GPS Visualizer can now put topo & aerial backgrounds into Google Maps

Hi all,

I'm pleased to announce that by adapting some code borrowed (with
permission) from mapper.acme.com, I've rigged up GPS Visualizer so that
the Google Maps it creates can now use USGS topographic maps, USGS 1m
aerial photos, or NRCan topo maps (for Canada) as the background:

http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=google

I've moved the map selector into a drop-down menu because having six or
more choices (instead of the usual three) was taking up a lot of room;
if people would still prefer a series of "buttons," let me know and I
can add support for that as an option.

And there are a couple of other new features that relate to Google Maps:

* Support for "permanent" labels on the waypoints/pushpins; before, the
names of points were only available as mouse-overs, and obviously that
wasn't very helpful for printing.

* The ability to display thumbnail images in the mouse-overs on
waypoints; to do this, you need to supply the URL of the thumbnail in
a field called, strangely enough, "thumbnail." (If you supply the
larger photo's URL in a "photo" field, it'll be displayed in the info
window, but I think a better approach is to use a "url" field to
simply link to the main picture's page.) The photo/thumbnail-linking
features are also available in Google Earth:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=googleearth

* The track legend should be a little more compatible with different
Web browsers now.


Here's an example map that shows off some of the new features:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/examples/google_photo_map.html

Have fun, and please let me know if you run into any problems. I've
tested the new stuff in both Firefox and Explorer (although I haven't
checked printing from Explorer), so hopefully it'll all work without
any severe glitches, but you never know.


Adam Schneider
Portland, OR



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