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Adding Updated Maps Soon


Jeremy

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Our map server provider has been working on integrating some additional map data we purchased around 5 months ago. They have a demo available, sans cache data. We'll be integrating this with our existing US map data and it should be online sometime next week, if things go well. We've been looking forward to this addition for some time.

 

US Residents - If you are in the US, nothing will change and the current link does not contain this data. This is only an enhancement for data outside the US.

Edited by Jeremy
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Our map server provider has been working on integrating some additional map data we purchased around 5 months ago. They have a demo available, sans cache data. We'll be integrating this into our current US map data and it should be online sometime next week, if things go well. We've been looking forward to this addition for some time.

Looks good!

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I too was wondering which maps these will replace. I really like the current map we have (the one you can pan, zoom, etc.), but I don't like the current ones we have on the cache page - I find that it's either too far zoomed out and I can't see enough detail, or it's too close with no city names ( i have to use the lat/long to judge where it is quickly).

 

I would agree with an above poster that street level detail in the example map is poor. There are no distinctions between types of roads, and no road names.

 

One area I tried was a very busy area, full of plenty of roads and one interstate, yet you could not tell that from the data - The map screen covered about 8 miles by 5 miles.

 

Of course, I'm in the US, so the new maps may be significantly better for non-us cachers.

 

If there was to be an improvement to the current zoomable map, I would just request that you could choose to make it bigger.

 

EDIT: removed link to a map page that did not work (another problem??)

Edited by AJK
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I sure hope more map detail is coming. I zoomed in and no state parks, most of hte major roadways were not even shown. Just my opinion, but I think we are better off with what we already have..... But as long as we keep the link to Microsoft's mappoint, I will be happy.

Edited by Baptist Deacon
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Sheesh. Didn't I say in my original message that I was adding the existing US map data? This isn't a replacement but an enhancement for folks outside the US who currently have no data.

QUOTE (Jeremy @ Apr 16 2004, 09:55 AM)

Our map server provider has been working on integrating some additional map data we purchased around 5 months ago. They have a demo available, sans cache data. We'll be integrating this into our current US map data and it should be online sometime next week, if things go well. We've been looking forward to this addition for some time.

 

IT says you will be integrating this into the current us map data, nothing mentioned about outside the us. My apologies if I somehow did not read that into the statement.

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Jeremy I am runnig the demo and I am scared when seeing the data of my region.

 

The names of the cities of Catalunya (Spain) are the names that chose the old fascist regim of Franco when he banned our own language about 60 years ago. These names are obsolete.

Edited by garri
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The names of the cities of Catalunya (Spain) are the names that chose the old fascist regim of Franco when he banned our own language about 60 years ago. These names are obsolete.

Does this mean they are better or worse in comparison to nothing? Obviously I don't want to offend anyone, but for reference it seems better than what we have now.

 

Regardless, I let our map server provider know. Perhaps there is an alternate name we can use from the data which is more Politically Correct.

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Regardless, I let our map server provider know. Perhaps there is an alternate name we can use from the data which is more Politically Correct.

Interesting. I zoomed in on Palestine. The map shows no borders that are subject to disputes, and as a result neither the old borders of Palestine, nor the cease fire lines of 1949, nor the armistice lines of 1967 are shown. It's all open, which, I think is pretty neat. And nobody can complain

 

:lol:

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More seriously: the data is old - in my area (Edinburgh), it shows Leith Central Station, which has been closed so long that it's part of the elaborate in-joke of Irving Welsh's Trainspotting. My suburb of the city - Gilmerton - is listed as a separate village.

 

And it matters not in the slightest! What I'm most interested in is the relationship among caches and between the caches and fixed landscape features like hills and coastlines.

 

Looking forward to it going live!

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Hi Jeremy,

Being outside the US (but just a bit north) I'm THRILLED to hear of the new maps! When I was planning a trip down to Florida last month I used the maps to figure out the caches along the I-75 on the way down. :P

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You will make my planning much easier.

 

Annie

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Motorways seem to be missing - at least the M6 near congleton, crewe and sandbach doesn't exist. That and Astbury seems to be west of congleton on this map (and its actually south east!)

For the uk it would be nicer to have tighter integration to streetmap i think.

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Anyone commenting on US specific maps at this point is intellectually challenged.

Well, that's uncalled for. I'm looking at New England, and all I see is Massachussetts! Just how old ARE these maps! :rolleyes:

 

From the first post in this topic

US Residents - If you are in the US, nothing will change and the current link does not contain this data. This is only an enhancement for data outside the US.

Edited by PDOP's
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Anyone commenting on US specific maps at this point is intellectually challenged.

Well, that's uncalled for. I'm looking at New England, and all I see is Massachussetts! Just how old ARE these maps! :rolleyes:

 

From the first post in this topic

US Residents - If you are in the US, nothing will change and the current link does not contain this data. This is only an enhancement for data outside the US.

Really? :D:D

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Its has very poor detail for the UK, in my area it shows villages in the middle of the Bristol Channel (which is a tidal estuary). Town names are mis-spelt, the road plan is misaligned with main roads missing. This isn't going to give members in the UK anything to get excited about!

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Nice to see there's something new on the mapping front. The map, like av8tors32 already pointed out, are very weak on the street level. I still get better results even with the old MapQuest, which has actually very precise maps at some parts of Finland (yes, only some :) ).

 

I also noticed that at least around my home town, many dots marking town centers or villages etc. are actually on water of a nearby lake, which makes one wonder how precise the maps are.

 

I also wonder why our capital is written with its Swedish name. :D

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I like the new maps! :D

 

I just looked at the area around my hometown here in Germany. Okay, there is not much detail (but more than I expected!) and the data is rather old (showing a railway that has ceased to exists a decade or so ago) but that is much, MUCH better than the grey nothing we see today.

 

As far as I am concerned I am pleased if the map shows major cities, highways, rivers and coastlines just to give me an idea where the caches are. I only use the online maps to plan where I go next but not as a reference when I am in the fields. That's where my MapSource or Topo maps come in and I would never expect an online map to be that detailed and accurate.

 

Did I mention that I like the new maps? :)

 

For now I just wished I could see those little red checkmarks that should mark the caches I found or own. That was my major reason for upgrading to premium membership but now it seems this feature doesn't work at all :D .

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This new map may all be very well - I tried it out, and the details are not very good for Denmark, I don't see roads, only a strange selection of locality names - some of them very minor.

 

But if the zoom-out and pan functions still remain reserved to Premium Members, chances are that my newly started interest in geocaching will go from medium to nil. When I first visited Geocaching.com a few months ago, the map function was quite good. But it has since been reduced to disappointing to bad, after the new policy restricting the best function to Premium Members.

 

Perhaps it's naive to think that good things can remain free on the Internet, but this payment barrier certainly came too soon for me to develop a real enthusiasm for geocaching. What a shame.

 

Best regards and good luck to all remaining geocachers.

Frank B. Jacobsen

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Perhaps it's naive to think that good things can remain free on the Internet, but this payment barrier certainly came too soon for me to develop a real enthusiasm for geocaching. What a shame.

I don't want to turn this to a membership fee related thread, and while I think the upcoming out-of-US mapping feature is way better than the current gray-nothing one, I still agree with you, that it does seem a bit strange.

 

However, geocaching, as an activity, is 100% free for everyone who take the trouble to browse the Geocaching.com pages. You can search caches in your country, you get their coordinates, you can print e.g. MapQuest map of particular cache, insert the coords into your GPS unit and go find the cache. No one's charging you anything out of it. If you want you can create a free account to Gc.com and log your finds online and get some personal statistics, and search nearest caches from certain coordinates (e.g. your home or another cache). It's still all free.

 

If you choose to pay, you get some tools, like Pocket Queries, that make certain things easier for you. The basic activity is still free. Everyone who chooses not to pay for premium membership still has all the basic tools to get coordinates, and log caches online, which we call geocaching. I see no problem if a service provider (Gc.com in this case) offers useful but not necessary extra features for those who decide to support them with upgrading their membership. The 'payment barrier' doesn't prevent anyone from searching geocaches.

 

I'm not aware of the zoom-out/pan problems you mentioned, and don't know if they are premium membership related in any way, though. Hope you will get an answer for that. Also, I'm sorry that you feel like you do. To me it worked vice versa: I geocached eight months as an ordinary non-paying member and developed my enthusiasm for the activity during those months. Then I decided to upgrade my membership, not only to get my hands on the extra features, but also show my support to the site which offers the means for the hobby I like so much.

 

I only hope that the all the premium members paying the same amount of $$ would get the extra features about the similar level for their money's worth.

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I agree with divine and just wanted to mention that I am looking forward to this "new and improved" feature for us non-US users. Even though the map data is far from being perfect (from what I've seen in the demo) it is still a lot better than the "GPS72 style" :) maps we have now.

 

Thank you!

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I'm all for limiting the best functionality to paying members only. I don't see other ways to reduce traffic on the servers, or to get money in order to buy faster ones

 

However, there should be no discrimination between paying US members and paying non-US members.

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Having just checked out this map and seeing that my village was about 4 miles away from where it is supposed to be, I dont think I am going to be bothering to use this when it becomes available.

 

The thing is, if this data cost money, shouldnt there be some sort of requirement on the supplier to provide correct information?

 

At the moment I think I shall stick with streetmaps for the uk!

 

Tiffany

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Having just checked out this map and seeing that my village was about 4 miles away from where it is supposed to be, I dont think I am going to be bothering to use this when it becomes available.

 

The thing is, if this data cost money, shouldnt there be some sort of requirement on the supplier to provide correct information?

 

At the moment I think I shall stick with streetmaps for the uk!

 

Tiffany

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of people read the first post of a thread then hit reply. I thought the subject of out of date or incorrect data had been discussed and addressed in this thread?

 

:lol::D:D

 

southdeltan

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Having just checked out this map and seeing that my village was about 4 miles away from where it is supposed to be, I dont think I am going to be bothering to use this when it becomes available.

 

The thing is, if this data cost money, shouldnt there be some sort of requirement on the supplier to provide correct information?

 

At the moment I think I shall stick with streetmaps for the uk!

 

Tiffany

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of people read the first post of a thread then hit reply. I thought the subject of out of date or incorrect data had been discussed and addressed in this thread?

 

:lol::D:D

 

southdeltan

No, we dont just read the first post then hit reply. I didnt notice any comments from Jeremy addressing the poor UK data included in the demo (purely the catalonian) and I certainly didnt see any comment about whether a requirement to have correct date could be based on whether it had been paid for or not.

 

Tiffany

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If you're in the US, ignore this thread. The (hopefully) improved maps are for outside the US.

I am from the US, but will be traveling to the Netherlands and France in July and August and plan on doing some geocaching. It has been driving me nuts trying to figure out the locations of caches relative to major landmarks with just a grey background map -- this will be a fantastic addition, and just in time for me.

 

Thanks!

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The map provider was hesitating releasing the maps since there are some politically incorrect names for certain countries. I let them know we might as well release them since the current maps are so bad, and deal with the riots as they come.

 

I'll let you know what I hear.

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