GPS Visualizer now supports NS files

adamschneider · 05-06-2004

GPS Visualizer, my free on-line mapping tool, now supports NetStumbler log files. You can upload raw .ns1 binary files, text summaries, or full text logs. GPS Visualizer's output is in the form of SVG drawings, so you'll have to have Adobe's SVG Viewer plug-in installed in your browser.

Those of you outside the U.S. may be especially interested in this, because there are street-level maps available as backgrounds for Europe, unlabeled but very accurate street maps and topo maps for Canada, and 30m Landsat imagery for the entire world. (If you are in the U.S., you can also use TerraServer aerial photos and topo maps, as well as TIGER political maps.)

Here's an example (a screen shot) of the output:

Note that "open" access points are colored red while WEP-enabled ones are green; also, the sizes of the markers vary according to the signal-to-noise ratio. But both of these features -- WEP colorization and point resizing -- can be turned off. You can also choose to only plot points, or only tracks; the sample graphic shows both, and frankly, it can get a little messy, even after you move the labels around. (Speaking of messy, if you have a LOT of access points in your log, you may even want to turn off waypoint labels and descriptions.)

Here's the URL: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=wifi (This is a special version of the input form designed for wardriving logs.)

By the way, if you have non-wardriving GPS files laying around (GPX, OziExplorer, etc.), of course GPS Visualizer can draw those too. Just use the standard form instead of the special "wifi" one so you have more options available.

lincomatic · 05-06-2004

very cool

keep up the good work!

Dutch · 05-07-2004

Adam, First of all great work...

Absof#ckinbrilliant... Said it before, and said it again

A complementary program for Unix, Windows and Linux, which is also freeware GPL, that I can recommend, is ImageMagick, which is a commandline utilty to convert among others SVG files to whatever format you like..

It has a wide API, including support for PHP, Perl, C, C#, Python and many more, so it could be incorporated on a website to convert the resulting GPSVisualizer SVG/gif combo to a plain gif, or JPG, or even PDF. You might take a look at it, and consider incorporating it on gpsvisualizer.

Others can use it at home like I do, to convert the maps to a rasterformat for inclusion on a html page etc...

Just my 0.02€'s worth.

Dutch

The Others · 05-07-2004

I can't remember what it's called, but, I was under the impression that this was already doable on the GPSvisualiser site.

adamschneider · 05-07-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch

A complementary program for Unix, Windows and Linux, which is also freeware GPL, that I can recommend, is ImageMagick, which is a commandline utilty to convert among others SVG files to whatever format you like.

I've tried it. It was an enormous pain to install, and then, finally, it ALMOST worked. It seems that ImageMagick supports almost everything in the SVG specification except the "opacity" attribute. And that's a big deal; most GPS Visualizer output looks terrible if the background map is at full strength. And overlapping waypoints would also look bad if they were all 100%. So for now, screen shots or the "Copy SVG" contextual menu item give much better results.

Another problem with me making ImageMagick available through my server is that some of the background maps come from copyrighted sources, and if I have a program on my site that actually merges those images into a new GIF or JPEG, I feel like I'm on shakier legal ground than with an SVG that just links to the image. (Of course, if people want to take their OWN screen shots or use ImageMagick, that's none of my business.) If I ever do find a workable rasterizer, I'll have to allow only certain background maps to be rasterized, and the fancy European street maps would NOT be on the list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Others

I can't remember what it's called, but, I was under the impression that this was already doable on the GPSvisualiser site.

No, the "localizer" function on the GPSV site just strips out some extra JavaScript from the SVG and changes the background link to a local file name, so you can save the background once and then you don't have to pull it off the remote server anymore. The output is still an SVG.

adamschneider · 05-11-2004

It's been awful quiet here. Any problems? Suggestions?

The Others · 05-11-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamschneider

It's been awful quiet here. Any problems? Suggestions?

It's all good, there is little to suggest

If you want me to split hairs, however, I could think of one point: The common convention for AP colouring is to have an open AP as green and a closed as red. This has been reversed on your site. I'm not saying this is a bad thing; only that it goes against convention.

Cheers, and keep up the good work!

Dutch · 05-11-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamschneider

It's been awful quiet here. Any problems? Suggestions?

Noproblems whatsoever, still testing and checking how much info and how large the maps can be before having to much shown.

One item I would like, if possible, is an option to just show Open, Closed or Both types of accesspoints. Currently I'm doing it by hand (or rather by Perl'ing

), by editing the final local saved SVG. Don't know if it would be easy to add that feature, but otherwise my opinion of GPSVisualizer and its support of Netstumbler files stands : Absof#ckinbrilliant...

Just my 0.02€'s worth...

Dutch

adamschneider · 05-11-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Others

If you want me to split hairs, however, I could think of one point: The common convention for AP colouring is to have an open AP as green and a closed as red. This has been reversed on your site. I'm not saying this is a bad thing; only that it goes against convention.

This is Dutch's fault!!! In this thread, he suggested "having the names and description for the waypoint data in red for non-secured AP's, and green for secured AP's (those using WEP)." I thought it seemed backwards, but then I don't really know anything about wardriving.

I've switched it. Sorry for the confusion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch

One item I would like, if possible, is an option to just show Open, Closed or Both types of accesspoints.

That's certainly a possibility, when I have some more time to work on it. (It's not hard to implement, but my god, there are a lot of variables already...)

The Others · 05-11-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamschneider

I've switched it. Sorry for the confusion.

No worries. It's good to see APs with WEP, so green isn't a bad idea, it's just that we're used to seeing red for encrypted.

Thanks for the swap

Dutch · 05-11-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamschneider

This is Dutch's fault!!! In this thread, he suggested "having the names and description for the waypoint data in red for non-secured AP's, and green for secured AP's (those using WEP)." I thought it seemed backwards, but then I don't really know anything about wardriving.

I've switched it. Sorry for the confusion.

*Hangs head in shame...* Okay, okay... I'll admit it.. it was my fault, BUT I was thinking securitywise... Red = Bad, i.e. open accesspoint. Green = Good, i.e closed accesspoint..

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamschneider

That's certainly a possibility, when I have some more time to work on it. (It's not hard to implement, but my god, there are a lot of variables already...)

You know what they say... A variable a day, keeps the hacker away...

Seriously Adam, no rush for getting that option implemented. IMHO You already have gone above and beyond the call of duty in supporting the netstumbler community. As said earlier, please drop me your mailing address, and I will send you something here from Denmark, as a small token of appreciation for the work You've done already.

Just my 0.02€'s worth...

Dutch

Bondesson · 05-16-2004

I am just wondering if your GPS Visualizer can show the streets of a small village, for instance a village in Sweden with a population around 2000? Would it then be like your screen shot or would it be like a photograph from a satellite?

I don’t have any waypoints yet, so I can’t test it for my self.

adamschneider · 05-16-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bondesson

I am just wondering if your GPS Visualizer can show the streets of a small village, for instance a village in Sweden with a population around 2000? Would it then be like your screen shot or would it be like a photograph from a satellite?

Well, first of all I should emphasize that GPS Visualizer does NOT create the maps; they come from an external map server.

As for your village, I don't know whether the street map would be any good. You'd have to try it and find out. If you don't have any WiFi data yet, just go to the waypoints form and type in your coordinates in the proper format.

Bondesson · 05-16-2004

Your service is absolutely great, but it didn’t cover so much of my home town.

Is it possible to include this map system to your GPS Visualizer?

http://maps.eniro.com:80/servlets/se...63&zoomlevel=5

You can enter the GPS position and how much you want to zoom.

Here is the address if you want to visit the main page:

http://kartor.eniro.se

Bondesson · 05-18-2004

Here is a better link to the map system:

http://maps.eniro.com:80/servlets/se...523182;6541797

This map is bigger than the last one (490*420).

With "&symbols=star;1523182;6541797" you can show a point in the map with a figure. Perhaps it will make the programming easier. Just remove this part to exclude the figure.

I used the town next to mine, because it show the streets and would perhaps make it easier for you to decide what zoomlevel to use.

BTW the GPS coordinates are of the type RT90 (at least what I believe after testing with some coordinates.).

05-06-2004	#1 (permalink)
adamschneider Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 38	GPS Visualizer now supports NS files GPS Visualizer, my free on-line mapping tool, now supports NetStumbler log files. You can upload raw .ns1 binary files, text summaries, or full text logs. GPS Visualizer's output is in the form of SVG drawings, so you'll have to have Adobe's SVG Viewer plug-in installed in your browser. Those of you outside the U.S. may be especially interested in this, because there are street-level maps available as backgrounds for Europe, unlabeled but very accurate street maps and topo maps for Canada, and 30m Landsat imagery for the entire world. (If you are in the U.S., you can also use TerraServer aerial photos and topo maps, as well as TIGER political maps.) Here's an example (a screen shot) of the output: Note that "open" access points are colored red while WEP-enabled ones are green; also, the sizes of the markers vary according to the signal-to-noise ratio. But both of these features -- WEP colorization and point resizing -- can be turned off. You can also choose to only plot points, or only tracks; the sample graphic shows both, and frankly, it can get a little messy, even after you move the labels around. (Speaking of messy, if you have a LOT of access points in your log, you may even want to turn off waypoint labels and descriptions.) Here's the URL: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=wifi (This is a special version of the input form designed for wardriving logs.) By the way, if you have non-wardriving GPS files laying around (GPX, OziExplorer, etc.), of course GPS Visualizer can draw those too. Just use the standard form instead of the special "wifi" one so you have more options available. __________________ adamschneider.net gpsvisualizer.com Last edited by adamschneider : 05-07-2004 at 10:02 AM. Reason: rescinding recommendation re. binary files

05-06-2004	#2 (permalink)
lincomatic Squaaawk! WiFi! WiFi! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Tinsel Town Posts: 1,682	very cool keep up the good work! __________________ ~lincomatic

05-07-2004	#3 (permalink)
Dutch Humourless EuroMod. Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: City of Mermaids, Denmark Posts: 6,816	Converting SVG's to Raster formats like JPG's or Gifs Adam, First of all great work... Absof#ckinbrilliant... Said it before, and said it again A complementary program for Unix, Windows and Linux, which is also freeware GPL, that I can recommend, is ImageMagick, which is a commandline utilty to convert among others SVG files to whatever format you like.. It has a wide API, including support for PHP, Perl, C, C#, Python and many more, so it could be incorporated on a website to convert the resulting GPSVisualizer SVG/gif combo to a plain gif, or JPG, or even PDF. You might take a look at it, and consider incorporating it on gpsvisualizer. Others can use it at home like I do, to convert the maps to a rasterformat for inclusion on a html page etc... Just my 0.02€'s worth. Dutch

05-07-2004	#4 (permalink)
The Others PeaceDriver Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Dos Palabras, Mandoras Posts: 2,921	I can't remember what it's called, but, I was under the impression that this was already doable on the GPSvisualiser site. __________________ all good ends all ?u=273

05-11-2004	#6 (permalink)
adamschneider Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 38	Well...? It's been awful quiet here. Any problems? Suggestions? __________________ adamschneider.net gpsvisualizer.com

05-16-2004	#12 (permalink)
Bondesson Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 16	I am just wondering if your GPS Visualizer can show the streets of a small village, for instance a village in Sweden with a population around 2000? Would it then be like your screen shot or would it be like a photograph from a satellite? I don’t have any waypoints yet, so I can’t test it for my self.

05-16-2004	#14 (permalink)
Bondesson Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 16	Your service is absolutely great, but it didn’t cover so much of my home town. Is it possible to include this map system to your GPS Visualizer? http://maps.eniro.com:80/servlets/se...63&zoomlevel=5 You can enter the GPS position and how much you want to zoom. Here is the address if you want to visit the main page: http://kartor.eniro.se

05-18-2004	#15 (permalink)
Bondesson Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 16	Here is a better link to the map system: http://maps.eniro.com:80/servlets/se...523182;6541797 This map is bigger than the last one (490420). With "&symbols=star;1523182;6541797" you can show a point in the map with a figure. Perhaps it will make the programming easier. Just remove this part to exclude the figure. I used the town next to mine, because it show the streets and would perhaps make it easier for you to decide what zoomlevel to use. BTW the GPS coordinates are of the type RT90 (at least what I believe after testing with some coordinates.). Last edited by Bondesson : 05-18-2004 at 01:57 PM.*

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