Visualizing Track Logs with Google Maps

The track logs from my GPS unit look like this:

Format: DDD  M/D/Y H:M:S  -4.00 hrs  Datum[108]: WGS 84
ID	Date Time	Latitude	Longitude	Altitude
L	ACTIVE LOG
T	01/13/2006 14:15:56	40.63935	-74.02917	22.2
T	01/13/2006 14:18:57	40.64027	-74.03097	17.9
T	01/13/2006 14:20:36	40.64095	-74.03195	27.1
T	01/13/2006 14:22:53	40.64061	-74.03347	26.6
T	01/13/2006 14:26:08	40.64065	-74.03324	26.1
...

It occurred to me that someone must have integrated this with Google Maps and I was right. GPSVisualizer can convert these into a Google Map like this one:

It can also create SVG, PNG, and JPEG maps but the Google Maps are by far the coolest. You’ll need your own Google Maps API key to copy these files onto your own web site like I’ve done here.

The service makes one major mistake—it uses POST where it should use GET—but it’s free, it’s simple and it works. In fact, it’s considerably easier to use than my client side mapping software. By far the hardest part of this post was figuring out how to keep WordPress from mucking with the JavaScript in this page. (Hint: Install the Text Control plugin and set the post to both “No Formatting” and “No Character Encoding”.) Very cool!

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 15th, 2006 at 10:57 AM and is filed under Tech, Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the Atom feed. You can make a comment, Digg this story, or trackback from your own site.