new: geographic web" NOT on Google Earth & NOT poached OSGEO logo

[Mike Liebhold]

I recieved a very prompt response from both Google Earth and OSGEO 
excusing the Logo similarity as purely coincidental.

In my original note, I hesitated mentioning the logo issue at all, as 
distracting from the  main issues re: a   "geographic web"  ( and it is 
a convneient distraction for google.  so far almost all of the repsonses 
have dealt  only with the logo and not the more substantive issues. ) 
but I was quite startled when I first saw a very familiar logo  all over 
google earth. I do realize the motif is somewhat common,The charitable 
thing to say is that the choice and simlarity are accidental,  but if 
you think about it, very embarrassing  for not google or panoramio not 
noticing OSGEO's prior use of a very similar mark.

Given the coincidental simultaneous appearance of the faux  "geographic 
web" on google earth, using these compass star icons all over the map, 
it was too tempting to be a bit more cynical.

In any case I suggest we put the compass star behind us and consider how 
we can all work together to build a true 'geographic web' e.g.

/If google earth actually supported standards, starting with html and 
georss, wfs/wms/gml I guess they could claim a "geographic web". /

Mike








Mike Liebhold wrote:

> I clicked on google earth today, to follow my daughter & husband's 
> journey from brazil into argentina, and found an unexpected new 
> default view.
>
> I don't know which is more offensive:
>
> 1, That google would add a new default selected layer called 
> "geographic web" that is - no way -  a "geographic web"
>
> or
>
> 2. that that the prominent logo on many proprietary kml placemark 
> pages from these "geographic web"  points is so derivitive/poached 
> from the widely recognized  OSGEO <http://osgeo.org> logo. see 
> panoramio.com <http://panoramio.com/>
>
> And it's kind of counter-intuitive to see some  non-editable wikipedia 
> pages have mysteriously been imported into google's own non-standard 
> kml format.
>
> If google earth actually supported standards, starting with html and 
> georss, wfs/wms/gml I guess they could claim a "geographic web". Until 
> then it looks like a clearly blantant appropriation for private 
> advantage of  the term "geographic web" that explicitly means open 
> standard hypermedia, to most rational people.
>
> check it out.
>
> - Mike Liebhold

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