Google maps w/ satellite imagery

[Camden Daily]

I'd be very interested in trying to reverse engineer Google's maps as
well.  The click-and-drag interface is so much nicer than having to
wait for reloads.

For all of our applications, losing arbitary zoom levels wouldn't be
all that bad.  In many ways, it would simplify things, as you'd only
have to adjust your layers and displays for a preset number of zoom
levels, without having to worry about how the maps look as they
approach your various min/maxscales.

For turning different map layers on and off, couldn't one just
generate a different set of tiles for each layer, and create them with
transparent backgrounds?  I can't see why javascript couldn't overlay
the different layers of tiles for a final image.  That seems to be how
Google is drawing their icons over the maps.  Doing it that way would
also allow for the toggling of layers without the need for a reload.

Of course, the major hassle, as with all javascript applications, is
supporting the wide variety of browsers out there.  Last I checked
Google maps only supported IE and Mozilla (not even Opera or Safari),
though that may have changed by now.

-Camden