPEN DAY (10 December 2010) |
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DUE
TO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE OPEN DAY TO BE HELD ON 10TH DECEMBER HAS BEEN POSTPONED. |
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MapInfo Professional v10.5.1 patch now available |
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The MI Pro v10.5.1 patch is available! In MapInfo Pro click on Help > Check for Update in order to obtain the patch. The release notes are on the website here Highlights
If you need any further advice or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at CDR Group.
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New Open Source Workshop |
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With cuts being announced seemingly daily at present, many organisations are starting to investigate using Open Source software. But what are the implications of this and will it actually do what your organisation requires? This workshop is aimed at anyone who is interested in using or investigating Open Source or free software for their organisation or department. The day will start with a discussion the real meaning of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), the real meaning of the licences and the pro's and con's of using FOSS. The second section will examine in depth what is available in the world of GIS using FOSS, with particular emphasis on web based technologies. The afternoon will take the form of a code workshop, where
delegates can "get their hands dirty" writing some
basic OpenLayers applications. Some knowledge of JavaScript
is useful here but by no means essential.
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Crime Profiler version 1.1 released |
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Police forces, emergency services and other public safety organisations engaged in making safer communities are under increased pressure to improve services, respond faster, achieve more and take control of crime and public safety. Crime Profiler allows Crime Analysts and law enforcement agencies to slice, dice and visualise crime data for informed decision making. Additionally, keeping the public well informed about local crime and providing a channel to publish law enforcement successes is essential. Crime Profiler for MapInfo Professional is accessible from the software's main menu bar and provides the user with a wide range of crime analysis tools. Its core functions include hotspot analysis, interactive analytical investigation and temporal analysis. The application's highly visual and interactive charting and graphing capabilities enable law enforcement agencies to clearly map and analyse crime patterns in order to make more informed crime analysis and enforcement decisions. MapInfo Crime Profiler provides a single, ready-to-use solution for applying common operations and toolkits to enable investigative or research-based crime analysis. It offers a number of features designed to improve the way crime analysis data is analysed and presented across a police agency, including:
Contact the CDR team
for further information or a demonstration of this exciting
software application.
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You can also read about the Safer Derbyshire Partnership and how they have been using Crime Profiler to great effect
by clicking here for a pdf document |
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MapBasic and ProViewer v10.5 now available to Download |
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Following the release of MapInfo Professional version 10.5, you can now download both MapBasic and MapInfo ProViewer version 10.5 from the Pitney Bowes Software website. MapBasic enables you to automate repetitive tasks, program new functionality or even develop complete applications in MapInfo Professional. This download includes a large number of sample applications, complete with source code, for you to learn from. For those new to programming, MapBasic is a straightforward, BASIC-type programming language. For individuals with programming experience who want to integrate MapBasic into an existing application, this is done using the Integrated Mapping feature. MapInfo ProViewer is a complement to MapInfo Professional and is an easy-to-use map viewing tool. Both of these products are free to download from this link. (July 2010) |
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Introducing MapInfo Professional® v10.5 |
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We are delighted to announce the launch of MapInfo Professional 10.5. The official launch of MapInfo Professional in the UK took place at the MapInfo User Group Summer Conference in London on 23rd June 2010. For clients on the Annual Maintenance Program, you will receive your new release in the post shortly after this date. MapInfo Professional v10.5 provides organisations with new and powerful methods for sharing maps across the enterprise. With MapInfo Professional v10.5, organisations can more fully interact with the cloud, including capabilities to publish maps to the cloud and access data from the cloud. MapInfo Professional v10.5 also includes integration with Bing Maps and increased support for key industry standards such as the OGC Catalogue Services Web interface, streamlining access to data residing in the cloud and additional publishing features. By using the new integrated Metadata Browser capability public sector organisations will be able to easily search catalogues of spatial data hosted internally by organisations across Europe, as mandated by the EU's INSPIRE regulations. Benefits of MapInfo Professional v10.5 include:
Visit CDR on July 2nd at our next Open Day to find out more.
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Aiming for Peak Performance |
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CDR Group has developed a new software application for MapInfo Professional® to assist Highway Authorities to optimise the spreading of rock salt for winter maintenance. The Issue Budgetary constraints and the need to provide value-for money
services are key issues for UK Local Authorities. For Highway
Authorities, Winter Maintenance (salting) presents particular
challenges due to
Recognising these issues, in 2009 Derbyshire County Council embarked on a major project to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their Winter Maintenance operations. The Challenge Derbyshire County Council is responsible for some 5,500Km of
road, of which some 2,500 Km are currently designated as requiring
salting. These include some of the most challenging and weather
affected roads in England across the Peak District. The Authority
currently operates 47 front line vehicles with a team of 140
drivers based at five strategically located depots. Derbyshire County Council's approach to this challenge is based on three key features:
CDR's Contribution Derbyshire County Council turned to their GIS provider CDR Group to provide the software solution to form the vital link between the route planners and the vehicle operators. To this end, CDR has worked closely with the County Council, to develop, test and commission MISalt. This is an application developed in MapBasic (MapInfo's programming language) to run within MapInfo Professional providing the following key functionality:
The severe winter weather at the start of 2010 has thrust the
issue of winter maintenance into the public and political spotlight,
amply demonstrating Derbyshire County Council's foresight in
taking steps to improve the flexibility and efficiency of their
Winter Maintenance operations. CDR Group is pleased to have been able to play a part in this
significant project. (May 2010) |
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Ordnance Survey Announces Availability of Free Digital Mapping |
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On 1st April 2010, Ordnance Survey (GB) announced the immediate availability of a range of FREE digital mapping products under the title of OS OpenData. This has followed recent reviews and the public consultation process held by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The new online service allows users to view, develop, download and order selected Ordnance Survey mapping datasets with no restrictions on re-use. There are 11 products now available to download or order on
DVD directly from the Ordnance Survey website: The following Ordnance Survey mapping datasets have been made
available:
Please note that this is not the full range of Ordnance Survey digital data products and the other mid to large scale products are still available to licence at the same costs as before 1st April. As Ordnance Survey Licensed Partners and Accredited Data Consultants, CDR is committed to the support of our customers who wish to utilise geographic data. Our next Open Day on May 7th will be explaining in depth and demonstrating the free Ordnance Survey data and how to incorporate it within the MapInfo software environment. We shall also be contacting all of our clients who currently hold a contract in regards to any of these OS OpenData products, you will also be receiving written confirmation of how this launch affects your contract. CDR Group is able to offer you a professional service to
manage and supply the data, configured ready for use in MapInfo
for a small administrative charge on an annual basis. If you want any further advice, you can contact our team via email or telephone 01433 621282 (lines open Monday - Friday: 9.00am to 5.00pm). (April 2010) |
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Vertical Mapper version 3.7 released |
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The pace of software development continues as CDR is pleased to announce the release of Vertical Mapper version 3.7 for MapInfo from Pitney Bowes Software. If you want answers from location-based data, Vertical Mapper will find them, creating grids, or continuous surfaces of information, from point data by estimating values between known points - without using artificial boundaries. The list of new features are:- New Import Raster Data as Vertical Mapper Grid feature
which will enable you to convert raster data such as *.bmp file
into a Vertical Mapper Grid file.
Supported Operating Systems:
Works with MapInfo Professional v9.5 and above. Customers under an Annual Maintenance contract will be automatically receiving their new product very soon. (February 2010) |
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HS Gridder version 2 released |
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CDR is pleased to announce the release of version 2 of HS Gridder for MapInfo. The popular Hotspot and Temporal Analysis tool has been enhanced in response to user feedback and improvements to MapInfo Professional. The list of new features are:- Aoristic Select function - select records (aoristic/rigid) by:
User Preferences
Automation of HS_Gridder
Uses 'Time' and 'DateTime' data types. No limit on the number of input points - tested on 1 million
points Added 'translucency' option for hotspot layer. Enhanced time graph styles retrieve information about settings used to create the hotspot layer. HS Gridder writes metadata to the tab file, and there is a
new menu Works with MapInfo Professional v9.0 and above. |
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HS Gridder version 2 released |
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CDR is pleased to announce the release of version 2 of HS Gridder for MapInfo. The popular Hotspot and Temporal Analysis tool has been enhanced in response to user feedback and improvements to MapInfo Professional. The list of new features are:- Aoristic Select function - select records (aoristic/rigid) by:
User Preferences
Automation of HS_Gridder
Uses 'Time' and 'DateTime' data types. No limit on the number of input points - tested on 1 million
points Added 'translucency' option for hotspot layer. Enhanced time graph styles retrieve information about settings used to create the hotspot layer. HS Gridder writes metadata to the tab file, and there is a
new menu Works with MapInfo Professional v9.0 and above. |
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MapInfo Professional v10.0.1 patch now available |
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This is an incremental patch that will update MapInfo Professional
10.0 to MapInfo Professional 10.0.1 Build 220. This patch can
be applied to the release versions of MapInfo Professional 10.0
and MapInfo RunTime 10.0. This can be downloaded from within MapInfo by using the Help menu > Check for
Updates
If you need any further advice or assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact us at CDR Group. |
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Consultation on access to Ordnance Survey data |
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The Department for Communities and Local Government has published
a public consultation in relation to Ordnance Survey and proposals
to allow greater access to a range of Ordnance Survey data from
next year.
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South Kesteven Go Live With Stratus Connect |
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The Lincolnshire local authority, South Kesteven District Council has recently gone live with their new on-line map service. The system, which utilises Stratus Connect from Pitney Bowes Software (PBBI), allows residents and visitors to discover information about the area, whether it's resident interested in finding out more about a planning application or a visitor looking for a car park, the maps can help. Stratus Connect is a Web 2.0 built mapping tool with easy to
use navigation and search facilities and brings spatial capabilities
and address based searching to further enhance South Kesteven's
web site and customer experience. The Authority upgraded from the older Exponare product and
for their internal intranet GIS capabilities, CDR has installed
PlanWeb. |
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North Yorkshire's Digital Highways |
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As the largest county in England and Wales North Yorkshire
County Council (NYCC) has the responsibility to maintain more
than 9,000 kilometres of roads - and their associated pavements
and verges. |
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Launch of Stratus Connect 2.0 |
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CDR Group is pleased to announce the launch and availability
of Stratus Connect 2.0 Pitney Bowes Software officially released version 2.0
on 30th September, following previews at the recent AGI Conference
in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it was extremely well received. What's new in version 2.0?
If you would like a closer look at this exciting new application,
then please get in touch with our Sales Team or attend our Open
Day on 13th November. |
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Ordnance Survey Housing Seminars |
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Don't miss the opportunity to hear and experience first-hand how geography can inform better decisions in housing. Register now to attend the FREE regional seminars Ordnance Survey is offering for the social housing sector. The seminars will be held from 10am to 2pm and will feature a speaker session in the morning. After lunch a workshop session, hosted by Ordnance Survey partners, will offer the chance to experience first hand how geographic information can inform decisions in housing. These seminars will help managers within the social housing sector to make better use of geography to reduce risk and make the right decisions. CDR Staff will be at the York event: 21 October - The National Railway Museum, York You can register online for free at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/housing09 |
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CDR Group cements Ordnance Survey Partnership |
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CDR Group is proud to announce that it has become a Licensed
Partner of Ordnance Survey, licensed to distribute their range
of digital mapping products. CDR has worked closely with Ordnance
Survey as a Developer Partner since digital data became available
from Ordnance Survey back in the 1980's. The subject of the CDR monthly Open Day on Friday 4th September
is "Making the Most of Ordnance Survey Digital Data".
This is a free and informal event where we look in depth to
discover the ins and outs of Ordnance Survey data, on this occasion.
Anyone wishing to attend should contact the sales team for further
details and registration; sales@cdrgroup.co.uk
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New MapInfo Version 10 Migration Training Course. |
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The release of MapInfo Professional version 10.0 this summer has introduced some huge changes to the interface and Layer Control, which lies at the core of the operation of this software application. CDR has taken the steps to design a one day course to help users of previous versions migrate their skills over to the new version. The intention is to give each delegate the information required to effectively utilise the newer features in version 10. Many of these new features are aimed at working more efficiently and you should see many tasks taking less time to perform. The course covers all aspects of the new features and explains where you may gain advantage. Previous version releases of MapInfo Professional have not really warranted a full day training but it is obvious from our experience and user feedback that this release is worthy of spending time getting to grips with it. Whilst attendance on the MapInfo Foundation course (MI2) is useful it is by no means required. However a working knowledge of MapInfo Professional is fundamental (e.g. How to open and close files, dealing with multiple windows, layer control etc) Like all of CDR's training courses both of these courses are fully "hands on" with each delegate using a dedicated PC with the latest software versions installed. Comprehensive course notes are issued to each delegate at the start of the course for no extra cost. If you or any of your colleagues are interested in this course
please contact our Sales team on 01433 621282. We shall be running
more of these courses in due course in response to demand -
so let us know if September or October is better for you, or
you want a course delivered at your offices perhaps. (July 2009) |
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Reveal for MapInfo |
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CDR Group's workspace and table analysis tool, Reveal, was aired at the recent MapInfo User Group in Birmingham. Darryl Beresford presented "Oh no, my workspace won't open" to the attentive audience of MUGgers. Given the situation of many users creating many tables and workspaces, Darryl explained the issues that exist with trying to manage and repair hundreds and thousands of files. Reveal was developed with the aid of key users to help audit, manage and tidy up the abundance of files being generated by many users. On its first test run at a Metropolitan Borough Council, over 3,500 workspaces were detected, which in turn referenced some 90,000 tables - and that was on just one server! For more information on Reveal for MapInfo click here (July 2009) |
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Introducing MapInfo Professional® v10.0 |
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We are delighted to announce the launch of MapInfo Professional
10.0. The official launch date for MapInfo Professional in the
UK is 22 June 2009. For clients on the Annual Maintenance Program,
you will receive your new release in the post shortly after
this date. |
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Virtual Whitehaven set for Regeneration |
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Copeland Borough Council, in partnership with the urban regeneration company West Lakes Renaissance, are leading the economic revival of West Cumbria. The market town and historic port of Whitehaven has a bustling town centre where people come to relax and have fun. The town is notably famous for the invasion by the US Navy in 1777 by John Paul Jones and his fleet during the American War of Independence. While significant improvements have already been made to the
historic harbour and the shopping streets around it, there is
scope for more work to bring the rest of the town centre up
to a similar high standard. So, backed by West Lakes Renaissance,
Copeland BC offered to tender the construction of a 3D virtual
model of the town and Pow Beck Valley area, together with a
software package for viewing and editing. CDR Group were subsequently
chosen along with the Environ Planner software application suite
from Virtual Outlooks Ltd.
The Environ Builder application will construct the 3D model
from the various components, with some global settings like
automatically setting building heights and roof types. The Projects
Team at CDR were then able to amend individual building characteristics
and assign images to facades within the Environ Communicator
application. Added to the model also were trees, bollards, street
lights, traffic lights, fencing and walls. The bare earth terrain
model also required some editing in certain places using the
sculpting tool in the software. |
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Getting Engaged |
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CDR is pleased to announce the availability of the Encom Engage 3D suite of products. Encom Technology Pty Ltd and it's product range were acquired by Pitney Bowes some 15 months ago and has now filtered through to the Partner network. Building on the many powerful features of MapInfo Professional,
Engage converts MapInfo Professional into a sophisticated yet
easy-to-use tool for managing, manipulating and displaying virtually
any geographically related data set. The Engage product suite
gives users the ability to process and view data in ways that
previously required a number of software packages. Engage (March 2009) |
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Snow problem doesn't stop CDR - but we are having fun! |
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It has been a white world in Hope for 11 days but the snow
is now receding. |
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INTRODUCING VERTICAL MAPPER v3.5 |
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Pitney Bowes MapInfo have just launched a new version of the popular Vertical Mapper application for MapInfo Professional®. The program has been updated and improved with over 150 features being addressed. Enjoy new access from the more-familiar MapBasic® programming language to automate repeatable tasks and processes. Some 69 sample applications provide a fast, easy start to leverage Vertical Mapper functionality in your everyday work. With support for the latest native file format (.tab) enhancements,
users will appreciate the expanded capabilities of the new Vertical
Mapper file access library, including:
ADDITIONAL NEW FEATURES:
Existing customers can now upgrade and even take out an Annual Maintenance contract, as further development work on this product is already underway. Contact our Sales team for a quotation.
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MapInfo Professional v9.5.1 Patch Release |
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Pitney Bowes MapInfo is pleased to announce the immediate availability
of MapInfo Professional v9.5.1. This is a maintenance release
to MapInfo Professional v9.5. It is available free to all MapInfo
Professional v9.5 customers. You can obtain the maintenance
release by This point release has significant new features that will help you in your daily work with MapInfo Professional. Below are just a few of the highlights.
In addition, Pitney Bowes MapInfo are in the process of putting the final touches on their Easy Loader utility. The utility supports the uploading of MapInfo TAB files to popular databases such has Oracle Spatial (up to 11G) and MS SQL Server 2005 with SpatialWare support. Enhancements to this utility will include support of MS SQL 2008 spatial data upload and the uploading of MapInfo text objects to Oracle 11G Annotation text format. It is expected that the enhanced version of Easy Loader will be available later this month.
(December 2008) |
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Upgrade those old licences to MapInfo 9.5 before Christmas |
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It is normal for old versions of MapInfo, pre-version 8.0, to fall into the category: Unable to Upgrade. Now until December 19th 2008, MapInfo users have the chance to upgrade version 7.8 or below to version 9.5. As a part of this offer, users must purchase MATS (Maintenance and Technical Support) in year one. As it's normally not possible to upgrade legacy versions, this is a great opportunity to secure a copy of MapInfo 9.5 for £600 less than buying new. Contact our Sales Team for a quote - you will get further discount if you are adding to a Volume Licence of 5 or more licences. All prices are subject to VAT and carriage. (November 2008) |
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New Stratus Gallery launched for INSPIRE |
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Pitney Bowes MapInfo's Stratus is the next generation of products that delivers end-to-end spatial data management analysis and distribution. It is a set of web tools that harness new standards and technologies to deliver cutting edge spatial business applications. Stratus Gallery is the first product launch from the new suite - a web application designed to capture, store and distribute metadata. It is based on ISO and INSPIRE Standards and allows organisations to share access to large data catalogues. The Stratus Gallery console offers the ability to create, edit, delete and publish metadata records with an efficient, intuitive user interface. Stratus Gallery's web-based delivery offers secure access to anyone with a web browser. This also provides the opportunity to devolve metadata capture and management to data owners, making tasks more manageable. The web interface has been built using the latest Web 2.0 technologies and provides a rich user interface. CDR staff have recently been trained in the product to deliver this key application to the UK market. John Ievers, Director of CDR Group commented "This is a crucial component for anyone responding to the new European INSPIRE Directive. Moreover, as a piece of software, it has delivered a really easy to use application that can be utilised by all. I have always been impressed by software that turns a difficult or onerous task into a painless one." (November 2008) |
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PlanWeb and PlanAccess Capable |
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Following the acquisition by Pitney Bowes MapInfo of GDC Ltd,
a number of products have now become available to CDR to sell.
Amongst these are the PlanWeb and PlanAccess web mapping applications
built upon the MapInfo MapXtreme engine. Keen to get on board
with these products, CDR staff have now received the training
and backing of the MapInfo technical teams to be able to sell,
install and support them. |
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CDR's NEW SCANNING CAPABILITIES |
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CDR Group has enhanced its data capture service with the purchase
of two new A0 wide format scanners. Over the last decade scanning
technology has matured and today's scanners offer fast, accurate
and economic means to reproduce maps and drawings for use as
backdrops in GIS systems or for archive purposes. Gone have
the days of waiting for the scanners to warm up, adjusting and
calibrating the cameras, plans getting trapped in the rollers,
the need for expensive software etc. With CIS (Contact Image Sensor) technology the light from RGB colour LEDs is used as a light source, which is reflected by the document and is then received by the CIS sensor. The LEDs, lens and sensor are integrated into a single module that is close contact with the document. The advantages are that they have less moving parts are more robust and have a very short warm-up time. The disadvantage is that the document has to be in very close contact with the sensors, which may cause problems with laminated or heavily wrinkled drawings and although they produce sharper scans, the LED RGB illumination limits the colour reproduction. This makes CIS technology ideal for CAD and GIS users where capturing a wide range of colours and tones is less likely to be important. So by having both types of technology in-house CDR Group are well positioned to scan most types of plans, drawings, posters etc. to the highest standard. Nevertheless, CDR Group has maintained its existing high resolution A0 glass backed Kontron digitising tables for those projects that are just not suited to scanning. Scanning plans is not just like photocopying - there are many
issues to consider. Firstly there is the condition of the plan:
is it ripped, stapled, creased, have attachments, covered in
sellotape or glue. Much of this can be overcome by placing the
original in a suitable plastic wallet, otherwise a bit of manual
restoration will usually improve the situation. With scanning projects file sizes are critical. Scanning at an unnecessarily high dpi (dots per inch), or high colour depth to a lossless format may result in some extremely large files which not only consume a large amount of memory but often cause transfer and storage issues. In most cases a 300dpi at 8 bit colour stored to a Jpeg format will suffice. So have you considered freeing up some room, making your data
available via intranet or internet, or just archiving all those
plans, drawings, photos, land gazetteers, TPO's, Planning Applications,
old drawing books, plan chests, tanks etc. - just give us a
call to discuss.
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Matchmaking in Calderdale |
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Calderdale Metropolitan Council wanted to migrate their Local
Land Charges (LLC) records into the planning system used within
their Planning Service. As they had already created a full digital
complement of Basic Land and Property Units (BLPUs) Calderdale
did not want to create new spatial extents for the LLC records,
instead the intention was to match the address data held within
each LLC record to their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG)
and automatically generate the desired extents.
CDR's proprietary data-processing software (written in MapBasic and working in conjunction with MapInfo Professional software) presented the operator with details of the LLC record and facilitated a series of automated searches through each source of address information in turn allowing the operator to select the best possible match. The location of this match was then displayed on screen against a background of OS MasterMap mapping for the operator to verify that the spatial location was sensible for the record concerned. Where a single individual LLC record referred to a number of properties, the software generated multiple records to be matched successively to each property. This procedure resulted in 81% of the LLC records being matched
to an LLPG record with a High confidence level and a further
6% being matched with a Good confidence level. Only 365 records
were not matched at all. (September 2008) |
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Introducing MapInfo Professional® 9.5 |
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We are delighted to announce the launch of MapInfo Professional 9.5. The official launch date for MapInfo Professional in the UK is 23rd June 2008. For clients on the Annual Maintenance Program, you will receive your new release in the post shortly after this date. MapInfo Professional version 9.5 is the latest release of the powerful yet easy-to-use desktop location intelligence solution available. MapInfo Professional v9.5 provides new data creation and editing tools, enhanced access to the latest databases and industry standards and expanded programmability supporting Microsoft .NET Visit CDR on July 4th at our next Open Day to find out more, or attend the next MapInfo User Group in Bristol on July 2nd. (June 2008) |
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Dambusters remembered 65 years on |
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A service and fly-past has been held to mark the 65th anniversary of the World War II Dambusters mission only a few miles from CDRs offices. A Lancaster bomber flew three times over Derwent Reservoir in Derbyshire, which was used by the original pilots to train ahead of their famous raid. A Spitfire, a Hurricane, two Tornadoes and a Dakota transport plane joined the fly-past. CDR staff took a short break to view the events and Bruce Nowell got a bit closer to take the picture shown here. There is a link to the BBC News video if you would like to see more. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7404052.stm (May 2008) |
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Benefits of licensed data (BoLD) campaign |
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The Ordnance Survey - Great Britain's national mapping agency - has launched a new resource to explain the benefits of licensed data, as well as guides and case studies. By adopting best practice and ensuring that the mapping you
use is properly licensed you can take advantage of the following
benefits:
(April 2008) |
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The user event you can't afford to miss |
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Interact 08, the Pitney Bowes MapInfo and Pitney Bowes Group
1 Software user event, is being held on the 29th and 30th April
at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel (at the NEC site).
You can choose your own conference experience from over 50 different
session areas so it's bound to be of real interest to you. Whether
you're a new or advanced user, you can't afford to miss Interact
08.
Event highlights
(March 2008) |
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No Excuses - Recycle Lamps |
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CDR Group has just released its first Microsoft Virtual Earth
web application for Recolight. Recolight was established by
the UK Lamp industry in 2005 primarily for the purpose of operating
a WEEE Compliance Scheme on behalf of Lamp Producers in the
UK. Two key objectives of Recolight are:
Modern Low-energy light bulbs, as well as fluorescent tubes
and gas discharge lamps contain small amounts of mercury, which
require proper disposal and recycling. Whilst there are usually
facilities through Local Authority sites for household users,
Recolight has established a Compliance Scheme to meet the obligations
of the producers of the UK Lamp industry. |
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Archived NewsCDR Group Pick Up A Prestigous Web Mapping
Oscar CDR Premier Partner Status June |
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