By Chris Crum - Fri, 02/06/2009 - 11:28

Got Better Images Than Google?

Google has introduced an imagery partner program where people can submit imagery for Google Earth if they feel they have a better version of a shot that Google currently has.

"When people think about Google Earth, they often think satellite imagery. Yet, since the early days of Google Earth, we've been working with local governments and other public sector organizations to add their aerial imagery as well," explains Scott Ciabattari at the Google Lat Long Blog. "Thanks to this data sharing, we're able to offer our users a more current representation of thousands of communities and a higher resolution view of countless geographic features."

"With this week's launch of the historical imagery feature in Google Earth, we're now able to partner with public sector organizations and other imagery content providers to present users a view of their community or geographic features, such as mountains or lakes, evolving over time," he adds.

Google has set up a couple new sites where potential content providers can get involved. First off is what Google refers to as a "wecome mat" for organizations to share their aerial imagery. But this is really only part of the equation since they offer opportunities for submitting other kinds of imagery. The gateway to all of these can be found at the new site for Map Content Partners, located simply atgoogle.com/mapcontent.

Google welcomes 3D building and digital terrain models, aerial imagery (current and historical), some types of vector data (boundaries, points of interest) and public transit system routes and schedules. Content providers will have to enter a license agreement with Google.Much more information is provided in the FAQ.

About the author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for WebProNews and iEntry Network.

BY ADITYA MHATRE AT 28 JANUARY, 2009, 1:24 AM

While India celebrated republic day on Monday, 55000 (some reports suggest 86000) jobs were cut in the US in a single day. Some of the largest and strongest companies like Pfizer (8000), Caterpillar (20000 jobs), HomeDepot (7000), Texas instruments (3400), Sprint Nextel (8000), IBM (2800) cut jobs to reduce costs. These job cuts are across industries and across geographies.

This reduction in employments is in addition to the jobs lost earlier in the month. Circuit City threw in the towel putting 34000 jobs in jeopardy. Other companies like Aloca (15000), intel (6000), Eaton (5200), Microsoft (5200) and Boeing (4500) also cut jobs. In all, 22 of the 30 companies that are part of the Dow Jones Industrial averge have announced lay offs.

These are early indicators that IT outsourcing companies in India might not be able to sustain it’s current work force and the lay offs are bound to hit India in this quarter or early next quarter.

Original Source

AMIT GUPTA

Ranchi, Jan. 27: The eagerly awaited first call centre in the state is finally going to see the light of the day.

The call centre, being set up by Gurgaon-based Scorpiaan Teletech on a joint venture basis with Akiko Sherman Infotech, will start functioning from February.

In the initial phase, the business process outsource unit will operate from three rooms having 40-seat incubation facility. There are plans to expand the incubation facility to 150 seats in the next few months.

The authorities have already given advertisements for recruitment of customer care executives (both outbound and inbound), operation managers, team leaders, quality analysers, front office executives, accountants, software and hardware professionals.

“To start with, we will recruit about 20 executives. The minimum qualification is that applicants must have completed Plus II and should be well versed in English. Preference will be given to experienced and women candidates,” said Prashant Kumar, the operation manager of Scorpiaan Teletech, Ranchi.

The company has tied up with UK-based Panche-Ites Private Limited and Sahara house’s latest venture, Sahara Care House, for offering inbound and outbound services to its clientele.

With the software technology park of India (STPI) in Namkum offering incubation facility, Scorpiaan Teletech will get computers or peripherals, lease line, electricity and space at subsidised rates.

Kumar claimed that this would be the first outbound call centre in the state and their main aim was to check migration of youths looking for jobs to other states that house a host of BPO centres.

Siddharth Rai, the assistant director of STPI in Ranchi, told The Telegraph that the small venture with an expected investment of about Rs 35 lakh would pave the way for other companies to set up call centres in Jharkhand.

Source: The Telegrapg