ProjectX Technology

We’ve released our first update to the Mapsicle API, version 1.1. Highlights:

• You can now host Mapsicle locally without modifications.
• Mapsicle will resize automatically when put in a variable-sized container. (see at StreetTag)
• You can start Mapsicle without giving a LatLng, and set the position later, like the standard Street View API. (example)
• You can choose which part of your overlay is positioned on top of the target, like iconAnchor in Google Maps. (example)

There are more details in the CHANGELOG, and you can check out the examples or reference.

We at ZoomIn joined the internet blackout last week, along with many others.

The recent news of the delay of Section 92A is good news. We have now removed our “dark maps” as the black out has ended. Thank you all for your comments as well as participation in the blackout.

We at ProjectX support the movement to blackout in protest against the Guilt Upon Accusation law Section 92A. In solidarity to the blackout movement, we have “blacked” out our maps on http://www.zoomin.co.nz and http://www.projectx.co.nz.

This blackout will be in effect until February 23rd, 2009.

If you are interested in helping out and have Google maps, here’s the code we used to black out our maps:

//Assume you have a map object
//Create a BlackOutMessageControl
function BlackoutMessageControl() {}
BlackoutMessageControl.prototype = new GControl();
BlackoutMessageControl.prototype.initialize = function(map) {
var container = document.createElement("div");

var src = “http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html”

var link = document.createElement(“a”);
link.setAttribute(‘href’, src);
link.setAttribute(‘title’, “Internet Blackout NZ”);
link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(‘Why is the map “blacked” out?’));
link.style.color = “#ffffff”;
container.appendChild(link);
this.setButtonStyle_(container);

GEvent.addDomListener(container, “click”, function() {
window.location = src;
});
GEvent.addDomListener(container, “mouseover”, function() {
link.style.textDecoration = “underline”;
});
GEvent.addDomListener(container, “mouseout”, function() {
link.style.textDecoration = “none”;
})

map.getContainer().appendChild(container);
return container;
}
BlackoutMessageControl.prototype.getDefaultPosition = function(){
return new GControlPosition(G_ANCHOR_TOP_LEFT, new GSize(75, 7));
}
// Sets the proper CSS for the given button element.
BlackoutMessageControl.prototype.setButtonStyle_ = function(button) {
button.style.textDecoration = “none”;
button.style.color = “#ffffff”;
button.style.backgroundColor = “black”;
button.style.border = “1px solid black”;
button.style.padding = “2px”;
button.style.marginBottom = “3px”;
button.style.textAlign = “center”;
button.style.width = “20em”;
button.style.cursor = “pointer”;
}

//Dark maps
var myCopyright = new GCopyrightCollection(“© “);
myCopyright.addCopyright(new GCopyright(‘Demo’,
new GLatLngBounds(new GLatLng(-90,-180), new GLatLng(90,180)),
0,’©2008 ProjectX Technology’));
var tilelayer = new GTileLayer(myCopyright);
tilelayer.getTileUrl = function() { return “/images/dark_map.gif”; };  //Modify the image location to suit
tilelayer.isPng = function() { return false;};
tilelayer.getOpacity = function() { return 0.5; }
var myTileLayer = new GTileLayerOverlay(tilelayer);
map.setCenter(new GLatLng(37.4419, -122.1419), 13);
map.addOverlay(myTileLayer);
map.addControl(new BlackoutMessageControl());

You can use the image(dark_map.gif) below

We’ve moved!

ProjectX moved to Level 3 Symes De Silva House. We’re sharing the space with Plan HQ and the heart of Silicon Welly.

New Contact Details:
Level 3 Symes De Silva House,
97-99 Courtenay place, Wellington

Phone: 04 910 3100

Today’s Digital Future Summit 2.0 saw the launch of The National Broadband Map, built with ProjectX technology. Its purpose is to help improve access to broadband, especially in the regions, through “demand aggregation”: pooling the demand for telecommunications services in a specific geographic location.

Individual users might find it hard to convince a telco to roll out services in their area, but when those users combine, they can often reach the critical mass required to attract investment in the provision of new services. For instance, if you’re a graphic design business in a small provincial town, you might struggle to convince a provider to extend their infrastructure to reach you; but if there is also a school, medical centre and library down your street, plus several other businesses and private residents who are also interested, then the telcos might sit up and take notice.

To this end, the map shows existing state sector locations, as well as allowing businesses and private residences to enter their own locations and describe their level of demand. It also shows existing network infrastructure, and includes all the address search, autocomplete, zooming and panning functionality that is familiar to ZoomIn users.

The system was developed by ProjectX together with the State Services Commission, and involved the collation, geocoding and checking of thousands of state sector locations, and the conversion of network data from all sorts of formats and projections, as well as building on existing ZoomIn Mapping System API functionality. For instance, the ZMS has always had the ability to display vector layers (polylines and polygons) as overlays on the maps, but the size and complexity of the network infrastructures required some hard work from our developers to optimise the performance of these layers, as well as dealing with the inevitable curly cross-browser compatibility issues.

In keeping with the Web 2.0 theme, the Map is labelled “Beta”, and it will evolve over time. Partly that will be due to the growing information base, from user-added places and as we receive more state sector locations and existing network data. There will also be functionality and usability improvements over time, and we encourage user feedback so that we can make this as comprehensive and easy-to-use as possible.