I would like to second this. It would really be nice to be able to create
AliceWorlds from carthographic data.
As an alternative, GeoVRML adds maybe a dozen new objects to VRML; if
GeoVRML were supported in Squeak (as far as I know VRML support is at least
partly present already) we would have a (maybe more generic) solution to
creating 3D object worlds from carthographic data.

cheers,
Hans 

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van:	John-Reed Maffeo [SMTP:rlpa80 at email.sps.mot.com]
> Verzonden:	vrijdag 28 april 2000 20:16
> Aan:	squeak at cs.uiuc.edu
> Onderwerp:	Re: XP course at UIUC using Squeak
> 
> Roger,
> 
> This project is very interesting to me. I don't think I will be able
> to attend - I would need much more lead time to get away from work for
> so long:( But I would like to provide a vision of what I want to
> be able to do one day and let you decide if there is any synergy
> possible as the projects move forward.
> 
> Preamble
> 
> 1. The USGS has made a huge amount of cartographic source data
> 	available on the web for free.
> 
> 2. The data is stored compressed in a well defined standard format.
> 	http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/sdts/
> 
> 3. The data can be used to create planemetric and topographic maps.
> 
> 4. Planemetric data is presented as a topologicaly structured graph and
> 	the topographic data is presented as an array of elevations.
> 	These data can be convolved to produce a very high quality
> 	3D topographic map.
> 	
> 
> 
> Vision
> 
> Point a browser to a known dataset and materialize a 2 or 3D map of
> an area as described by the data. 
> 
> Point a browser to a pair of known 2 and 3D datasets 
> covering the same geographic area and materialize an Alice World
> of that area (or a subset of it) and enable the user to 
> explore it.
> 
> Discussion
> 
> There is no place on the web that I have found that provides this 
> kind of service. There are places where you can get digitized map
> images but they are high bandwidth raster graphics and offer no
> user interaction other than zooming and panning.
> 
> The SDTS data standard is a recent evolution in geospatial data
> distribution and forms the basis of future work on the ITS
> (Intelligent Transportation System).
> 
> Squeak has the required infrastructure in Baloon Graphics and
> Alice.
> 
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> John-Reed Maffeo
> Mesa, AZ
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Roger Whitney wrote:
> > 
> > Ralph Johnson and I are planning to offer a course on extreme
> programming
> > (XP) May 15 - June 9 at UIUC in Champaign-Urbana Illinois. Students will
> > learn XP by working as an XP team to build a multiuser multimedia system
> in
> > Squeak.
> > 
> > There is a course description at
> > http://wiki.cs.uiuc.edu/cs497rej/XP+workshop. See
> > http://www.xProgramming.com/ for more information about extreme
> programming.
> > 
> > While the course is designed for UIUC students, others are welcome to
> > attend the course. Those with experience in Squeak or XP would not have
> to
> > attend the entire time to benefit from the course and contribute to the
> > project. If you are interested in attending all or part of the course
> > contact me at whitney at cs.sdsu.edu for more details.
> > 
> > If you do not attend the course you can help us out by acting like a
> > customer. Take a look at the project description at
> > http://wiki.cs.uiuc.edu/cs497rej/ObjectWeb and suggest
> features/extensions
> > to the project. So here is your chance to suggest to a team of UIUC
> > students to implement some Squeak feature you always wanted. Of course,
> as
> > is the XP way, the on-site customer will rank all features (stories) in
> > order of importance.
> > 
> > Roger Whitney              Mathematical & Computer Sciences Department
> > whitney at cs.sdsu.edu        San Diego State University
> > http://www.eli.sdsu.edu/   San Diego, CA 92182-7720
> > (217) 328-0824
> > (619) 594-3535
> > (619) 594-6746 (fax)