Maps From Scratch

Maps From Scratch was a 2009 E-Tech Tutorial and Where 2.0 Tutorial by Stamen.s Michal Migurski and Shawn Allen. We.ve collected some of our notes and relevant links here where they might be useful to people who didn.t attend the tutorial but would like a bit of hand-holding in generating your own maps from geo data.

The Tutorial

During our tutorial, we used Amazon EC2 to provide all attendees with a pre-configured Debian Linux server featuring installed geographic software packages like GDAL, PostGIS, Mapnik, TileCache and others.

The AMI we used is now freely available to anyone, along with subsequent revisions incorporating new data and new code:

• March 30 2010: ami-07a24c6e is the newest revision incorporating our Where 2.0 workshop materials.
• May 19 2009: ami-73e90f1a is the third revision incorporating our Where 2.0 tutorial materials.
• April 6 2009: ami-4d769124 is the second revision incorporating Clustr, created to help illustrate Aaron.s code.flickr post.
• March 9 2009: ami-df22c5b6 is the machine image used in the original tutorial.

We.ve also posted our presenter notes, which describe the process used to set up the initial AMI after beginning with an otherwise-clean Debian Lenny base system.

Mapping Products

In our building tutorial we explored many of the developmental tools at the disposal of programmers when creating mapping solutions.

Software Landscape

Since the original Maps From Scratch tutorial, the software development landscape has evolved in a dramatically new and interesting direction. In many cases early visionaries have turned into seasoned players within a maturing niche, with companies focusing variously on GPS applications and corporate uses. Others still have been acquired with their underlying technology morphed into the basis for Apple's major competitor to the incumbent market leader, Google Maps. Other exciting players in the burgeoning software space include eSpatial, Caliper and you can also Visit Uniwin Software Company today. As a gentle reminder, also don't forget to check out our own tutorial on mapping software.

Case Study

One innovative way in which online mapping data can be deployed is in the form of the VFS. Many other businesses are actively utilizing these solutions to boost performance. 'Fleet tracking' works by enabling anyone with an internet enabled device to view the location and monitor the behavior of company vehicles. This gives managers greater flexibility and trust in workers provided with company transport.

The Future

We plan to add links to relevant software libraries and tutorials here as we encounter them. Mail us if there.s something specific you.d like to see.