3 ms·

This is amazing. I looked at the underpinnings they used and it's the exact stack of tools I had given up on when Google Maps was released and began expanding

by apathy 19y ago

This is amazing. I looked at the underpinnings they used and it's the exact stack of tools I had given up on when Google Maps was released and began expanding in 2005 or so. These guys followed through and the result is amazing. Their reasons for using the tools that they chose are exactly why it was so goddamned hard for me to do what I wanted to do with gmaps, but at the same time, I didn't have the spare cycles to do it with Ka-Map! or similar. Brilliant execution.

zach 19y ago
Thank goodness they didn't try to use GRASS. I cannot believe how long I wasted with that system when I started doing web GIS.
mynameishere 19y ago
We've had guys right out of college throw map applications together pretty quickly. All the hard work is done by others.
- bootload 19y ago
  "... We've had guys right out of college throw map applications together pretty quickly. All the hard work is done by others. ..." Really. I've worked as a Cartographer. Can you show me some of these applications? What Everyblock has done (I've read the article quite a while ago) is assemble a whole lot of opensource technology and make it scale. But is this what really makes the Everyblock product impressive? The simple answer is no. I'm pretty sure the EveryBlock product is far more complicated than the simple apps your College mates whacked together. In fact I put it to you the EveryBlock technology is just as impressive as googles if not better. It's an easy mistake to make as technologists to just see - technology! The real interesting bits of the Everyblock product can be found in Data collation: the collection, massaging and scrounging of information and correctly applying it to a position. If you read the article carefully there is some very clever collection of data. Not all your data is given to you on a plate. Some you have to extract from third parties then work out the best way to display it with the limited information you have. Everyblock not only does this to the geographical cadasta but at the Thematic layers as well. With google maps due to it's expansive coverage even the base layer is dodgy. I noticed this in some of the google examples in my own hometown (melbourne, au). Generalisation: the way the data is portrayed at various levels so it makes sense to the user. For example notice how not all the roads are added (but the block structure is). So if you know the major roads you can still count the minor streets & guess their name. Themes: the way separate layers of information can be interrogated independently. google does this but as a toolset only. It is up to individual developers to do this and hence we have very little meaningful comparisons of various thematic data in specific geographical areas Ground Truth: is what you see on the map is what is on the ground? This is one problem that Everyblock solves particularly well. They control the geographical database so only official geo data is added from reliable or known official sources. Thematic overlay information can be verified by individual users. If the user information is wrong at some stage the opportunity is given for others to correct it. Style: The google map layout has no style. There is no subtlety in type-faces, word placement colour. Everyblock developers seem to understand that the difference between an accurate usable map and one that is really easy to read and understand is in the typographical and graphic design. Everyblock succeeds where google does not, because they have concentrated on several big cities instead of trying to map the earth and fail in all but the big cities. In the end maybe I'm comparing apples & oranges. Google has written an API for others to use. I don't think google cares about the end users as much as Everyblock does.
  - brent 19y ago
    The question is... was this comment posted before or after this xkcd comic was published: http://xkcd.com/406/ http://xkcd.com/406/. I believe both were within the hour.
    - bootload 19y ago
      "... The question is... was this comment posted before or after this xkcd comic was published ..." The irony is not lost on me. Probably both at the same time. I guess I could have said the poster was wrong & left a pithy joke I suppose but duty calls ~ http://xkcd.com/386/ http://xkcd.com/386/
  - mynameishere 19y ago
    Why do you think I want to read a big advertisement? No, I can't show you applications without violating my security clearance, FYI.

by apathy 19y ago

zach 19y ago

Thank goodness they didn't try to use GRASS. I cannot believe how long I wasted with that system when I started doing web GIS.

mynameishere 19y ago

We've had guys right out of college throw map applications together pretty quickly. All the hard work is done by others.

bootload 19y ago
"... We've had guys right out of college throw map applications together pretty quickly. All the hard work is done by others. ..." Really. I've worked as a Cartographer. Can you show me some of these applications? What Everyblock has done (I've read the article quite a while ago) is assemble a whole lot of opensource technology and make it scale. But is this what really makes the Everyblock product impressive? The simple answer is no. I'm pretty sure the EveryBlock product is far more complicated than the simple apps your College mates whacked together. In fact I put it to you the EveryBlock technology is just as impressive as googles if not better. It's an easy mistake to make as technologists to just see - technology! The real interesting bits of the Everyblock product can be found in Data collation: the collection, massaging and scrounging of information and correctly applying it to a position. If you read the article carefully there is some very clever collection of data. Not all your data is given to you on a plate. Some you have to extract from third parties then work out the best way to display it with the limited information you have. Everyblock not only does this to the geographical cadasta but at the Thematic layers as well. With google maps due to it's expansive coverage even the base layer is dodgy. I noticed this in some of the google examples in my own hometown (melbourne, au). Generalisation: the way the data is portrayed at various levels so it makes sense to the user. For example notice how not all the roads are added (but the block structure is). So if you know the major roads you can still count the minor streets & guess their name. Themes: the way separate layers of information can be interrogated independently. google does this but as a toolset only. It is up to individual developers to do this and hence we have very little meaningful comparisons of various thematic data in specific geographical areas Ground Truth: is what you see on the map is what is on the ground? This is one problem that Everyblock solves particularly well. They control the geographical database so only official geo data is added from reliable or known official sources. Thematic overlay information can be verified by individual users. If the user information is wrong at some stage the opportunity is given for others to correct it. Style: The google map layout has no style. There is no subtlety in type-faces, word placement colour. Everyblock developers seem to understand that the difference between an accurate usable map and one that is really easy to read and understand is in the typographical and graphic design. Everyblock succeeds where google does not, because they have concentrated on several big cities instead of trying to map the earth and fail in all but the big cities. In the end maybe I'm comparing apples & oranges. Google has written an API for others to use. I don't think google cares about the end users as much as Everyblock does.
- brent 19y ago
  The question is... was this comment posted before or after this xkcd comic was published: http://xkcd.com/406/ http://xkcd.com/406/. I believe both were within the hour.
  - bootload 19y ago
    "... The question is... was this comment posted before or after this xkcd comic was published ..." The irony is not lost on me. Probably both at the same time. I guess I could have said the poster was wrong & left a pithy joke I suppose but duty calls ~ http://xkcd.com/386/ http://xkcd.com/386/
- mynameishere 19y ago
  Why do you think I want to read a big advertisement? No, I can't show you applications without violating my security clearance, FYI.