Note that the mapdata is cc-license : “All maps cc-by-sa OpenStreetMap contributors”
If You are a FME 2010 user (or wannabe) this might be of use. The beta FLASH-application is targeted to those who are interested in Open Street Map data.

In short the site lets You zoom in any area and get a ready-made FME Workbench for that particualar place.

- Dont forget to tribute OSM-data (and FME from www.safe.com)

1. First You fire up http://bbox.me/osm and pan to the area You are interested in.

Select the type of Workbench You are interested in. (Ie FME Viewer or 3D PDF)

Then download and open it with FME. (Note that the zoom-slide should be in the green or orange area for a valid download).

2. When You have the workbench fired up You may press the green play-button.

Now – the OSM API will be queried and the data will flow for the selected area.

Remeber to save Your data for later use. We don’t wanna stress the OSM-API.

The prototype-workbenches

1. 3D PDF

This one creates a simple 3D-pdf file by simple extrusion of the buildings. (You have to try some light settings in Adobe Reader to get the right look.)

2. FME Viewer

This workbench adds some very primitive styling in the FME Viewer. Very useful for demoing-purposes.

3. OSM Raw to ffs

This workbench lets You save ffs-file with the styling applied. Can easily be reused later – without using the OSM API.

4. Google Earth

Creates a KML/KMZ file as the 3D PDF workbench.

/We really hope for some feedback!

Bbox.me can be started in different ways.

If You hit the default link, http://bbox.me/bbox.html, a default bbox will be selected.

You can also start up with a bbox by referring to the ID: http://bbox.me/bbox.html?id=32

Either way bbox.me will zoom into the bbox and start in searchmode like this:

If You enter a placename Geonames Web-services will be queried for the location.

You can also search for bboxes by selecting “Show Menu” and then flip to “Search Bboxes”:

You can then search by keyword and select in the list.

If You press the “Play”-button for a bbox the URL will be launched at the place where it was saved.

If You press the “Select”-button the bbox will be active. If it is composed by bbox-tags they will be evaluated when You move around in the map.

Try this example of NASA imagery of Whistler : http://bbox.me/bbox.html?id=32

Press “Nasa WMS” button and the move to another location and do it again.

I’ll try to explain bbox.me by showing som usecases. This is the basic usecase that got the site started.

Maybe You are familiar with the standard WMS. This standard provides a possibility to call a webservice that returns a picture of a map. The way You do it is by providing the bounding-box (the boxed area of the map) and also other information that affect the appearance of the map.

If You are GIS-professional You might be very comfortable in getting a URL like this to work:
http://www2.demis.nl/mapserver/request.asp?Service=WMS&Version=1.1.0&Request=GetMapBBox=-20.906406347073073,46.56488262378445,10.492518378448425,59.124081211838394&SRS=EPSG:4326&Width=1429&Height=955&Layers=Countries,Borders,Coastlines&Format=image/gif

It’s very likely that You find this a pain though. Especially if You have to figure out the coordinates to insert in there… Even more so if You have to know about what coordinatessystem to specify.

How can bbox.me help? Bbox.me provides a user interface where You can edit a template in an trial and error approach. The template can be composed by tags like <bbox_y0>. These tags is then evaluated in real time while You pan the map and replaced by coordinates. If You need a coordinate in London just move the map there.

You can edit the template manually or use the buttons (x0,x1 etc.) to enter the tags.

Then by pressing the bbox-button the URL is launched in a separate window. The button can be labelled in any way. In this case it’s called “Demis.me”.

You can save it – and reuse it. Lets try one out:

http://bbox.me/bbox.html?id=42

bbox.me can do a lot more than this. The current user-interface is an advanced tool in many ways – but we will be adding more specific tools soon.

To get started just launch the map (http://bbox.me/bbox.html). Then press the “Show menu” button.

/Ulf