Mapperz - The Mapping News Blog

Bing Maps Revamp - Draggable Routes

2009-11-10T18:32:00.005Z

Bing Maps Revamp - Draggable Routes

Routes can be picked up and moved around the current map - distances are shown on the fly.

Information on private roads and gated roads is much clearer now.

New Functions

Draggable Routes – Bing Maps now allows you to generate a route, then you can change the route, you can simply grab any part of it and drag it to where you want the route to actually go. To use draggable routes, click the directions link in the welcome pane or the car icon near the bottom of the welcome pane. Enter a start and end, generate a route, then grab anywhere on the route to move the route line. The route will regenerate for you.
Zoom Bar – No longer just a zoom in and zoom out button, the zoom bar allows you to jump to specific zoom levels within predefined settings.

View Larger Map
Get Directions
View Bird's Eye

Embeddable Map Cutomizer (EMC) – You can now take a map view right from Bing Maps and embed it into your site. To do this, you’ll want to click the Share button once your map is where you want it to be. You can copy the embed code from there; or, you can click the Customize View link which will take you to the embeddable map customizer (EMC). The EMC allows you to set a map to the map height and width (small, medium, large or custom); the map type (static or draggable); the map styles (road, aerial, aerial w/ labels); and, add links to Bing Maps for Viewing a Larger Map or Getting Directions. Once you’ve set everything the way you want it, click Generate Code and there is your code. You copy it, then paste it into your web page and you’ll have the map you wanted.

Backend:
Dynamic Compute – We’ve moved the processing power closer to the user. Using Microsoft’s ECN, we now have Bing Maps running in data centers in 7 locations around the world. This means wherever you are around the world, you will access Bing Maps from the closest geographic node to where you are physically located.

Front End
New Navigation – We also added a subset of features to a button bar along the bottom of the welcome pane. Each button loads features on Bing Maps. Welcome loads the welcome pane; the car loads the route planner; the star loads My Places, formerly called Collections; the envelop loads the ability to share the map with someone via email, copying a URL or embedding the map into a web page (more on that below); the printer icon is for printing; and, stoplight will load a traffic overlay with flow and incident information.

Faster Cold Start:
Diet Bing Maps - The default Bing Maps home page dropped from 678kb to 484kb. It zips through the pipes much faster now.

source:
http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/maps/archive/2009/11/10/bing-maps-gets-an-overhaul-and-some-new-features.aspx

Street View - Gran Canaria & Tenerife.

2009-11-10T09:41:00.007Z

Street View - Gran Canaria & Tenerife. (Hawaii too)

Gran Canaria

Tenerife

Don't Forget the 50th State of the United States too. Hawaii

Official Blog
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/fifty-states-of-street-view.html

Google Street View Mexico Arrives

2009-11-10T00:09:00.007Z

Google Street View Mexico Arrives

Mexico City
Monterrey
Guadalajara
Puerto Vallarta
Cancun
Playa del Carmen
Cozumel

nice views on the Google Maps Mania Blog
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2009/11/mexico-gets-street-view.html

Network West Midlands - Live Bus, Train and Metro Map

2009-11-06T15:34:00.004Z

Network West Midlands - Live Bus, Train and Metro Map

Interactive Travel Map - this is information overlaid on to Google Maps showing live information from http://www.networkwestmidlands.co.uk/

The Interactive Live Map shows:

Bus stops (real time bus timetables, where available) rail stations (train departure and arrival times) and Metro stops.
See forthcoming departures (live for rail and bus)
Link through to full timetables relevant for each station and stop
See the 8-letter bus stop code for a particular bus stop.

The map functions:

Search box Type a road, town or village, postcode, bus stop name or bus stop code list matching bus stop results in the left panel.
Map top strip Tick/untick a checkbox to show/hide those map icons.
Map & markers You can pan, zoom and scroll using your mouse and the Google map controls (and the small map view in the bottom right-hand corner).
Left side links Select Rail or Metro to list local rail or metro stops
Left panel Bus stops matching your search are displayed as lists of links.
Quicklist Moves the map to an locality on the drop-down list.

View the Live Interactive Map
http://netwmtravelmap.com/

OpenStreetMap Data 'On Demand' with Quantum GIS 'Mimas'

2009-11-05T13:41:00.011Z

OpenStreetMap Data 'On Demand' with Quantum GIS 'Mimas'

Updated 07/11/2009

Getting the data you want.

One of the hardest things about OpenStreetMap [#OSM] is getting access to the data you want and for the location you require.
You can download large files for entire regions or countries, but why only if your going to use a small amount.
CloudMade gives you this by country. http://downloads.cloudmade.com/

Here is a solution - All software is FREE and Open Source so no excuses.

Viewing styled (Automatically) Open Street Map Data in Quantum GIS 'Mimas' [QGIS]
The data has been downloaded directly from the Open Street Map Servers [most up to date data].
**There are area limitions controlled by OpenStreetMap Servers, the plugin will warn you of this issue if required.
You also can edit, select features, query features and do spatial geoprocessing (buffer,intersect etc) on the data.

Clarification on editing the OSM data.

After selecting the area, download to a location on your computer .osm format.
you will get 3 layers called
osm points*
osm lines*
osm polygons*
*not editable
now these are 'representations' only, so you are required to load the .osm file in again.
use the openstreetmap plugin to do this
This will create two layers ways and nodes - These can be edited - right click/toggle editing.
Now you can edit your OpenStreetMap data.

Import Issues to Edit your on-demand openstreetmap data.

Please note: There are 2 'OpenStreetMap' Plugins available - both are required. But to use the editor with the data downloaded please use the 'Import OpenStreetMap' version - not the Load OSM option.

You will need the development version of Quantum GIS 'Mimas'
http://blog.qgis.org/node/138
http://qgis.org/en/download/current-software.html
http://download.osgeo.org/qgis/win32/QGIS-1.3.0-3-No-GrassSetup.exe [Direct link to Windows file 28.1mb]

Spatial Database or Shapefile?
If you want to store your OSM data and use it for other projects then storing it in a Postgres Spatial Database is a good idea.
http://www.postgresql.org/download/

With Postgis 1.4 (1.5 in dev) you can speed up functions of geoprocessing and achieve more accurate results.
Download - http://postgis.refractions.net/download/ [install after Postgres].

Or if you just want it as a common file type you can just save out to shapefile.
Good if you want to share it to others with minimum impact.

Note: There are many new plugins for Quantum GIS

For this please use the OpenStreetMap Plugin (Version 0.5) [top]
and if you choose the postgres/postgis route a very useful plugin 'PostGIS manager (Version 0.5.4)' gives users a Graphical User Interface for managing Postgres/Postgis functions.
*versions maybe different in future.

This give users the power and speed. This gives Quantum GIS the edge on Open Source and Commercial GIS by breaking down the limitations and access to geographical data directly.

Weather.com goes into the 'Future' (Bing Maps)

2009-11-02T09:57:00.007Z

Weather.com goes into the 'Future' (Bing Maps)

The new 'Future' button starts moving into a predicted mode using 'trupoint' technology at 15 minute intervals up to 6 hours into the future.

http://www.weather.com/weather/map/interactive/30004?from=36hr_maps&zoom=8&interactiveMapLayer=radar

"The Weather Channel's unique TruPoint^SM technology delivers the most accurate weather reports and forecasts - for more locations - than any other weather provider.

NEW: TruPoint technology is now available on weather.com interactive maps! See exactly where storms are forecasted for up to the next six hours so you can better plan and prepare for any activity."

Summary of TruePoint Technology

A highly localized weather forecast; accurate down to a one-square mile area.

Allows you to zero in on specific places such as schools and parks.

Available every 15 minutes across a 6 hour period.

Available only within the 48 contiguous United States.

A proprietary technology developed and used exclusively by The Weather Channel.

Full details on the technology here:
http://www.weather.com/encyclopedia/trupoint.html?from=hrly_trupointlogo

source:
http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/maps/archive/2009/11/01/weather-com-adds-futures-on-bing-maps.aspx

Google Maps JavaScript API v3 - Now with Directions

2009-10-30T16:02:00.005Z

Google Maps JavaScript API v3 - Now with Directions

**Remember Google Maps JavaScript API v3 is designed to be super lightweight for mobile devices

This makes mapping for mobile devices a lot more useful

New Directions (Walking or Driving) in London - Google Maps V3

@mapperz example above
http://mapperz.googlepages.com/google_mapv3_directions.html

With a Directions Panel
http://mapperz.googlepages.com/google_mapv3_directions_panel.html

Code:
New required parameters

var directionDisplay;
var directionsService = new google.maps.DirectionsService();

Set Start and End locations:

function calcRoute() {
var start = document.getElementById("start").value;
var end = document.getElementById("end").value;
var request = {
origin:start,
destination:end,

Travel Modes:

travelMode: google.maps.DirectionsTravelMode.WALKING
travelMode: google.maps.DirectionsTravelMode.DRIVING

Get the response from the Geocoder if both locations geocoded then display route between locations:

directionsService.route(request, function(response, status) {
if (status == google.maps.DirectionsStatus.OK) {
directionsDisplay.setDirections(response);

See the changelog
http://code.google.com/p/gmaps-api-issues/wiki/JavascriptMapsAPIv3Changelog

revelant links
Official documentation
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/v3/reference.html#DirectionsRenderer
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/v3/reference.html#DirectionsService

Offical Examples:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/v3/examples/directions-simple.html
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/v3/examples/directions-panel.htm l

source:
http://groups.google.com/group/google-maps-js-api-v3/browse_thread/thread/ee7ce7cf8a872268?hl=en#

Google Navigation Beta for Andriod

2009-10-28T17:00:00.001Z

Google Navigation Beta for Andriod
(turn-by-turn GPS navigation with voice guidance for the Google Android Platform)

News update: 29/10/2009
"Shares in sat-nav device companies have fallen substantially after Google unveiled its free live sat-nav for mobiles on Wednesday.

US firm Garmin fell 18% after details of Google Maps Navigation were revealed. Dutch firm TomTom fell 9.5% when markets closed on Thursday."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8331824.stm

Google Maps Navigation is an internet-connected GPS navigation system with voice guidance. It is part of Google Maps for mobile and is available for phones with Android 2.0.

Searching for Points of Interest along your route. (users choose poi topics)

Google Maps Navigation uses your phone's internet connection to give you the latest maps and business data. But that's not all that's different about Google's approach to GPS navigation. Watch the below video to learn more.

1. Search in plain English
2. Search by Voice
3. Traffic View (see busy routes either green,yellow,red segments)
4. Search along a Route (Points of Interest of users choice along the active route)
5. Satellite View (includes direction visualisations)
6. Street View (includes direction visualisations)
7. Car Dock Mode - Landscape. (voice processing active, backlight enabled)

http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/index.html#p=default

source:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-google-maps-navigation-for.html

The Met Office Weather Maps - October 2009 update

2009-10-27T00:01:00.001Z

The Met Office Weather Maps - October 2009 update

The biggest difference is speed, layers of weather data have improved and load even faster.

The rainfall layer shows you a radar image of rain across the country. The different colours show different intensities of rain, from dark blue (least severe rain) to white (most severe).

Faster radar and coverage expanded users will find the 'Tools' easier to control opacity (even in timeline mode).

Timeline: (animated weather in time lapse)

The timeline has been improved due to the layers speed, one of the most important parts of the weather map. By clicking on timeline, you can see recent observations or forecast weather.

The weather that is being displayed on the map has its date and time shown on the timeline, and its segment is highlighted in green.

Note that segments on the left-hand side (weather already happened) have a grey bottom. Segments on the right (which show show weather forecasts) have a green bottom.

As your mouse moves over each segment, you will see the date and time of the information, shown in light blue. Click the segment to display the weather you're hovering over.

With some options, there is a play button shown next to the timeline. Clicking it will step through the information one segment at a time. This can be very useful to see how rainfall or cloud is moving across your area. Click the pause button to stop the animation.

Layers that can't be animated show a play button with a red line through it.

The locations box now allows you to store up to 8 places, for quick navigation to those points on the map.

The pressure layer now shows text and lines called isobars. Each isobar connects points that have the same atmospheric pressure.

Require imperial measurements?, then they are available in preferences.
Welsh is in the pipeline but not available currently.

National Parks (Leisure areas) have now got there own unique weather warnings, specifically to highlight Blizzards, Heavy snow, Storm force winds,Gales, Severe chill effect, Persistent extensive hill fog, Thunderstorms and Heavy persistent rain.

See previous posts on this topic versions
http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2009/06/met-office-google-maps-weather.html
http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2009/07/best-uk-google-map-api-mashup-ever.html
(note suggestions have been picked up on)

Broadband Trends Map (UK)

2009-10-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

Broadband Trends Map (UK)

Using the 'Top 10 Broadband Speed Test'
is a free-to-use speed (and compare) testing service that analyses your broadband speed in seconds. It can measure speeds on every type of broadband connection whether ADSL, cable / fibre-optic or mobile broadband (3G).

Test your broadband speed in seconds
See your neighbours' speeds with Broadband StreetStats™
Find out the fastest broadband provider in your area!

http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/speedtest/#

Nokia - Ovi Good Things

2009-10-22T13:45:00.000+01:00

Nokia - Ovi Good Things

http://maps.ovi.com/goodthings/f84c5631-eec4-4ee6-8c04-872622dc1cb0/Secret-Location

(that's the location but you need a special token)

Make An ESRI Map

2009-10-21T00:01:00.001+01:00

Make a Map—The Make a Map feature includes a simple interactive Web map showing seven different U.S. demographic layers. Visitors can zoom in to an area of interest, select a demographic layer, then embed the map into their own Web pages simply by copying and pasting the automatically generated HTML for free map services.

Quick to embed, limited datasets and seems to be USA only (datawise).
(Even geo-locates Area 51 above)

Make your map here

Related
http://www.esri.com/software/mapping_for_everyone/index.html

source:
http://www.esri.com/news/releases/09_4qtr/mapping-for-everyone.html

Crime Maps (England & Wales ) Released

2009-10-20T00:36:00.008+01:00

Crime Maps (England & Wales ) Released

The long awaited crime maps have been released.

Bing Maps are used with Police boundaries that are thematically styled with crime rates.
centring the map with the 'gun' sight target pulls up information from the authority. Up to 5 authoritiies can be compared at once.

"The map was launched today by Home Office minister David Hanson and National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) deputy chief executive Steve Mortimore"

Quick Links
http://maps.police.uk/view/avon-somerset/
http://maps.police.uk/view/devon-cornwall/
http://maps.police.uk/view/dorset/
http://maps.police.uk/view/wiltshire/
http://maps.police.uk/view/hampshire/
http://maps.police.uk/view/surrey/
http://maps.police.uk/view/sussex/

related previous posts:
http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2009/08/bbc-crime-map-truth-about-crime.html
http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2008/08/london-metropolitan-police-crime.html

Source:
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news//crime/government-launches-crime-maps-to-public-$1335231.htm

News links (they finally catch up)
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091020/tuk-online-maps-let-public-compare-crime-45dbed5_2.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8315089.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221604/Crime-maps-allow-householders-check-areas-boon-burglars.html

The Running Map

2009-10-16T10:49:00.007+01:00

The Running Map

A useful map for the likes of runners, joggers, cyclists, hikers, horse riders & walkers.
A clean fast way to prepare for your running routes

Nice clean interface, self explanatory - simple to use map.
Even a show elevation option displays at the bottom of the map.

Based in Flash (Flex) and using the Yahoo Flex API
http://developer.yahoo.com/maps/flash/flexGettingStarted.html

The speed of the map load is much improved and the tools and functions (ie switching from miles to kilometres) is extremely fast.
The very helpful 'save route' is a permalink like:
http://www.runningmap.com/?id=145338
(the map above) WITHOUT requiring to have a user account.
Though having a registered user account does give you more control on multiple routes.
Tip: is if you have previous permalinked route(s) and then sign up - you can apply those routes to your newregistered account.

"RunningMap.com is a website for runners, cyclists, hikers or outdoor enthusiasts who want to plan, save and share their routes. Since 2003 Runningmap.com has been helping runners determine the distance of their routes in a way that was not previously possible."

more helpful information and guide is available at
http://www.runningmap.com/news/how-to-get-started-with-runningmap/
http://www.runningmap.com/news/faq/

If your interested in this and also have an iPhone then you will be wanting to try out
http://www.runningmap.com/news/iphone/
or the direct link on itunes.

Atlanta Mapathon - Creating the Best Mapped City

2009-10-15T00:04:00.001+01:00

Atlanta, the capital of the US state of Georgia will soon be the world's most digitally mapped city, according to organisers of a massive "Mapathon".
Source: BBC News

http://www.openstreetmap.org/index.html?lat=33.792&lon=-84.336&zoom=10

What is a Mapathon?
Mapping on-mass [crowdsourcing] the downtown Atlanta area including parks, university campuses and historic sites. Volunteers will be on hand to help new mappers learn how to use a GPS or Walking-Papers and have helpful tips for beginners. Come for the whole day or just stop by for an hour to learn the basics of community mapping and add a few points of interest to the map.

Atlanta Citywide Mapathon

October 16th 17th 18th

During this three day mapping event, local businesses, community groups and OSM members will join together to launch a citywide initiative to help make the map of Atlanta one of the best in the US. For details of how to get involved in this fun, family-friendly event, see the Atlanta Citywide Mapathon page.

Useful links:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Atlanta_Citywide_Mapathon
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Atlanta#Atlanta_Citywide_Mapathon

New to OpenStreetMapping?
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Beginners%27_Guide

Google Building Maker - New!

2009-10-13T17:11:00.008+01:00

Google Building Maker - New!

Contributors will be able to help creat buildings for over 50 cities.
(likely to expand in the future)

"We [Google] like to think of Building Maker as a cross between Google Maps and a gigantic bin of building blocks. Basically, you pick a building and construct a model of it using aerial photos and simple 3D shapes – both of which we provide. When you're done, we take a look at your model. If it looks right, and if a better model doesn't already exist, we add it to the 3D Buildings layer in Google Earth. You can make a whole building in a few minutes."

The YouTube Video shows how fast it is to add/contribute your own buildings, Google will check them and when verified they will acknowledge your work.
Building Maker in Cardiff - with simple tools to create buildings

Requirements before you can contribute:

Building Maker is an online tool, and it runs entirely in your web browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc.)
Before you can add a building to Google Earth, you need to sign in to your Google Account (so you get credit for what you contribute).
Models you create with Building Maker "live" in the Google 3D Warehouse (a giant, online repository of 3D models).
You can use Google SketchUp (the free, general-purpose 3D modeling tool) to edit or otherwise modify anything you make with Building Maker.
Make sure you have the latest version of Google Earth installed on your computer.
If using an Apple Mac, you need to download the Google Earth plug-in directly.

Google Building Maker
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwh/buildingmaker.html

source:
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-building-maker.html

OS 3D Laser Map - Most Accurate Mapping Ever

2009-10-12T17:44:00.005+01:00

The national agency used state-of-the-art laser technology and aerial imagery to create what it claims is one of the most accurate maps every produced.

"Ordnance Survey says that the results are substantially more accurate than the 3D maps available through online applications such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth, and will revolutionise the way it charts the British Isles."

Video of Bournemouth's Seafront attractions

The Good News:

“Given the level of detail that we've [ordnance survey] achieved, I think Bournemouth can confidently lay claim to being the best mapped place on the planet.”
Glen Hart, head of research at Ordnance Survey

The Bad News:

The 3D mapping service will not be rolled to the rest of Britain for at least five years, while Ordnance Survey perfects the new method. The black dots in the video represent points where no laser data was obtained.

Full article and source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6308577/Ordnance-Survey-3D-map-of-Bournemouth-is-most-detailed-ever.html

OpenStreetMap Formula 1 Circuits

2009-10-09T09:47:00.005+01:00

OpenStreetMap Formula 1 Circuits

OpenStreetMap Formula 1 Circuit - Circuit de Monaco (Monaco)

OpenStreetMapper 'kevjs1982' has been busy mapping Formula 1 circuits across the world using OpenStreetMap.

"I have been putting a page together showing all the Formula 1 grand prix circuits on OSM and this has shown how random motor racing circuits have been tagged in the past

Highway=road, Highway=motorway, Highway=track, Highway=service, Highway=unclassified, and leisure=sport have all be used.

Relations for the Grand Prix circuit have been created and where the circuit is a dedicated one the highway has been changed to raceway.

Annoying now I've been through the lot it seams that the highway=raceway tag has been abandoned (I could have sworn it wasn't last week) although Mapnik renders it (see Donington Park, Silverstone, Hockenheimring, and Nürburgring for some old highway=raceways) - typical!

If you are in Montreal or Valencia and looking for something to map you could do worse than double checking the grand prix circuits out - looks like both are generally part of the local cycle networks and some areas are probably better tagged as something other than Raceway (current) or Track (previous) - in particular Valencia looks to have been redeveloped a lot since the aerial photography was taken and was originally laid down as a highway=track on top of open ground and other roads.

If you want to see how much stuff can be tagged round a Grand Prix circuit while bringing Potlatch to it's knees than the two German tracks are good places to check out!

Alas, not all tracks are in Open Street Map at present - 上海国际赛车场 (China), İstanbul Park (Turkey), Marina Bay (Singapore), 鈴鹿サーキット (Japan), Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), and Korean International Circuit (Korea) are missing, and Wikipedia doesn't even know where the Indian track is (unsurprisingly all the new ones outside aerial mapping coverage).

mapperz correction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaypee_Group_Circuit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Grand_Prix

Diary entry centred on the Nürburgring Nordschleife - where else could you do so really?

Formula 1 OpenStreetMap can be found at:
http://kjs.me.uk/osm/f1.php - shows all the tracks on this years and next years calendar (aside from India).

So if your interested and have some knowledge either in formula 1 or helping openstreetmap fill the gaps then you can help.
Starting point is http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Main_Page
The OpenStreetMap - http://www.openstreetmap.org/index.html

Source:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/kevjs1982/diary/8217

Google StreetView for Canadian Cities - New!

2009-10-08T00:01:00.002+01:00

Google StreetView for Canadian Cities - New!

Seems a long time waiting but finally Google Street View comes to Canada.

The service is now available in much of the Greater Toronto Area and in Vancouver and the surrounding area, north to Whistler (2010 Winter Olympics Venues) and east to Chilliwack, British Columbia

Google Street View is also available in the Ontario cities of Hamilton, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ottawa also Calgary, Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta, Montreal and surroundings, Quebec City and finally Halifax in Nova Scotia.

Source and embedded StreetView Scenes available at
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2009/10/street-view-comes-to-canada.html

Don't forget you can embedded your own StreetView tours easily with
http://www.streetcities.com/

Discover,Evaluate & Develop - New Ordnance Survey Licences

2009-10-06T10:53:00.007+01:00

Discover,Evaluate & Develop - New Ordnance Survey Licences

Ordnance Survey have found the word 'Innovate' and have changed the way they 'give away' (at cost*) data for Discovering,Evaluating and Developing Ordnance Survey data.

The New Licencing Models:-

Discover:
if you are a private individual, new customer, social entrepreneur, or represent a social group or start up company. You can use the data for your internal evaluation and testing purposes only. You cannot develop or demonstrate the data. It is free of charge and can be used as long as you adhere to the terms. Terms PDF

Evaluate:
You may be interested in this licence if you are a new or existing customer who would like to take a larger area of OS data to evaluate, test or demonstrate internally. You can take this data initially for a maximum of three months. Standard supply is up to 10% of Great Britain. This licence is free of charge.
*Though if your order 10.1% of Britian you will be charged £500 payable within 30 days.
Terms PDF

Many of the Ordnance Survey Datasets are available to download in various GIS formats so no data conversion is required. Simply load into your GIS sofatware.

Developer:
You may be interested in this licence if you would like to develop, test and demonstrate our data to your potential customers.

Our standard supply of Developer Data is for the Plymouth area. Products, formats and exact areas covered are on the Developer Data overview page.

You can use the data for 12 months (except for any third party products listed in the licence where the term can be reduced to 3 or 6 months) and the licence to do this is free of charge.
Terms PDF

FAQ's

How long can I use the data for?

Discover Data– until we terminate the licence.
Evaluation Data – You can take this data for three (3) months except where you request and we agree to supply more than four (4) individual kilometre tiles of OS MasterMap Imagery Layer, which will be for a period of one (1) month.
Development Data – 12 months from the date of despatch, after this time the licence will automatically renew on the same terms. Term for the 3rd party products is also 3 months from the date of despatch.

How much data can I have?

Discover Data– You can download what is on the website.
Evaluation Data – up to 10% of national cover as standard.
Developer Data – Plymouth area as standard.

Which products are available?

** Rasters require world files for GIS software to geo-reference each image available here
***not sure why this data is made available is 'frozen' (dis-continued)

Can I have, for example, three different areas of 10% cover?

Under the Evaluation licence you can have one geographical area of 10% for different products.

What do I do if I want to order the same area for a different product a few weeks after I placed my first order?

You need to complete another request form for the second batch of data.

What happens with the evaluation licence at the end of three months?

You should cease use, destroy and delete the data or contact us if you still need to use the data.

Source:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/products/innovations/

Though at the end of the day does it innovate you?

ALL 1,841,177 UK POSTCODES FREE'D?

2009-09-16T16:53:00.010+01:00

ALL 1,841,177 UK POSTCODES FREE'D?

Example of UK Individual Postcodes (density)
image source:
http://da.vidnicholson.com/2006/12/uk-postcode-coverage-map.html

According to the Guardian:

"Wikileaks is hosting what it says is a copy of the entire UK postcode list, last updated on July 8 2009, that contains "all 1,841,177 UK post codes together with lattitude [sic] and longitude, grid references, county, district, ward, NHS codes and regions, Ordnance Survey reference, and date of introduction. The database ... is over 100,000 pages in size."

The 230MB file, zipped to 20MB, does indeed contain a huge slew of postcodes in comma-separated form, with those details as headers for each column.

Oh my. We have no idea who has leaked this, but it is the gateway to some valuable information: Royal Mail, as we ascertained previously in the Free Our Data campaign, sells the Postcode Address File (aka PAF) for a considerable sum, and makes a good profit on it: in August 2007 the postal regulator Postcomm revealed that PAF operations made a profit of £1.58m on revenues of £18.36m, all but £4m from resellers."

Data seems to be

Postzon™

"links Postcodes and addresses to geographical data"

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump2?mediaId=400088&catId=400084

so there is a licence cost:

System licence £1,000
Multi-system licence £3,000
Corporate licence £25,000

Full story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/sep/16/wikileaks-postcode-file-free-data

MapQuest Static Maps with POI's (advanced features)

2009-09-14T18:37:00.008+01:00

MapQuest Static Maps with POI's (advanced features)

Interesting update from Mapquest API's

De-cluttering Points of Interest [POI] with the static maps api

Creating Static Maps with your own POI- this example show how to use the de-clutter option (when points of interest are too close to each other and maintaining a pre-defined zoom level)

This static map is create with the url request

http://platform.beta.mapquest.com/staticmap/v3/getmap?type=map&center=51.044600,-1.3413100&size=800,600&zoom=10&pois=1,51.044900,-1.3413450,-51,-51|orange-100,51.044900,-1.3412700,51,-51|green,51.044200,-1.3413450,
-51,51|yellow-s,51.044200,-1.3412700,51,51|&key=[YOUR_KEY_HERE]*

live link tinyurl'ed - http://tinyurl.com/declutter-poi

pois=1,51.044900,-1.3413450, centred locations by latitude/longitude
51,51 (with +/-) is the de-clutter default
(more info on this see http://platform.beta.mapquest.com/staticmap/index.html#advancedoptions

*copying and pasting the long url will work - though for geocoding and other controlled functions require an api key.
API keys are free - they can be created by signing up to Mapquest API via
http://developer.mapquest.com/

Mapquest Static Maps API
http://platform.beta.mapquest.com/staticmap/

source:
http://devblog.mapquest.com/2009/09/14/geocoding-and-static-map-web-services-now-in-beta/

MapOSMatic - Free Street Map Index Generation

2009-09-11T10:30:00.007+01:00

MapOSMatic - Free Street Map Index Generation

**for France only but is hoping to expand in the near future.

Combining the OpenStreetMap mapping platform with Postgres (using PostGIS Functions) for creation of 'Bingo' grid maps with street indexes.

Example

source: http://www.maposmatic.org/smedia/chavagne.png
http://www.maposmatic.org/smedia/chavagne_index.png
(large .png's some web browsers can choke on image size being large)

This makes it very useful to print and use on your travels or to help OpenStreetMap fill in any missing or changed names - you can contribute here with over 135,000 budding OSM'ers.
Note: you don't have to have a GPS device to contribute.
Paper and Pencil works! (see http://walking-papers.org/)

How does this work? (techie stuff bit)

Renders the map using OpenStreetMap data and the OpenStreetMap Mapnik stylesheet;
Renders on top of the map, using Mapnik, the grid of 500 meters squares, the labels of the squares, and a few other informations on the map (copyright, scale, etc.);
Greys out all the area outside the city if we find its administrative boundary;
Renders an index of the streets, based on OpenStreetMap data and the intersection of the streets with the squares on the map.

"On our server, we run a PostgreSQL server, with the PostGIS extension. In this PostgreSQL server, we have loaded the full OpenStreetMap data for the metropolitan France, using the dumps from Geofabrik and the osm2pgsql tool."

This web service has been called MapOSMatic, like map-o-matic but with a reference to OpenStreetMap (OSM). The web service is written in Python using Django. It is responsible for storing the rendering requests and displaying the result of these requests. The rendering itself takes place asynchronously through the maposmaticd daemon. This daemon does only one rendering at a time, which is very important because of the CPU and I/O intensive nature of the map rendering process.

If you would like to contribute to this project then more information is available:
http://www.maposmatic.org/about/

Mapperz looks forward to it expanding across the rest Europe and the rest of the World.

New Canadian Toporama WMS service - Examples

2009-09-09T17:13:00.009+01:00

New Canadian Toporama WMS service - Examples

update:12/09/2009

Geospatial provides a little more information on ftp access {bulk downloads} to map data.
http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial/2009/09/nrcan-wms-service-for-canadian-vector-topo-maps.html

new link:
http://tinyurl.com/nuseox
(newer code)

WMS [Web Mapping Service] is not new - in GIS and Technology terms is old.
But there are plenty of services, organisations, governments out there that do serve their content via this format.

So why this post - Well there was a Google Maps API Thread that was becoming very interesting:
"mentionned last week that canadian topo maps (NRCAN) are of poor quality. This is true. But a new service have been implemented in may by NRCAN to replace it. It seems this introduction passed unnoticed so far. I myself searched for a long time and to find information about this new service. NRCAN has introduced in may the Toporama WMS service. This gives access to the new CANTOPO, the new generation of Topographic Maps (1 :50,000) produced by NRCAN. Theses maps are in vector format. The availability of this new vector format for canadian topo maps gives us more precision and clarity as compared to the old Raster Maps format who where a scan of the Paper Maps. Texts describing rivers and local points of interest do not anymore collapse when zooming to lower levels. The map is also of higher quality at higher zoom level. And
the information shown on the maps is adapted to the zoom levels. "
PierreB

Then the talented google map api programmer PapaBear picked up on this and quickly developed this:

the new generation of Topographic Maps from CANTOPO
The quality and content from this dataset is rich in detail, contours, very small lakes, buildings, rail road etc

Though the full credit goes to PapaBear for the example and PierreB for thier knowledge and skills to put this together in a very short space of time.

"This map is of a station (survey marker) very near the border in
Maine. It should open with USGS topo map type. These topos usually
overlap the border and show a short distance into Canada (usually to
the next 7.5 or 15 minutes of longitide, depending on the scale).

The map type is changed with the selector in the upper right. I have
kept the old raster version from NR canada (type "CanRas") as well as
the new vector maps (type "CanVec").

You can compare the USGS topos and the 2 Canadian types for the same
locale. The USGS map tiles are also raster data (and these have been
know to have missing areas and occasional mis-registration) but they
are higher resolution scans than the old NR Canada tiles..

The topography is not too interesting, since it's a swampy area, but
nevertheless the different map type are all visible. "

If you want to see a working example then go to:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/BM_Station_GMap.html#FILE=Maine_Peaks.js&index=QF1769&title=1&width=960&height=720&showrm=1

{note: this is a testing environment and change be moved or changed without notice}

But hopefully users will be impressed with the resources and hopefully make use of the wms services still out there.

Well done.

Ovi SDK - Map Beta Examples - First Look

2009-09-08T15:35:00.010+01:00

Ovi SDK - Map Beta Examples - First Look

It is nearly a week since the public release of the Ovi [Nokia] SDK

Mapping Wise what can you do with it?

Well the first version had an issue - apps would not show, but this has been rectified and now the examples will show in the Nokia(N97) Emulator.

This example shows a few options.
Drop Pin
POI Icons
Server Icon (Wifi/3G connection required)
Local (Phone memory in the app)
Polyline (now we are getting somewhere)
Polygons - Reviewed

Landscape mode enabled - shows all example with out needing to scroll.

Polygon Example

mapperz wasn't happy with the example polygon - it didn't seem that helpful

Custom Polygon generated in Ovi Map Player using the Ovi Apps SDK
(mapperz customised the orginal example with something slightly better)
So how was this achieved?

Well you can study the Development Guide or the API Library that comes zipped up
However the fastest way to learn is working examples

The code was found in mapfunctions.js
(in the Downloaded SDK >com.nokia.maps.examples.mapContent)
in here there is a section of code:

Example – Adding a Polygon to the Map
*/
function addPolygon()
{
var polygon = {
type: "polygon",
points: [{latitude: 51.45128846597743, longitude: -2.5956809520721436}, {latitude: 51.45115474591054, longitude: -2.5934386253356934}, {latitude: 51.44976403399727, longitude: -2.5936853885650635}, {latitude: 51.449957933872724, longitude: -2.595916986465454}],
visible: true,
width: 5,
color: {red: 180, blue: 20, green: 0, alpha: 255},
fillColor: {red: 0, blue: 0, green: 0, alpha: 100}
};
// Set zoom level
player.map.setZoomScale(500);

// Move map center to a central location between the three points of the polygon:
player.map.moveTo({
latitude: 51.45052625634988,
longitude: -2.5947046279907227
});

// Create a layer:
//var layer = player.map.createLayer({name: "testLayer1"});

// Add the polygon:
var mapObjects1 = layer.addMapObjects(polygon);

}

all that code for one square polygon? well yes...

Now in real-world terms you need quite a lot of information before you start:
Coordinates for each vertices is required to have
{latitude: 51.45128846597743, longitude: -2.5956809520721436}
easier would be: {lat1:51.451288,lng:-2.595680}
but it would be simpler to list them in a clockwise order.
or you end up copying and pasting lots of coordinates for quite simple shapes.

**note make sure you use {} 'curly brackets' and not () 'normal brackets' or you will get javascript errors.

There is currently no option for holes in polygons (donut polygons)
What would really help is the ability to overlay KML/GPX files from servers or accessed from the device.

Not sure why zoom extent coordinates are required - would be easier for the extent of the polygon(s) to be used.

Less code makes faster devices (http://www.bewebmaster.com/42.php)
color: {red: 180, blue: 20, green: 0, alpha: 255},
fillColor: {red: 0, blue: 0, green: 0, alpha: 100}

how about:
rgb:180,20,0,255
fill:0,0,0,100

Was hoping to evaulate the New Ovi Maps Navigiation API though in reading the documentation you get a message:

NOTE: The functionality described here is not yet available.

Would prefer they left it out until it was available - would presume that this requires an api key of sorts - but if wanted it tested and de-bugged in beta you would think it would be.

There is demand for this - many, many mobile devices are geo-aware and can use this but it seems clearer there is going to be a good few months of re-writting code to make this a truely customisatable portable mapping and navigational system.
Mapperz will review when activated.

The SDK has been written by techinical people and it does show. They say you are required some basic knowledge of html & javascript.
Mapperz would say you are required to be at an intermediate level for javascript, html,css and de-bugging.
Note: The Software Aptana 1.5 is required to do serious work in the Ovi Apps SDK.

Nokia have the resources they just need to apply it a little stronger.
Web Documentation would be also helpful - like many other mapping apis available.

So the answer to their blog
"OviSDK+you=Ovi Apps for Everyone"
http://blog.ovi.com/2009/09/03/ovi-sdk-you-ovi-apps-for-everyone/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ovi-sdk-you-ovi-apps-for-everyone

is no currently and unfortunately (hope this changes)

Action please
Nokia need people with basic programming - to read their documentation and highlight areas of explanation.

Ovi Maps Player API stongest competitor is going to be Google Map API (v3) There are some interesting features coming to it in the coming weeks, stay tuned.

When these teething issues have been ironed out then they will have a competitive product.
There is no indication whether the Navigation API will require a licence.
Currently Nokia Ovi Map users require a daily,weekly,monthly or yearly licence to use Navigational Features, if you make an app with it - does everyone require a seperate licence.
If they do it will be a stumbling block for a promising feature.