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@latlong.blog
227 followers 79 following 88 posts

A weblog exploring and documenting geospatial technology, data and standards on the Web. Edited by Oliver Roick in Melbourne, Australia. latlong.blog

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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 11h
@earthgenome.org's Earth Index adds Search for Stuff, an AI tool to create reference layers from plain language. latlong.blog/2026/09/eart...
latlong.blog
Earth Index Lets You Search for Stuff | Lat × Long
Earth Genome's new AI feature Search for Stuff lets conservationists quickly build reference layers using plain language.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 20h
An incredible collection of 355 map projections by Tobias Jung. It comes with filtering and a neat comparison tool so you don’t have to pick dusty old Mercator when Chaise Lounge Conformal is right there. map-projections.net
map-projections.net
Compare Map Projections
Compare Map Projections: Out of more than 300 projection images, choose two to compare them directly to each other.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 29/09/2026
Mapbox Standard now draws lane boundaries, turn arrows and stop lines at high zoom, like Apple Maps. latlong.blog/2026/09/lane-markings-…
latlong.blog
Lane Markings Come to Mapbox Standard | Lat × Long
Mapbox now displays detailed road markings like lane boundaries and turn arrows in its maps, matching a key feature of Apple Maps, though coverage is incomplete across its supported cities.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 25/09/2026
deck.gl-raster, the deck.gl module for rendering Cloud-Optimised GeoTIFF and Zarr, now supports deck.gl’s GlobeView. It’s early days: GlobeView is “experimental” and deck.gl-raster is “preliminary”, but the examples look pretty good. developmentseed.org/deck.gl-raster/…
developmentseed.org
deck.gl-raster v0.8 | deck.gl-raster
deck.gl-raster enables GPU-accelerated Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) and [Zarr] visualization in [deck.gl].
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Reposted by Lat × Long
Development Seed @developmentseed.org · 22/09/2026
The global food system is huge — and mostly invisible. The Global Food Twin shows how calories are produced and move across the world, from regional crops to major transport routes. A new way to see the system we depend on. developmentseed.org/blog/2026-0...
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 21/09/2026
Just three hours to publish a Portolan catalogue from existing Shapefile data; using Claude's agent skills, complete with custom styles and browser. www.portolan-sdi.org/blog/building-…
portolan-sdi.org
Building Portolan: TriMet Mirror — Three hours from shapefiles to a live catalog
TriMet publishes eight geospatial datasets as plain files. Mirroring them into a Portolan catalog, with a custom-themed browser, took about three hours of work on a plane.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 19/09/2026
New event: Georabble · Melbourne, VIC, Australia · 24/11/2026 georabble.org/2026/09/18/georabble-…
georabble.org
GEORABBLE MELBOURNE-LOOKING FOR SPEAKERS!
Hello Rabblers! Melbourne Georabble is excited to be collaborating with LOCATE26 for our upcoming rabble at 5:00 pm on November 24th at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Center! We’re current…
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 18/09/2026
Overture swapped its hand-written YAML for a Pydantic Python library as its schema's source of truth. JSON Schema, PySpark validation, and docs now generate from the same models. latlong.blog/2026/09/the-overture-s…
latlong.blog
‘The Overture Schema Is a Library Now’ | Lat × Long
Overture Maps released schema v2.0.0 as a Python library with Pydantic models that serve as the single source of truth for generating JSON Schema, validation tools, and documentation.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 18/09/2026
zarr-python is becoming an umbrella project for several, previously separately maintained Zarr-related Python projects. latlong.blog/2026/09/zarr-python-is…
latlong.blog
Zarr-Python Is Becoming an Umbrella Project for Zarr-Related Python Projects | Lat × Long
Zarr-python is becoming an umbrella project consolidating previously separate Zarr-related Python packages like zarr-metadata and zarr-indexing, which will be released independently while reducing code duplication.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 16/09/2026
Ben Joffe demonstrates a method for smooth transitions between equal-area and conformal projections based on zoom level using a simple, visually-tuned formula. latlong.blog/2026/09/equal-area-to-…
latlong.blog
Equal-Area to Mercator: Zoom-Dependent Interactive Maps | Lat × Long
Ben Joffe demonstrates a method for creating interactive maps that smoothly transition between equal-area and conformal projections based on zoom level using a simple, visually-tuned formula.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 11/09/2026
Daniel Huffman makes a case for AI in cartography. Not to draw maps from scratch, but to handle the grunt work: label checking, georeferencing, data extraction. latlong.blog/2026/09/the-boring-par…
latlong.blog
The Boring Parts: Where Generative AI Actually Helps Cartographers | Lat × Long
Generative AI tools could streamline tedious cartographic tasks like label checking and data extraction while preserving mapmakers' creative control and allowing error verification.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 10/09/2026
Portolan’s Origin Story as Told by Creator Chris Holmes latlong.blog/2026/09/portolans-orig…
latlong.blog
Portolan’s Origin Story as Told by Creator Chris Holmes | Lat × Long
Chris Holmes created Portolan to make foundational geospatial data accessible to AI by using simple Markdown and JSON files instead of complex infrastructure that previous SDI initiatives failed to provide.
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Reposted by Lat × Long
Anita Graser 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇬🇪 @underdarkgis.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026
#PostGISDay 2026 will be November 19. Call for talk ideas is open now. Registration is free! This is a virtual community conference all about #PostGIS geospatial and projects that extend PostGIS or use PostGIS. Details: www.snowflake.com/en/postgis-day CFP […]
fosstodon.org
Original post on fosstodon.org
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 09/09/2026
Layercake just shipped a slick data explorer: draw a bounding box, filter by OSM tags, pick your columns, and export. All in your browser via DuckDB Wasm. latlong.blog/2026/09/layercakes-new…
latlong.blog
Layercake's New Data Explorer Makes Browsing OpenStreetMap a Breeze | Lat × Long
Layercake's new interactive data explorer lets users query OpenStreetMap thematic layers, filter by OSM tags, and export in multiple formats directly in-browser using DuckDB WebAssembly.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 09/09/2026
Google's new study shows nudging drivers around congestion-prone routes really does cut traffic and emissions city-wide. But smarter routing isn't the same as fewer cars on the road. latlong.blog/2026/09/googles-ab-tes…
latlong.blog
Google’s A/B Test to Ease Congestion in Cities | Lat × Long
Google's Maps study shows that rerouting traffic reduces congestion citywide, but critics argue it merely redistributes vehicles rather than reducing car dependency needed for real emissions cuts.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 08/09/2026
One for your calendars: FOSS4G 2027 is taking place in Bristol, United Kingdom between 23/08/2027 and 29/08/2027. 2027.foss4g.org
2027.foss4g.org
FOSS4G Bristol 2027
FOSS4G stands for Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial, a conference hosted in partnership with OSGeo.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 08/09/2026
OSRM and Valhalla can now route pedestrians straight across squares and plazas, not just around them. Stefan Keller breaks down how the two engines pull it off. spatialists.ch/posts/2026/09/04-osm…
spatialists.ch
OSM-based navigation beyond paths with OSRM and Valhalla – Spatialists – geospatial news
While mainstream #webmaps still route #pedestrians around the edges of open spaces, #OpenStreetMap engines like #OSRM and #Valhalla make the leap to true area #routing across squares and other open spaces. This shift beyond line-based paths brings digital #navigation much closer to real-world human movement and urban #walkability.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 08/09/2026
Apple Maps launches ads in the US and Canada, adding limited utility. latlong.blog/2026/09/apple-maps-lau…
latlong.blog
Apple Maps Launches Ads in the US and Canada | Lat × Long
Apple has begun rolling out ads to its Maps app, displaying them in search suggestions and results with a blue "Ad" badge, though critics question their relevance and value.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 07/09/2026
Bert Temme took the new Portolan CLI for a spin, turning an ArcGIS dataset into a published data catalogue with PMTiles in just eleven commands. bertt.wordpress.com/2026/09/03/from…
bertt.wordpress.com
From ArcGIS Online to Blob Storage: A Portolan v0.8.0 Walkthrough
IntroductionSetting up a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) as a data publisher has traditionally meant significant work and cost: • Loading data into spatial databases (SQL Server, Oracle, PostGIS)…
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 05/09/2026
Ian Turton, an OSGeo founding member and GeoTools co-founder, receives 2026 Sol Katz Award in recognition for his decades of community contributions and mentorship in open-source geospatial software. www.osgeo.org/foundation-news/ian-t…
osgeo.org
Ian Turton receives the 2026 Sol Katz Award - OSGeo
Ian has been a member of our community from the very beginning, as an original voting member who gathered in Chicago in February 2006 to establish OSGeo. He also is a co-founder of GeoTools, the Java library that is the … Continued
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 05/09/2026
The UN voted to ditch the Mercator map for one that gets Africa's size right. 164 countries said yes. The US said no, calling it "superfluous." Queue the executive order renaming Earth to "Planet America." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/…
theguardian.com
UN votes to adopt new world map that shows Africa’s true scale
Togo-sponsored resolution called to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 04/09/2026
Portolan is a set opinionated, STAC-based conventions for geospatial-data publishing, plus a CLI, agent skills, and validator; making datasets discoverable for humans, APIs, and AI agents alike. latlong.blog/2026/09/portolan.html?…
latlong.blog
Portolan: Opinionated Conventions for Publishing Geospatial Data | Lat × Long
Portolan simplifies geospatial data publishing with opinionated STAC conventions, cloud-native formats, and tools for creating, validating, and discovering datasets online.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 02/09/2026
Vector tile server Martin will soon support GeoParquet data sources. It leverages DuckDB as an intermediate layer to generate tiles on the fly. maplibre.org/news/2026-08-15-gsoc-m…
maplibre.org
GSoC'26: DuckDB Backend for Martin TileServer
How I added DuckDB and GeoParquet tile serving to Martin during Google Summer of Code 2026.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 01/09/2026
MapQuest didn't rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America" and downloads soared. latlong.blog/2026/09/mapquests-grow…
latlong.blog
MapQuest’s Growth Hack: Don’t Rename the Lake | Lat × Long
MapQuest's app downloads surged to top positions after the company refused to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, unlike Google, gaining hundreds of thousands of new users.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 01/09/2026
geoparquet-io 1.4: Curved geometry support, STR sorting, and grid/boundary aggregations over A5, H3, or admin areas. #GeoParquet #GIS latlong.blog/2026/09/geoparquet-io-…
latlong.blog
geoparquet-io 1.4 Adds Curved Geometries, STR Sorting, and Grid Aggregations | Lat × Long
New geoparquet-io 1.4: Curved geometry support, STR sorting, and grid/boundary aggregations over A5, H3, or admin areas.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 28/08/2026
Open-source spatial-data editor Placemark has switched from Mapbox GL JS to MapLibre GL JS. All of Placemark’s dependencies are properly licensed as open source. macwright.com/2026/08/25/placemark-…
macwright.com
Placemark is now fully open source
Replacing Mapbox with MapLibre in an update
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 28/08/2026
Put together by Max Lenormand, this visual explainer of the Zarr format shows how Zarr uses chunks and shards to make accessing large geospatial data cubes actually performant. open.fused.io/mjyttte444gnh4sye2bzj…
open.fused.io
An Interactive guide to Zarr
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 25/08/2026
Google improved Pixel Watch 5 GPS accuracy using Google Maps 3D building data and AI, but provided no details or statistical evidence supporting the claims. latlong.blog/2026/08/google-says-it…
latlong.blog
Google Says It Improved GPS Precision on the Pixel 5, but Won’t Say How | Lat × Long
Google improved Pixel Watch 5 GPS accuracy using Google Maps 3D building data and AI, but provided minimal technical details and no statistical evidence supporting performance claims.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 24/08/2026
Sparkgeo built a serverless tile server using SQLite instead of an always-on database — cutting costs for the Canadian Institute of Forestry's API while keeping full query flexibility. latlong.blog/2026/08/serverless-vec…
latlong.blog
‘Serverless Vector Tiles on AWS Lambda’ | Lat × Long
SparkGeo built a cost-effective serverless vector tile server on AWS Lambda using SQLite and SpatiaLite instead of traditional PostGIS, bundling the database file in a Docker image.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 21/08/2026
geojson.io got a major overhaul: rebuilt on Placemark Play with multi-select, bulk editing, undo/redo, and more. What was once a simple GeoJSON preview tool turns into a more serious spatial-data editor. latlong.blog/2026/08/geojsonio-gets…
latlong.blog
geojson.io Gets a Complete Rebuild on Placemark Play | Lat × Long
The geojson.io GeoJSON editor received a major architectural overhaul based on Placemark Play, adding features like multiselect, bulk editing, undo/redo, and style editing for serious spatial data work.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 20/08/2026
A JupyterGIS paper has been published in The Journal of Open Source Software, giving researchers a citable and peer reviewed resource to reference the software in publications. latlong.blog/2026/08/jupytergis-is-…
latlong.blog
JupyterGIS Is Now Citable in The Journal of Open Source Software | Lat × Long
JupyterGIS is a new JupyterLab extension enabling collaborative web-based GIS workflows with Python API support, geospatial data format compatibility, and advanced visualization features.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 14/08/2026
Zarrista is a new Rust-powered Python library that speeds up Zarr I/O by 1.9×–2.7× over Zarr-Python. It’s a thin binding to zeros, and it’s header into Zarr-Python itself, so you get speedup with zero code changes. latlong.blog/2026/08/zarrista-makes…
latlong.blog
Zarrista Makes Reading Zarr 1.9×–2.7× Faster in Python | Lat × Long
Zarrista, a new Rust-based Python library, offers 1.9–2.7× performance improvements over Zarr-Python and is being integrated as a native backend into Zarr-Python for ecosystem-wide benefits.
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Reposted by Lat × Long
Kyle Barron @kylebarron.dev · 13/08/2026
Zarrista: a new, faster Python library for working with Zarr data! 1.9x to 2.7x faster than Zarr-Python for reading local data. developmentseed.org/zarrista/lat...
developmentseed.org
Zarrista: Faster Zarr for Python - zarrista
A low-level Zarr API for Python, powered from Rust by zarrs.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 13/08/2026
Prefer R for your data viz chores? Geovizr wraps the Geoviz JS library (built on D3) so you can make interactive, zoomable maps—plus static SVGs for editorial work in R. riatelab.github.io/geovizr
riatelab.github.io
geoviz: thematic cartography
This package is an implementation of the geoviz javascript library. can be used to create a wide range of interactive, zoomable vector maps, taking advantage of d3’s many features: proportional symbols, pictograms, typologies, choropleth maps, spikes, tiles, Dorling cartograms, etc. It can also be used to create pretty static vectorial maps in SVG format, suitable for editorial cartography.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 11/08/2026
Render NetCDF data live on a web map—no precompiled tiles. A stack of small open-source tools (VirtualiZarr, Icechunk, icechunk-js, zarr-layer) reads straight from NetCDF and it's surprisingly fast. latlong.blog/2026/08/streaming-netc…
latlong.blog
Streaming NetCDF to the Browser with Zarr and Icechunk | Lat × Long
Hagen and Loeffler demonstrate how to visualize NetCDF data on web maps dynamically using VirtualiZarr, Icechunk, and zarr-layer without precompiling tiles.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 11/08/2026
ohsome-planet's new geometry assembly approach transforms OpenStreetMap PBF data to GeoParquet 10x faster and without relation-size constraints. heigit.org/rebuilding-geometry-asse…
heigit.org
Rebuilding geometry assembly from the ground up with ohsome-planet 1.3.1 – HeiGIT
We are releasing version 1.3.1 of ohsome-planet under the codename "Baarle-Hertog". This tool is designed to facilitate the transformation of raw OpenStreetMap (OSM) history data into the GeoParquet format, making it more accessible for spatial data analysis.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 10/08/2026
Mark your calendars: PostGIS Day · 19/11/2026 www.snowflake.com/en/webinars/thoug…
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 10/08/2026
Google Maps now has an agentic AI that'll order your food and book your hotels. Benefit unclear. latlong.blog/2026/08/goog...
latlong.blog
Google Maps Gets an AI Agent for Ordering Food and Booking Hotels | Lat × Long
Google added AI-powered features to Maps allowing users to order food and book hotels through conversational queries, but the practicality remains questionable for everyday use.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 07/08/2026
New event: Georabble · Wollongong, NSW, Australia · 09/09/2026 georabble.org/2026/08/07/📢🚨georab…
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 06/08/2026
A list of 55 MCP servers for geospatial tasks, including “geocoding, routing, PostGIS, STAC/imagery, QGIS/ArcGIS, weather, and the commercial location platforms.” Also comes with a Claude skill. github.com/willcadell/geo-mcp-serve…
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 06/08/2026
140 session recordings from this year's FOSS4G Europe are available on Youtube and OSGeo's PeerTube mapstodon.space/@foss4geurop...
mapstodon.space
Mapstodon.Space
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 05/08/2026
Cross-Catalogue STAC Search latlong.blog/2026/08/cros...
latlong.blog
Cross-Catalogue STAC Search | Lat × Long
MAAP's STAC Collection discovery tool enables true discovery of geospatial data sources through a simple API layer that routes searches across multiple STAC catalogues and returns combined results.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 04/08/2026
The Cost of Checking Every AI Box. latlong.blog/2026/08/the-...
latlong.blog
The Cost of Checking Every AI Box | Lat × Long
Silicon Valley's panic-driven rush to add generative AI to every product, regardless of necessity or suitability, risks causing real harm before this trend eventually fades like others before it.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 29/07/2026
MapLibre GL JS 6.0 is available since last week. The update includes sixteen breaking changes, switching to ESM-only distribution, removing WebGL1 support, and updating TypeScript to ES2022 for better performance. latlong.blog/2026/07/mapl...
latlong.blog
MapLibre GL JS 6.0: ESM-Only, WebGL2-Required, and Finally Mapbox-Free | Lat × Long
MapLibreGL released a major update with sixteen breaking changes, switching to ESM-only distribution, removing WebGL1 support, and updating TypeScript to ES2022 for better performance.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 29/07/2026
How COG and Zarr Compare and Where They Meet latlong.blog/2026/07/how-...
latlong.blog
How COG and Zarr Compare and Where They Meet | Lat × Long
Zarr and COG shouldn't compete as winners; instead, communities should leverage their distinct strengths and invest in interoperability between them.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 28/07/2026
OpenLayers 10.10 is out, improving tile rendering, WebGL vectors, and text handling while deprecating BingMaps source in favour of Azure Maps integration. latlong.blog/2026/07/open...
latlong.blog
OpenLayers 10.10: WebGL Text Rendering and Smoother Tiles | Lat × Long
OpenLayers 10.10 improves tile rendering, WebGL vectors, and text handling while deprecating BingMaps source in favour of Azure Maps integration.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 27/07/2026
Free (as in beer) base-map tile services you can use in your projects without authentication, signing up or creating authentication tokens. googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2026/07/free...
googlemapsmania.blogspot.com
Free Map Tiles for Everyone
Maps Mania is a blog dedicated to tracking the very best digital interactive maps on the internet and the tools used to create them.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 25/07/2026
maplibre-gl-shader-layer is a JavaScript library that enables custom WebGL-based tiled layers for MaplibreGL, ideal for visualising continuous geospatial data like climate and remote sensing indices with per-tile customisation. latlong.blog/2026/07/mapl...
latlong.blog
maplibre-gl-shader-layer: Visualise Complex Geospatial Datasets in MapLibreGL | Lat × Long
maplibre-gl-shader-layer is a JavaScript library that enables custom WebGL-based tiled layers for MaplibreGL, ideal for visualising continuous geospatial data like climate and remote sensing indices w...
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 17/07/2026
Apple's new ad policy understands what maps are actually for. Maps are places not services. latlong.blog/2026/07/appl...
latlong.blog
Apple's New Ad Policy Understands What Maps Are For | Lat × Long
Apple is restricting ads on Apple Maps to businesses with physical storefronts while banning home services, cryptocurrency ATMs, and bail bonds providers.
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Lat × Long @latlong.blog · 14/07/2026
The 2026 Geospatial Landscape, compiled by Matt Forrest, features almost 2,500 companies and organisations from 121 countries, searchable by organisation size, founding year and funding received. If you’re looking for a job in geospatial, start your search here. forrest.nyc/go/landscape...
forrest.nyc
The 2026 Geospatial Company Landscape
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