Koordinates Blog http://blog.koordinates.com A blog from the people behind Koordinates. Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:01:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Temporary problem with the download dialog http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/07/13/temporary-problem-with-the-download-dialog/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/07/13/temporary-problem-with-the-download-dialog/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:01:45 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=42

We experienced some issues with the download dialog for anonymous users at around 3:30-4:40pm this afternoon (New Zealand standard time).

The issues have now been fully resolved, and we apologise for any delays or problems experienced trying to download geodata from Koordinates.

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/07/13/temporary-problem-with-the-download-dialog/feed/ 0 Even better search http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/24/even-better-search/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/24/even-better-search/#comments Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:29:06 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=40 Following on from our search upgrade of three weeks ago, we’ve added better support for region-based searches.

Searches for “San Francisco geology” will now return layers which cover California and are relevant to the San Francisco region. And a search for “California transport” will return layers for the San Francisco region which are relevant to the all-of-California level.

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/24/even-better-search/feed/ 0 Embed layer maps in your own pages http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/22/embed-layer-maps-in-your-own-pages/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/22/embed-layer-maps-in-your-own-pages/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:41:42 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=39 You can now embed layer maps within your own webpages. Just copy-and-paste the ‘embed’ code visible on a layer page into your blog post.

California Color Hillshade (90m) - Cal-Atlas | United States Contours & Terrain | GIS Map Data | Koordinates

The example embedded below is a Californian hillshade layer, otherwise known as a “terrain” layer.

California Hillshade (30m) on Koordinates

Wordpress.com update: Blogs hosted on Wordpress.com unfortunately filter out all iFrames, therefore the embed code won’t work for any blog with an address like ‘myblog.wordpress.com’. We’ve filed a support request for Wordpress to add support for embedding Koordinates maps, like they recently added for Google Maps.

A workaround for Wordpress MU is discussed here (h/t Dave Moskovitz).

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/22/embed-layer-maps-in-your-own-pages/feed/ 0 Download size estimates http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/14/download-size-estimates/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/14/download-size-estimates/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:15:40 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=30 A big problem with downloading and purchasing GIS data over the Internet is the size of the files to be downloaded.

Koordinates tackles this problem by:

  • giving you a “set area” ability, so you only download or purchase what you’re interested in
  • archiving all your data into one ZIP file for easy download
  • generating size estimates for your selected layers and area, so you can modify or abort your intended download or purchase, before you commit any time or money

The size estimates are generated ‘on the fly’ based on the layers you’ve added to your Cart and the area you’ve defined. In the example below, the Cadastral Road Network for half of New Zealand is estimated at 37Mb (Zipped).

The size estimate offered in the cart is based on assumptions of Shapefile and GeoJPEG as the download file-type. The Download and Checkout dialogs allow for more precise estimates of download sizes, based on file-type choice. The example below shows Transit Routes and USGS fault-lines for the Bay Area of California.

The default size estimate in the Cart: 22MB of Shapefiles

File-type set to MapInfo TAB: 14MB

File-type set to KMZ: 15MB

File-type set to DWG w/ GIS attributes: 110MB

Koordinates currently has a 1.5Gb-per-Zip download and purchase limit based on the estimated size. The DWG file-type has a lower download limit of 100Mb worth of vectors.

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/04/14/download-size-estimates/feed/ 0 Breakpoint pricing – bulk buyers pay less http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/31/breakpoint-pricing-bulk-buyers-pay-less/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/31/breakpoint-pricing-bulk-buyers-pay-less/#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:17:56 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=15 Commercial layers on Koordinates can now be sold with breakpoint (or tiered) pricing.

Buyers of such layers pay less per area (or feature) the more they buy.

How does it work?

The seller of a layer adds ‘breakpoints’ at which cheaper prices apply. Breakpoints are cumulative, so the total sale charge is the total of (Breakpoint 1 to Breakpoint 2) plus (Breakpoint 2 to Breakpoint 3) plus (Breakpoint 3 to Breakpoint 4), depending on which breakpoints apply.

Example

Imagine a commercial layer covering 80,000 Ha.

The seller of the layer decides on these breakpoints:

Breakpoint – Area (Ha) Price Explanation
1,000 0.1c per Ha Buyer gets charged 0.1c per Ha for areas up to 1,000Ha.
10,000 0.08c per Ha Buyer gets charged 0.1c for the first 1,000Ha, then 0.08c per Ha from 1,000Ha to 10,000Ha.
50,000 0.05c per Ha Buyer gets charged 0.1c for the first 1,000Ha, 0.08c per Ha from 1,000Ha to 10,000Ha, then 0.05c per Ha from 10,000 to 50,000.
Above 50,000 0.04c per Ha Buyer gets charged 0.1c for the first 1,000Ha, 0.08c per Ha from 1,000Ha to 10,000Ha, then 0.05c per Ha from 10,000 to 50,000, then 0.04c per Ha from 50,000Ha to 80,000Ha.

Which looks like this when the seller creates the breakpoints in Koordinates:

These breakpoints then equal the following sale quotes for some example purchase areas:

Purchase area Quote Effective cost
500 Ha $0.50 (but minimum $1 sale applies) .1c per Ha
3,000 Ha $2.60 0.87c per Ha
25,000 Ha $15.70 0.63c per Ha
75,000 Ha $38.20 .051c per Ha
]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/31/breakpoint-pricing-bulk-buyers-pay-less/feed/ 0 Better search http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/30/better-search/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/30/better-search/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:15:52 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=22 Koordinates now features enhanced search, which searches through the layer title, description, supplier, category, geotags and other relevant information.

Searching for “Auckland contours” will give you results like this:

We’re still working through some issues for certain region-based searches and hope to have them resolved soon.

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/30/better-search/feed/ 0 Koordinates on Twitter http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/28/koordinates-on-twitter/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/28/koordinates-on-twitter/#comments Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:46:32 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=23 Some new ways to follow Koordinates on Twitter:

And our personal Twitter accounts:

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/28/koordinates-on-twitter/feed/ 0 Feeds for Koordinates layers http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/28/feeds-for-koordinates-layers/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/28/feeds-for-koordinates-layers/#comments Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:08:16 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=24 Koordinates has a variety of Atom feeds available for new layers. The feeds are split into categories, geographic areas and suppliers.

Some useful examples:

You can also mix categories, geographic areas and suppliers, for example:

Generally every page listing layers on Koordinates has an associated feed, except for search results.

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/28/feeds-for-koordinates-layers/feed/ 0 Koordinates outage http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/27/koordinates-outage/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/27/koordinates-outage/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:10:55 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=21 One of our server providers, Slicehost, is currently experiencing network problems which has taken parts of Koordinates offline.

Update: Back up at 12:25am.

]]> http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/27/koordinates-outage/feed/ 0 Free LINZ topographic data on Koordinates http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/27/free-linz-topographic-data-on-koordinates/ http://blog.koordinates.com/2009/03/27/free-linz-topographic-data-on-koordinates/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:40:56 +0000 Ed Corkery http://blog.koordinates.com/?p=20 Most of the data underlying the LINZ topographic maps of New Zealand is now available for free download as a public service provided by Koordinates Ltd:

Land Information New Zealand topographic data version 14

Certain LINZ topographic layers are only available after paying a small fee, generally because they’re very dense types of data. Two examples are the New Zealand 20m Contours and the New Zealand Spot Heights.

Many topographic layers covering the Chatham Islands are available from Ollivier & Co.

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