MapCompare2

I've just put up a second version of my MapCompare application. This new version includes new APIs from MapQuest and ESRI, newer versions of the other APIs (Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth and Yahoo! Maps) and has been rewritten using plain old HTML, JavaScript and jQuery. Please feel free to send me any comments on the application.

New Content

I've redesigned the website a little and added some new content, specifically for ArcGIS Server, MapGuide Open Source and KML. Enjoy.

SteigerWorld is here!

We are now official! Please visit http://www.steigerworld.biz to learn more about SteigerWorld Solutions and my consulting services.

SteigerWorld

SteigerWorld Solutions is coming in January. I'm starting up my own company to do consulting work on the side and am hoping this will eventually grow into something bigger. Stay tuned for the website...coming soon.

MapCompare now with ESRI ArcWeb

Last week, I added the ESRI ArcWeb Explorer Javascript API to MapCompare. Unfortunately, I was unable to add it as a tab. ESRI has gone the Flash route, and that does not work with the other APIs or AJAX very well. But, I make it available in a new window for you to view. A few comments; in general, I think it's a great API. I don't know why it is not more widely known, I found out from a single tip, not even from ESRI. They gear their API more towards geographers and GIS people, for example they use ratio scales instead of "zoom levels". Their controls are very neat too. The maps lolok very different, they use a different set of scale dependencies, symbology, etc. I noticed that their geocoding results return very similar coordinate results as Google Maps....interesting. I assume they are using the same data set for geocoding.

Enjoy!

MapCompare Comments

I've been receiving a lot of comments about the MapCompare app. Here are a few:

"Very cool! Thank you for sharing it on the GISCO list!"

"This looks awesome--nice job. Thanks for putting this together and taking an objective look at those APIs. Someone needed to do this and I'm thankful and impressed that you did..."

"that's pretty cool.. looks useful for people trying to figure out what they want..."

"holy sh#t! This is awesome!"

And my personal favorite:

"Looks good to me. FYI: I also masked my e-mail address by using a bogus e-mail. Hope it works for you. Also... secondarily is a word. You can check its usage at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/secondarily

Plus, if you do not have spell check, you can check the spelling of other words at dictionary.com Eg: the word 'purspose' in your introduction tab within the "About MapCompare".

I guess the only real question you should ask yourself is... how does your application vary from the Google Maps application at http://maps.google.com/ ???"

This last one confused me a little. They start out liking it, then seem to hate it by the end of the email. First, thanks for pointing out the multitude of spelling mistakes I made. By the way, you spelled my last name wrong, your email spoof said "scott.seigerwald@gmail.com", you missed the "t". I guess spell check won't work there though, eh? I will leave the spelling mistakes there out of spite. Also, you missed the point of this application, apparently. The application differs from Google Maps very much, I think. I am allowing you to compare three mapping resources to compare their symbology, accuracy, etc. Oh well.

Final note, if you are going to send something through my web form, it is not 100% anonymous. For example, the last chap, I was able to gather they were from a certain county in the Western part of Colorado. From there, it was kind of easy to narrow down who sent it.

Anyway, I hope everyone continues to enjoy the app!

MapCompare

Check out the new application I developed; MapCompare. This handy application allows people to compare the different mapping APIs available, including Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth and Yahoo! Maps. Users can compare map symbology, functionality and accuracy. Enjoy!