We were contacted by a group that was willing to translate Android applications into Chinese.

“hope your apps could be enjoyed by chinese users, haha.”

The method is to make sure that all text in the application is placed inside of strings in the resource fork of the application. We then sent them the XML of strings to translate. They then send back the translated XML, we put it into the same fork (but a different folder that can be selected when the user changes the system language on the phone), then send them back the newly compiled app.

http://m.91.com/Soft/Detail.aspx?Platform=Android&f_id=4002113

We assume then that this company gets some sort of revenue through advertising, because our app is free, but if anyone can look at this page and tell us more, then that would be great!

EDDMapS (Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System), started in 2005 with Southeastern U.S. focus and is now providing a picture of the distribution of invasive species across the U.S.

http://eddmaps.org/

What’s Invasive! is now collaborating EDDMapS, putting the location data of invasive weeds discovered by the What’s Invasive! system in the hands of both local environmental managers and also of national weed experts!

Both the iPhone and the Android apps can be used in places with no cellular connectivity as long as there is a GPS signal and as long as the phones are at least temporarily returned to a location with cell phone connectivity.

Geotagging of photos occurs via GPS regardless of cell phone connectivity and location information is stored along with the text and photo observations. When cell connectivity is re-established, uploads will occur and the correct geotags will be sent along with the observations.

If GPS is turned off, and there is no cellular connectivity to triangulate for secondary geolocation, then observations will not be located and location information will have to be inserted via the website for every observation.

The Android has an option to turn off automatic uploads in case connectivity is very slow or battery life is an issue. This option must be set back to “on” before uploads will occur.

We have recently updated the website and database to allow anyone to define a park and upload a set of plant images and descriptions.

We already have expanded from our pilot park in Santa Monica to include the Channel Islands in California, Rock Creek Park in Washington DC, and with the help of one of our Danish graduate students, Denmark (“Danmark” in Danish), to show off the system to a group of Europeans.

If you want to check out the capabilities of setting up a new park, then first login to What’s Invasive! (if you don’t already have a login, it’s easy to sign up).

After that, go to “Account” in the upper right menu and select “Manage Sites”. The first thing to do is set up the park and you should use the official NPS acronym as the Park Tag (non-NPS locations will be designated with 5 or 6 letters). After that, there are a series of pages that should be easy to understand and walk you through the process of creating species and uploading images of them.

Once the park is approved, then everyone with an Android phone running What’s Invasive will be able to access the species list and collect location data. Be sure to download the newest version of the Android app to get all the latest functionality.

A new iPhone app with the same capabilities is coming soon!

• Miller-McCune: Invasive Weeds? There’s An App for That
• NYTimes: Smart Dust? Not Quite, but We’re Getting There
• About.com:  New iPhone App Targets Invasive Weeds in Parks.
• Los Angeles Times:   National parks’ invasive weeds? There’s an app for that.
• National Park Service: New Phone Application Helps Combat Invasive Plant Species in National Parks.
• National Parks Traveler:  Need to Identify Exotic Weeds in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area? There’s An App For That!
• Santa Barbara Independent: Cell Phone App Combats Weeds.
• This is Brand X (LA Times):  In the weeds: New iPhone app targets overgrowth in state parks.