nearby.org.uk blog

Following the amazing interest in the networklink for embedding FlashEarth inside Google Earth 4.2, have performed a few updates…

1. The zoom is a LOT closer matched, this is thanks to the inspiring formula: $z = (-1.4956 * log($range/1000) + 16.529; (yes really!); brought to you by the wonder of plotting a graph in Excel, creating a trendline, turning on the formula display option. Probably could get an even better match with more patience, but probably about as good as it going to get really.
2. Removed the title and the directions links, makes the balloon looks a bit nicer, couldn’t get it to go transparent for me tho… suggestions welcome.
3. When the network link is now a folder so can choose the size of your popup The previous version is now the ‘medium’ one.

Though the magic of the web, you get 1) and 2) automatically, if want 3) just download it again:

Open in Google Earth (Required: GE 4.2 Windows)

Thanks again to everyone involved.

What if the current view in Google Earth was quickly viewable in other maps, such as those made accessible by FlashEarth? Well, now it is. As you move around the globe a little white arrow follows you around, simple click it to get an approximation of the current view in FlashEarth in a popup balloon.

Open in Google Earth

Total credit to Valery35, for the concept (including a screenshot) on the Google Earth Community. (and to all the people made all the bits that could be pieced together in this 15min hack)

A next version of Google Earth is out! This in the one that implements the things we got a sneak preview of with KML2.2. Unfortunatly it would have to be today, the one day I cant actully play with it, so will have to hold off any try it out propelly another day

I’ll forward you over to Ogle Earth to get the lowdown on the new features.

I just hope that the 3DConnexion SpaceNavigator not working in Photo (or Sky!) mode is just a glitch…

As a little experiment in super high resolution panoramas, created a 61215×3105px image, stitched together from a number of 10Mpix images. I’ve uploaded here as a Zoomify Viewer so make viewing it quick and easy.

I’ll try and create a PhotoSpot out of it for Google Earth when get a chance, but would love to try this with the Image Pyramid and Photo Overlay system that might be coming soon!

Update: Uploaded the image to GigaPan.com, which takes the heavy lifting of getting the pano into Google Earth 4.2 plus. (which can display it using the Pyramid system mentioned!) Highly recommended. It’s possibly a little buggy, but the new version of GE has only been out a day!

Over the weekend I attended OpenStreetMap’s first conference “State of the Map“, all in all a very enjoyable time, great to to listen to all the talks, and also chat with various mappers, meet up with various people I’ve only met before in cyberspace.

Hopefully it will inspire me to actually contribute, esp as frequent two ‘holes’ in the current data…

An interesting little snippet from Ed Parsons talk, is this slide, which shows KML/GeoRSS publishing as indexed by Google, somehow I think I reconsise the British Isles hotspot; geograph, which publishes many KML feeds, (about 600k (the Superlayer, and also a file per photo), of which about 300k are reported to be indexed in Google’s main index, so show up well in ‘User Generated Content‘ in Google Maps!)

Everyone (nearly) - me third from left

Ever since releasing the MGRS layer for Google Earth, I’ve been asked a number of times (well about 10) about tweaking the numbers on the gridlines, to be more ‘MGRS like’. To be honest havent had a clue what this means, but a recent email made me twig whats going on.

Basically the numbers included the hundreds of KM, but in fact that number is already represented in the Grid Letters so doesnt make sence to include again (it was there because the layer was an almost direct port of the UTM code, which of course needs it).

So the server hosted version has been updated, and also the file inside the zip for the offline version (which are in fact identical code!), and if really interested heres the diff.

Enjoy!

Thanks to help from Mark Ferneau, have finally the MGRS layer packaged up ready for use off-line (and GPL licenced!), an often requested feature.

These instructions assume Windows, and that you don’t have a local webserver running. The zip file should be usable to set it up on any local server capable of running PHP, just don’t forget to edit the link in the network link to the path of your webserver.

Without further ado, the instructions:

1. Download Appweb web server from: http://www.appwebserver.org/ (Tested with 2.2.0)
2. Install with the general default options
3. Save AppWeb.conf file in C:\program files\MBedthis Appweb\, overwriting the default (this just sets up the minimum needed for PHP to run, removing some of the extra stuff)
4. Copy php5ts.dll from C:\Program Files\Mbedthis Appweb\lib\modules\ to C:\Program Files\Mbedthis Appweb\bin\ (not sure why this step is required but Appweb seems to need it)
5. Extract grid_mgrs.zip into directory C:\appweb\web\offline_nearby\
6. Start up the appweb server, using Icon in Start Menu. (if it’s already running, icon in System Tray, exit it)
7. Open the network link - save it to your My Places

If there is interest could possible package up some of the other layers run on a local webserver in a similar fashion.

Finally, use at your own risk, it works for us, but your mileage may vary. We welcome any and all feedback (esp. patches!)

Have how been to the two ‘Geo’ sessions, nothing new to report I don’t think that can’t be got from gearthblog.com and the Google Maps API Group (where I had already heard of these), but anyway a quick round up of the main announcements (in no particular order)

• Maps API - Can now do Directions - don’t yet know how flexible the API is tho, or if it even supports UK
• Maps API - hint that the Geocoder might work (or soon) in the UK, but this could just be the questionee doesnt know yet.
• Google Maps - Mapplets - porting a mashup to Google Maps
• Google Earth - New KML 2.2 - as far as I gather its the KML spec only, the viewer is not released yet - but will check.

• Support for Photo Placemarks - of particular interest to Geograph - tried something like this with models but never got it nice enough to release.

• Add ‘atom’esque, link and author tags to Placemark
• Update: just found the Camera tag, YAY!
• http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/kml_tags_beta1.html

More as I find it out (I think I am missing some anyway…), I’ll also verify the facts and flesh out the features with links to more information.

Update: forgot to mention Ed Parsons also used the Geograph Mapplet demo in his Keynote speech this morning. (see previous posts)

I think forgot to mention this before … just arrived in London for the Google Developer Day and waiting for it all to begin, hopefully will post a followup later one, once have something to report (other than might be a video about the event !)…

oh… and jusw saw in the comments that the mapplet just posted was used in Google’s talk at Where2.0

Spured on by comments on Stefan’s Ogle Earth blog, have created this little page as a wrapper to the excellent service provided by geonames.org to automatically convert a RSS feed to KML. It also does RSS->GeoRSS and GeoRSS->KML.

http://www.nearby.org.uk/rss-to-kml.php

Hopefully should make it a bit easier to load a (Geo)RSS feed into Google Earth in the style of a RSS feed - it auto updates.

… really need more to talk about, been kinda quiet of late…