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"Natural Earth is a public domain map dataset available at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110 million scales. Featuring tightly integrated vector and raster data, with Natural Earth you can make a variety of visually pleasing, well-crafted maps with cartography or GIS software."

Ecology maintains the spatial datasets described here in order to better describe the diverse natural and cultural environment that we live and work in. As a public service, we have made some of our data available for viewing and downloading here.

These maps show the different ways--cars, transit, and bikes--people get around the Emerald City and provide a portrait of how a city moves. 2 Comments

"Many social entrepreneurs are seeking more individualized support in the form of shared working spaces, incubators and/or accelerators that provide a mix of networking opportunities, events, funding, and mentorship in exchange for a monthly membership fee or equity stake in their company."

A 50-foot tall statue of Shaquille O'Neal marks the southeast entrance to Beijing's Chaoyang Park. The NBA star clutches a basketball close to his chest and gazes towards the horizon. Nearby are three outdoor basketball courts, where I've scheduled an interview with the head of Greenpeace East Asia's Sustainable Finance Program. Calvin Quek is playing a game of four-on-four when I arrive one morning this past August. Smog blocks the sunshine and makes the air feel thick. If the other players notice, they don't show it. Some smoke cigarettes during the water breaks. "It's hard to say black and white whether [the government] is for or against us," Quek says of Greenpeace, over the sound of bouncing basketballs. Earlier this week, his colleagues had published "Thirsty Coal," a grim critique of China's coal strategy. The government plans to build 16 new coal-fired power bases by 2015 in some of the country's most arid regions. "Left unchecked," reads the English report summary, "these mining projects will only cause more ecological disaster and social unrest in the foreseeable future."

David Suzuki: The economic benefits of tackling climate change Comments (2) By David Suzuki, October 2, 2012 David Suzuki. The failure of world leaders to act on the critical issue of global warming is often blamed on economic considerations. Over and over, we hear politicians say they can't spend our tax dollars on environmental protection when the economy is so fragile. Putting aside the absurdity of prioritizing a human-created and adaptable tool like the economy over caring for everything that allows us to survive and be healthy, let's take a look at the economic reality. A new scientific report concludes that climate change is already costing the world $1.2 trillion a year and is eating up 1.6 per cent of global GDP, and rising. It's also killing at least 400,000 people every year, mainly in developing countries. That's not counting the 4.5 million people a year who die from air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.

"It may sound strange for the CEO of an investment management firm to say this, but managing your career well is much more important than managing your investments well. Good investment management - using low-cost ETFs and low-fee advice - can mean higher returns in your investment portfolio. Over time, that might add up a lot of money, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars on larger portfolios. But the economic rewards that follow from good career decisions in the technology industry are potentially much larger. Today, Wealthfront is launching a Startup Compensation Tool to help our clients with that part of their financial lives: their careers. The Tool offers data on the tech startup job market, including cash compensation and equity packages for a range of jobs, so that you can maximize the return on your career. You can embed the Tool by using the toolbar at the bottom."

How Big Data Became So Big By STEVE LOHR Published: August 11, 2012 This has been the crossover year for Big Data - as a concept, as a term and, yes, as a marketing tool. Big Data has sprung from the confines of technology circles into the mainstream. First, here are a few, well, data points: Big Data was a featured topic this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with a report titled "Big Data, Big Impact." In March, the federal government announced $200 million in research programs for Big Data computing.

He knew what that meant: this ad wasn't being shown to every person who read that page. It was being targeted to him in particular. Tax-exempt groups like Crossroads GPS have become among the biggest players in this year's election.  They're often called "dark money" groups, because they can raise accept unlimited amounts of money and never have to disclose their donors.

twittpoll.com is the opinion channel of twitter. By following @twittpoll you get the newest polls from twittpoll.com. You can vote on a poll for 24 hours. After that you will receive the overall result within your twitter account.

Insight™ by Ignite is the first widely available software tool that provides organizations access to invaluable "unstrauctured data", supplementing traditional win/loss programs with new information about why teams are winning and losing deals. This unique sales optimization software works by quickly capturing, consolidating, and transforming individual sales experiences into collective intelligence. Sales organizations from any industry or region can capitalize on this data to enhance sales approaches and win more deals.

P5 will provide mentorship, advice, and an environment where good work can actually happen. The mission of this project is to increase the number of people doing this kind of work, and to encourage newsrooms to see this as work to be fostered. We hope to establish that this is a basic journalistic function and not a faddish, high-tech gizmo, by exposing talented journalists to a fully functioning department. This is a brand new idea for ProPublica. We admit we don't have all the answers so if you're awesome but some of this doesn't quite describe you, apply anyway. However, this really isn't and can't be a program that will teach non-developers how to code. You'll need the skills to hack with us and to go back to your newsroom ready to take it the rest of the way to the finish line. More Details We're best at Ruby, Rails, and JavaScript. But if you code in some other language, you should still apply. P5 is open to people from anywhere. However: We can't sponsor a visa for you, and you'll need to have a firm grasp on English in order to communicate easily with us. We'll have a Mac with web development tools and the Photoshop suite available for your use, but if you've got a complex setup, it's probably smart for you to bring your own laptop.

Bing Fund is looking for startups that are building online or mobile experiences that incorporate fresh insights. Participants are not required to use Microsoft technology. We enroll startups into our program on an ongoing basis, investing in and working with a small number at any given time. Here's what we offer: * Subsidized use of unique APIs from Bing's data ecosystem * The opportunity to access certain technology assets developed by Microsoft Research * Assistance from Bing Fund team members who specialize in design, engineering, marketing, and building businesses * Consultations with Subject Matter Experts at Microsoft, some of whom are world experts in their areas * Exposure to Microsoft executives * Connections with our partners and customers * Funding * Co-workspace for startups located in the Seattle area.

Visible is the leader in social media monitoring, analytics, and services for enterprises globally. Visible's award-winning technology and expertise helps businesses analyze social media conversations to better understand consumer preferences, market dynamics, competitive strengths and weaknesses, and other information critical to a company's reputation and brands. Visible is the solution of choice for many Forbes Global 2000 companies in a variety of industries including financial services, pharmaceutical, automotive, consumer products, retail, travel and hospitality, telecom, technology, and agencies.

Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information. It allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web's social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc.

Bennett is a consultant on social capital and networks, and the creator of "The Hands We Shake" lecture series on how to build, grow, and sustain social capital.  He is an expert in networking strategy and social capital retention.  As a trusted adviser, he has helped start-ups, small businesses, non-profits and individuals develop a comprehensive strategy to build and cultivate their social capital.  Bennett advises his clients on how to locate and access social capital within their present networks and create a framework for future network strategy.

Big data might very well be the tech buzz word of the year. And just how hot is it? Consider this:  Data scientist Stephen Purpura - an expert in artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics who is studying for his PhD in information sciences at Cornell University - has received no fewer than 45 job offers in recent months. And they just aren't any fly-by-night offers, with some rolling in from big-name companies touting salaries of $300,000 or more.

Sharing, searchability, timeline view, and other features make Google Calendar a simple but powerful project management tool.

Have you noticed that as we dematerialize consumer goods (that is, change their atoms to bits), we're less likely to own them? Businesses like iTunes have furtive terms of service that turn out to merely license the music you think you're buying. And then there are fee-based services that forgo media ownership entirely, such as Spotify. As visionary and Wired cofounder Kevin Kelly puts it, "Access is better than owning." 29 That sentiment is the driving force behind a new economic model called collaborative consumption, where consumers use online or off-line tools to rent, share, and trade goods and services. Some people refer to it as Zipcar capitalism, from the eponymous car sharing service wherein subscribers-who apparently without irony call themselves Zipsters- rent vehicles by the hour.