hobolog :: Web Development

The Google Maps API and GeoNames are two of the most potentially useful web services for outdoor stuff, and the SOLMETRA PHP library makes use of both – something I need to check out.

Among all Google’s APIs, I will be most interested in how the most recent AJAX Feed API gets used. May not sound like much, but could it make it so easy to rip off content from blogs that bloggers will have a disincentive to create good content? Or will it just give birth lots of neat, properly credited aggregations, like a master map of the GeoRSS feeds from all of our outdoor blogs? Will traffic be properly channeled or plain stolen? I’m both trepidatious and tempted to dive in.

I bet that nearly everyone attempting a through hike of a national scenic trail produces at least one horribly complex spreadsheet in the planning process. Only a matter of time, it seems, before somebody puts their planning process into some free online software. This one’s just for the PCT.

It’s easy to wish for things in the Google Maps API once you get started using it. Chances are that others want the same things. Google has taken the first step towards letting us work on their API by opening parts of it on Google Code.

A site that aggregates information from individual traveler’s blogs, among other traveler features. There’s a new mapping feature as well – not sure if this creates a map automatically from your blog’s geoRSS feed, but that would be cool. I think blog aggregration is a technique that’s going to start popping up everywhere.

A new outdoor community site opens its doors with nice array of features, but no maps (that I found).

(Via The Adventure Blog)

I know I can’t keep hand-coding javascript on my sites much longer – browser incompatibilities alone will eventually eat me alive. This article was most helpful in getting a quick sense of the current state of free javascript libraries.

Changing the order of things is so nice to be able to do on a web page, but I haven’t even wanted to think about the scripting. Nice to see that brothercake is sharing their implementation.

Yes indeed, that’s mailing address to geo coordinates right there in the API, along with a big imagery upgrade, Google Earth for Linux, etc, etc.  I guess now I’ll have to get cracking adding address entry wherever coordinates are typed…

It sounds a little heavy, but can I afford not to check it out?

I suppose I’d better take a look at these before I get left too far back in the dust.  MochiKit too.

(Via CSSBeauty)

Google seems to be pushing the API front harder than anyone else (or maybe it’s just because I use them & get the news). Their new calendar has been quickly followed by an API release, and a description of Google’s GData protocol for sharing XML data between applications. I’m sure we’ll start seeing calendar information on map mashups soon.

I haven’t used it yet, but the DOM Builder looks like a great way to clarify and shorten tedious DOM javascript.  At 1K it’s worth a shot!

(Via CSSBeauty)

I haven’t fooled with Ruby yet, I’ve just heard it’s a popular new programming language.  This site has a nice series of hands-on tutorials.

(Via Ursi’s Blog)

Kristopher Tate spends 3 months developing and releases zooomr, a photo management site that apparently kicks Flickr’s butt on several fronts, including map integration. Stories like this keep me inspired to continue my own after-school projects. The real question is, is it good enough to make me switch after committing countless hours and many gigabytes of data to Flickr?

A nice, succinct list of pros and cons for the Google, Yahoo, and Mapquest APIs.

(Via The Map Room)

There’s a discussion at the GIS user blog about how developers, after putting possibly hundreds or thousands of hours of effort into a mashup, could see it all disappear in the blink of an eye.  It’s impossible to deny.  The creation of mashups is an excercise in joy at the amazing things you can do with freely available data and APIs, and faith that they will still be there tomorrow.

Finally, a simple method for telling the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.

(Via J-Walk Blog)

This site looks mostly geared towards using the Yahoo! APIs from PHP.  I’ve found that php.net almost always has the answers I’m looking for, but this is probably worth a bookmark.

(Via CMSwire)

For one, this looks like a tool I might use at some point, and for a bonus this page has a great quote: “Tag clouds are the mullet of the internet.” Ha!

phpFlickr

(Via Casey’s ADHD List)