Hello all,
I have developed a client-side tile renderer for the WikiMiniAtlas
last week. It enables me to support virtually limitless zooming in.
GeoJSON data is generated from the osm-mapnik database and transmitted
to the browser, where map tiles are rendered into canvas elements.
This allows me to change the map style without and server side changes
(re-rendering, cache purging etc.). I'm working on a set of styles to
emphasize certain structures on the map (subways, tunnels, bridges,
raillines, monuments, etc. ).
Kolossos just posted about the visualization of time dependent data.
My client side rendered tiles would support start_date and end_date
fairly effortlessly. I am transmitting all data to the client anyways
and could check for these time tags as well and display buildings
accordingly (no prerendered tiles necessary, minimizing space
requirements on the server).
The client-side tiles are active now in WikiMiniAtlas so check it out
if you are interested.
Daniel
P.S.: just keep it in the back of your head: with WikiMiniAtlas there
is another project bringing OSM data into Wikipedia...