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.

Social media. It can be a great resource, a time sink or a burden for geospatial professionals. What exactly makes a geo individual or organization worth “following” via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+? We’ll share who we follow and try to identify the best practices that make their posts valuable.

In March the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council III delivered the Indoor Location Test Bed Report to the FCC. It describes the current state of indoor location determination in different geographies using three different technologies. Where do we stand?

Dr. Anthony Robinson of Penn State is continuing development of the first geo-MOOC, a massive open online course titled Maps and the Geospatial Revolution, which begins in July. I spoke with Dr. Robinson in February, just after the course was announced. In part two of our conversation recorded April 16, he shares the challenges and opportunities after working with the Coursera platform, visiting with Esri education team, and contemplating how to assess tens of thousands of students.

Three university programs have made announcements about the future of GIS education. Two schools are working closely with GIS software vendors while a third is implementing a self-study lab complete with badges to show achievement. Are these positive trends? Will they be repeated at other schools?

Zombie-based learning teaches geography skills against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. The Kickstarter campaign was funded last year and products were recently distributed.

There are lots of bad maps. The USGS is crowdsourcing TNM. Apple fired people over bad maps. OpenStreetMap quality is superior to many – even Bing. How important is map quality? To Web users? To mobile users? To the media? To the big issues of the day: national security, energy independence? How much faith do we put in our maps?

Three weeks ago Hillary Perkins, a former URISA president, posted a question on the Women in GIS LinkedIn group asking for input for a session at URISA’s fall GIS Pro about women in GIS. What is the status of women in GIS? What issues do women face in our industry?