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October 28, 2005
The handheld street directory
There were a few issues I hadn't planned on when I made the switch from car-driving to motorcycling a couple of months ago. For one, there's the greatest health issue of our time - bike-helmet-flat-hair-syndrome - which has caused me to get a dramatically shorter haircut. Another is the problem of getting lost - I hadn't realised how much I relied on the trusty Melways until I didn't have it with me (it's a bit big to conveniently carry on the bike).
The is a Melways for Pocket PC, but it takes up a whole SD card (due to the way the copy protection works; this means that I can't carry my music and movies with me too), and doesn't take full advantage of the JASJAR's VGA screen. There's also Microsoft Pocket Streets, which I shelled out $24.95 for, but its maps are truly awful. Only about 10% of streets are actually given a name. At least it's cheap (most map software is >$200).
Another option is to use the excellent online street directory. However, there's so much rubbish all over the site, the actual map is only small (although clicking the 'enlarge' button under the map helps somewhat). I decided to investigate whether I could get just the map, without the rubbish...
In Firefox, I hit Ctrl-U to see the HTML source, which showed me the link to their javascript source code:
<SCRIPT src="script.js" type="text/javascript"></SCRIPT>
I then went to that link using Firefox, to find the parameters it was passing to the form named 'mapform', and then looked back to the HTML source to see where that form is sent to:
<form name="mapform" method="post" action="mapsearch.cgi">
I added the parameters to the mapsearch URL, and I had myself my first map. It's then easy to create a simple little program that let's me use my Pocket PC to look up whatever map I need.
There's a lot of sites like this, where simply manipulating the HTML makes it possible to get lots of cool stuff. As far as I can tell, there's nothing illegal about this - I checked street-directory.com's user agreement and couldn't see anything that stops this kind of behaviour. What do you think - is there anything wrong with munging HTML to play with web sites? Have you found any interesting examples of web sites that allow this?
Posted by at October 28, 2005 05:34 PM
Comments
flash earth was made using google maps as well as MSN VE.
this is a good example of someone doing somthing like this
Posted by: Smith at October 29, 2005 10:03 AM
Hi Jeremy,
Wouldn't it be easier to get GPS? Your JASJAR seems to do everything else! I don't even have a PDA, but a friend of mine uses GPS satelite navigation on his PDA.
Posted by: Edgy at October 29, 2005 12:17 PM
as a rider of 30 years standing, glad to see someone else join us band of twowheelers :)
and 'bike-helmet-flat-hair-syndrome '???
take it from this baldie...you should be so lucky!
also fyi..Gregorys make a bikesized Melbourne street directory (fits inside the jacket or tank bag)
...cheers
Posted by: Ian Smith at November 1, 2005 10:18 AM
Thanks for the welcome, Ian. I must say, bikers have all been so nice to us - it's a great little community!
Edgy, a GPS still requires map software - and I'm not that happy with the map software I've seen. I don't actually need to GPS itself, since I'm happy enough just using a map - I don't need it to tell me where I am!
Smith, thanks for the tip about Flash Earth - that's really great! It doesn't quite use the same tricks as I talked about, however; I believe that Google provides a supported programming interface and encourages this kind of application.
Posted by: Jeremy Howard at November 1, 2005 12:29 PM
You make a good point about GPS Jeremy (ie knowing where you are vs. finding your destination). I think it would be invaluable in an unfamiliar city though, eg. when travelling.
It hadn't occured to me that you need to have the appropriate map downloaded onto your PDA/GPS device. I assume you need to buy these from the manufacturer, or are there websites from which you can download the map(s) you require?
Regards, Edgy.
Posted by: Edgy at November 2, 2005 12:18 AM
Edgy, most GPS units which attach to a PocketPC have 'bundles' available which include mapping software. And most software programs have downloads available of appropriate maps. Many however make you pay for additional cities/states.
Posted by: Jeremy Howard at November 2, 2005 06:52 PM
Isn't this sort of hack the "web 2.0" that the gilmour gang and oreilly and MS etc are talking up ?
PS mine - at www.martin-english.com/maps - combines google maps and BOM data to give a graphical weather map. Its only NSW & VIC at the moment cuz I'm too lazy to do the geocoding for the rest of the locations.
PPS - be warned - I bought the server space for the storage, not the bandwidth.
Posted by: magoo at November 3, 2005 01:09 PM