August 29, 2008

New tile versions live

We've moved the new version out of beta mode into live, so now when you view the standard zip code map, it will use the new and improved image graphics.

August 28, 2008

Zip Codes Added List

Here's a list of zip codes that have been added since 10/2006:

Zip Code Preferred Name State Date Added
27815 ROCKY MOUNT NC 2006-10-01
68379 JULIAN NE 2006-10-01
96941 POHNPEI FM 2006-10-01
96942 CHUUK FM 2006-10-01
96943 YAP FM 2006-10-01
96944 KOSRAE FM 2006-10-01
96960 MAJURO MH 2006-10-01
96970 EBEYE MH 2006-10-01
98417 TACOMA WA 2006-10-01
98419 TACOMA WA 2006-10-01
98448 TACOMA WA 2006-10-01
98490 TACOMA WA 2006-10-01
98496 LAKEWOOD WA 2006-10-01
09744 DPO AE 2006-11-01
09809 FPO AE 2006-11-01
09702 APO AE 2006-12-01
46262 INDIANAPOLIS IN 2006-12-01
09370 FPO AE 2007-02-01
33222 MIAMI FL 2007-02-01
09747 FPO AE 2007-03-01
09304 APO AE 2007-04-01
09305 APO AE 2007-04-01
09722 APO AE 2007-04-01
09746 APO AE 2007-04-01
19190 PHILADELPHIA PA 2007-05-01
46085 FISHERS IN 2007-05-01
60290 CHICAGO IL 2007-05-01
03285 THORNTON NH 2007-06-01
03861 LEE NH 2007-06-01
09308 APO AE 2007-06-01
10065 NEW YORK NY 2007-06-01
10075 NEW YORK NY 2007-06-01
17202 CHAMBERSBURG PA 2007-06-01
22551 SPOTSYLVANIA VA 2007-06-01
29707 FORT MILL SC 2007-06-01
32163 THE VILLAGES FL 2007-06-01
33449 LAKE WORTH FL 2007-06-01
33472 BOYNTON BEACH FL 2007-06-01
33473 BOYNTON BEACH FL 2007-06-01
33545 WESLEY CHAPEL FL 2007-06-01
33578 RIVERVIEW FL 2007-06-01
33579 RIVERVIEW FL 2007-06-01
33596 VALRICO FL 2007-06-01
33646 TAMPA FL 2007-06-01
33973 LEHIGH ACRES FL 2007-06-01
33974 LEHIGH ACRES FL 2007-06-01
33976 LEHIGH ACRES FL 2007-06-01
34290 NORTH PORT FL 2007-06-01
34291 NORTH PORT FL 2007-06-01
49037 BATTLE CREEK MI 2007-06-01
73012 EDMOND OK 2007-06-01
73025 EDMOND OK 2007-06-01
78633 GEORGETOWN TX 2007-06-01
78665 ROUND ROCK TX 2007-06-01
80023 BROOMFIELD CO 2007-06-01
80902 COLORADO SPRINGS CO 2007-06-01
85083 PHOENIX AZ 2007-06-01
85238 MARICOPA AZ 2007-06-01
85240 QUEEN CREEK AZ 2007-06-01
85286 CHANDLER AZ 2007-06-01
85293 CASA GRANDE AZ 2007-06-01
85294 CASA GRANDE AZ 2007-06-01
85295 GILBERT AZ 2007-06-01
85298 GILBERT AZ 2007-06-01
85392 AVONDALE AZ 2007-06-01
85395 GOODYEAR AZ 2007-06-01
85658 MARANA AZ 2007-06-01
89034 MESQUITE NV 2007-06-01
89054 SLOAN NV 2007-06-01
89508 RENO NV 2007-06-01
91008 DUARTE CA 2007-06-01
92058 OCEANSIDE CA 2007-06-01
94505 DISCOVERY BAY CA 2007-06-01
95811 SACRAMENTO CA 2007-06-01
76166 FORT WORTH TX 2007-07-01
09749 APO AE 2007-08-01
43069 REYNOLDSBURG OH 2007-08-01
09750 DPO AE 2007-09-01
09751 APO AE 2007-09-01
17622 LANCASTER PA 2007-09-01
19388 WEST CHESTER PA 2007-09-01
09001 APO AE 2007-10-01
09002 APO AE 2007-10-01
09049 APO AE 2007-10-01
09075 APO AE 2007-10-01
09310 APO AE 2007-10-01
09004 APO AE 2007-11-01
09038 APO AE 2007-11-01
09051 APO AE 2007-11-01
09079 APO AE 2007-11-01
09088 APO AE 2007-11-01
96939 PALAU PW 2007-11-01
09006 APO AE 2007-12-01
09020 APO AE 2007-12-01
09055 APO AE 2007-12-01
09092 APO AE 2007-12-01
09843 DPO AE 2007-12-01
33900 FORT MYERS FL 2007-12-01
34004 DPO AA 2007-12-01
70500 LAFAYETTE LA 2007-12-01
96209 APO AP 2007-12-01
96303 DPO AP 2007-12-01
96503 FPO AP 2007-12-01
45400 DAYTON OH 2008-01-01
09005 APO AE 2008-02-01
09008 APO AE 2008-02-01
09311 APO AE 2008-02-01
09402 FPO AE 2008-02-01
09752 APO AE 2008-02-01
09754 APO AE 2008-02-01
09755 APO AE 2008-02-01
09756 APO AE 2008-02-01
09757 APO AE 2008-02-01
64002 LEES SUMMIT MO 2008-02-01
09010 APO AE 2008-03-01
09607 APO AE 2008-03-01
24205 BRISTOL VA 2008-06-01
60642 CHICAGO IL 2008-06-01
61705 BLOOMINGTON IL 2008-06-01
77407 RICHMOND TX 2008-06-01
77498 SUGAR LAND TX 2008-06-01
77523 BAYTOWN TX 2008-06-01
78542 EDINBURG TX 2008-06-01
81403 MONTROSE CO 2008-06-01
81507 GRAND JUNCTION CO 2008-06-01
84081 WEST JORDAN UT 2008-06-01
85756 TUCSON AZ 2008-06-01
86315 PRESCOTT VALLEY AZ 2008-06-01
97471 ROSEBURG OR 2008-06-01
09011 APO AE 2008-07-01
09302 APO AE 2008-07-01
09328 APO AE 2008-07-01
96346 FPO AP 2008-07-01
96650 FPO AP 2008-07-01
09313 APO AE 2008-08-01
09317 APO AE 2008-08-01
09753 APO AE 2008-08-01
09870 DPO AE 2008-08-01
50099 BOONE IA 2008-08-01
09513 FPO AE 2008-09-01
09888 APO AE 2008-09-01
33929 ESTERO FL 2008-09-01
43194 LOCKBOURNE OH 2008-09-01
96259 APO AP 2008-09-01
96552 APO AP 2008-09-01

August 27, 2008

New Tiles Available

We've released a new version of our USPS Zip Code tiles this week, they are the same data as the old version (01/2008) but are more detailed, better formed, faster and prettier.

The old version used a method that required each tile to be projected into the "World Mercator" projection on the fly, this caused some stretching of the image and some smearing at higher latitudes. It also caused more drag on performance as the processor needed to change the image fit the tile. In addition, there was one image group for every two zoom levels, which would lead to pixelation.

The new version has one image group for every zoom level from 5 to 14, zooms above 14 interpolate the image from zoom 14, so there is some pixelation at very high zooms. The new version also uses an improved method of load balancing, and as stated, is pre-projected into "World Mercator" for both faster processing and better image quality.

The new load balancing method uses the modulus 3 of the "x" tile to compute which tile server to use, the old method simply had different zoom levels on each server. The old method was more efficient for server disk space but resulted in slower performance, especially in IE. With the new method, all three servers are sending tiles to each client, which is much more efficient for server processing power and bandwidth. The resulting increase in server disk space turned out to be irrelevant.

The new version can be found as a link on the old version's page for now. http://www.usnaviguide.com/zip.htm

August 24, 2008

New Addition to the USNaviguide Family

We are proud to announce the birth of our first child, Catherine, born on August 5th at 3:35am. She's healthy, perfect and beautiful.

March 31, 2008

Reduced price on USPS Zip Code Database

Due to our reduced cost in producing the USPS Zip Code Polygon database, we are happy to announce a price reduction from $5000 to $2000 for the entire USA zip code polygon database. We've also changed the license policy on updates to no longer honor the discount when purchasing an update. Previous customers will still be entitled to the $1250 update price, all new customers from this date forward will pay the full price for updates.

March 5, 2008

"Creating Custom Maps" on YouTube

The "Creating Custom Maps" presentation at the Googleplex workshop on the 27th of February is now online at YouTube


Google-like maps with OpenLayers

John Coryat created an example of a Google-like mashup using the OpenLayers system that uses a custom tile layer and WGS84 coordinates to mimic the behavior of a Google Maps API page.

OpenLayers is a relatively new API that uses open source Javascript libraries to display objects in a browser, similar to the Google or Yahoo systems but without the limitations imposed by those providers regarding terms of use. OpenLayers does not provide maps themselves or geocoders like the other providers but they do provide a robust library of functions that are well behaved.

See the example at:

http://www.usnaviguide.com/openlayers/examples/usnaviguide.htm

Workshop: Creating Custom Maps

John Coryat presented a workshop at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA on the 27th of February called "Creating Custom Maps." This workshop covers the basics on how to go from an image or data to creating a custom image overlay in a Google Maps API based application.

Please see the presentation in the form of PDF at:

http://www.usnaviguide.com/ws-2008-02/presentation.pdf

February 23, 2008

New Javascript Class: ProjectedOverlay

USNaviguide has just released a new Javascript class that works like GGroundOverlay in the Google Maps API except it doesn't attempt to stretch the overlaid image into the Mercator projection. This results in faster response and more predicable results.

Here's a demo of this class in action:

http://www.usnaviguide.com/projectedoverlay.htm

New Perl Module: Calculate Google Tiles

USNaviguide has just released a new Perl module (USNaviguide_Google_Tiles.pm) that calculates just about everything you'd want to know about tiles including:

Tile name for a coordinate (lat,lng)
Tile name for a pixel location (x,y)
Tiles for a bounding box of coordinates and zoom
Bounding box for a tile in coordinates
Bounding box for a tile in pixel locations
Coordinates to pixel
Pixel to coordinates
and a bunch of other stuff...

GPL

http://www.usnaviguide.com/google-tiles.htm