function map_poi(layer, lon, lat, label, color) {
  var l = new OpenLayers.LonLat(lon, lat).
  transform(epsg4326, spherMerc);
  var point = new OpenLayers.Geometry.Point(l.lon, l.lat);
  var pf = new OpenLayers.Feature.Vector(point);
  if (pf) {
    pf.attributes = {text: label, color: color};
    layer.addFeatures([pf]);
  }
}

function map_layer(map, layer_name) {
 var layer = new OpenLayers.Layer.Vector(layer_name, {
   projection: map.displayProjection,
   renderers: map.renderer,
   displayInLayerSwitcher: true,
   wrapDateLine: false,
   displayOutsideMaxExtend: true,
   isBaseLayer: false,
   styleMap: new OpenLayers.StyleMap(style)
  });

map_poi (layer, 9.00448, 48.68750,
  "FreeX-Publishing", "#FFEE00");
map_poi (layer, 11.80008, 47.85878,
  "FreeX-Readers", "#FFEE00");
map_poi (layer, 11.55735, 48.14042,
  "FreeX-Readers", "#FFEE00");

 return layer;
}