Registered Members Map

[donshoebridge]

Hey Todd,

Just an idea... I don't know if this is possible or not, but what do you think about a map of the US (or wherever) showing a small dot where each member is located? It sure would help to know where some of these guys are located without having to go through each name in the member list. It may also be of benefit to see where the majority of the members are located for a possible new gyro event location.

Don

[barnstorm2]

It would be cool to do that with the PRA membership list too. I wonder if that is still published?

We could also look to where instructors are most needed.

[quadrirotor]

ok! like this?

[Chad]

This trike page has one. Click on "guest map"

http://antares7751.tripod.com/

[ToddP]

I just did a quick search and don't see much available. The one used on the trike page, from bravenet would work, but I'm pretty sure we would over load it pretty quickly. Does anyone know of a more robust map program for this purpose?

[davreich]

Hi,
I like the map idea. I would like to see a large jpg map in the Gallery (large file) and it could have a last update notation near by. Not sure I would want to replace the avatar. Just a thought.

[donshoebridge]

The trike map is almost exactly what I was thinking of. The size of the map could be bigger. I was thinking something like a regional weather map where you could click a link for say the mid-west and see 5-7 states all come up. That way you could see if there was a member within driving distance.

The large Jpeg idea would kill my system since I live in the boonies and have to deal with dial-up.

[quadrirotor]

donshoebridge; did you try internet by satellite? (receive by sat, reply by phone)

[jucie]

Pay attention, please, my friends. This message has a header, with a baby picture at far left and some fields at right. Look at the "Location" field. I inserted a coordinate of a place near me, a friends field. All you has to do is to edit your profile. That's enough information for a program that can read those numbers and generate a beautiful and detailed map, whatever resolution is needed. I don't know if such program exists, but surely it can be made.

[donshoebridge]

André,

I'm too cheep for that.

Juice,

I saw somewhere on the web a map site that will accept a GPS lat and long and spit out a map. If we can find that site, maybe Todd can make a link to that site so all you have to do is click on the location in the users profile.

Here's another idea based on that. If everyone entered their GPS location, how about a button that shows the nearest members, kind of like the "nearest waypoints" function on my GPS. You wouldn't need to have a map display this way. Ralph Taggart may already have a simple program that he wrote that will give the distance between 2 lat/long positions. If not, one could be written without too much effort.

Don

[Al_Hammer]

What about something simple like this:
(Please note, in this example only the state of Texas link is working.
Clicking on any other state will give an error.)

http://was.kewlhair.com/hammer/Map/USMap.html

(Maps of other countries would also be needed) :)

[rfonseca]

Heyyy. Do not leave me out. I am in Panama, Republic of Panama, South America.

[quadrirotor]

That's fine for me AL.

[donshoebridge]

Al,

I like what André has for his avitar. The image is a little low-res for my tastes, but at a glance I know exactly where he is in relation to me. Same think with a "nearest membes" list.

Don't get me worng, a members list by state would be a great step up from where we are now. I just think it wouldn't be all that difficult to go the extra step. :)

Don

[jucie]

Hi, everybody.
I built a little toy program to demonstrate what I have in my mind. I got a list of airports because that is easy to find on the net. To view, please:

1.Extract the contents of the attached file to your local disc;
2.Open the 'worldpin' folder;
3.Execute the 'worldpin.exe' file (double click on it);
4.Click the 'File...' button and find the 'airports.wdp' file in the same folder;
5.As you move the mouse pointer over the map, the name of the nearest airport is shown below;

You can open the wdp file with a text editor if you want. It's just plain text.

(BTW, I checked and rechecked the zip file against viruses, but you should do it yourself as with any software you download, ok? Test it before running. For the nerds nearby that knows what is MD5, the digest for the zip file is: 4B8A9B4A81CF7B53277C4D86946162F9 )

I think we could build a map using a list of forum members and coordinates, then we could extract the bitmap and put it at some page. What do you think? Too much trouble? Any ideas? I think Al idea is fine too.

[jucie]

Uh, sorry, my friends. I forgot computers sucks!
I won't mandate you to dowload the software just to see the window.
Here is the map, with all the world airports in place.

[donshoebridge]

Downloaded it and... A Virus! :eek: Just kidding. :D

I works just fine. The only thing missing is the ability to zoom into a general area so you can see what your looking at. But besides that, I love it! What do you think Todd?

Don

[jucie]

Another idea: the member could inform the nearest airport, so that we could pick the coordinates of that place, instead of his home. What do you think?

[ToddP]

So Jucie,

You just threw that together did ya? I'm impressed to say the least. I like the idea of nearest airport alot better. We'll have much better luck getting people to post that information. In fact I'll add a new data field in the member profile for "primary airport".

For Me Personally the Ideal Map will:

1. Show all the dots, then be able to select an area and zoom in.
2. Roll over a data point and a pop-up window will give profile information:
a. User Name
b. Real Name
c. Airport
d. Aircraft
e. Location
f. Whatever Else

Granted, this is my perfect world I wish list....but it looks to me like Jucie is pretty darned talented. What do you think?

[donshoebridge]

Todd,

Just having the nearest airport would be fine for most people. I could live with that. But some people have their own private strips. What then? Would it be possible to have the option of either the nearest airport, or a specificed lat-long? So far, this is looking better than I could have hoped. :)

Don

[ToddP]

I have added the profile field for primary airport.

[ToddP]

I agree Don, this could be very cool, unfortunately I don't have the skills to make this happen. But I believe we may have people that do (Jucie perhaps) :)

[jucie]

I sent a private message to Ralph asking him how to calculate the distance between two point coordinates. I hope he give some direction.

[quadrirotor]

may be this one:
http://www.flyingflea.org/
there is a gest map very interesting!... :)
http://pub36.bravenet.com/guestmap/show.php?usernum=3036008846&lightmap=0&icons=0&&entrylist

[lanichol]

I have a shape file of the airport locations and cities for the US. This is non ESRI data, and very detailed.

There are lots of cool background maps you can use.

It would be simple to match the membership city to a map. You would have to have the person's permission when they signed up.

I would set scales as to when you turn on the tool tip information.

This is very common in ArcIMS, MapGuide, and other web applications.

You could have two sets of layers. membership location or airposts.

The county airport is not close, but we have several private runways.

Web mapping is very mature, it is a matter of what you want.

[donshoebridge]

André,

The pub36/guestmap link that you posted, is that page your creation?

Don

[quadrirotor]

No, this is the site of the flying flea which incorporates the kind of guestmap we need; may be this software can be bought for a few dollars, i don't know this product.

[ToddP]

I setup one of the free maps from Bravenet. You can access it from the home page at:

http://www.rotaryforum.com/

There is a link in the left column. Place your Pin!

[jucie]

Larry:

I have a shape file of the airport locations and cities for the US.

Do you mean vector graphics? It's very good, because it can be resized as needed. What's the file size?

Web mapping is very mature, it is a matter of what you want.

Unfortunatelly, it is a matter of how much time one have to make it. :o

[jucie]

I setup one of the free maps from Bravenet.

Todd, I think that a simple map like that can be good enough for newcomers to know where to seek for help. We can develop a more sophisticated map latter if someone think that it would be helpful due to some new circunstance.

[ToddP]

I just made a couple configuration changes. It seems to be pretty cool, check it out.

http://www.rotaryforum.com/

[donshoebridge]

WOW! There isn't too many people that have a clue as to what a "vector graphic" file is. It's nice to see that I'm not the only person that knows what the heck they are.

Good one Juice!

Don

[barnstorm2]

Todd,

Tried to post to the map twice but nothing shows up.

[jucie]

Good one Juice!

Thanks, Don. (we both hope that is exactly this kind of file Larry is refering to)

changing subjects a little, Don, I want to say that I appreciate very much your effort to design and bring to life the Hornet gyro, as much as I appreciate Ralph's attitude too. I think that a gesture like that, towards sharing your design, is very good and inspiring. Thank you (from me and from everybody else).

[lanichol]

http://oil-gas.state.co.us/ (example of mapguide - commercial overkill)

Arc file are point, poly, or text. The city file is a polygon outline of the city limites for all the US towns/cities (59 meg). You can create a point feature for the center of each town polygon in a flat DBF file to decrease the size. Shape files use a dbf format for the text/fields associated with a point. Thus you could modify your app to search the ascii, dbf, or excel file for a person; state, then city. Thus the associated lat/long for the city would be ready to feed your app. The same data search would work for airports. This would be similar to the searches via commercial web mapping software like maptech, yahoo map, navtech, mapquest, ect.

[Whirlydog]

It didn't work for me. I tried several times

Shawn

[barnstorm2]

Shawn,

Not working for me either. I don't know if it is a browser problem or what but Todd you might have to make a pin for me and Shawn.

[lanichol]

Is this a Java app.? You might need a java plug-in to the browser.

http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/

[ToddP]

Are you guys able to see the map and just not able to place a pin?

[donshoebridge]

All,

The first time I tried it, it didn't work either. The message I revieced said that I had left a field empty. The only field I didn't enter anything into was the comment field. Once I did that, it worked fine. Every field must have something in it to work.

Don

[jucie]

I didn't fill the e-mail address, I supplied only name and comment. It worked the first try.

[jucie]

Larry, 59 Mb is a huge amount of data. :eek: To be something useful we should be able to reduce the data download to a bare minimum, maybe isolating areas and excluding useless details. I think that anything up to 250 kb for an specific region is acceptable (a lot of people, i.e. Don, use dial up connections), the smaller the better. What do you think?

Can we build some kind of filter to extract only the most important info from the files? If I could get the file I would inspect it, but I am afraid it's too large. My e-mail account doesn't allow such a big file. :( Can you publish the file using an FTP or web server?

[barnstorm2]

Ok,

Got it to work. Must have needed a comment... :confused:

[Whirlydog]

Worked for me after putting in a comment.

[lanichol]

Jucie,

Did you get the file OK, I think it is still about 1.5 meg. Could drop the County and go with only City & State.

[jucie]

Larry, I received your files. At a first glance, I think it will be very useful.
Right now I am busy with other tasks, but I plan to handle that data as soon as possible.

Thank you very much.