Handling Google Maps URIs
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How do we handle Google Maps URIs? Someone sent me one.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@46.1244126,-64.8589745,3a,75y,178.32h,92.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWa0f1m6tYboccULaqwcjvA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
O 06/06/21 ás 15:58, Caleb Herbert escribiu:
> How do we handle Google Maps URIs? Someone sent me one.
>
> https://www.google.ca/maps/@46.1244126,-64.8589745,3a,75y,178.32h,92.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWa0f1m6tYboccULaqwcjvA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
Don't know what you mean by «handle», but the N-W coordinates are the
first two comma separated numbers: 46.1244126 N 64.8589745 E.
The coordinates you posted in fact say 64.8589745 W (-64.8589745). 46.1244126 N 64.8589745 E does also exist, somewhere in South Kazakhstan.
You can always copy/paste the coordinates what follows the "@" into gnome maps, although you will need to be connected to fetch the corresponding map tiles.
Pasting the full coordinates in osm.org will also work: https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=46.1244126%2C-64.8589745#map=6/46.124/-64.859.
Complementing: the value of map is the zoom level. For instance, https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/46.12441/-64.85897 gives you a close-up view.
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Speaking of needing internet to look at a map or dictionary, I wish
EndlessOS was not proprietary. The idea of a computer actually
containing importnat information like dictionaries, encyclopedias and
maps should be a no-brainer, but we are still relying on the internet
for it most of the time. Agh!
I also like EndlessOS's adult version of Sugar Labs's "View Source"
button. You click "view source" in an open app, and the app spins
around into an IDE, showing you the app's own source code.
Since you mentioned it, I think it would make sense to host distributed versions of OSM. The reason why we rely on distant servers for maps is probably because the actual amount of data is huge if you want to be able to explore the whole world in close-up. Now if you want to look at a map of your surroundings, which I guess is what we need most of the time, or some surroundings we have to travel around, you could easily cache your own local tiles and retrieve whatever extra tiles are needed from other peers. So you would be set for your own local needs, and you would only need to connect to fetch those few extra tiles from someone nearby (nearby you if you are already around the place, or nearby that place if you are planning your trip or whatever).
Tiles are discrete units, very easy to distribute and to assemble. A "map torrent" could also easily be updated from the OSM source without the need to copy the full database all over again. It is wiser to use an up-to-date map, but they certainly do not have to be updated daily. They certainly have to be updated much less often than we need to connect to the OSM servers to fetch them, be it through web browser or desktop client. I am sure that a clever way of limiting cache to a given size would allow both smooth map navigation and reasonably low amount of local storage. I would bet that most people are most often re-loading the same map data.
OSMAnd~ allows the download of tiles of specific regions (e.g., one country) for use with no network connection: https://f-droid.org/packages/net.osmand.plus/
Also, Marble caches tiles. While offline I was able to view places I viewed before. There is still, however, no decentralization
> I was able to view places I viewed before
You do realize that many people would like to know what substance you have been using to that effect. :D
That also matches my memories. I think that was one of the reasons why I found Marble much more satisfying than Gnome maps at the time. Gnome maps used to be ridiculously buggy given the size of its potential user base. Fortunately, this has changed and the default version currently available in Trisquel is already quite decent, but I might still install Marble again at some point. I miss the default maps, and the historical maps especially.
It would be interesting to compare the way these two apps (OSMand and Marble) manage cached map data.
That's indeed a very nice proof of concept: there is nothing a mobile app does that a desktop client could not do. If mobile devices have enough memory to store regional maps, there would be no need to be too conservative for the cache size. All the better.
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There is also Organic Maps: https://f-droid.org/fr/packages/app.organicmaps/
It has offline maps too, less options and easier to use, at least for me.
Thanks, some more homework.
Not sure what this means: "Offline maps — Save mobile data; no internet is required." Do you load data on the run, and use them at any later time?
I am curious, this looks like an interesting case somewhere between OSMAnd (where users apparently choose what data they want to save locally) and Marble (where tile history get cached and deleted automatically, if I remember correctly). There must be some hybrid data storage management.
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> Not sure what this means: "Offline maps — Save mobile data; no internet is required." Do you load data on the run, and use them at any later time?
In my recent and limited experience, besides the function to download maps, there is no network access at all. You must download maps first otherwise you get no information (you just see the high level world map).
This is a fork of maps.me that I used a lot before (it used to be nice but a lot of crap was added to it).
Things I like a lot:
- works with GPS without any network connection, I can see my position in a flight
- view points: I found so many nice views thanks to these maps
- camping places: this was my main source to find them for several travels