acf_where

[BarryTone]

Thank, Barry. This looks really good, for creating the final output.
Do you have any ideas for the easiest way to generate some long/lat
numbers?

I'm pretty sure a x-reference list of locations-to-long/lat's can be
created via a simple script. There's probably already one in existence
somewhere.

Also, at the bottom of the web page (above) there is a link to another
map generating suite of tools, that may be of interest:
http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/

Here is a summary of the GMT tools:
"GMT is an open source collection of ~60 tools for manipulating
geographic and Cartesian data sets (including filtering, trend fitting,
gridding, projecting, etc.) and producing Encapsulated PostScript File
(EPS) illustrations.".

 

[omega]

[...]
Also, at the bottom of the web page (above) there is a link to another
map generating suite of tools, that may be of interest:
http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/

Here is a summary of the GMT tools:
"GMT is an open source collection of ~60 tools for manipulating
geographic and Cartesian data sets (including filtering, trend fitting,
gridding, projecting, etc.) and producing Encapsulated PostScript File
(EPS) illustrations.".

Wow. So freeware does provide all kinds of abilities related to mapping.
I'm not myself going to try atm to take on learning those tools (hopefully
someone else might). What I do note is that the page you give has a map for
the same idea to what we were discussing here.

http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/gmt_usage.jpg
"The yellow dots show the location of individuals at 1000+ institutions
who have installed GMT..."

And they have it so that users can add in their own dot directly from a form
on the web.
http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/gmt_registration.html

Cool stuff, Barry!

 

[Roger Johansson]

Thank, Barry. This looks really good, for creating the final output.
Do you have any ideas for the easiest way to generate some long/lat
numbers?

I found a prog called Xearth a few years ago. It shows the earth from
some place in space, and you can set the earth to rotate or stand still,
showing what parts of the globe are lit by the sun. I have used it as a
screensaver and I can see what time of day it is, and what time of the
year, and if the sun is over or under the horizon.

Anyway, this program also has a way to create labels for places, and
shows the names in red text.

I wrote a new list of locations for the program, and I used a book of
maps for the school when I found out latitude and longitude for the
places I wanted on the globe.

I can imagine what Xearth would look like with acf:ers locations marked,
and set to slowly rotate the globe.

Xearth is here if anybody wants to play with it:
http://www.hewgill.com/xearth/

It uses the registry for settings. I created my own reg file to get my
preferred settings in a form I could save.

The program was created to show vulcanic activity also, so it tries to
call a seismographic server when it is first started. This behaviour is
easily turned off in the settings, by setting the calling period to zero.

It is a fun program to play with.

 

[omega]

[....]
Anyway, this program also has a way to create labels for places, and
shows the names in red text.

I wrote a new list of locations for the program, and I used a book of
maps for the school when I found out latitude and longitude for the
places I wanted on the globe.

I can imagine what Xearth would look like with acf:ers locations marked,
and set to slowly rotate the globe.

Xearth is here if anybody wants to play with it:
http://www.hewgill.com/xearth/

Thanks, Roger, you do make is sound fun, and I'm downloading now.

I also notice that they have a convenient web service ("Online Gazetteer,"
partly down the page), to get some long/lat numbers. From either typing a
location in the from, or clicking a place on the map.

 

[omega]

Xearth is here if anybody wants to play with it:
http://www.hewgill.com/xearth/

Just wondering, would you have happened to also look at any of the
others in that family? I'm looking at the link from there, to
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~tuna/xearth/
which shows several related win32 projects (XEarth for Windows;
Wearth; WinEarth).

 

[omega]

Xearth is here if anybody wants to play with it:
http://www.hewgill.com/xearth/

Just wondering, would you have happened to have also looked at any
of the others in that family? I'm looking at the link from there, to
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~tuna/xearth/
which shows several related win32 projects (XEarth for Windows;
Wearth; WinEarth).

 

[Roger Johansson]

Just wondering, would you have happened to have also looked at any
of the others in that family? I'm looking at the link from there, to
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~tuna/xearth/
which shows several related win32 projects (XEarth for Windows;
Wearth; WinEarth).

None of the other links worked, so I guess this is the only available
version.

But I found that it is open source freeware, it can be changed and
redistributed freely for non-commercial purposes.

The source is available, so it can be changed, we just need to find some
C programmer to do the practical changes in the code.

 

[omega]

None of the other links worked, so I guess this is the only available
version.

[...]

That's good news for me, as otherwise I would have compulsively downloaded
all of them.

Btw, I'll contribute a quick start guide on using Xearth:

-----Xearth user guide, by omega--------

o Look at your desktop.

 

[Roger Johansson]

The source is available, so it can be changed, we just need to find
some C programmer to do the practical changes in the code.

I don't mean there is any need for changes, I just meant that it is that
type of licence.

If somebody would create a special reg file for Xearth, containing
settings for it with acf locations, the user could download Xearth,
install it, run the reg-file and see the display.

Script ?


But I am too lazy


By the way, here are my own settings for Xearth:
(see the earth from a place over the equator over Europe, close to the
Astra satellite TV satellites in geostationary orbit)

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Software Gems\xearth for Windows]
"properties.x"=dword:00000000
"properties.y"=dword:00000000
"proj"=dword:00000000
"pos.type"=dword:00000001
"pos.latitude"="0"
"pos.longitude"="18"
"pos.rlatitude"="0"
"pos.rlongitude"="0"
"pos.period"="1"
"pos.inclination"="0"
"rot"="0.5"
"sunpos.type"=dword:00000000
"sunpos.latitude"="0"
"sunpos.longitude"="0"
"mag"="0.9"
"size.cx"=dword:00000000
"size.cy"=dword:00000000
"shift.x"=dword:00000000
"shift.y"=dword:00000000
"shade"=dword:00000001
"label"=dword:00000000
"labelpos"=dword:00000000
"markers"=dword:00000000
"stars"=dword:00000001
"starfreq"="0.002"
"bigstars"=dword:00000005
"grid"=dword:00000000
"grid1"=dword:00000006
"grid2"=dword:00000003
"day"=dword:00000064
"night"=dword:00000028
"term"=dword:00000014
"gamma"="1"
"wait"=dword:00000005
"timewarp"="1"
"time"=dword:00000000
"quakes"=dword:00000000
"qdelay"=dword:00000003
"qupdated"=dword:3e288a38

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Software Gems\xearth for Windows\markers]
"Anchorage"="61.17,-150"
"Athens"="38,23.73"
"Baghdad"="33.4,44.4"
"Bangkok"="13.73,100.5"
"Beijing"="39.92,116.43"
"Berlin"="52.53,13.42"
"Bermuda"="32.3,-64.7"
"Boston"="42.33,-71.08"
"Brasilia"="-15.8,-47.9"
"Brazzaville"="-4.2,15.3"
"Buenos Aires"="-34.67,-58.5"
"Cairo"="31.05,31.25"
"Calcutta"="22.5,88.3"
"Cape Town"="-33.93,18.47"
"Casablanca"="33.6,-7.6"
"Chicago"="41.83,-87.75"
"Dallas"="32.78,-96.8"
"New Delhi"="28.63,77.2"
"Denver"="39.75,-105"
"Dubai"="24.23,55.28"
"Easter Island"="-27.1,-109.4"
"Fiji"="-18,178.1"
"Guam"="13.5,144.8"
"Helsinki"="60.13,25"
"Hong Kong"="22.2,114.1"
"Honolulu"="21.32,-157.83"
"Irkutsk"="52.2,104.3"
"Istanbul"="41,29"
"Jakarta"="-6.13,106.75"
"Jerusalem"="31.8,35.2"
"Kabul"="34.5,69.2"
"Kathmandu"="27.7,85.3"
"Kiev"="50.4,30.5"
"Kuala Lumpur"="3.13,101.7"
"Lagos"="6.45,3.47"
"Lima"="-12.1,-77.05"
"London"="51.5,-0.17"
"Madrid"="40.42,-3.72"
"Manila"="14.6,121"
"Mecca"="21.5,39.8"
"Mexico City"="19.4,-99.1"
"Miami"="25.8,-80.2"
"Monrovia"="6.2,-10.8"
"Montreal"="45.5,-73.5"
"Moscow"="55.75,37.7"
"Nairobi"="-1.28,36.83"
"Oslo"="59.93,10.75"
"Paris"="48.87,2.33"
"Perth"="-32,115.9"
"Portland"="45.5,-122.5"
"Quito"="-0.2,-78.5"
"Reykjavik"="64.15,-21.97"
"Rio de Janeiro"="-22.88,-43.28"
"Rome"="41.88,12.5"
"Ho Chi Minh City"="11,106.7"
"San Francisco"="37.75,-122.45"
"San Jose"="9.98,-84.07"
"San Juan"="18.5,-66.1"
"Santiago"="-33.5,-70.7"
"Singapore"="1.2,103.9"
"Sofia"="42.67,23.3"
"Stockholm"="59.33,18.08"
"Sydney"="-33.92,151.17"
"Tahiti"="-17.6,-149.5"
"Timbuktu"="16.8,-3"
"Tokyo"="35.67,139.75"
"Toronto"="43.7,-79.42"
"Tripoli"="32.9,13.2"
"Ulan Bator"="47.9,106.9"
"Vancouver"="49.22,-123.1"
"Vienna"="48.22,16.37"
"Washington"="38.9,-77"
"Wellington"="-41.28,174.78"
"Yellowknife"="62.5,-114.3"
"North Pole"="90,0"
"South Pole"="-90,0"
"Samarkand"="39.5,67"
"Manaus"="-3.5,-60"
"Caracas"="10,-67"
"Bombay"="19,73"
"Tasjkent"="42,69"
"Novosibisk"="55,83"
"Archangelsk"="66,41"
"Norilsk"="69,88"
"Lhasa"="30,92"
"Sian"="34,108"
"Shanghai "="32,122"
"Asuncion"="-27,-57.5"
"La Paz"="-17,-68"
"Dakar"="14.5,-17"
"Las Palmas"="28,-16"
"Khartoum"="17,32.5"
"Baku"="41,50"

 

[Roger Johansson]

o Look at your desktop.

----------------------------------------

I provide that because it took me a bit to figure it out. I brought up
its properties dialog from the tray several times. I wondered why
nothing was really happening. (rtfm of course would be only a final
desperate resort)

Yes, it runs as a desktop background, which makes it appear differently
from a program.

Maybe I should have mentioned that.

By the way, your old background will be back when you exit Xearth again.

 

[omega]

Yes, it runs as a desktop background, which makes it appear differently
from a program.

By the way, your old background will be back when you exit Xearth again.

Here's one pic (here, options such as stars, night\day shading, globe-shape,
with, naturally the globe rotated with my country in view):

http://www.redshift.com/~omega/clips/xearth/globe.png

The pic above is without enabling the feature on discussion, having it draw
in markers for selected cities.

Roger, question on the display, with the city markers enabled. Would there
be any way to change text color? (The red is a tad intense for my prefs.)

 

[Roger Johansson]

http://www.redshift.com/~omega/clips/xearth/globe.png

The pic above is without enabling the feature on discussion, having it
draw in markers for selected cities.

Roger, question on the display, with the city markers enabled. Would
there be any way to change text color? (The red is a tad intense for my
prefs.)

There is no way in the program, it is hardcoded to red.

But we have the source code, and we are allowed to change it.

Now all we need is a c programmer

I wonder what compiler this source code would need?

(we could disable the default calling the server too, while we're at it,
it is very irritating when you have a modem, and worrying for safety
freaks)

 

[omega]

There is no way in the program, it is hardcoded to red.

But we have the source code, and we are allowed to change it.

Now all we need is a c programmer

I wonder what compiler this source code would need?

It would be nice to see that done, with ideally, the change made so that
there is an option for user to select both text size and color.

(we could disable the default calling the server too, while we're at it,
it is very irritating when you have a modem, and worrying for safety
freaks)

That didn't bother me too much, since it's first launch only, and saves the
prefs for not doing the earthquakes part. Although I agree, outbound calls,
for general principle, should default to off.

 

[Roger Johansson]

There is no way in the program, it is hardcoded to red.

But we have the source code, and we are allowed to change it.

Now all we need is a c programmer

I wonder what compiler this source code would need?

"Xearth for Windows Source Code
------------------------------
July 5, 2003

This is the Xearth for Windows source code. It was compiled with
Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0.

The code currently compiles with a number of warnings, but none
of these warnings are fatal.

Please let me know if you add anything cool to Xearth. Happy hacking!

Greg Hewgill <[email protected]>
http://www.hewgill.com"
............

An earlier version of the program:

" Copyright (C) 1989, 1990, 1993-1995, 1999 Kirk Lauritz Johnson


Parts of the source code (as marked) are:
Copyright (C) 1989, 1990,
1991 by Jim Frost
Copyright (C) 1992 by Jamie Zawinski
<[email protected]>

Permission to use, copy, modify and freely
distribute xearth for
non-commercial and not-for-profit purposes is
hereby granted
without fee, provided that both the above copyright
notice and
this permission notice appear in all copies and in
supporting documentation. "
.......

This version is probably in a more general C, but as it is older it it
probably best to use Greg Hewgills code, in VC++6.00

 

[Roger Johansson]

It would be nice to see that done, with ideally, the change made so
that there is an option for user to select both text size and color.

It is possible to enter just long and lat and no label.
That makes the red color less irritating, because the markings are
smaller. If we still talk about visualizing the locations of acf-ers it
would be enough with a small circle for each, no label.

If we only knew what byte in the compiled exe to change, there is surely
a color byte there somewhere.

If we knew that we could hack it with a hex editor, or use a patch
program to change that byte.

Remember the words of Greg Hewgill: "Happy hacking!", so we are not doing
anything bad here.

This "hacking" is an alternative to changing the code and recompiling it.

I don't have Visual C++, otherwise I would have tried.

 

[REM]

Thank, Barry. This looks really good, for creating the final output.
Do you have any ideas for the easiest way to generate some long/lat
numbers?

This site found Oak Ridge and my numbers. Oak Ridge is a group of
homes (8) grouped loosely around a farm to market road where it
intersects with a state highway. There are no stores, stoplights, etc.
There is a Stop sign...

Oak Ridge (Nacogdoches County)

31n40, 94w38,

http://www.astro.com/atlas/horoscope?country_list=US;expr=Oak Ridge, Nacogdoches County&first_hit=29

 

[REM]

This version is probably in a more general C, but as it is older it it
probably best to use Greg Hewgills code, in VC++6.00

I've got VC++ 5.0, but I'm in a time crunch. I'll give it a go shortly
if no one else does. The next 17 days are an uphill slide to
graduation.

 

[omega]

It is possible to enter just long and lat and no label.
That makes the red color less irritating, because the markings are
smaller. If we still talk about visualizing the locations of acf-ers it
would be enough with a small circle for each, no label.

I can't see how that would be done for any more than a single entry,
not giving a placeholder name. The barrier I am seeing concerns how
it stores the values in its reg key. Each value name here needs to be
unique:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Software Gems\xearth for Windows\markers]
"Anchorage"="61.17,-150"
"Athens"="38,23.73"
"Baghdad"="33.4,44.4"
"Bangkok"="13.73,100.5"

Or did you find some other way of working with it, that I am overlooking?

 

[omega]

This site found Oak Ridge and my numbers. Oak Ridge is a group of
homes (8) grouped loosely around a farm to market road where it
intersects with a state highway. There are no stores, stoplights, etc.
There is a Stop sign...

Hey REM, I don't need an inet map to find you. I can just follow the usual
signs. The rolling tumbleweed along the quiet backroad. The sound of C/W
strumming on the guitar, wafting out from your front porch.

http://www.astro.com/atlas/horoscope?country_list=US;expr=Oak Ridge, Nacogdoches County&first_hit=29

Thank you for the link, will take a look...

 

[jo]

The other approach would be full manual labor, and probably the best
for such a project. The first, if able to locate somewhere on the web,
a graphic of a world map, hunting down one that looks the most suitable.
Then to open that in graphics program, and dot in the data.

You'd need a good undo function for when someone throws a hissy fit and
announces "I no longer wish to be a dot on an ACF map"

A mouseover on the dot saying who the dot represents would be good also.