Update: Lots of folk dropped me a line saying the site doesn't even work on Firefox, since the plugin seems to be an ActiveX of some sort. What a brilliant way to develop a site in 2006...
So, we now have what I'm told is an excellent 3D mapping site that will one day provide detailed topography and building volumes for Lisbon. Besides landing an excellent spot on TV prime time over here, they are also providing a mapping site to cover the Lisbon-Dakar race.
The amazing thing is that they apparently have backing from a number of local institutions, namely:
- The Army Geographical Institute
- The Orient Foundation
- The SCML (Santa Casa da Misericórdia, a charity and social work organization)
- The Post Office
...and yet, the site is entirely based on a proprietary technology that only works on Windows machines.
Which, incidentally, means it's all but excellent as far as anyone barred from installing plugins is concerned - i.e., it doesn't even work properly on Windows corporate installations.
Ah, the joys of Portuguese site development...