Are there terms you come across in your day to day work whose definitions still seem fuzzy? Do you “sort of” know what they mean, but if pressed you couldn’t confidently provide a definition? Our editors share some terms that still make them uncomfortable and offer definitions.

Today, Pitney Bowes Software (PBS) launches the MapInfo.com portal, a website dedicated to product solutions. Is PBS re-launching the MapInfo brand and why now? Senior vice president of PBS’s Location Intelligence group, James Buckley, and Global Product Manager Rob Savage discuss the reasons for launching the portal as well as the new features in MapInfo version 12, the beta release of a new raster and grid handling capability, and their strategy for SaaS.

This past weekend the OpenStreetMap U.S. community gathered in San Francisco to examine the State of the Map. How is the crowdsourced map and its supporting infrastructure changing how mapmakers select data and services?

Linda Rockwood, the owner of Mohawk Valley GIS in Herkimer, NY, recently moved her Web mapping clients from Manifold’s Internet mapping solution to one built around CartoDB and Leaflet. We discuss the transition: the whys, hows, challenges and lessons learned.

Last week Google announced something new: a two-week online course introducing its Google Maps, Google Maps Engine Lite and Google Earth software products. Why is Google interested in online courses? What are its goals? And, could this be the beginning of other corporate online offerings?

Welcome to another Directions Magazine podcast today sponsored by Esri. The Esri Education GIS Conference will be held from July 6-9 in San Diego, in conjunction with Esri’s International User Conference. The event inspires educators to maximize their investment in GIS through user presentations, free technical workshops and student success stories. In today's podcast, Directions Magazine interviewed Mr. David Dibiase, Director of Education, and Ms. Angie Lee, an industry marketing manager for Esri education. We discuss the explosive growth of GIS education and what’s in store for the conference this year.

The 9th Location Intelligence Conference was held in conjunction with the Oracle Spatial and Graph User Conference in Washington, D.C. last week. Our editors share the key takeaways.

Google announced new location services APIs, a new Google Maps and a visual refresh for Google Maps at Google I/O last week. There was lots of descriptive coverage from the mainstream and tech press. But there was very little response from the geospatial community - except from Esri. Who should or should not be excited about the new Google Maps and APIs?

Google has not only become the de facto mapping app, the de facto navigation app, the de facto remote sensing app, the de facto change detection app, etc. It's the de facto National Map, as well. The USGS collected the data (imagery, topo, etc.) but Google monetized it. Is this an acceptable model where the government invests but the private sector monetizes the data? What is the future of privatization of national geodata?

How important is the recipient's location when sending location-based ads? Perhaps not as important as other factors.