web applications

Apple Maps API

How Exciting! I’m not sure if this was a deliberate Easter Egg in Apple’s WWDC website, I have a sneaking suspicion it might be, but we’ve just had a glimpse of an Apple Maps web API. Traditionally, Apple Maps have been available only in native iOS apps. It seems that might be about to change. […]

Scale in a Time of Web Maps

Scale has taken on a completely new meaning for me. In my training and early career, scale referred to a conversion measurement indicating a comparison between a measurement on a paper map and a measurement in the real world. The big ‘thing’ about GIS was that it was scale-less; you could zoom in as much […]

More to Maps than Markers

Google Maps have been with us since February 2005, virtually a decade ago as I write this (expect a party on Feb 8th 2015). From their acquisitions of Where 2 Technologies and Keyhole, Google ignited a cartographic web revolution. Yes, of course there were maps on the internet pre-Google Maps, but Google brought the web […]

Beware the Echo Chamber

There is a concept of spatial auto-correlation in GIS (Geographic Information Systems). This is a measure of the degree to which a set of spatial features and their associated data values tend to be clustered together in space (reference). So in small words: similar things tend to hang out together. This is often true of […]

Build a Better Map with Analytics [Video]

Dustin Sampson (@gridcell), one of our geospatial developers presented the core ideas behind tracking slippy map analytics at FOSS4G in September (2014, Portland). Check out his presentation here >>> Presentation Description Google Analytics is a great tool for monitoring and reporting on website traffic and user interactions but what it doesnt tell you is that […]

Mapping Exif Files

This is a quick note on how to map images in a directory purely from their exif files. An exif file is one which contains the meta data of the image. If the image was taken by a phone of GPS enabled camera, then a location will also be contained within that file. To read […]

Dissecting a Web Mapping Application

When talking with clients there is always a turning point in my mind where their request turns from being a “Google Map” to being a “web mapping application”. It is usually where data is being filtered, updataed, or when ‘users’ are mentioned. This a pivotal point where the project both gets more interesting, a lot […]