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Pittsburgh News that You Can Use

Here's some news from Pittsburgh technology, innovation and creative sectors all on one page for your enjoyment!

Identified Technologies Releases Transformative New Drone Mapping Analytics Capabilities

[caption id="attachment_3383" align="alignleft" width="375"] Site IQ - Haul Road Analysis Screenshot[/caption] Pittsburgh-based Identified Technologies,  today announced a suite of new drone mapping features and services for its customers in the construction, mining, energy, and engineering sectors. The new features which will be launched and automatically pushed to customers throughout 2018 include: Haul Road Analysis - Allows the user to incorporate mapped haul roads into the orthomosaic they receive when flying their site by drone. This analysis will cover the slope and width of the road.   Slope Maps - Enables a user to move a cursor over any point to see the exact slope for that location. It will show slopes by both degree and % grade. Plan IQ Camera View - Provides a livestream of what the camera sees when the drone is flying.  This is particularly valuable for maintaining continuous line of sight on the drone as it flies as required by the FAA regulations. Change Detection Tool Color Coding - Empowers users to change the colors in this tool so that the can color code piles of different things and measure change accordingly. Enterprise Site Permissions - Gives users more control over shared data, so they can customize the level of access and control they want to grant individual customers, contractors, and stakeholders. DJI Inspire 2 Drone - Customers will receive upgrades to the new DJI Inspire 2 with their Identified Technologies subscription. The Inspire 2 has enhanced accuracy, robustness and obstacle sense and avoid (SAA) capabilities.

The most dramatic changes to Identified Technologies’ Site IQ software capabilities are the Haul Road Analysis and Slope Map features. For these quickly constructed and heavily trafficked dirt roads, steep slopes result in dramatic increases in gas consumption and costs, accelerated wear and tear on vehicles, or exacerbated hazards from ice and inclement weather.

PostSecret Live Rolled Into Pittsburgh

PostSecret: The Show is an immersive, poignant journey through the humor and humanity of the personal stories we keep to ourselves and on rare occasions, share with others. Projected images, videos, three actors, and a guitarist guided the audience through crowd-sourced narratives this past Tuesday night, revealing the true stories behind the secrets.

Named the Most Trusted Man in America, Frank Warren, the creator of Postsecret Community art project has collected a half million secrets. He is brought a stage show that features Frank Warren, three actors, a guitarist and hundreds of secrets to an interactive audience event at the Byham Theater.

“This is an exciting project for Pittsburgh and for me personally” said Paul Fireman, of Fireman Creative, a Pittsburgh based design and technology firm. “Frank and I have been collaborators since the successful release of his first official book trailer back in 2007, that was produced right here in Pittsburgh.”

That video has had over 2 million views and set the stage of more collaborations including a keynote at SXSW in Austin TX. Another local connection is Pittsburgh band Donara featuring Casey Hanner has been featured in several videos. Fireman Creative produced a beautiful website for his speaking tour at postsecretlive.com. “I even won my first local Emmy Award because of PostSecret along with Dave Forestate and WQED TV, we captured gold for the Post Secret Experience that aired in 2013 on PBS. “ Fireman said.

MUSICat Set for Beta Launch

The team at Rabble announced plans for the Beta launch of MUSICat Chorus, a service that empowers more public libraries than ever to publish online local music collections. Rabble’s Library Partners in NashvilleSeattleEdmonton, and beyond are already using the MUSICat platform to share streams and downloads of local music. MUSICat Chorus expands access to this groundbreaking service via affordable pricing for libraries serving populations under 150,000. MUSICat Chorus has simple monthly pricing and no upfront fees, empowering more libraries than ever to share local music online, under artist license terms they control, with no holds, returns, or borrowing limits. “We’ve talked to dozens of librarians in small towns and rural areas around the world who want to build online local music collections, and we’re thrilled that MUSICat Chorus will make that possible for them,” says Rabble CEO and co-founder Kelly Hiser. MUSICat is more than just “Spotify for libraries”—Rabble partners with libraries to build a platform that supports local creative communities, respects and compensates artists for their work, protects user privacy, and facilitates library-led innovation under an open-source model. Using MUSICat, libraries license albums directly from musicians while also compensating artists up front. The sites share streams and downloads with authenticated library card holders, and engage communities with richly connected media and information about local artists.