Planet Georezo » Google Maps Mania

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Google Maps Mania

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11 février 2012
12:46
Trulia Local - Intelligent Real Estate Search
sur Google Maps Mania

Trulia, the on-line real-estate website, has long been a pioneer in its use of the Google Maps API.

Last year Trulia released a Price Reductions Map that allows house hunters to view a heat map showing the average number of days a listing is on the market before sellers make their first price reductions.

Now Trulia has released Trulia Local.Trulia Local allows users to search for properties alongside local information, such as schools, restaurants, banks and stores. House hunters can also use Trulia Local to view a heat map of local crime. The heat map shows areas of high and low crime and also maps individual crime reports.
10 février 2012
13:09
Hand Drawn Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

With the help of over 200 students from University College London, the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis created this UCL Hand-Drawn Map of London.

The hand-drawn map has been imported into Google Maps, presumably using the department's own GMap Image Cutter. It is interesting to zoom and pan around the map and explore how the students' perceive the world around them and how they view London's many suburbs and areas.

They Draw & Travel is a collection of wonderful user submitted hand-drawn maps.

A Google Map of submissions lets you browse the hand-drawn maps submitted to the They Draw & Travel website. You can click on any of the map markers to view the hand-drawn map submitted for that location.

Claire Murray;s Map of Edinburgh

Claire Murray is the creator of a hand-drawn map and guide to Scotland's capital city, which you can buy for only $10. The guide includes: where to find the best breakfasts; real pubs; fancy cocktails; what to do on a rainy day; how to conquer Arthurs Seat and a hell of a lot more.

Claire has used the Google Maps API to present her hand drawn map of Edinburgh on-line. The map uses the Google Map controls so it is possible to zoom in on the lovely detail of Claire's map, for example the naked ladies next to the Blue Blazer.
09 février 2012
13:03
The Canadian Census on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Global News has been busy mapping the 2011 Canadian census for 15 cities. Mapping the Census, Tract by Tract maps the population data captured by the 2011 census down to individual tract level.

Users can click on any of the individual tracts displayed on the Google Map and view the 2005 and 2011 population at that location and the population change in those five years. Individual tracts are also colour-coded on the map so users can tell at a glance which areas in each of the cities mapped are showing population growth or loss.
08 février 2012
20:55
Martian Street View
sur Google Maps Mania

A couple of week ago I started working on creating a Martian Street View Map using panoramas of Mars captured from NASA's Mars' missions.

I ran into a few problems with the map and more or less gave up on the project until Rob of Map Channels stepped in and kindly offered to help. Thanks to Rob we now have a working Martian Street View Map

There are a few problems with the map - all of which are due to me and are not a result of Rob's excellent work. I had a lot of difficulty working out where the panoramas should be located on the map - in fact I'm fairly certain I've actually put nearly all of them in the wrong place (if you spot errors in the geo-location of the images and know the correct latitude and longitude for Google Mars please let us know in the comments).

There are also some problems in the way different browsers display the panoramas. I think the Street Views should display properly in Firefox but may look strange in some versions of Chrome and Internet Explorer.
16:24
John Snow's Cholera Map on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

CartoDB is a great platform that allows you to map data and develop location aware applications quickly and easily. In CartoDB's demo gallery you can find this example of John Snow's Cholera Map of London presented with CartoDB.

The map demonstrates how CartoDB is able to quickly combine different data-types and display them on a map. John Snow's spot map of a cholera outbreak in Soho, London in 1854 helped to prove that the disease was caused by water (coming from one pump in Broad Street).

If you want to see John Snow's original map using the Google Maps zooming and panning tools then you should check out Hypercities.

Hypercities is a Google Maps mashup of historical maps available for many of the world's cities. Hypercities allows the user to navigate a selection of historical maps using the familiar Google Maps navigation tools. If you zoom into London on Hypercities you can choose to view John Snow's map overlaid on top of the modern map of London.
13:37
Syrian Tweets on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Syrian city of Homs is entering its fifth day of heavy bombardment from President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime.

Mibazaar has rolled out his popular Tweet mapping format to show Twitter messages posted from within a 400 mile radius of Damascus, Syria. His Syria Protests map animates through the latest Tweets with the hashtag #Syria, showing a new message after every 4-5 seconds.
3:57
New 45° imagery for 24 cities
sur Google Maps Mania

San Sebastian City Hall, Spain

Google Maps just got a huge new update of 45° imagery (Bird's Eye View) for 24 cities.

The update includes oblique aerial view imagery for 15 U.S. and 7 international locations, including San Sebastian and Pamplona in Spain and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Here's the full list of updated imagery:

US:
Charleston-Folly Beach, SC; Lee’s Summit, KS; Lexington, SC; Magna (Salt Lake City), UT; North Charleston, SC; Pine Island Center, FL; Plymouth, MN; Salinas CA; Santa Rosa, CA; Shawnee, KS; South Hill, WA; Spanish Springs, NV; Killeen, TX; Decatur, AL

Europe:
Torrelavega, Spain; Pamplona, Spain; San Sebastian, Spain; Bailen, Spain; Rolle, Switzerland; Ponferrada, Spain; Wachtberg, Germany; Weinheim, Germany

South America:
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Via: Google Lat Long
07 février 2012
13:44
Congressional Nepotism on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Washington Post's Mapping the Earmarks uses the Google Maps API with some custom map tiles to show where congressional representatives have directed earmarks and other public projects next to or within about two miles of their own property.

The data for the map comes from public records on the holdings of all 535 members. The Post's investigation also found examples where tax dollars were given to companies, colleges or community programs where representatives' "spouses, children or parents work as salaried employees or serve on boards".
10:45
The History of Weather on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Weather Underground's WunderMap now allows the user to view historical weather records on a Google Map.

A calendar control above the map allows the user to select a date and view the historical weather records for that day. The records include radar, storm reports and even weather related photographs and webcam images taken on that day.

WeatherSpark also lets you view historical weather on a Google Map, giving you access to the historical records of over 4,000 weather stations.

If you want to know what the weather was like in Honolulu on the day of Barack Obama's birth in August 1961 all you have to do is use the time-line to bring up the correct date, and centre the map on Honolulu. You can then view the recorded weather for that day (a balmy 30 degrees centigrade).

As well as the map view WeatherSpark has an impressive time-line interface that allows the user to visualise changing temperatures, precipitation and cloud cover through time.
06 février 2012
21:56
Fun Flight Guides with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

I've been a long time fan of The Royal Geographic Society's Hidden Journeys website. The Hidden Journeys Project enlivens the flying experience and transforms it into a fascinating exploration of the people, places and environments being flown over.

Hidden Journeys has just released their latest journey guide for those flying over the mountainous landscape that lies between Denver and Seattle, including the rugged Wind River Range in Wyoming; Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Salmon River Range in Idaho, the picturesque Palouse Region and the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

You can view the flight path on a Google Map and use the guide to learn how the power of glaciers, rivers and the wind have shaped these mountains into some of the highest peaks in the continent. See the classic cones of the Cascade Mountains as you descend towards Seattle, and discover the influence these active volcanoes have on the Pacific Northwest, from the impact of devastating eruptions to the ash-fall deposits that have created the most productive farming region in the country.

If you are planning a flight any time soon then make sure you check out the Hidden Journeys website to see if they have a guide for your journey.
16:09
Get an Uberlife with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Uberlife is a website and iPhone app that helps you discover and join 'hangouts' taking place around you.

Using uberlife it is possible to find nearby events and hangouts happening right now or that are occurring soon. Users can add their likes and interests to their profile to ensure that they receive suggested hangouts from like-minded people. Users can also 'follow' other users to receive their 'hangout' suggestions.

To add a suggested hangout simply involves suggesting a venue (with the help of Google Maps), entering the time and date and adding some information about the hangout. If you find a hangout that you wish to attend you can view the location of the venue with the help of the Google Map added to the hangout page.
11:30
It's Google Maps, But Not As We Know It
sur Google Maps Mania

Blocky Earth is a fabulous WebGL experiment using the Google Maps API to show a 3d representation of the Earth.

To view the map you will probably need to use the Chrome browser as Blocky Earth uses canvas and WebGL to render locations representing terrain and elevation with cubic blocks. The map includes a search option so you can choose to view any location on the Earth.

The map also has options to zoom in and out, rotate the map and to view it in full-screen mode.
05 février 2012
13:32
Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

This week's most popular map on Google Maps Mania by a country mile was the Skyrim Map. This map of the popular role-playing game was viewed by at least five times more people than any other map I posted about this week.

The Skyrim Map uses custom map tiles with the Google Maps API to provide an interactive map of the Elder Scrolls game-world of Tamriel. The map includes the option to view markers showing the locations of holds and primary locations in the game.

Personally my favourite map of the last week was Ejecuciones en Chile entre septiembre y diciembre de 1973. This map is a powerful and poignant animated map visualisation of people executed by the Chilean military dictatorship between September 11 and December 31, 1973.

The map animates through a time-line of the executions geo-locating those murdered by place of death or where the body was discovered. As well as providing an animated time-line of the executions the map can be browsed by location, date of death, cause of death and by the name of individual victims of the 1970's Chilean dictatorship.

Finally, this week I was alos impressed with Deutsche Telekom's Worldwide Operations Map. The map itself is a simple store-locator that shows the scope of Deutsche Telekom's worldwide operations and lists the names of its companies operating in various countries around the world.

The map uses the Google Maps API Styled Maps feature to create a map that complements the colors of the company's corporate style and website design. There is nothing amazingly innovative about the map but it does it's job with little fuss and yet has a striking design.
04 février 2012
12:31
How to Find Vacant Street Parking Spots
sur Google Maps Mania

San Francisco is rolling out an intelligent car parking system. 8,200 street parking spaces now have magnetic sensors that are networked to report on which parking spots are occupied and which are currently vacant.

If motorists visit the SFpark website they can view a real-time Google Map of available street parking spaces. Colored lines on the roads on the map show which streets are part of the intelligent parking system scheme. The lines are also color-coded to give an overview of current parking space availability (blue = high availability and red = low). If users click on any of the colored roads they can find out exactly how many parking spaces are available.

As well as showing in real-time the availability of street car parking spaces the map shows the number of spaces available in the city's parking garages. The data is also available in a free app for iPhone and Android phones.
03 février 2012
15:56
Support François Hollande on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The official website, TousHollande, of François Hollande, the Socialist nomination for the French presidential elections, is using Google Maps on its homepage to show user submitted messages of support.

Supporters of Hollande can add their support to the map by filling in a short form (or use Facebook Connect to sign-in) and see their own messages appear on the map. The map itself animates through the support messages already added to the map.

The map does an impressive job in creating the image of a candidate with nationwide support. It is also a very effective method for building a database of enthusiastic supporters. To add your support to the map you have to agree that you support the candidacy of Francois Hollande and wish to be informed about news of the campaign.

It would be very interesting to know whether this proves a more effective way of building a mailing list of supporters than the more traditional methods used in previous campaigns.
12:14
Laser Firing UFO Caught on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

I don't know how the governments of the world managed to hush this one up. Here Google Maps provides further proof that aliens already walk among us. In 'fact' this satellite view shows the Dutch town of Breda whilst actually under attack from a multi-laser firing UFO.

More proof of little green men found on Google Maps can be seen here.

I Am a Name, Not a Number

Fans of the original cult 1960's TV show The Prisoner will be delighted to hear that the village of Portmeirion in Wales now has Street View. Much of the success of the show was due to it being shot in this wonderfully unique Welsh village.

The village was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and really is a beautiful place to visit. If you can't get to Portmeirion in person you can now at least take a virtual stroll around the village in Google Maps.

A Penny-Farthing Towing a Platypus

One of my life's ambitions was to be the first man to tow a platypus, behind a penny-farthing, around the town of Cottesloe in Australia. I'm sad to have to report that someone has beaten me to it.

Asterix on a Mountain

Street View has captured Asterix sitting on a mountain in France (although it is probably a menhir and not a mountain). You probably won't be surprised to hear that this Street View image comes from an Asterix theme park, Parc Asterix, just north of Paris.
02 février 2012
16:47
Fore - Lookout It's the Ultimate Golf Guide
sur Google Maps Mania

The Golf Guide is a Google Map showing the location of thousands of golf courses throughout the world.

Many of the golf courses displayed on the map include Google Earth tours. The green map markers show which courses have the Google Earth tours available. When you click on a green marker an information window will open displaying the course with the Google Earth browser plugin.

The Google Earth tours take you on a 3d flyover of the course. You can interrupt the tour at any time and use the links to fly to a particular hole. The tour also informs the user of the par and length of each hole.
13:19
Skyrim Appears on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

You find amongst your possessions an ancient chart of Skyrim extracted from the Elder Scrolls. Now you will never get lost in your journeys through the nine provinces of Tamriel.

Your Skyrim Map includes a magical key that will guide you on your journey. Whether you search for a Dragonlair or an Imperial Camp the map will determine your adventure and light up your true path.

Legend tells that the map was created when the magical Fusion Tables were forged in the fires of the Google Maps API. This legend was imparted to me by the High Elves of Street View Funny.
01 février 2012
17:59
Using GWT with the Google Maps API V3
sur Google Maps Mania

The Google Web Toolkit is an open source set of tools that allows web developers to create and maintain complex JavaScript front-end applications in Java. Unfortunately the current GWT bindings are only compatible with the Google Maps v2 API and are not yet compatible with v3 of the API.

Luckily Brandon Donnelson has decided to build the GWT bindings for the Maps API V3. If you want to see what you can build with the bindings wrapper you can jump straight to the demo page. The examples provided include Google Maps with the Elevation Requests, Directions, Street View, Custom Street View, Custom Controls, the Drawing Libray and more.

If you want to see Donnelson's GWT bindings in the wild then visit the impressive Cycling the Alps website, which has been completely rebuilt using the bindings.
14:17
Interactive Bus Stops on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Bus-Tops is a very exciting interactive art project launching in London today. Thirty red and black LED screens have been installed on the roofs of bus shelters around London. Absolutely anyone in the world can create artwork and hopefully get a chance to see their work displayed on one of the screens.

If you want to view the submitted artwork then you will need the Bus-Tops Screen Locations Map. It allows Londoner's to find their nearest Bus-Tops screen. The map also uses the Google Maps Styled Maps feature to give the map an appropriate red and blank design.
13:31
Mapping the Bells of the World
sur Google Maps Mania

The Guild of Carillonneurs Map is a map of carillons in North America. A carillon consists of a series of at least 23 tuned bells which can be played from a keyboard.

The map shows the location of 179 traditional carillons throughout North America. The map also includes a link to view another Google Map showing carillons throughout the world. The Guild has also created a map for tower bells of all types.

Finally TowerBells.org has a very similar map showing the locations of tubular bells of all types around the world.
1:16
Map of the Florida Primary Results
sur Google Maps Mania

The Google Elections hub is now beginning to show the results of the Florida Primary (with Romney looking to have taken an early lead). The Google Map automatically updates as results around the state are announced.

Each county on the map will become shaded, as the votes come in, to show which candidate won the most votes. If you mouse-over the highlighted counties it is possible to view the votes cast for each candidate in the county.
31 janvier 2012
13:15
Timelines, Tweening & Temporal Heat Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Timemap is a JavaScript library to help add a SIMILE time-line to an online map, including Google Maps. The library includes a number of sample maps that show how you can use the SIMILE time-line with Google Maps. Two of the examples I haven't seen before and both maps are impressive in their own right.

The Temporal Heatmap from a Google Spreadsheet example is a map with markers that are sized on the map according to a data point in the spreadsheet. It is a great template for showing expanding and shrinking data points over time. In the example map the markers show cumulative deaths from asbestosis and silicosis in Texas over time.

The other example is On-the-fly Polygon Tweening. This map tweens a polygon so it grows and shrinks in conjunction with the time-line control. Polygon tweening could be used for any number of map based visualisations, for example to show a changing city boundary other time.
11:00
Googe Maps the Corporate World
sur Google Maps Mania

Deutsche Telekom's Worldwide Operations Map is a very nicely designed corporate map. It uses the Google Maps API Styled Maps feature to create a map that complements the colors of the company's corporate style and website design.

The map shows the scope of Deutsche Telekom's worldwide operations and lists the names of its companies operating in each country. The map can be searched by location and the information windows provide links to click-through to the country profile pages on the company's website.
30 janvier 2012
20:33
Updates Announced for UK Crime Map
sur Google Maps Mania

The UK government's official crime map Police.uk, which uses Google Maps to map UK crime, has been visited over 450 million times and is by far and away the most popular UK government website.

Today the UK government announced that from tomorrow users of the maps will be able to get crime statistics for more locations. Currently users can search the map by postcode or by address and get results based on "an anonymous point on or near the road where they (the crimes) occurred."

As of tomorrow users will be able to search for crimes that have taken place at specific public locations, such as individual railway stations, shopping centres, airports, hospitals, parks and nightclubs etc.

Despite its popularity the map has not been free of criticism. The knowwhere blog posted a good round-up of some of the criticism the website faced in the week of its original release.

The new mapping of public spaces is also proving controversial. For example there are worries that nightclub owners may become much less likely to liaise with local police forces over criminal activity within their establishments if the result is that the clubs are then shown as criminal hotspots on the map.

Today the UK government also announced that from May users of the crime map will be able to see what happened after a crime was committed, what action was taken by the police and whether anyone was eventually convicted for the crime.
13:45
Chilean Executions Mapped
sur Google Maps Mania

Ejecuciones en Chile entre septiembre y diciembre de 1973 is a powerful and poignant animated map visualisation of people executed by the Chilean military dictatorship between September 11 and December 31, 1973. The map animates through a time-line of the executions geo-locating those murdered by place of death or where the body was discovered.

As well as providing an animated time-line of the executions the map can be browsed by location, date of death, cause of death and by the name of individual victims of the Chilean dictatorship.

The data for the map comes from Servicio Médico Legal.
11:13
Novel Mapping Projects - Chapter One
sur Google Maps Mania
Many authors seem to have a special relationship with particular places. Some cities seem to have become almost inextricably linked with certain author's bodies of work, whether it be Charles Dickens' London or James Joyce's Dublin.

Novels: On Location is a good place to start if you want to find a book set in a specific location. In fact this Google Map acts a great guide for travellers keen to read a novel set in the places visited.

Using the map you can search for a location and find novels that are set there. For example, if you are lucky enough to be able to visit St Petersburg (or you just want to read something set there) you can consult Novels: On Location which recommends you read Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment.

Also See
- Joyce Walks - maps of walks with connections to Joyce's Ulysses
- Ballard Geocoded - a Google Map of the locations in the works of JG Ballard
- The Patrick O'Brian Mapping Project - a map of locations in the works of Patrick O'Brian, author of the popular Master and Commander
- Londonist Sherlock Holmes Map - mapping the locations in Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels
- Litmap - locations in The Rings of Saturn: An English Pilgrimage by W.G. Sebald
- Poetry Atlas - Google Map of geo-tagged poems
- Google Lit Trips - Many, many literary journeys mapped
Google Maps Based Stories
- The 21 Steps - by Charles Cumming is "an adrenaline-fuelled adventure written and designed for Google Maps"
- Senghor on the Rocks - a German language novel with Google Maps
29 janvier 2012
14:24
Google Maps: Weekly Round-Up
sur Google Maps Mania

Google was very busy last week, with the launch of Street View in South Korea and the release of fresh 45° imagery in 24 cities on Google Maps.

Google Hotel Finder also started experimenting with an isochrone layer that allows users to search for hotels within a defined travelling time of a location.

Elsewhere I was impressed with the use of Google Fusion Tables in Google Maps by two newspapers.

Both the Edmonton Journal and Global News released election related maps powered by Fusion Tables.

Both maps include selectable layers and a dynamic legend. If you want to know how to create a dynamic legend with Fusion Tables and Google Maps then you should dive into the code in this Fusion Tables API Example Map.

The New York World also produced an excellent Google Maps based visualisation of the Proposed New York Senate Districts.

This visualisation of the proposed rezoning works brilliantly in map form, not only because of the obvious geographic nature of creating new senate districts but because the map perfectly illustrates the disparity in the population sizes between the up-state and down-state proposed districts.
28 janvier 2012
22:08
Brisbane's CityBikes on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

City Cycle NOW! is a real-time Google Map of the number of bikes currently available at each of Brisbane's CityCycle bike stations.

The official CityCycle website also uses Google Maps to show the location of bike stations in the city. However to find out the number of bikes available at individual stations on the CityCycle map involves clicking on the station's map marker.

City Cycle NOW! on the other hand uses a coloured map marker system to show stations with no bikes (red), stations with only a few bikes available (orange) and stations with more than five bikes (green).
13:07
Neighborhoods Reviewed with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

StreetAdvisor is a well thought out website that helps people to find great streets, neighborhoods and cities to live, based on the opinions of the people who actually live there.

Using StreetAdvisor it is possible to search for a city, neighborhood or individual street and read local reviews of the area, find out what kind of people already live there and get an overview of the pros and cons of the area.

When you search for a location the area is shown and highlighted on a Google Map. When you search for a city, map markers provide links to the StreetAdvisor pages for individual neighborhoods in the city. If you search for a neighborhood the markers provide links to the StreetAdvisor page of individual streets.

StreetAdvisor also allows individuals to ask specific questions about a location. So if you want to know what the average rent is, whether the area is safe or child friendly etc you can ask the question on StreetAdvisor and get answers from people who know the area well.
27 janvier 2012
13:56
The Forgotten Poland on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Forgotten.pl is a Polish website dedicated to abandoned buildings, rail-roads, underground tunnels, castles, military sites and any other locations that have long been neglected.

The site has a huge database of user submitted abandoned locations. If you are keen to explore the abandoned Poland it is probably best to explore the site using the category filter. Each category (buildings, military, castles etc) has its own Google Map that allows users to search for individual entries by location.
10:03
Gerrymandering Shown with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The New York World has produced an excellent Google Maps based visualisation of the Proposed New York Senate Districts.

This visualisation of the proposed rezoning works brilliantly in map form, not only because of the obvious geographic nature of creating new senate districts but because the map perfectly illustrates the disparity in the population sizes between upstate and downstate proposed districts.

The large red area to the north on the map shows that these proposed districts will each have a smaller population than the blue districts to the south of the map in New York City. In effect New York City voters will count for less than their up-state neighbors.

As The New York World states this "regional discrepancy is crucial to Republicans' efforts to preserve their narrow control of the Senate".
26 janvier 2012
17:35
Ontario Election Results on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Global News has created a series of Google Maps to visualise the 2011 Ontario election results.

Ontario Election Maps shows the results of 24,094 polls in six maps: plurality winner by poll, voter turnout and the four parties' results looked at in isolation. Each map shows a heat map of the results and you can click on individual electoral wards to view the results at that location.

The map can be searched by address or postal codes. A number of links, above the map, will take you to 14 regional views.
15:33
MetroCard Use Visualised on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Wall Street Journal created this great data visualisation to show how New Yorkers are using different kinds of MetroCards on the city's public transit network.

Examining MetroCard Usage uses the Google Maps API to present how the 30-Day Unlimited, Pay Per-Ride and Senior Discount MetroCards are used throughout NYC. Heat maps are created for each card type and useful information windows point out specific locations and usage of the cards that the WSJ finds interesting.

The visualisation also presents data taken after the 12/30/2010 fare increases to examine how usage of the different MetroCards may have changed after the fare rises.
10:03
An Opacity Control Slider for Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Gavin Harris has released the code for an Opacity Control for Google Maps. The control is a slider button that can be used to adjust the opacity of map overlays used with the Google Maps API v3.

The slider control can be seen in action on NZ Topo Map, where it is used to control the transparency of topographic map tiles. The code is available for download and use by Google Maps API v3 developers under a Creative Commons Licence.
25 janvier 2012
21:10
Australian Rain Radars on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

BOMMap is an Australian weather map that allows users to view animations of the latest radar images from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.

The initial view of BOMMap shows where it is currently raining in Australia and therefore where radar animations are also currently available to view on the map. Users just need to select one of the displayed map markers to view the latest radar animation from that location.

The creator of BOMMap has also set up a subReddit where users can submit suggestions and possible improvements to the map.
16:41
Public Alert Warnings Now on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Google has just launched Google Public Alerts, a Google Maps based website to bring you information about relevant emergency alerts in your area.

The map shows weather alerts, public safety warnings, and earthquake alerts from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and the US Geological Survey (USGS). For example, the map is showing right now flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings at various locations in Texas and high wind warnings for South-western California.

There is some integration with the main Google Maps site as well, although you do have to search for the alerts. For example, at the time of writing, if you search for 'flash flood Texas' in Google Maps an alert appears in the Google Maps sidebar. You can then click on the alert to get further details.

I actually think Public Alerts deserves more prominence on Google Maps. I'd like to see it made available as a layer (it could sit very nicely just under the Weather layer option in the Google Maps drop-down menu).

Via: Google LatLong
13:51
Twitter Islands Appear on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Over the last few years the Centre of Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL has created some interesting visualisations of data from Twitter. For example, CASA's, Tweet-o-Metre shows the current level of Twitter activity in a number of major cities around the world.

CASA's Interactive Tweetography Maps uses the Google Maps API to present a number of topographical maps of New York, London, Paris and Munich based on where in the cities Twitter users are most active. The contours on the maps show the density of tweets, with mountains showing the most active locations on Twitter.

Digital Urban has now taken the data from the London Tweetography Map and visualised it with the 3d game engine Lumion. They say they are still in the early stages of development but, I think you will agree, the results are already pretty amazing.
2:39
Street View Launched in South Korea
sur Google Maps Mania

Myeongdong Cathedral, Seoul

Google might not have maps in North Korea but it does now have Street View in South Korea.

Google Maps today introduced Street View for South Korea's two largest cities Seoul and Busan.

Via: Google LatLong
24 janvier 2012
16:58
New 45° imagery for 24 cities
sur Google Maps Mania

Augusta Raurica, Basle, Switzerland

Google has added new aerial (Bird's Eye) imagery to Google Maps for 17 U.S. and 7 international locations.

You can check-out my picks of some of the best aerial views on Google Maps in this Aerial View Slideshow.

The cities with the new imagery are:

US:
Boise/Caldwell, ID; Buffalo, NY; Chattanooga, TN; Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; Greenville, SC; Houston/Pasadena, TX; Kansas City/Gladstone, MS; Knoxville/Louisville, TN; Memphis/Bartlett, TN; Mobile, AL; Nashville, TN; Pensacola, FL; Racine, WI; Santa Monica, CA; Sarasota/Englewood, FL; Stockton, CA

Europe:
Baiona, Spain; Basel, Switzerland; Friedberg, Germany; Mannheim, Germany; Santander, Spain; Ulm, Germany

South America:
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Via: Google LatLong
12:28
CNN iReports on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

CNN iReport is a portal for individuals to tell their own news stories. iReport includes many tools to help contributors tell their stories and discuss the issues that interest them.

The CNN iReport Map is a Google Map showing the location of user contributed stories. As well as browsing the stories by location via the map the submitted stories can be searched by 'most viewed', 'most commented' and 'most shared'.

If you click on a story's marker on the map you can read a brief introduction and, if the story interests you, click through to read the complete submitted story.
9:30
South West England's Off Road Cycle Map
sur Google Maps Mania

The lack of cycle paths on Google Maps is still a problem in many parts of the world. If you live in the south west of England though you can use The South West Adventure Cycle Map.

The map includes off road cycle trails in England’s south west region, including paths in Exmoor and Dartmouth National Park and in the Blackdown Hills. The trails are colour coded to show their severity.

To get more details about a trail you can click on it's track on the map and get information on it's length, difficulty and type of terrain. You can even click on points along a trail to get an elevation chart.
23 janvier 2012
17:39
Google Hotel Finder Isochrones Experiment
sur Google Maps Mania

Google Hotel Finder is experimenting with an isochrone layer to search for hotels within a defined travelling time of a location. For example, this search with Google Hotel Finder shows all the hotels within a 30 minute public transit travelling time from the 2012 London Olympics Park.

The Hotel Finder experiment allows users to adjust the travelling time, switch between public transit or walking times, and refine the results shown by price range, star rating and date.

Via: Ed Parsons
15:30
An Edmonton Property Tax Assessment Map
sur Google Maps Mania

The Edmonton Property Tax Assessment Map is a great example of using Google Fusions Tables with Google Maps.

The Edmonton Journal created the map to visualise Edmonton's 2012 property assessments. The map allows readers to compare the average assessment of single-family homes by neighbourhood in 2012 and 2011; as well as the percent change from 2010 to 2011, 2011 to 2012 and during the five years from 2007 to 2012.

The map include selectable layers, a dynamic legend (that updates automatically when different layers are selected) and even includes the Edmonton Journal masthead.

If you want to know how to create a dynamic legend with Fusion Tables and Google Maps then you should dive into the code in this Fusion Tables API Example Map.
13:20
Share Your Kisses with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Toronto Kiss Map wants to know about your kisses. Whether it's a first kiss, a last kiss, a hot and heavy kiss or just a peck on the check of Aunty Maureen then Toronto Kiss wants to know all about it.

The Toronto Kiss Map is a user contributed map of kisses that took place in Toronto. The map comes from Firefly Creative Writing, so contributors are also encouraged to the tell the story behind their kiss.

To add your own kiss to the map you just need to click on the map to show the location where the tongue fencing took place. You can then share your story about the kiss in 500 characters or less.
22 janvier 2012
19:32
South Carolina Primary Results Mapped
sur Google Maps Mania

The Google Elections hub is now featuring a Google Map of the South Carolina Primary Results. The map shows the number of votes cast for each of the Republican candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in each of the South Carolina counties.

Each county on the map is shaded to show which candidate won overall in the area. If you mouse-over a county it is possible to view the votes cast for each candidate.
13:53
Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

The German courts recently decided that Berlin Airport can operate flights between 5 am and midnight. Residents who live close to the airport say that this gives them just a 5 hour window in which it is possible to sleep.

German newspaper Taz this week created a very useful visualisation of air pollution caused by aircraft at Berlin Airport. Fluglärm-Karte BBI-Airport Berlin shows the number of decibels along the flight paths to and from the airport and in the immediate vicinity.

Google Maps that show the current weather and short-term forecasts are always useful. Combine the weather with real-time geo-tagged Tweets about the weather and you get a very interesting application.

Wettervolke is a nice Google Maps based application to view the current weather and local Twitter messages about the weather.

The current weather conditions are displayed on a Google Map using the standard weather map symbols. The current temperature is also displayed directly on the map. As well as the current weather conditions it is possible to view a forecast for the rest of the day and for tomorrow's weather.

WorldMap is a new open source mapping platform from Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis. One feature that makes WorldMap very useful is the thousands of data layers that the service provides. Users of WorldMap can also easily import and display their own data layers on a map.

WorldMap has already created over 700 mapping layers and users have created more than 500 maps. Therefore, as well as creating their own maps, users can search and view maps from the hundreds of maps already created.
21 janvier 2012
13:27
Introducing the WorldMap
sur Google Maps Mania

WorldMap is a new open source mapping platform from Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis.

Users of WorldMap can quickly create a map from their own data layers or from data layers already added to the WorldMap. Viewers of created maps can control the data layers seen on the map from a sidebar and can choose to view the data on top of Google Maps or OpenStreetMap map tiles.

WorldMap has already created over 700 mapping layers and users have created more than 500 maps. Therefore, as well as creating their own maps, users can search and view maps from the hundreds of maps already created.
20 janvier 2012
16:19
Highlighted Search Results in Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

If you search for a location in Google Maps you now see the area highlighted on the map. If you zoom out a little Google Maps shows the area shaded in pink with a dotted boundary. When you zoom in on the map you should just see a dotted boundary line around the searched for area.

Another new addition to Google Maps is train information in the UK. Google has worked with thetrainline.com to allow UK users to search for train journeys across the country with information from more than than 2,500 rail stations and 170,000 routes nationwide.

To get train information in the UK you just need to enter your staring point and destination in 'Directions' and select the public transit icon.
11:19
Friday Fun with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Don't Lose Your Marbles

By now you must have heard that there is a Google Maps based game coming to Google+ next month. If you can't wait until February then you could instead create your own analogue version of the game.

Pegman's Day

This advert for Wired magazine seems to show what Pegman gets up to after a busy day of guiding the world around on Street View.

Athen's Public Transit Simulation

The developer behind the great Athens Public Transit Planner has created this amazing map simulation of a day in the life of the Athens Public Transport system.

Artistic Google

Artistic Google is a Google+ account that encourages its followers to create artistic images from Google Maps Street View. Every Monday a new location is announced and the account's followers then find an interesting Street View picture and create something a bit more artistic from the image using photo editing software.
19 janvier 2012
14:39
Adopt a Fire Hydrant on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Here's a cool idea to ensure that fire hydrants remain accessible even when there is heavy snow.

Adopt-a-Hydrant lets anyone in Boston sign up to volunteer to clear a specific fire hydrant in the city when there is heavy snowfall. To adopt a fire hydrant users just need to click on its map marker and complete a short form.

On the usability front it is a bit annoying that the zoom control has been removed and that scroll-wheel zooming is also disabled on the map.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
10:47
German Sound Pollution on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The German courts recently decided that Berlin Airport can operate flights between 5 am and midnight. Residents who live close to the airport say that this gives them just a 5 hour window in which it is possible to sleep.

German newspaper Taz has created Fluglärm-Karte BBI-Airport Berlin, a Google Map showing the noise pollution caused by aircraft at Berlin Airport. The map shows the number of decibels along the flight paths to and from the airport and in the immediate vicinity.

Umwelthaus has created a series of similar Google Maps, called Fluglärmkonturenkarten, showing noise pollution around Frankfurt Airport.

These heat maps show noise levels around the airport using data from 2007 and also show noise level predictions for 2020 in two different traffic modes.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
18 janvier 2012
18:04
Clean Up America with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Pick Up America is travelling coast-to-coast across America picking up litter. Their mission is to pick up trash across the country and, in the process, educate, and encourage a transition toward zero waste.

The Pick Up America homepage features a prominent Google Map showing the route of the clean-up tour, upcoming events, and links to blog posts about events already completed. The trek began in March 2010 and plans to finish in November.

This year in the spring the tour will be trekking the Utah and Nevada Desert, hiking over the Colorado Rockies in the summer and walking onward to the California coast in the fall.
15:19
SOPA Tweets on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Understandably one of the top Twitter trends today is SOPA. A lot of major websites around the world, including Wikipedia and Google, are today showing their opposition to the proposed US anti-piracy laws of SOPA and PIPA.

Mibazaar has created the #SOPA Tweets Map to show in real-time the latest Twitter messages that include the hashtag '#SOPA'. The map includes the option to watch either east coast or west coast Tweets appear on the map.
13:02
Maps of SOPA & PIPA Supporting Senators
sur Google Maps Mania

Spatial Situation has created two maps to show congressional support (and opposition) for H.R. 3261 (SOPA) and S. 968 (PIPA).

The Map of Congressional Support for PIPA shows which senators are known to support and which senators oppose PIPA. The Map of Congressional Support for SOPA shows known congressional supporters and opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Both maps also include a pop-up form to contact your congressman about the two acts.
17 janvier 2012
18:50
A Personal Travel Itinerary on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Tixik.com is a multilingual trip planning application. Using the application it is possible to search for travel destinations by location and by various categories, such as cities, beaches or ski resorts.

Each location features a Google Map as well as detailed reviews of points of interest that can be found at the location. As well as searching by location users can search via a number of categorised dedicated maps, such as a map of the world's longest beaches or the biggest coastal cities in the world.

The application includes a useful trip planner that enables users to save individual locations to a personal itinerary as they browse the website. Users can plan a trip to a destination and save places they want to visit on their trip and even on which day that they wish to visit. You can view an example itinerary for a trip to London here.
15:32
Find a TAM Flight with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Brazilian airline TAM has released a nice destination finder called TAM Tips. The application allows users to search for vacation destinations based on their personal preferences.

TAM Tips uses Google Maps to show possible vacation locations based on TAM airlines' destinations. The destinations suggested on the map can be refined by selecting categories of interest, for example museums and galleries, sport, music, mountains, beaches etc.

If you click on a suggested destination on the map you can then read a review of the location and view the price of a ticket on TAM airlines to the destination.
12:18
Peg it Forward with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Why not peg a stranger today? Yesterday Google Maps Mania featured a website called Love Diffusion that tracks cards given to strangers as random acts of kindness.

Gopeg has some similarities to Love Diffusion but is less about the kindness and more about random acts of mischief. Instead of giving cards to total strangers gopeg encourages its users to surreptitiously attach a clothes peg to their person (to the stranger that is - not to themselves - that would just be weird).

Each peg should feature the gopeg website address and a unique serial number. When the stranger later finds the peg they are then able to register the peg before attaching it to another stranger. Each peg that is found and reported to gopeg gets its own Google Map which means users can follow the travels of their pegs as they move from person to person.
16 janvier 2012
19:59
Google Maps Opens World Bank Account
sur Google Maps Mania

Today Google announced an agreement with the World Bank to make Google Map Maker source data more widely and easily available to government organisations in the event of major disasters. Under the new deal World Bank partner organisations, which include government and United Nations agencies, will be able to contact World Bank offices for access to Google Map Maker data.

Google Map Maker Pulse - watch real-time edits on Google Maps

Surprisingly some of the early comments on this new agreement, that I have read, have been very negative about the new arrangement. Personally I'm far from convinced that the World Bank is a benign organisation and I'm pretty certain that it has often had a malign influence on the economies of developing countries.

However this agreement seems to me to be solely concerned with ensuring that the latest mapping data is more easily available to aid agencies and organisations in times of major disasters. Surely, that can only be a good thing.

Read Write Web (RWW) are arguing that Google have appointed the World Bank as "the gatekeeper" of Google Map Maker data. They appear to believe that this move is part of Google's 'closing off (of) access' to its mapping platform. In particular RWW seems keen to connect this new partnership with Google's recent introduction of charges to the use of the Google Maps API.

Google Map Maker

In November I responded fairly negatively to Google's new API charges. However I'm struggling to see how these two separate announcements are connected.

RWW claim that "Google has decided to compete with Ushahidi and other open-source efforts to solve this problem (crisis mapping)". RWW seem here to misunderstand the role of crisis reporting websites like Ushahidi. Ushahidi is built upon mapping platforms such as Google Maps and Open Street Maps. For it to work well in times of major disasters then it needs access to the latest crisis mapping efforts.

With Google's new partnership with the World Bank it appears that agencies and platforms such as Ushahidi now have a clear process as to how they can begin to access the latest mapping data from Google.

In many cases of major disaster the efforts of the Open Street Map community will probably mean that the most accurate and up-to-date maps will be openly available from Open Street Map and not from Google.

Google Maps and OpenStreetMap are two entirely different platforms with different goals. Google Maps relies on more centralised control over the moderating of community map edits than OpenStreetMap (I'm not going to go into the reasons why here). This means that the data behind Google Map Maker isn't openly accessible.

This partnership with the World Bank seems to me be an effort on Google's part to provide a means to access the latest mapping data rather than attempt to close access. I for one think it should be welcomed.

(BTW - I still think Read Write Web is the best tech blog out there)
15:22
Pay it Forward with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Love Diffusion is a website that aims to promote random acts of kindness.

Love Diffusion passes cards out to absolute strangers. The recipients of the cards can then report their thoughts and stories related to the cards by visiting the Love Diffusion website and then continue the process by passing the card on to another stranger.

The stories of each card as they travel from one stranger to another through these random acts of kindness are recorded on Google Maps. Each card gets its own map and each story reported to the website for the card is added to its Google Map.
11:21
The Weather Twitter Map
sur Google Maps Mania

Wettervolke is a nice Google Maps based application to view the current weather and local Twitter messages about the weather.

The current weather conditions are displayed on a Google Map using the standard weather map symbols. The current temperature is also displayed directly on the map. As well as the current weather conditions it is possible to view a forecast for the rest of the day and for tomorrow's weather.

Overlaid on the map is a Twitter weather window which displays the latest Tweets about the weather from your location. The weather symbols on the map update automatically when you pan and zoom the map. However to view the local weather Tweets users need to use the search box to position the map at the correct location.

Via: ProgrammableWeb
15 janvier 2012
12:18
Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

Two of my favourite maps of the last week were environmental maps that both present users with access to large amounts of useful data.

Vizzuality's Carbon Calculator is a very impressive Google Maps based app that details the potential contribution of any area in the world to climate change mitigation.

The map allows users to draw an area anywhere in the world and view the carbon currently stored in the area, as well as the amount of additional carbon that potentially could be sequestered through restoration.

The United States Environment Protection Agency this week launched a Greenhouse Gas Data Publication Tool that allows users to view and sort 2010 greenhouse gas emissions data from over 6,700 facilities.

The tool uses Google Maps to allow the user to search and display the data in a number of ways, including by facility, location, industrial sector, and the type of GHG emitted. The tool can be used by individuals and communities to identify nearby sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

My other favourite map of the week is not environmentally themed but is impressive none-the-less. HotelMaps.com is a hotel finder that uses Google Maps to help you locate and book hotels near any destination.

What makes HotelFinder.com stand out from other map based hotel websites is the use of dynamic map markers to quickly show the user the price and star ratings of the recommended hotels. Using the map it is possible to search for hotels by date and location but the user can also refine the price, the star ratings and the guest ratings in their search.
14 janvier 2012
21:25
The Last Voyage of Costa Concordia Mapped
sur Google Maps Mania

Live ship tracking website Marine Traffic shows the track of the cruise ship Costa Concordia just before it crashed into the island of Giglio in the Mediterranean Sea.

The International Maritime Organization requires all vessels over 299GT to carry an AIS transponder on board. The transponder transmits data on position, speed and course, among some other static information, such as the vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage details.

Thanks to this AIS data there are now a lot of Google Maps mashups showing the real-time positions of ships around the world. Marine Traffic shows the track of the last 30 minutes of Concordia's voyage.

Via: Landenkartenblog.de
11:43
The World-Wide Starbucks Map
sur Google Maps Mania

Loxcel Web Services are an online map creation team who specialise in helping to create scalable maps.

Loxcel have two great demo maps featuring their own marker clustering system. The World-Wide Starbucks Map shows the location of 19,000 Starbucks cafes across the world. The Canadian Cell Tower map uses the same marker clustering solution to display the location of 16,000 cell towers.

Both maps use two backend services: Loxcel Web Services to manage and cluster the map markers and Google Fusion Tables to populate the information windows. The marker clustering system allows both maps to effortlessly handle and display a huge amount of data, providing a seamless experience for the end-user.
1:14
Heatmap.js for Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Heatmap.js is a new JavaScript library that can be used to generate web heatmaps with the HTML5 canvas element. The library can be used in any number of contexts, including with Google Maps.

There is a nice demo of the library, using random data, to create a heat map with Google Maps here, . You can even view and download the html behind the demo on github.
13 janvier 2012
13:24
Some Google Maps Friday Fun
sur Google Maps Mania

The Wax Museum, Fisherman's Wharf

The Google Street View guy has taken a trip to San Francisco's Wax Museum. Unfortunately he only made it into the lobby, but you can still see models of Mariah Carey, President Obama and Johnny Depp.

New York in the Summer

Zachary Goelman found this evocative scene in Google Maps Street View in New York.

Street View Stereographic

I love Street View Stereographic. Someone else obviously does as well, as they went to the trouble of creating this fun video of the app in action.

The Song Lyrics Map

This map in the style of London's A-Z Maps is made up entirely of song lyrics. If you like it you can even buy a print from We Are Dorothy.
2:58
Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The United States Environment Protection Agency has launched a Greenhouse Gas Data Publication Tool that allows users to view and sort 2010 greenhouse gas emissions data from over 6,700 facilities.

The tool uses Google Maps to allow the user to search and display the data in a number of ways, including by facility, location, industrial sector, and the type of GHG emitted. The tool can be used by individuals and communities to identify nearby sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

As well as providing the useful map view the site also includes tools to view the data in a number of different chart views.

Via: @geoparadigm
12 janvier 2012
20:45
Tour the Tour Down Under
sur Google Maps Mania

Cycling the Alps has created video tours of each of the stages in the upcoming Tour Down Under cycling race. The Tour Down Under is a UCI WorldTour cycling race, held in Adelaide, Australia, which starts next week.

Cycling the Alps has created Google Earth fly-through tours for each stage of the tour. You can view videos of each of the tours or view them with the Google Earth browser plug-in on the Cycling the Alps website.

Cycling the Alps has also created Street View tours for each stage of the race. The Street View tours animate through each stage using Google Maps Street View.

Not content with creating Google Earth and Street View tours you can also play a Google Earth based game for each stage. The game shows you the route of each stage on Google Earth and requires the user to guide a cyclist from the start to the finish of the stage.

If any of the tours or games grab your fancy you can even grab the embed code and add them to your own website or blog.
16:29
Mapping Iran's Nuclear Programme
sur Google Maps Mania

Open Nuclear Iran is using the Ushahidi report mapping platform to try and map and assess Iran's nuclear programme.

Using the app anyone can report information about locations and incidents in Iran that might be linked to the country's controversial nuclear programme. The app includes relevant links to the latest news reports, in list form, about the continuing controversy and heightening tension caused by Iran's nuclear developments.
13:19
The Google Maps Carbon Calculator
sur Google Maps Mania

Vizzuality's Carbon Calculator is a very impressive Google Maps based app that details the potential contribution of any area in the world to climate change mitigation.

The map allows users to draw an area anywhere in the world and view the carbon currently stored in the area, as well as the amount of additional carbon that potentially could be sequestered through restoration. Moreover, it links this information with the conservation value and forest status of the area.

To search an area users just need to click the 'Draw Polygon' button and define an area on the map (when finished remember to click on the first point added to finish defining your area). The calculation will start as soon as an area has been drawn and the results will be visible after a short moment in the map side panel. As well as drawing an area users can select from existing protected areas.

There is a huge amount of data behind this map which is made possible by using CartoDB as the backend.
11 janvier 2012
23:40
The Tour Down Under on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Santos Tour Down Under is a UCI WorldTour cycling race, held in Adelaide, South Australia. The 2012 race starts on the 15th January, 2012.

Velowire.com has created Google Maps showing the routes for each stage of this year's race. In a detailed article Velowire.com examines each stage with accompanying pop-up Google Maps and elevation charts of each stage route.

A KML file has also been created for those who wish to view the stage routes in Google Earth.
15:55
UK Boundary Changes on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

In the UK the Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have published their recommendations for proposed changes to constituency boundaries.

The Guardian has created this Google Maps based visualisation to show the proposed new constituency boundaries and also a crude analysis of how the 2010 UK election results would have played out under the proposed changes.

The visualisation displays two synched Google Maps, the 2010 election results with the new boundaries are on the left map and the 2010 results with the existing boundaries are on the right.
13:09
Instagram Photos on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Foodogram is a real-time Google Map showing the location of the latest food related photographs submitted to the Instagram photo-sharing website.

As a new food photograph is added to Instagram it is displayed beneath the map and the map itself moves to the photographer's location. I do love maps but I can't help thinking that the map is given too much screen real-estate on this app and more prominence should be given to the photographs.

Mapstagram is a super-fast real-time Google Map of photos taken with the Instagram iPhone app.

When the Mapstagram map first loads it displays the most recent photos from a number of U.S. cities. After the initial photos have loaded Mapstagram goes into real-time mode. As photos are uploaded by users in these cities, they are immediately displayed on the map in real time.
10 janvier 2012
20:47
Create Your Own Aerial Imagery Map
sur Google Maps Mania

MapKnitter is a free and open source tool for aligning and creating maps from overhead images.

The tool allows anyone to take a single aerial image or a series of aerial images and align them, with the help of Google Maps satellite view. Images maps created with MapKnitter can be exported in GeoTiff, TMS/OpenLayers, and JPG formats.

You can explore maps created with the tool by location and the most recent maps are also featured on the home page of MapKnitter.
19:18
A New Game - Google Maps Marble Madness
sur Google Maps Mania

I know nothing about this game other than what appears in the video and the description given by Google on YouTube,

"Coming soon, play your world like never before with a game from the Google Maps team on Google+ Games powered by WebGL."

It looks to me like it is a Marble Madness type game built using Google Maps. That's enough to get me excited. According to the video the game is due to be released in February.
16:22
Tracking Turtles with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Sea Turtle Conservation, on the the Caribbean island of Bonaire, have been tracking turtles since 2003. The Previously Tracked Turtles Map shows the tracks of the 21 adult turtles that have been tracked since the programme began.

This year Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire have developed the Great Migration Game to follow the movements of one turtle, called Jklynn. School students in Bonaire can predict where the sea turtle will end up and win some great prizes if they guess correctly.

You can see Jklynn's current position on this Jklynn Google Map.

Via: Google LatLong
12:21
Finding Hotels with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

HotelMaps.com is a hotel finder that uses Google Maps to help you locate and book hotels near any destination.

What makes HotelFinder.com stand out from other map based hotel websites is the use of dynamic map markers to quickly show the user the price and star ratings of the recommended hotels. It is possible to search for hotels by date and location but the user can also refine the price, the star ratings and the guest ratings in their search.

The hotels found in a search are then displayed on a Google Map with markers that show the cost per night for a room in the hotel and the number of stars the hotel has. Users can quickly refine the displayed hotels with three slide controls that allow the user to refine the price and star ratings of the results.

Hipmunk, the flight planning and booking tool also has a hotel search function that includes an interesting hotspot facility.

Hipmunk allows users to search for hotels by location and date. The results of each search are shown on a Google Map, with green markers showing the cheapest rates and red the most expensive. It is also possible to sort the results by price, reviews and distance.

Hipmunk also allows users to overlay a number of heatmaps over the results. The heatmaps help the user to see which areas of their destination have high and low concentrations of restaurants, museums, bars etc.

The heatmaps are a useful tool, especially for users booking hotels in unfamiliar locations. In many ways the function improves on Google Hotel Finder's tourist spotlight feature.

When you search for a hotel with Google Hotel Finder the map tourist spotlight highlights the most popular areas for visitors to stay. Google Hotel Finder also includes a useful area search tool that allows the user to adjust the area that they are interested in staying directly on the map.
09 janvier 2012
17:54
Driving Directions with Suggested Stops
sur Google Maps Mania

The RoadTrip America Map Wizard helps users find attractions and points of interest along a planned road trip route.

Using the app simply involves entering a start and end address and defining the distance from the route that you are prepared to travel to visit the suggested attractions. The route of your journey is then displayed on the map and the points of interest are displayed with categorised map markers.

The map markers are categorised into dining, events, historic sites, lodging, museums, natural wonders, parks & recreation and shopping. Registered users can save their favourite searched routes.
13:00
The History of Google Maps Design
sur Google Maps Mania

The design website Core77 has an interesting article by Willem Van Lancker, a Google Map User Experience and Visual Designer, called Google Maps: Designing the Modern Atlas.

Google Maps' design evolution 2009 (top) - 2011 (bottom)

The article looks at the cartographic design decisions that have gone into creating Google Maps. Willem explains the historical design changes that Google Maps has undergone as well as examining the problems of trying to create a universal design that also reflects the needs and design expectations of regional users.

Localised coloration in the roadways of Tokyo, London, & Paris and 3d buildings in Seattle
10:47
Getting Around Athens with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Athens Public Transit Planner is a public transit network map of the Greek capital, which also includes a very handy trip planner.

The app consists of two main parts; a network map and a trip planner. The trip planner allows users to plan a trip using the city's public transit system. Users can set a starting point, destination and the time of journey and get detailed step-by-step transit directions. The route of the journey is also displayed on a Google Map.

The network map allows the user to view all of Athens' public transit lines. Estimated live departure times for any stop on the network can be viewed by clicking on the station name in the map sidebar. The map itself includes a clever bounding box function that ensures that the available transit lines displayed in the sidebar always reflect the lines available in the current map view.

Greek Taxi Cost Calculator

This Greek Taxi Price Calculator allows users to calculate the cost of a taxi journey anywhere in Greece.

To use the calculator, simply right-click on the map to specify your starting and destination address or use the input fields in the left hand side menu. The route of your journey will then be displayed on the map and the estimated taxi charge is displayed in the map sidebar.

The costs are calculated according to the most up to date prices and include a full itemisation of charges you can expect from your taxi trip. The charges also include the 11% VAT introduced for Athens' taxi services.
08 janvier 2012
11:29
Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

Street View Stereographic was by far my favourite map of the past week.

Street View Stereographic allows you to view any Street View image in a stereographic projection. You can get an idea of the views possible with the screenshot above. Street View Stereographic uses WebGL so you will probably need to use the Google Chrome browser to view the app.

One of the most retweeted maps of the week was KNGF Maps. KNGF Geleidehonden (The Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation) trains puppies to be guide or seeing eye dogs. To help promote the charity and help raise some of the mobility issues faced by the visually impaired KNGF created this walking directions map.

The map is a pretty impressive iteration of Google Maps driving directions. The map includes the usual driving, public transit and walking directions but also includes some novel seeing eye dog directions.

If the user selects the seeing eye dog directions they are presented with a blanked out map. When the user asks for directions a seeing eye dog walks the route and lights up the way on the map.

The Domesday Book was the result of a survey carried out in England and parts of Wales in 1086. The book is one of the first and therefore oldest public records in England and is a great resource for geographers, genealogists and historians.

The Open Domesday Book is the first free online copy of the Domesday Book. It also includes a great Google Maps interface that allows users to search for locations and quickly find references in the Domesday Book to locations and places nearby.
07 janvier 2012
14:19
World Tourism Heatmaps
sur Google Maps Mania

The World's Most and Least Touristy Places Google Map shows a heatmap of the most photographed places based on photographs submitted to Panoramio. The analysis takes into account how many photos and by how many authors there are in any given area.

On the same website the Interesting Remote Places Map provides a heatmap of interesting places away from urban centres that have a high number of photos submitted to Panoramio. This map shows only places that are away from cities; usually outback, hiking destinations, or remote tourist attractions.

The Tourism Map for France and Southern England takes the same approach but provides a heatmap of Panoramio photos by location for a more localised area. The same author has also created a heatmap of Tourist Areas in Estonia.
06 janvier 2012
16:17
Spanish Potholes Spread Worldwide
sur Google Maps Mania

Otrobache.es is a Spanish pothole reporting website that seems to have taken off worldwide.

Otrobache.es uses Google Maps to allow users to report and view reported potholes. The application began life as way for Madrid road users to report problems with the city's roads but the application has proved so popular that it is now being used around the world.

Otrobache.es is just the latest in a fine tradition of pothole reporting websites. In the UK you can report potholes to the FillThatHole website. In the US SeeClickFix allows users to report all sorts of non-emergency problems (including potholes). In Pune, India you can also report road conditions to Better Pune.
13:01
Overheard on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Watch what you are saying - or you just might find your conversation posted to this German Google Maps app. Laushekarte.de is a map of funny or strange things that have been said, overheard and reported to Belauscht.de.

Here is just one example from the map(overheard in a nightclub):

Man 1: I always smoke after sex
Man 2: So you're a non-smoker then

The overheard conversations on Laushekarte.de are all in German.

Via: landkartenblog
05 janvier 2012
19:46
More Free WiFi Google Maps Apps
sur Google Maps Mania

Fon members share a little of their home WiFi bandwidth in exchange for access to free WiFi roaming on Fon Spots worldwide. You can find where Fon WiFi Spots are available on the Fon Hotspots Map.

The Google Map shows Fon WiFi Hotspots worldwide and can be searched by location.

WeFi is a free app for mobile phones and desktop computers that automatically detects Wi-Fi access points within range and connects users to the spot with the best Internet connection.

The WeFi Map is a Google Map of all the access points discovered by WeFi users around the world.
15:58
Madrid's Tech Companies on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Madri+d Mapa del Conocimiento is an interesting Google Map of Madrid's research, technology and science companies.

The map is embedded in Flash, so I assume it uses Google's now deprecated Google Maps for Flash API. By using Flash the map is able to create some interesting visual effects such as elastic map markers (that expand when you mouse-over them) and lines between map markers (that presumably show connected companies).

I'm sure that many of the interesting visual effects used by Mapa del Conocimiento could be replicated with HTML5, which would make the site more compliant with web standards.
13:23
Ski Resort Webcams on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

If you want to check out the skiing conditions at your favourite resort you could do worse than check out the Sion Valais Webcam Navigator.

The Webcam Navigator is a Google Map showing European ski resort webcams. Thumbnail images of the latest shots from each webcam are shown on the map. You can click any of the thumbnail images to view the full-size image on the Sion Valais website or you can choose to view local points of interest at each ski resort.
04 janvier 2012
22:23
GeoConferences on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get to more geo-related conferences this year. Luckily for me Quarry One Eleven has created this Geoconferences Map.

The Google Map is fairly basic but it lets you zoom in on a location and find upcoming geoconferences nearby. You can also sort the results shown on the map by month. If you know of a conference that is missing you can get it added to the map by contacting Quarry One Eleven via their website.
17:29
The Domesday Book on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Domesday Book is the result of a survey carried out in England and parts of Wales in 1086. The book is one of the first and therefore oldest public records in England and therefore serves as a great resource for geographers, genealogists and historians.

The Open Domesday Book is the first free online copy of the Domesday Book. It also includes a great Google Maps interface that allows users to search for locations and quickly find references in the Domesday Book to the location and places nearby.

If you search for a location you can view on a Google Map the places mentioned in the Book in that area. If you click through on any of the referenced locations you can view an image of the original text and a breakdown of the data recorded in the Domesday Book.
14:24
Iowa Caucus Results on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Google Elections hub is now featuring a Google Map of the Iowa Caucus Results. The map shows the number of votes cast for each of the Republican candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in each of the Iowa counties.

Each county on the map is shaded to show which candidate won overall in the area. If you mouse-over a county it is possible to view the votes cast for each candidate.

Whilst Romney and Santorum both picked a similar percentage of the votes in the state the map seems to show that Santorum's support is less geographically concentrated than Romney's.
12:31
Ordering a Taxi from Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

In Germany the myTaxi app allows smartphone users to order the closest taxi and to track the taxi's approach on Google Maps.

The free app locates the passenger's position automatically or can be set to pick-up from the user's favourite locations (e.g. work, home etc). The app then finds and orders the nearest available taxi and informs the user of the driver's name and ratings. A Google Map shows the passenger's position and the position of the taxi and displays the distance left and the estimated time of arrival.
03 janvier 2012
20:10
Street View Rival in Tibet
sur Google Maps Mania

View from the Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet

Google Maps and Bing Maps are not the only online map providers to offer a Street View type service. Chinese search engine SOSO.com's online maps also provides Street View for a number of locations.

SOSO has Street View type imagery available in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and in some of the surrounding area.

Also See

MapJack - Street View type imagery for Thailand
Norc - coverage in central and eastern Europe, including in Poland and Austria
Mapplo - panoramic imagery for Argentina
Yandex - coverage in Russia

Via: Street View Funny
17:01
Stereographic Street View
sur Google Maps Mania

Who would have guessed that Google Maps Street View looks even better when viewed stereographically. Street View Stereographic would - that's who.

Using Street View Stereographic you can view any Street View image in a stereographic projection. The app comes with a handy search bar so it is easy to find your favourite locations and view them sterographically. The app also has a dynamic URL so, if you find a great view, you can share a link to the view with your friends.

Street View Stereographic uses WebGL so you will probably need to use the Google Chrome browser to view the app.
14:15
The 2012 US Elections on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The 2012 US Elections are still eleven months away but they are already hard to avoid. With so much political information, opinion and news to filter and digest Google has decided to launch an elections hub, Google Elections, to help citizens sift through the noise.

Part of the Google Elections hub is On the Ground, a Google Map of news stories and videos from the campaign trail. Currently the map is centred on Iowa with links to reports and videos from the Iowa Caucuses.

Via: Google Blog
11:55
Google Maps Directions for Guide Dogs
sur Google Maps Mania

KNGF Geleidehonden (The Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation) trains puppies to be guide or seeing eye dogs. To help promote the charity and help raise some of the mobility issues faced by the visually impaired KNGF have created KNGF Maps.

The map is a pretty impressive iteration of Google Maps driving directions. The map includes the usual driving, public transit and walking directions but also includes some novel seeing eye dog directions.

If the user selects the seeing eye dog directions they are presented with a blanked out map. When the user asks for directions a seeing eye dog walks the route and lights up the way on the map.

The map serves as a useful metaphor for the invaluable help provided by seeing eye dogs to the visually impaired. The map also includes the usual text based steps of the walking directions and can therefore also be read by screen readers.
02 janvier 2012
13:52
Getting Help with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

TaskRabbit allows users to get help for small tasks that they need completing. The tasks can range from house-hold chores and gardening help to more skilled jobs that the poster needs help in finishing.

Once a request for help has been made on TaskRabiit, background-checked members can bid for the job. The member who makes the lowest bid is then automatically assigned to run the task.

It is possible to search for people seeking help on TaskRabbit on a Google Map of submitted tasks. If you mouse-over a task map marker a small information window explains the task and it is possible to click-through to read the full details and submit a bid to help with the task.

TaskRabbit has a multiple step application process which includes an essay, video interviews and a background check to help ensure the security of TaskRabbit members.
01 janvier 2012
14:13
New Years Eve Videos on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Last night we saw some amazing fireworks displays taking place throughout the world to herald in the New Year.

Sydney in Australia put on its usual spectacular display. In London, the UK geared up for its Olympics year by putting on an impressive display on the Thames. In Dubai the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa also saw an amazing display of fireworks.

Here is a small collection of some of the best New Year's Eve Fireworks that took place last night.

Happy New Year everybody.
12:20
Displaying Sanitation Data on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

SanMap uses Google Maps with data from Water for People and WaterAid to provide sanitation maps for Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Kampala in Uganda and Kigali in Rwanda.

Built with the help of Google Fusion Tables the map allows users to overlay a number of data layers on top of Google Maps of the three cities. As well as providing data about local sanitation the layers include overlays showing areas prone to flooding and to outbreaks of cholera.
30 décembre 2011
15:27
Google Maps can Take You to Warp Drive
sur Google Maps Mania

Google Maps on Warp Drive

Some lucky folks in Turlock, California actually get to live in Warp Drive. Their neighbors, on nearby streets, live on roads called Picard Lane, Ryker Court and Crusher Avenue. I think I spot a theme here.

Google Maps Carpets

David Hanauer is making carpets with designs inspired by Google Maps satellite views.

Not to be outdone Ben Seven came up with this great idea for a map design for a lampshade.
13:06
Create a Timelapse Street View Movie
sur Google Maps Mania
The brilliant Address is Approximate mixes stop-motion animation with some timelapse images from Google Maps Street View.

If you want to create your own timelapse movie from Street View then you can follow Digital Inspirations online tutorial How to Create a Time-Lapse Movie with Google Street View. The tutorial explains how to create an AutoHotkey text file that will help you capture a series of Street View images automatically. You can then import the images into Windows Live Movie Maker (or any other video editing software) to create your timelapse movie.

Some Other Street View Timelapse Movies

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