Brent--<br>
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Jonathan is right that you are envisioning a pretty ambitious project. I know from experience.<br>
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But, what are your skills, and what is your time commitment to this? (I will assume you don't know what I'm about to tell you...)<br>
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The bad news is, yes, that there is more involved than meets the eye. Image and textual annotation are fairly complex, like learning a technical programming language with which you have no experience.<br>
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The good news is that annotation is an emerging technology with lots of help and already-existing modules out there. You might be able to put something together without writing a whole lot of original code. <a href="http://www.mkbergman.com/?page_id=346">http://www.mkbergman.com/?page_id=346</a><br>
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Sword could use an annotation functionality. Check out <a href="http://ccel.org">ccel.org</a> and Crosswalk's online Bible for some good examples.<br>
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More good news: Most annotation is based either on web technology or Java. So you're really already halfway there, if you choose to work with SwordWeb or BD. I strongly encourage both (see the wiki).<br>
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Sword could <u>so</u> use annotation. Not only that, but there is <u>no</u> tool out there to put personal notes in metadata that isn't either on somebody else's web server or one's own. There needs to be one that can be portable like BD.<br>
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So, while you're at it, why not work with maps and pictures, too?<br>
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Thanks,<br>
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Coby<br>
<br>
On Sat, 2008-03-22 at 14:36 +1100, Jonathan Morgan wrote:
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<pre><font color="#000000">On Sat, Mar 22, 2008 at 10:42 AM, Brent Coffey <<a href="mailto:bcoffe@hotmail.com">bcoffe@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:</font><br><font color="#000000">> I am thinking about developing what I think is a new idea in bible software, maybe it's not, but I think it could be helpful. It maybe really difficult or it could be simple, don't know yet and want some feedback. I want a piece of bible software that doesn't just have an old static map image of a general area. BUT....</font><br>
<font color="#000000">></font><br><font color="#000000">> I want a dynamic mapping module (think google earth) which automatically keeps up with the verse you have in focus and automatically "flies" to the primary location of the verse and then charts out a path dynamically based on the verses, or words you have in focus, highlighted etc.. So For example say you are reading</font><br>
<font color="#000000">></font><br><font color="#000000">> Genesis 10:31</font><br><font color="#000000">></font><br><font color="#000000">> "Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there."</font><br>
<font color="#000000">></font><br><font color="#000000">> Just by the fact that you are on this verse your google map "view" would read some type of "meta-data" that some one has associated with the verse and then your bible application would fly to the primary location of the verse, in this case "Ur" and then create a paths between Ur and Haran and Haran to Canaan. Since this verse is about "journeying" between these locations. In this way you can see Visually EXACTLY the places the verse is talking about and the terrain associated with them. You could then use the google earth feature which "flies" you slowly down across your defined path to see perciously the terrain along the same path that Abraham took in this verse. "Granted it would be the modern day version of the area" but still better than just "imagining."</font><br>
<font color="#000000">></font><br><font color="#000000">> Any thoughts?</font><br><br><font color="#000000">I think it's a nice idea, but hard to make a very good UI for. For</font><br><font color="#000000">example, which route did Abraham take from Ur -> Haran -> Canaan? We</font><br>
<font color="#000000">have three points. We can invent a path that is somewhat plausible</font><br><font color="#000000">(in this case, following the rivers isn't a bad idea) but we cannot</font><br><font color="#000000">determine the path that he took.</font><br>
<br><font color="#000000">The other issue is identifying places. There is considerable data</font><br><font color="#000000">about where places are, but finding data that is reasonably</font><br><font color="#000000">authoritative and useful is not very easy.</font><br>
<br><font color="#000000">Have a look at <a href="http://www.biblemap.org/">http://www.biblemap.org</a>. This doesn't do everything</font><br><font color="#000000">that you want, but it does use Google Maps and link places with Bible</font><br>
<font color="#000000">verses.</font><br><br><font color="#000000">If you do want to take up this project seriously, you are probably</font><br><font color="#000000">better to discuss it on sword-devel (the Sword developers mailing</font><br>
<font color="#000000">list), where it is likely to be viewed by both Sword and JSword</font><br><font color="#000000">developers, as well as other people interested in Bible software</font><br><font color="#000000">development.</font><br>
<br><font color="#000000">Jon</font><br><br><font color="#000000">_______________________________________________</font><br><font color="#000000">bibledesktop-users mailing list</font><br><font color="#000000"><a href="mailto:bibledesktop-users@crosswire.org">bibledesktop-users@crosswire.org</a></font><br>
<font color="#000000"><a href="http://www.crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/bibledesktop-users">http://www.crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/bibledesktop-users</a></font>
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