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Map Web Servers

http://www.berklix.org/maps
http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/txt/maps/

by Julian H. Stacey

Index Notes
  • Country the service is in may affect:
    • Their default user language, though they may offer others.
    • Quality of map. The detail they can offer on other countries (usually less).
    • Their legal attitude to link-able URLS, copyright etc.
    • Their data harvesting from your web accesses.
  • Maps to Julian

Map Providers

COUNTRY MAP PROVIDER COMMENT
  Corona Map for Britain UK Gov You must have WebGL installed and enabled on your browser to use the interactive map.
Corona map for Europe interaktiv . morgenpost . de  
Corona map for Germany merkur.de  
Munich, Germany www.mvv-muenchen.de
Public Transport
History:http://www.muenchnerubahn.de
 
Germany mapquest.de.  
Germany stadtplandienst.de Commercial company. Some nice features, ie red circle, But various annoying features too:
  • Graphic symbols blot out street names, making maps Less useful for city residents seeking detail, & more useful for tourists.
  • [Used to be]Short expiring (2 days) URLs, as they now invite you to copy to web site I guess they last longer, & might then eventually expire into a redirector catch page ?
  • Restrictive legal conditions re. links (that too might have changed, or not, Caveat emptor);
  • Their free link setter doesn't work if a browser doesn't support Java script (eg Dillo & others);
  • If you are brave/ foolish enough to enable scripts, at 2010-08-13 Konqueror browser locked up the entire X-Windows graphics session reporting a script was consuming resources, (offering to abort it, but failing to) (the underlying FreeBSD/Unix outside of X-Windows was still healthy, so a kill of Konqueror process resumed X to normal).
  • Further crippled, cos now if you print the page, you get all their adverts, but no map. (Unix X-Windows people might try xwd, if/ where legal, I don't know).
  • Good detail in maps, though people perhaps won't report odd errors they see, as so awkward.
Germany Autobahn Autobahn.de & Autobahn.de Smart Phone App & Wikipedia.org inc. Numbering Scheme Numbering Scheme : autobahnatlas-online.de
Europe here.com/en Android apps but no web maps.
wikipedia
World Apple wikipedia
World openstreetmap.org Free & Public & Editable Under ground rail (U.Bahn) station names in blue, routes in dotted black. Tram (strassen-bahn) tracks in solid black. Format: SVG Scalable Vector Graphics. It needs javascript enabled, & tells you if not enabled.
World wheelmap.org/en/ wheelchair accessible places
World mapmyday.org Starts 2015-12-03 seen from Wheelmap.org
World   maps.google.com Google: another stupid company that thinks itself clever: by detecting a German IP number then forcing their output to German language, ignoring a browser's setting HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE="en-US,en;q=0.5" that http://www.berklix.net/cgi-bin/printenv shows the browser has set.
Are they also so stupid they think there are zero Spanish speakers in North America ? Why do they stupidly assume everyone in Germany must be German & Must want a German translation, ignoring browsers that explicity state: English, not German".
There are other nationals in Germany. There are Germans who prefer to read in original language, English in this case. Dumb Google force browsers in Germany when looking at a map of a town in England, to receive stupidly translated business categories in German. (Google have for years been similarly stupid with their search engine).

Free service for now, but a commercial company, what if one day they might abuse a monopoly ?

Needs javascript enabled, if not, doesnt tell you, just leaves you in search engine.

Back doors to Classic to avoid screen covered by boxes and icons (As Google recently (pre 2015 04 30) produced a new 'improved' aka worse version of Google maps and disabled the old style (classic) Google maps.

Germany stadtplan.net
(Uses Flash for some things.)
Needs Flash - OK for clueless Microsoft users, but a problem for some Free Software users who want to escape the Redmond monopolist convicted by the EU ! (until if ever Macromedia issues source or licences to all op systems).
Germany hot-maps.de
([Used to ?] want Flash.)
"Fast, has a street finder"

Seems to be 100% flash, which makes it pretty much useless for non-WinDoze users
Germany naviki.org for planning walks:
Germany / Bavaria bayerninfo.de/en/ Car & Cycle maps & apps, Motorway traffic jam reports live etc
Britain OS=UK Ordnance Survey Lots free in 2020.
Britain streetmap.co.uk OK, decent map. Can hang w. mozilla
World   bing.com/maps OK, Shows a numeric street address in Vienna. Not as good as stadtplandienst.de for numeric street address in Munich.
Running in German (Language stupidly wrongly deduced from my browswer's IP, ignoring my browsers explicitly set HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE="en,de;q=0.8,fr;q=0.5,it;q=0.3"

One can link URL without problem. Owner is monopolist Microsoft, fined in top European court 2004 for monopoly offences I believe, & fine upheld on appeal . Do your bit to break their attempts to increase their monopoly. Use free software instead.


wikipedia
Britain & Austria etc multimap.com Forwards to bing
Britain, London, Tube Tube by BBC OK
Britain, London askmaps.com Old map to print, bordered by tons of Ads
Britain, London londonpass.com Small maps NOT general map server, just tourist text.
Britain, London, 1859 ph.ucla.edu 150 Years Old
Britain, London proviser.com House Prices
Britain, London ukguide.org No detailed map, more useful to tourists deciding where to visit.
Britain, London viewlondon.co.uk OK
America mapquest.com "Driving Directions" + a 2010 promo for OpenStreetMap
en . wikipedia . org / wiki / MapQuest
Rec. < Gary J.
America mappoint.msn.com
Not reccomended
Forwards to bing
what3words.com Example: what3words . com / helfern . bitten . vorh%C3%A4nge

Smart Phone Map Apps - Android

Route Planning Providers

Kufstein North to Germany
MAP PROVIDER COMMENT
viamichelin.com & .co.uk & .de Car route planner.
routenplaner .asfinag .at Austrian Motorway Operator, Jams etc.
webcams-tirol.com Webcams Tirol
All 3 Kufstein pics at 2016-05-15 were months old, stuck at 2016-03-07
auto - motor . at A12, bei Anschlussstelle Kufstein Nord, Blickrichtung Kiefersfelden A / D - Km 2,13
www . muenchen . de Munich Traffic
bayerninfo.de Bavaria Road Traffic
http://www.rac.co.uk
Uses bing
Car route planner.

Privacy & Security Versus Convenience

This below is new, speculative, incomplete etc. Some ideas may not be quite right, some ideas not explored sufficiently yet. Corrections Welcome.

When you use a map service, or any internet service, or just read a plain page such as this, you might get more than just adverts: you potentially expose yourself & your data. Accessing any web page, even without Java, cookies, or any other tricks, tells a web page owner your are active, & so if they're feeling intrusive, malicious, inquisitive, they could run a `security scan' on you, without you knowing it, if only to see how well your firewall stops them. Yes, I could have done that too. No, _I_ didn't, but some people & companies could. Not all humans are nice.

What could "They" do with data they harvest from us ?

If you think "They" can't get anything from you, think further.
  • If you're using Microsoft's OS & Browser
    You're presumably at greater risk when you visit Microsoft controlled sites: They don't publish their source code for public scrutiny, so independent experts can't check what the interaction is, what information may flow.
    • Article "Windows 98 Knows Who You Are By David Methvin, Richard Smith September 6, 1999" published by Byte magazine ( Truncated version here , full version here )
    • Richard Smith, President of Phar Lap Software found interesting info hidden in Microsoft format docs. (I recall the complete edit record - so recipients could find previous different prices in earlier draft commercial offers etc! ) A web search shows other secrets too. Why trust a monopolist ? ( I heard Microsoft fixed their Word after being exposed, I don't know, I don't use their viral (*) products or formats ("viral"*: ie susceptible to viruses, & also as a proprietary monopolist format: a viral attack in the wider sense of the word, to try to marginalise non MS users & discourage use of free software. ).
  • Remember if you'r on a LAN, or using DSL with an ethernet card, the ethernet has a unique MAC address, which was also perhaps on the outside of the box, when the bar code reader swiped it for `stock control purposes' while you paid by credit card - with address implicit. - Who knows how far That info gets aggregated across multiple sales over time, to analyse purchase trends etc, & who might purchase such info, or companies having the info.
  • Remember the identification naming info XP requires you type in when you install it ? & Your licence ID number ?
  • Consider the environment & language preferences etc information your browser gives any web server.
  • All net computer have an IP number, that can usually be reversed to a network domain name. The IP number can also be checked against IP number maps for probable provider name.
  • Traceroute can be used to see physically where you're routing through.
  • Long URLs can contain disguised & compressed street names, useful for tracking repeat requests from different clients. Map providers could take your initial address, then focus on your repeated zoom clicks plus those of others, (on a statistically averaged basis to avoid jitter), then use that to confirm & enhance their street name database. "Fine, produces better maps." you may think. I agree. A shame though if something like that gave a Monopolist any further advantage to leverage their monopoly though.
See Also: wikipedia

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