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26 September 2008

Virtual Earth (6.2) Reverse Geocoder

Virtual Earth (6.2) Reverse Geocoder

"Geocoding is the process of finding associated geographic coordinates (often expressed as latitude and longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes. With geographic coordinates the features can be mapped and entered into Geographic Information Systems, or the coordinates can be embedded into media such as digital photographs via geotagging."

"Reverse Geocoding is the opposite: finding an associated textual location such as a street address, from geographic coordinates."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocoding

Virtual Earth 6.2 Reverse Geocoder

Clicking on the map near roads sends a request to get the address by location (street number, street name,postcode/zipcode & country). In the screenshot a click was made halfway along 'Downing Street' response was 10 Downing Street, SW1A 2, UK.


Virtual Earth has been updated and there is lots of advances and new features this is just one working example that can be implemented in a few lines of code.

To see this working as it should:

http://mapperz.googlepages.com/Virtual_Earth_62_Reverse_Geocoder.html

It will work for any location in the World that is covered by Roads on the Virtual Earth Platform

For more official information please vist

http://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archive/2008/09/24/announcing-the-virtual-earth-web-service-and-virtual-earth-map-control-6-2.aspx


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25 September 2008

Map Channels Events - New!

Map Channels Events - New!

Map Channels Events - New
Find sporting events or concerts by location fast.

Map Channels is an exceptional website portal and provider of a range of free mapping tools and custom mapping services:

It has now expanded and now integrates events, mapping and ticket purchase in one website.

Map Channels Events Paris
Quickly locate events all over the world and select the event by map or city search, also different currencies are supported.

"A world of events at your fingertips"
• Interactive event calendars and venue maps
• Find events by name, category, date or location
• Ticket price comparison
• View city tours, attractions and activities
• Explore venues with Google Street View and Google Earth

Well done the Map Channels Team [again]
To see their progress visit http://mapchannels.com/News.aspx

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24 September 2008

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps [Sneak Peek]

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps [Sneak Peek]
Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps in French
French Language Map Tiles soon to be available

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps in German
German Language Map Tiles soon as well

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps in Italian
Italian Maps


You can see what is new in Virtual Earth 6.2 [but not fully updated yet]
http://dev.live.com/virtualearth/sdk/

* Static maps
* Direct map tile access
* Aerial map imagery metadata
* Pushpin clustering
* Landmark-based directions
* Improved geocoding
* Expanded rooftop geocoding in the US

# Pushpin clustering. Use the VEShapeLayer.SetClusteringConfiguration Method to set how to display and cluster overlapping pushpins for better shape display at higher altitudes.

# Hints for route instructions. Help your users find route turns with hints about nearby landmarks and intersections using the VERouteItineraryItem.Hints Property.

# Imagery metadata. Retrieve information about imagery using the VEMap.GetImageryMetadata Method.

# Base map disabling. Use the Virtual Earth Mercator projection in non-mapping applications by turning off the base map with the VEMapOptions.LoadBaseTiles Property. You can use the VEMap.HideScalebar Method as well.

# Support for other languages. Retrieve maps with labels in French, German, Italian, and Spanish from Virtual Earth. See the Returning Localized Results topic for a list of supported culture strings.

# 3D model import. Import 3D model data files into a shape layer using the VEMap.Import3DModel Method. Interact with these models as you would any shape.

# Updated interactive SDK. See the new functionality of the Virtual Earth map control demonstrated in the updated Virtual Earth Interactive SDK.
[not yet available]


Mapperz Source:
http://www.nateirwin.net/post/Virtual-Earth-62-Coming-September-22nd.aspx
[but it's the 24th September]


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23 September 2008

Nokia ViNe Alpha (Mapping)

Update 23/09/2008
There is now a Nokia Mapping Application available to view your 'geotagged' photos using
the new Nokia Photo v1.5 (Beta)

Nokia Photo Maps - Stacking Photos on Location
Multiple photos on the same geographical location are stacked.

For a full and in-depth review on the functionality visit

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8097_Nokia_Photos_15_now_available_.php

To download the Windows (Mac coming soon?)
http://www.nokia.com/betalabs/photos
(NokiaPhotos_1_5_200_en_gb.exe is a 53.8mb download)

Seems to me that Nokia are now competing with Google Picasa 3.
Though the Nokia application seems to be more seamless with loading geotagged photos from your phone and showing those photos on a map than Picasa is.
Maybe Picasa 4 will make use of the Google Map API and overlay photos onto that.... there is hoping.

Nokia ViNe Alp
ha (Mapping)
Nokia ViNe
Nokia ViNe application is currently in closed Alpha but the website is up and running.

"new geo-tracking-photo-and-video-and-music application"
Clinton Jeff - Darla Mack


Nokia ViNe Mapping Tracks
ViNe combines and uploads music, photos and gps tracks you record from your Nokia Device on one process.

Combine following applications:
Nokia Sports Tracker (Still Beta)
Nokia Lifeblog (Photos)
Nokia Music Player
GPS (GeoTagging)

Why the fuss? Why not use the applications that already exist?
It's one application that encapulates three applications and expands the mapping potential of geo-location tagged files (photo,music & video).
The Mapping is based in flash (website) - the users tracks link photo, music and videos that were captured when the ViNe Application is set to record.
There are concerns over the battery life - lucky for Nokia this is still in pre-release alpha and can be addressed before a public beta version.
Nokia's LifeviNe project has been renamed, it seems, to just Nokia ViNe.

There is nothing new but - for the non-savvy phone user it makes it easier for the user to record trip for sharing with friends afterwards.

For a more in depth review of the new application vist the Darla Mack Blog below where the whole process is shown.

Sources:
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8088_Nokia_ViNe-Practical_or_Pointl.php
http://www.darlamack.com/darlamack/2008/09/nokia-lifevine.html

At least Nokia are making use of Navteq data, now that Google Maps is completely TeleAtlas based.

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19 September 2008

Google Street View on Nokia Phones (N82)

Google StreetView on Nokia Phones (N82)

As Google have released v2.3.1 of Google Maps Mobile
It is now possible to access 'StreetView' and 'Walking Directions' on Mobile Devices

Here is the new Streetview functionality on a Nokia N82

StreetView on Nokia N82
Street view (screen shot from a Nokia N82 here) is new to mobile devices but there is huge data transfers (2000k+) so make sure you have access to wifi or an unlimited data plan (3G/GPRS)
*Expand button makes streetview full screen.
The images are large (in terms for mobile devices) and a little grainy when panning around but does sharpen up when paused.

The .jar install file is available from
http://m.google.com/gmm/apps/v2.3.1/L1/gmaps-231-m2_L1.jar
Thanks to http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/

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18 September 2008

Live Maps - New Map Tiles

Live Maps - New Map Tiles

New Tiles
New Map Tiles
(odd with duplicate motorway junction numbers?)

Old Map Tiles
Old Map Tiles
To get the old tiles - press the 3D option - Virtual Earth plug in required.


From the Virtual Earth Blog

"now live and contains the following 46TB of imagery and vector updates."

* Vector overlays for Navteq and MDS data sources for orthos and Bird's Eye
* All mobile tiles
* New British Isles Map style

for those interested the new map tiles are load balanced from
r0.ortho.tiles.virtualearth.net
r1.ortho.tiles.virtualearth.net
r2.ortho.tiles.virtualearth.net


View some new tiles
http://tinyurl.com/4u2jrv

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17 September 2008

Open Street Map in Shapefile Format!

Open Street Map in Shapefile Format

For more information on progress this see blog.
http://itoworld.blogspot.com/

This is top news for GIS users who support Open Street Map, there is no longer any need to convert the osm.bz2 to shapefiles as it is supplied in shape format now.
Open Street Map Data Shapefile Ready - directory listing
Directory Listing now with Shapefiles

This saves time (and money)

Open Street Map as Shapefiles - no converting
Extracting Footpaths - No conversion needed only re-projecting the data for the UK into British National Grid.

Full Directory
http://download.geofabrik.de/osm/
(updated daily)

Well Done to the
http://www.geofabrik.de/ Team

To Do:
OSM has already got export to EPS,PDF,Postscript, JPEG,PNG,GIF
(see previous post)

http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2008/04/openstreetmap
-now-exports-maps.html

http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2008/04/openstreetmap
-data-in-globalmapper-fast.html (not needed now?)

TO DO: (fictional to-date)
Load into a File Geodatabase
Check Attribution (Q&A)
Build Topology - Clean Data (snapping linework)
Build Network (checking phase) export to SQL
Routing (via Postgres and PG Routing)
Create Buffering Routes - find my nearest... (pub on my footpath route)
(load into an online mapping api and have UK footpaths route-able!)

source:http://freegeographytools.com/

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Google Developer Day 2008 - Wembley Stadium London

Review of the Day at Wembley Stadium 17/09/2008
Wembley Turf
The new turf getting laid down for the next event England v Kazakhstan
(thanks the friendly security guard for letting me go turf side to take this pic.)

Google Developer Day, London,UK
Nothing amazingly new, geolocation for mobiles, GeoIP location, some new phone that shows maps fairly quickly. (though not it's real location)

Google Developer Day 2008,Wembley Stadium, London, UK
Meeting some of the real developers people for Google Maps API but not all. Some wanting more details of what is coming - like the reverse geocoder and new geocoder response (creates a bounding box set of coordinates so zoom levels can be applied).
But Google rarely give away what is likely to be coming out.

Seemed a little less busy than last years event maybe due to having more space.

Some items like 'clouds' and 'dojo' completely over my head for some of it.
Like the Google Apps potential for saleability - 4 users or 400,000 users hosted and load balancing handled by Google.


(jump to 2.25 minutes in the video to view the maps)

Good Food, Good Location, Good Company made a nice day out.

Thanks to all that made it happen.

Update: 12/09/2008
http://sites.google.com/site/developerdaylondon/gddhome

Google Developer Day 2008(London,UK)




View Larger Map

Google have announced the full line up for the day

Here are the 'Mapping' related sessions

Mashing up Google Data APIs
Ryan Boyd
This session will provide a quick overview of Google Data APIs and demonstrate some ways to use them in mashups with other APIs like Maps, App Engine and more. Expect to see code in a variety of languages.
Prerequisites: Developers attending this session should be comfortable with at least one of PHP, Python, JavaScript or Java. Experience working with REST-based APIs a plus.

A Deeper Look at Google App Engine
Mano Marks
Google App Engine allows you to build and run applications on the same highly scalable web infrastructure that Google uses to run it own applications. This allows you to build an application once, and then never have to worry about how many people are using it, how many machines you're using, or how you're going to handle all the traffic. This talk will introduce you to the basic features of Google App Engine, and walk you through building a quick, interactive application.

Some of the topics we will cover are:
App Engine's Datastore
Authentication using Google accounts
The web framework
Our image manipulation API
Using Memcache
App Engine best practices
This session is intended for intermediate developers who are new to Google App Engine.
Prerequisites: If you want to follow along with setting up an application, then you should have a laptop with Python 2.5 and the App Engine Development Server installed and an App Engine account. Python knowledge is helpful but not required.

What's New in Geo
Russell Middleton
This session will cover recent developments in Google Maps and Google Earth, including the Earth browser plugin and new ways to share and leverage geographic data.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of XHTML, CSS, XML and Javascript

Gears for mobile and the new Geolocation API
Charles Wiles
This session will provide an overview of Gears and it's usefulness in mobile browsers and then focus on how you can easily location-enable web apps with a few simple javascript calls.
Prerequisites: You should have reviewed the Gears APIs on code.google.com/apis/gears and in particular, have familiarised yourself with the Geolocation API.

Note:It is recommended you have a laptop with the 'Prerequisites' installed.

Source:
http://code.google.com/intl/en_uk/events/developerday/2008/speakers.html
http://code.google.com/intl/en_uk/events/developerday/2008/sessions.html

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15 September 2008

Nokia Mapster's Game

Nokia Mapster's Game
Nokia Mapsters Game
A game that might be classified as addictive.

[Mapperz sent in a high score of 196,500]

http://www.themapsters.com/index.php

[Flash Required]

There are prizes: Nokia maps navigation licenses [drive & walk] and Mapster's toy figures for top 50 score per week.
Or just do it for fun.

Post your high scores here in the comments.

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12 September 2008

Virtual Earth News & Weather Silverlight Demo

Virtual Earth News & Weather Silverlight Demo

MapDotNet Virtual Earth US Radar Cloud Map
Very impressive Silverlight Demonstration showing weather (cloud/radar) across the USA.
(Hurricane Ike can be seen in the bottom right)

Silverlight 2.0 interface and Virtual Earth tiles with real time weather feeds showing current weather conditions.
There also is a radar refresh rate 5 minutes or 15 minutes


http://demo2.ischosting.net/weathersldemo/
[requires Microsoft Sliverlight]

Other geospatial applications that can be used with Virtual Earth:

* Windows Communications Foundation (WCF)-based web services
* Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Map and Tile renderer
* Virtual Earth Base Map Data and Imagery

* Silverlight 2.0 Map Control
* Spatial Data Import (Shapefile, SQL Server 2008, ArcSDE and PostGIS)

more information
http://www.mapdotnet.com/Pages2.0/index.aspx


An Up and Coming Virtual Earth Events

26 September 2008 11:00 GMT, London (so 12 noon as UK is on BST)

Following the success of the previous webcast, the second of our quarterly Virtual Earth technical briefings is once again presented by Johannes Kebeck, EMEA Virtual Earth Technology Specialist.

This webcast is aimed at developers and offers an opportunity to get an update on the Virtual Earth platform. Additionally you will learn some of the latest tips and tricks and can take part in an online Q&A with Johanne.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032385964&EventCategory=4&culture=en-GB&CountryCode=GB


The New Version of Virtual Earth

Thursday, October 02, 2008 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) (5pm BST)

Microsoft is excited to announce the latest version of the Virtual Earth platform, which can now deliver the Virtual Earth mapping experience on the desktop, on mobile devices, and via broadcast. The new release features mobile support, expanded international mapping, richer imagery, a broader range of data, and improved functionality. Organizations using Virtual Earth can see more and do more than ever, with enhancements that allow users to find, discover, and visualize data in new and innovative ways.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032388370&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US


Virtual Earth Globalisation BBC
'The BBC BOX' that is getting tracked around the globe using a GPS beacon that is attached to a Shipping Container.
Not very exciting stuff currently but in a year hopefully the paths of the all the routes it has taken will be shown on the Map.
Update: They have just filled the BBC Box with whiskey in Glasgow.

THE BBC BOX MAP - Tracked
This Shipping Container is going to be tracked for a year.

BBC Virtual Earth is being used to track the box at a 12 hourly rate.

(Thanks to Keir Clarke for finding that one)

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09 September 2008

Mapperz - A Top 25 Mapping Blog?

Top 25 GIS Geoweb Cartography Logo
Mapperz - A Top 25 Mapping Blog?

Well its debatable - Chart compiled by Sean Gorman.
"We decided to have a little fun and do a friendly ranking of some relevant blogs. The Top 25 Blogs in GIS, GeoWeb and Cartography will be ranked according to the number of sites/blogs linking to each, as reported by Technorati. If a blog does NOT have Technorati Authority (if they have not registered for example), then we’ll take the number of blog reactions listed and divide by 3 for an estimate.

We realize Technorati is not a perfect barometer, but it is open, and this is not a FortiusOne subjective ranking. We think this will be a great way to share blogs and get feedback from others regarding their top GIS, GeoWeb and cartography blog picks. We’ll note changes in rankings, new blogs and up and coming blogs.

If you’re on the list and feel so inclined, you’re welcome to place the following badge on your blog to share your ranking."

  1. O’Reilly Radar Geo Blog 2,733 – overall O’Reilly
  2. Strange Maps 1,895
  3. Google Earth Blog 950
  4. Google Maps Mania 553
  5. Ogle Earth 186
  6. All Points Blog (Directions Magazine) 176
  7. James Fee GIS Blog — Blogging GIS, Google Earth, Virtual Earth and Programming156
  8. The Map Room: A weblog about maps 139
  9. The Beer Mapping Project 91
  10. Geobloggers 73
  11. Mapperz 72
  12. Very Spatial (Blog and Podcast) 66
  13. Bret Taylor’s Blog 64 (estimate based on 195 Blog Reactions)
  14. Mibazaar 61
  15. Dave Bouwman - GIS Blogs: Where’s the Conversation? 53
  16. Ed Parsons 52
  17. What is so special about Geospatial? 52
  18. Chris Spagnulo’s Geoscrum 51
  19. AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial 46
  20. Mandown 35
  21. The Earth Is Square 35
  22. Mapdango 34
  23. GIS Lounge 31
  24. Mapping Hacks 28
  25. Geography Matters – Est. 27 (based on 83 blog reactions)
Source:

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Where is the GPX Path?

Where is the GPX Path?

(well the answer is on the map now thanks to Bill Chadwick's update of GPX import.)

South West Coastal Path - Lizard Point (Cornwall)
Importing of GPX data is very fast and when in 3D (Earth) Mode it shows you the terrain your likely to encounter. (weather not included!)

"GPX to GeoJson Converter is purely a convenience for those who want to read a random GPX url on a page from a host that lacks server side scripting"

Example - The South Coastal Path
http://tinyurl.com/5zd4af

NOTE* The most annoying issue for this site is not the author's fault at all. It's the Ordnance Survey with ridiculously low openspace tile quota (currently 30,000 per 24hrs).
This is a very popular site and 30,000 tile impressions needs to be 75,000 at least.
Why does the Ordnance Survey insist of bottlenecking useful web mapping applications?
And why allow users to have 1:50,00 colour rasters (Landranger Maps) and StreetView 1:10,000 and not the very useful 1:25,000 (Explorer Maps)?

Data for the South West Coastal Path is available from (GPX format for GPS)
http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/main/useful_info/GPS-downloads.cfm

For more information on the technical aspects please visit
http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API/browse_thread/thread/69f83113b27388a3

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08 September 2008

New StormTracker Map

New Storm Tracker Map

Storm Tracker Map
The interactive tracking map will show storms current center location and forecasted positions based on the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

The predictor is activated when you click on labeled town/city in front of the current location of the storm.

Clean layout and ease of use make this a compelling map for all users.


Other information is available

Clicking ‘More‘ will bring up Wind Fields, Ocean Buoys, Map Grid, and Map Labels. Wind Fields will hide or show the reach of the storm’s winds, displayed as circles around the selected point. These circles represent Tropical Depression force (white), Storm force (yellow), and Hurricane force (orange) winds.

The Ocean Buoys option loads the latest observations sourced from the National Data Buoy Center. This may take a moment depending on your internet connection speed. Ocean buoys appear as blue boxes that can be clicked for more details. Land-based weather stations appear as red boxes that can also be clicked for the latest observations from that location.

The Map Grid option will hide and show latitude and longitude lines, including the equator and tropics.

The Map Labels option will hide and show labels for cities, countries, continents, oceans, and seas.

Storm Tracker Map can be found at
http://www.bahamaislandsinfo.com

Hurricane 'IKE' current position map

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04 September 2008

InLET Earthquake Simulator Map

InLET Earthquake Simulator
(Internet-based Loss Estimation Tool)

INLET Earthquake Simulator
Customize your own scenario with this Earthquake damage predictor.

The results display potential damage to property (none, slight, moderate, complete)
Also predicts the number of casualties that could arise.
Number of bridges effected.

Other functions are available
Ground Shaking: Peak Ground Acceleration
Real-time (the past 7 days of activity)

Lots of other functions, layer controls, layer transparency, facilities.

Based on Microsoft Virtual Earth mapping

Try this mapping tool out here:
http://rescue-ibm.calit2.uci.edu:8888/inlet/inlet.php

source:
http://www.liveside.net

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01 September 2008

Hurricane Gustav (MSNBC)

Hurricane Gustav (MSNBC)

There are currently lots of maps out there showing the status of hurricane Gustav but this one created by MSNBC simplifies all of the huge amounts of data and makes it easy for users to see what is currently going on right now.

.Hurricane Gustav MSNBC Map
MSNBC map of hurricane Gustav includes a wind strength chart.
The base mapping and Overlay data is unconventional but works .

View the Map
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26295161?preferredName=Gustav

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