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Google Maps Mania

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26 mai 2012
1:34
Drive the Indianapolis 800 in Street View
sur Google Maps Mania

Google has added Street View imagery for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You can use the link above to visit the track on Google Maps.

However, for those too lazy to click the forward button 200 times, I've quickly put together an animated lap of the track. Check out the animation and make sure you press the 'speed x2' button for the full racing effect.

Via: Google Lat Long
25 mai 2012
18:46
Monitoring Water Points with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Water for People is a Google Maps reporting system used to monitor and record data from tens of thousands of water points around the world.

Using smartphones community members, partners and volunteers are able to report the status of water points and whether a project is up and running, broken, or on the verge of disrepair and requiring maintenance.

Markers on the map are color-coded to instantly show if a water point has a high, medium, basic or no service.
8:45
Friday Fun with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Street View Funny created this compilation video of over 850 funny Google Street Views posted on the site over the last few years.

Google has created a nice Street View Galleries Collection for those looking for a little virtual stroll around the world's art.

Here's a little clue about how long Google took to capture the Street View imagery in Estonia. This road in Tartu has different Street View imagery depending on which side of the road you drop the pegman icon.

One side of the road shows you Estonia in winter. Travel over the road and suddenly it's summer.
24 mai 2012
20:36
BioFuel Resources on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created a BioFuels Atlas using the Google Maps API. The map shows the locations of biomass resources in the U.S..

Using the map it is possible to view overlays of bioenergy and brownfield sites, distribution infrastructure, and power plants. The 'State View' option allows the user to zoom in on a selected state and view a summary of traditional and bioenergy infrastructure in the state beneath the map.

The map also includes an analysis tool that allows the user to select a point on the map and convert the biomass resources within a specified area into potential biofuel production.
14:45
Telling Stories with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Meograph is an interesting new narrative tool for telling stories with the Google Earth browser plug-in and Google Maps.

The application is currently in beta testing (you can apply for beta testing access). However, even if you can't yet create your own Meographs yet, you can browse the demo stories already created.

A good example is the Meograph created to explore the Trayvon Martin shooting. The demo uses the Google Earth plug-in to show the locations in the case and includes a narrated explanation of the story and embedded photographs and YouTube videos.

Meograph stories include playback controls to pause, rewind and fast forward the narrative, "More context" buttons to explore more details about any element of the narrative and options to view the locations with Google Maps rather than the default Google Earth view.
11:27
The Street Views of San Francisco
sur Google Maps Mania

The Streets of the Invisibles is an experimental film that uses sound from the 1970's TV series the Streets of San Francisco with images taken from Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Earth.
23 mai 2012
21:26
Climb Every Mountain with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Guardian newspaper has published a visualisation by data scientist Robert Mundigi exploring the world's 50 highest peaks.

Climb Every Mountain features a clickable (non Google) map of the 50 summits that is synchronised with a Google Map to show the satellite images of each mountain. The visualisation also features data about each mountain's prominence and elevation.

All the different data panels in the visualisation are interlinked so that the Google Map always displays the mountain whose data is currently being explored.
15:43
Songs from Strangely Isolated Places
sur Google Maps Mania

The Places Series is a Google Map of songs inspired by isolated locations. Using the map you can select a marker and listen to the song inspired by that location.

The information windows are particularly attractive on this map and allow the user to listen to the mapped music tracks directly from the map. It is also possible to filter the tracks displayed on the map by genre and by artist.
13:26
Toyota are Filling in the Street View Blanks
sur Google Maps Mania

Toyoto has come up with one of the best Google Maps based promotional campaigns yet. To help promote the car the company are driving an IQ around with a 360 degree panoramic camera rig strapped to the roof. They are then capturing Street View images and filling in all the blanks on Google Maps.

The campaign, currently running in Belgium, allows anyone to report a street that doesn't have Street View on the Toyota IQ - Street View Google Map. The Toyota IQ then travels to the street, captures the Street View images and adds them to the map.

The purple map markers with white dots indicate the streets that the Toyota IQ has visited. If you click on a marker you can then visit the street using the Toyota custom Street Views.
11:11
The Sumatran Rainforest on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The island of Sumatra in Indonesia has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years. The World Wildlife Fund, Eyes on the Forest and Google Earth Outreach have joined forces to create a Google Map of land cover, land use, and land users in Sumatra.

Eyes on the Forest: Sumatra allows users to explore data about the island's conservation values, forest diversity and wildlife. The aim of the map is to increase transparency about the threats to the Sumatran environment and identify the drivers of deforestation and habitat destruction.

It is possible to view a number of data layers on the map, including the dwindling rainforest cover over the last 35 years, wildlife ranges, protected areas and natural carbon stores.
22 mai 2012
20:41
Google Maps Eating Raspberry Pi
sur Google Maps Mania

UK school student Ryan Walmsley had a little time to kill whilst he was waiting for the delivery of his Raspberry Pi so he decided to create a Google Map of Raspberry Pi owners.

The Raspberry Pi Map shows the rough location of Raspberry Pi owners who have already added themselves to the map. The map is only a day old and already shows over 400 Pi owners. 20,000 Raspberry Pis have been delivered so far so there are a lot of other Pi owners out there who can add themselves to the map.

The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard and costs just $25.
14:45
Tag Your Love with Google Maps Street View
sur Google Maps Mania

If you can't afford to whisk the love of your life off for a romantic weekend in Paris you could try sending her a romantically tagged Street View image from the city instead. You never know it just might work.

Tag Your Love in the Streets is a nice Street View based promotional campaign by Moët & Chandon. Using the application you can select a Street View image from anywhere in the world and then add your own message. You can add text to the image and decorate the scene with a number of romantically themes images, such as flowers, hearts or a bottle of champagne.

When you have completed your message you can share it on Facebook, Twitter or directly e-mail a link to your romantic scene.

Also See

Tiffany & Co - Love is Everywhere - share your favourite romantic locations with this app from Tiffany & Co
11:50
American Legislation on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Where a Bill Becomes Law is a fun and educational application for exploring the status of U.S. legislation.

Users of the map can search for legislation using the Google Maps themed search box. Bills that match the search term are then listed in the map sidebar. Selecting an individual bill will bring up its data, including sponsor information, a list of titles, the official summary, and the series of steps that constitute the bill's legislative history.

Clicking on a step in the the bill's legislative history will show the corresponding path on the map. The developers of Where a Bill Becomes Law say that the map location is provided to help demonstrate that legislative decisions are made in real buildings in the real world.
21 mai 2012
23:39
Street View Imagined Landscapes
sur Google Maps Mania

Today I came across this, which immediately made me think of this which in turn gave me the idea for this - Street View Art.

Essentially in this little Street View project I've embedded Street View images inside other (different) Street View images to create new imaginary landscapes. So far I've created just ten new landscapes using different Street View images from around the world.

My plan is to create more imagined landscapes when I have the time and turn the application into a slideshow, which will automatically play through each image in turn.
16:07
Mapping with Drones - Part Two
sur Google Maps Mania

There are now quite a few cheap(ish) solutions for capturing aerial imagery with balloons, kites or UAV's (see this Mapping with Drones post).

Pix4d's low altitude aerial imagery software can help turn captured aerial imagery into a full 3d map of an area. The Pix4UAV showcase demonstrates a number of example Google Maps displaying aerial imagery captured by different UAVs and processed by Pix4UAV.

This is impressive in itself but Pix4D can also generate 3d images from the 2d aerial imagery. Check out the video below to see how Pix4d can create 3d models from aerial photographs.
12:34
Bike Lane Offenders on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

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From the same brains behind Uncivil Servants, the crowd-sourced Google Map for reporting illegal parking in New York, comes this map for reporting illegal car parking in bike lanes.

MyBikeLane is a map reporting system for reporting vehicles parked illegally in bike lanes. The system is active in a large number of cities around the world. To report a car with MyBikeLane the user just needs to take a photo of the offending vehicle and jot down its license plate number.

The MyBikeLane map for each city shows the location of all the submitted reports. The map sidebar provides a league table of the worst offending vehicles in the city. The licence plate number of the most reported cars are listed in descending order in the sidebar.
20 mai 2012
12:38
The Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

The Map Developers Award for Innovation this week must go to The Twin Cities Storm Ready Map, an interesting Google Map showing the time-line of a simulated tornado storm hitting Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

The map, created by Minneapolis Public Radio, shows the likely effects of a tornado hitting the Twin Cities and features a really clever time-line control. To navigate through the time-line of the simulated storm the map user just needs to use the browser scrollbar.

As the user scrolls down on the page the Google Map stays stationary in position on the page but the time-line progresses and the scrollbar even initiates events on the map. To achieve this effect the map uses the Waypoints jQuery plugin.

The most shared post on Google Maps Mania this week was the new Made in NY map of New York's digital industry. The map shows the locations of over 500 homegrown startups, investors and coworking spaces across the city.

As well as showing the extent of New York's tech industry, the map can also help you find a position in Silicon Alley. Those companies that currently have positions available are indicated with a 'We are hiring' link in the map sidebar.

Derek Eder's Searchable Map Template with Google Fusion Tables is a free, open source tool that can help you create a searchable, filterable Google Map from a Fusion Table.

The template can create a Google Map pulling in data from any Fusion Table. It includes a number of features, including, an address search (with variable radius), geolocation (automatically center the map on the user's location), results count (using the Google's Fusion Tables API) and the ability to easily add additional search filters (checkboxes, sliders, etc).

Derek Eder's website includes a number of maps created with the template. These include Derek's own maps, mainly centred on Chicago and lots of maps created by others with the template.
19 mai 2012
10:56
F..king Advice from Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The 'Where Should I F..ckin Go' franchise is expanding. In December we saw the launch of Where the F..k Should I Go for a Drink?, a simply Google Maps based app that gives users useful, if slightly rude, advice about where they should go for a drink.

Now you can also get advice on nearby places to eat with Where the F..k Should I go to Eat?. The swearing nomenclature may be a bit of a gimmick but the application is actually very useful. The simple design and no frills approach actually works perfectly on a smart-phone.

If you are out and about and you want some quick advice about a nearby bar or restaurant then this app is perfect. It shows you a nearby restaurant and even shows you on a Google Map how to get there from your current location. If you don't like the restaurant suggested you can quickly move on to the app's next suggestion.
18 mai 2012
13:41
2012 Solar Eclipse Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The HeyWhatsThat: Eclipses Map uses two synchronised Google Earth maps to show the path of this Sunday's solar eclipse.

One map shows the path of the solar eclipse on a map of the Earth and the other map displays a planisphere showing the path of the moon across the face of the sun. If you press the play button you can watch an animation of the eclipse as it will be seen from anywhere along the path.

If you can't manage to get to a location that gives you a view of the full solar eclipse you can use the application to find out if you can view a partial eclipse from your location. Just drag the purple square on the left hand map to a location to observe what the eclipse will look like from that location.

The NASA 2012 Solar Eclipse Map uses Google Maps to also show the path of the solar eclipse.

You can lick anywhere on the map to mark a position and calculate the eclipse times from that location. For example, in San Francisco you can view a partial eclipse starting at 5.16 pm.
10:24
Toxic Waters on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The New York Times Water Pollution Map is a Google Map of over 200,000 facilities in the U.S. which have permits to discharge pollutants.

Users can search the map by state. Each state map shows at a glance all the polluting facilities. The blue markers on the map indicate facilities that have not violated their permits and the orange markers show the facilities that have one or more violations.

If you click on a map marker details about the selected facility are displayed beneath the map, including information about violations, fines charged and enforcement actions.
17 mai 2012
19:47
An Interactive Street View Campus Tour
sur Google Maps Mania

The Rochester Institute of Technology Street View Tour is a nice narrated tour of the RIT campus using Google Maps Street View images captured by the Street View trike.

The tour provides a narrated guide to ten different areas across the Rochester campus. Each stop on the tour also features videos, pictures, and social media streams about each location.

The tour was created with Popcorn.js, an HTML5 javascript library for creating time-based interactive media. Another nice Google Maps tour created with Popcorn.js is History in These Streets, a virtual recreation of the Black Panther Legacy tour that the Huey P. Newton Foundation conducts in West Oakland.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
15:34
2012 London Olympics Torch Relay Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Olympic flame is today being handed to the organisers of the London Games at a ceremony in Athens. The flame will arrive in the UK on Friday before it starts on an 8,000 mile journey, in a 70-day relay, to arrive at the Olympic Park in Stratford, London in time for the start of the 2012 London Olympics.

Follow the Flame with Figures is a Google Map and calendar of the Olympic torch's route around the UK, created by the UK's Office for National Statistics. The map shows the route that the torch relay will take and includes a calendar function to see where the torch will be on a particular date. The map includes a postcode search function to find out where and when the relay will pass a particular location.

The map also includes data from the Office for National Statistics. Users can click on every stop on the map and find out some key statistics for that area, such as unemployment, population etc.

The Official 2012 London Olympics website has a Bing Map of the Olympic Torch Relay Route.

The official map allows users to zoom in to see the detail of the route street-by-street. It includes a postcode search function to find out where and when the Flame will be near a location. You can also use the map to find the locations of evening celebrations, which take place at the end of almost every day of the relay.

Tripline has about three pages of animated localised maps that its users have created of the torch relay route through their neighbourhoods and towns.

There are too many maps to list them all. If you want to know if someone has created a map for a particular area just click on the Tripline link above, which will take you to the search results page for 'Olympic Torch Relay'.
12:48
Revolutionary Scrollbar Map Control
sur Google Maps Mania

The Twin Cities Storm Ready Map is an interesting Google Map showing the time-line of a simulated tornado storm hitting Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

The map, created by Minneapolis Public Radio, shows the likely effects of a tornado hitting the Twin Cities. The simulated effects of the storm are partly based on asking people along the path of the simulated tornado what their preparations for a storm are.

The map itself features a really clever time-line control. To navigate through the time-line the map user just needs to use the browser scrollbar. As the user scrolls down on the page the Google Map stays stationary in position on the page but the sidebar scrolls down the time-line and the map updates to show the scenario for that part of the simulated storm.

This is the first time I've seen the browser scrollbar used to control a Google Map. Somehow I don't think it will be the last, as it is a very effective method for presenting a time-line on a Google Map.
16 mai 2012
17:52
Silicon Alley & Roundabout on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Made in NY is a Google Map of New York's digital industry. The map shows the locations of over 500 homegrown startups, investors and coworking spaces across the city.

It is possible to refine the companies shown on the map by 'Digital Companies', 'Investors' and 'Coworking / Incubator Spaces'. As well as their locations being displayed on the map the companies are also listed in the map sidebar.

If you are currently looking for work in New York's tech industry then check out the companies listed in the sidebar. Those companies that currently have positions available are indicated with a 'We are hiring' link.

Tech City Map is a visually striking Google Map of the technology companies and startups in east London.

The map shows the locations of London's silicon roundabout area. The 'show networks' option on the map allows users to visualise the connections between the over 800 companies. If you click on an individual map marker there is also an option to view the latest Tweets from the selected tech company.
14:47
Isometric Maps of the World
sur Google Maps Mania

Edushi has been creating interactive isometric maps of Chinese cities for a number of years. They have now created maps for all the major Chinese cities.

You can find links to all the Chinese city maps on the Edushi website. The links are all in Chinese. Here are some quick links to view the maps for Honk Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

Youcity has created similar isometric maps for New York and San Francisco.

The Reykjavik Center Map is a gorgeous hand drawn isometric map of the Icelandic capital. The map includes a number of map markers which give the user information about landmarks in the city.

OpenStreetMap Isometric 3D Maps is a series of isometric maps built on OpenStreetMap map tiles. The maps have been created with open source software (links to the code on github are provided).

These isometric maps are not as visually effective as the other examples but this is an interesting open source project built on open source map tiles. I'm sure that developers will build on this platform and create more attractive isometric building models in the future.
12:03
Barcelona Shopping on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Eixos.cat is a website cataloguing businesses and empty businesses in Barcelona. The Eixos.cat Google Map of businesses in Barcelona can be searched for a huge range of useful information.

The Shopping Catalogue part of the map allows users to search for stores by type of store and by location. The map also allows users to search for empty businesses and business property available for rent and sale. The Industry and Enterprises section of the map allows the user to search for industrial sectors in the city.

Eixos.cat has also built a number of other Google Maps that examine data about the breakdown of the commercial sectors in the city.
1:24
Google Maps at Home and at Work
sur Google Maps Mania

Street View Now Available in Estonia and Latvia

Google have made a number of announcements concerning Google Maps today. They have officially announced the availability of Street View in the Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia that Google Maps Mania reported on yesterday.

Save Home & Work Locations

Google has also added a feature to Google Maps that allows users to save home and work locations. If you go to the 'My Places' tab in Google Maps you now can save your home and work locations.

Once your locations are saved you can use 'home' or 'work' when searching for directions to quickly add those locations and avoid having to type in the full address.

New Google Places API Features

For Google Maps API users Google has added keyword search and rank by distance to the Google Places API.

The Google Places API filters places by 100 different categories, such as restaurant, clothing_store, and bar. The keyword search feature allows users to search for places based on an arbitrary text string. For example, instead of just searching for restaurants you can now search for Mexican restaurants etc.

The rank by distance feature allows map developers the option to rank searched for venues and places by distance from a set location. This means you can now offer users the choice of viewing search results both by prominence and distance.

There is a good demo map showing both keyword search and rank by distance in action here.

Polish UEFA 2012 Stadiums in Street View
The Official Polish Google Blog has announced the release of Street View for the four Polish soccer stadium to be used for this summer's UEFA European Football Championship. Now you can use Street View to get a sense of what it is like to be down on the pitch looking up at the towering stands.
15 mai 2012
20:25
Washington DC Zoning on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The DC Office of Zoning (DCOZ) is using the Google Maps API to provide a comprehensive zoning map for the District of Columbia. The DC Zoning Map allows users to determine the zoning classification for any property in the District.

When you zoom in on a property on the map you can learn different things from the map. You can find out what zoning district the property is in. Zoom in further and you can find the block number (the official ID the city has for a particular block). Zoom in even further and you can find the lot number for a building and see the building boundary.

Also See

Addison Zoning Map - zoning and ordinances map for Addison, Texas
16:51
A Google Map for Interactive Whiteboards
sur Google Maps Mania

GmapGIS is an easy to use Google Map creation tool which allows you to quickly draw polygons, lines, labels and markers on a map and then save for later use or editing.

There are obviously many possible uses for GmapGIS. One use which instantly springs to my mind is that it is the perfect map tool for teachers to use with an interactive whiteboard. Using the Google Maps satellite view with the drawing tools GMapsGIS would be a great aide to geography teachers teaching geological features.

Teachers could also set students projects to create and save maps with GMapGIS which they could then present to the whole class.

There are obviously many other possible uses for GMapGIS, in and outside the classroom.
13:33
Autocompleting Forms with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Ubilabs has released Geocomplete a jQuery plugin that wraps the Google Maps API's Geocoding and Places Autocomplete services. Using the plugin you can simply add a search box to a Google Map which will autocomplete suggestions as the user types.

You can also use the plugin to autocomplete a form with the user's address details. The plugin has an option to include a form that will be populated with the address details. Once the user selects a location from the autocomplete search their details will automatically be added to the form.
2:20
Street View Arrives in Estonia and Latvia
sur Google Maps Mania

Raekoja Plats, Tallinn

Street View has arrived in Estonia and Latvia. Both countries seem to now have almost blanket Street View coverage on Google Maps.

House of Blackheads, Riga

Tartu Townhall
14 mai 2012
19:54
An Open Source Fusion Tables Map Template
sur Google Maps Mania

Derek Eder's Searchable Map Template with Google Fusion Tables is a free, open source tool that helps you create a searchable, filterable Google Map from a Fusion Table.

The template can create a Google Map pulling in data from any Fusion Table. It includes a number of features, including, an address search (with variable radius), geolocation (automatically center the map on the user's location), results count (using the Google's Fusion Tables API) and the ability to easily add additional search filters (checkboxes, sliders, etc).

Derek Eder's website includes a number of maps created with the template. These include Derek's own maps, mainly centred on Chicago and lots of maps created by others with the template,
14:54
The Eurozone Crisis on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

In Spain the unemployment rate is a staggering 25%. Geografia Operativa has created a Google Map to show the areas that have the lowest rates of unemployment. The map acts as a guide to where unemployed Spaniards are most likely to be able to find work.

The map shows that Andalusia is resisting the downturn, with an unemployment rate lower than in Norway, as are cities such as Bilbao, San Sebastián, Majadahonda, Alcala la Real, and Palma del Río.

Via: Blog Idee

In the UK the Guardian has created a Google Map of Repossessions in England and Wales. This map shows which local authorities in the two countries have the highest repossession rates of people's homes.

CNN has created (a fairly ugly but still useful) map that allows users to view a number of different economic indicators for the Eurozone countries.

The map allows the user to explore Unemployment Rates, Youth Unemployment Rates, GDP, Growth and the Debt of each of the Eurozone countries.
13:01
A Personalised Trip Itinerary on Your Phone
sur Google Maps Mania

Tripomatic is a great Google Maps based website that can help you create a personalised trip itinerary for a number of major destinations around the world. It is now also available as a free iPhone app.

The app is a great resource for finding nearby points of interest when you are out and about. Once the app is launched you just need to shake your phone and all the interesting places around you are displayed on a Google Map.

Alternatively you can use Tripomatic to prepare your trip in advance from the comfort of your desktop computer. You can prepare a custom itinerary before setting out on your trip and then use the iPhone app, when you arrive at your destination, as your personal travel guide.

The app synchs with your Tripomatic account so you can even add locations to your personal itinerary directly from your phone.
13 mai 2012
19:58
Create Google Maps Apps With Your Phone
sur Google Maps Mania

My Fusion Tables is a new smart phone application, available for both the iPhone and Android phones, that allows users to browse, view, and map data from Google Fusion Tables on a smart phone or tablet.

The new application has been developed by Build-A-Map, the Google Maps creation tool that helps users build visually appealing, interactive maps. The app allows users to browse, view, and map data from Google Fusion Tables. It includes an interactive query builder with support for field selection, order and filters.

The application also includes the ability to visualise your data and query results on a Google Map.
12:01
The Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

One of my favorite Google Maps based applications this week was from the Nature Conservacny charity.

TNC Maps is a collection of Google Maps from Nature Conservancy scientists, in collaboration with governments, scientists and conservation organizations around the world. The site includes over 80 global maps describing the state of terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats worldwide.

For some reason a lot of musicians seem compelled to release Street View applications in order to promote their latest songs. Shadow Days is one of the more impressive ones, designed to promote John Mayer's new song Born and Raised.

Shadow Days allows you to watch an animated Street View movie of any journey within the USA. To create your own movie you just need to set a starting point and choose a destination. You can then choose to watch as the application animates through selected Street Views from your journey route or view Street View thumbnail images moving along the route on a Google Map.
12 mai 2012
14:20
The Eurovision Song Contest Map
sur Google Maps Mania

It has become a bit of a tradition on Google Maps Mania that each year, when the Eurovision Song Contest rears its ugly head, Soren of microformats.dk creates a Google Map of videos of the entries.

This year Soren tells me his ears have been saved from the aural torture of endless Europop thanks to Danmark Radio's Kort og Videor. That's right some brave soul at the Danish national broadcasting station has volunteered to create this year's video map.

Using the map you can select any of the countries that have reached the final of the competition and watch a video of that country's song.

Now my patriotism may be colouring my judgement but this year I think the UK has a good chance of winning with Engelbert Humperdinck's entry 'Love Will Set You Free'. I haven't heard such an awful song for many a year. Therefore it must be the odds on favourite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
11 mai 2012
17:57
Born and Raised on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Shadow Days is an impressive Google Maps based application designed to promote John Mayer's new song Born and Raised.

Shadow Days allows you to watch an animated Street View movie of any journey within the USA. To create your own movie you just need to set a starting point and choose a destination. You can then choose to watch as the application animates through selected Street Views from your journey route or view Street View thumbnail images moving along the route on a Google Map.

As the movie plays you can listen to Mayer's new single Born and Raised.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
11:37
Friday Fun with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Google Indoor Street View appears to have caught a snap of theoretical physicist Michio Kaku on a break from shooting another physics documentary in Katz Deli in New York.

Whilst on the subject of famous people being spotted in New York, I hear that the celebrity spotting map Gawker Stalker is planning a relaunch soon with some new features.

In other news Google Maps also seems to have caught the CIA's secret Ghost Plane Tracking Plane in action. Even more excitingly it appears to have caught the Ghost Plane Tracking Plane just at the moment it is actually about to catch a Ghost Plane. Now what are the chances of that?

Google Sightseeing this week found this Street View image of two polar suited Norwegians arguing about who was responsible for packing the wrong clothes.

Google Sightseeing believe that it is probably these two guys again -

I think that they are probably right.
10 mai 2012
22:13
OpenStreetMap + Google Fusion Tables
sur Google Maps Mania

The Atlanta Health Inspections Map is a beautiful Stamen Design OpenSteetMap that uses the Google Maps API and Fusion Tables to visualise restaurant health inspection scores in the metro Atlanta area.

As well as being a thing of beauty the map has a useful purpose in showing Atlanta diners which restaurants are safest to eat in. The red map markers indicate the restaurants with the lowest health inspection scores and the green markers those restaurants that passed their inspections with flying colors.

If you select a restaurant's marker on the map you can click through to read the full health inspection report for that establishment.
16:03
Find an Apartment with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

If you are searching for an apartment in the UK then Cravify is a good place to start.

This Google Maps application allows you to search for flats by price, number of bedrooms and by the date the apartment was listed. The markers shown on the map include the price of the rent and the number of bedrooms which allows you to quickly find apartments you could be interested in.

If you are searching for an apartment in the U.S. then you could use MyApartmentMap.

The application allows you to search for apartments by price range, number of bedrooms and within a set distance of a given location. The markers displayed on the Google Map display the price and number of bedrooms of the listed apartment.

Padmapper is another great resource for finding an apartment in U.S. cities.

The application displays apartments listed on Craiglist. It is possible to refine the apartments displayed on the map by price, number of bedrooms and by number of bathrooms.

Apartment List is another real estate search site that uses Google Maps to help you find a new apartment.

You can search for apartments on Apartment List by location, price range and number of bedrooms.The advanced search options also let you refine the search results by your choice of amenities.
13:49
Languages in Danger on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The First Peoples' Language Map of B.C. Google Map displays information about the languages spoken by the 203 First Nation communities in British Columbia.

If you zoom in on an area on the map then markers will appear that show the languages spoken in that region. If you open an information window you can click through to view details about how many fluent speakers of the selected language are left.

Did you know that there are 192 endangered or dead languages in the United States? That figure includes Coushatta, which is spoken by 350 members of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. It also includes Paviotso, which is spoken by 400 people in Oregon, Nevada, California and Idaho.

The UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger highlights the endangered languages listed in UNESCO’s Atlas. It is possible to browse the world's endangered languages on the Google Map via a search box or by zooming into individual countries on the map.

The languages are shown on the map by coloured markers. The map markers reflect the level of danger to the language. Black markers indicate languages that are already dead, red markers those that are critically endangered.
09 mai 2012
21:42
Nature Conservancy with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

TNC Maps is a collection of Google Maps from Nature Conservancy scientists, in collaboration with governments, scientists and conservation organizations around the world. The site includes over 80 global maps describing the state of terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats worldwide.

The maps provide a great insight into nature conservancy around the world. Users can select a map from the drop-down menu and the Google Map is automatically updated to show a heat-map of the selected data. The available data includes information on many conservancy issues, such as forest clearing, threatened species and habitat loss.

All the data from the maps is held in Fusion Tables and can be downloaded via the link beneath the map.
15:39
Pin Your Media to a Map with Mapinterest
sur Google Maps Mania

Mapinterest is an interesting social network built on Google Maps. The application allows you to pin media to places on Google Maps, follow other users, check-in at locations and explore places added to the map by other users.

You can connect to Mapinterest with a Twitter or Facebook account. Once you have connected you can begin adding places to the map. One of the most interesting features of Mapinterest is that it allows you to add media to place locations. Once on a place page you can add a link to a YouTube video, a Flickr or Instagram picture or even a Pininterest page and the video or photo is automatically added to the place page on Mapinterest.

Even if you aren't interested in joining a map based social network Mapinterest is a great way to share your videos and photographs with the world.
13:49
View Tweets by Location with Twitter Nano
sur Google Maps Mania

If you want to find out what your neighbors are saying on Twitter or, if you want to view the stream of Tweets surrounding an event, then you should try Twitter Nano.

Twitter Nano allows you to watch a real-time stream of Twitter messages around any location. To use the application you just need to set the location you wish to view with the provided Google Map. The live stream of Tweets is then automatically displayed beneath the map.

You can start and stop the stream at any time by using the 'start' and 'pause'
08 mai 2012
22:56
Google Maps Catching Diseases
sur Google Maps Mania

The BioCaster Global Health Monitor is a Google Map showing outbreaks of known and emerging infectious diseases around the world. The map works by text mining over 1,400 RSS news feeds for information about emerging diseases.

You can search for news about individual diseases. It is also possible to search the map by date. You can choose to view headlines for the present day or the previous thirty days. You can also look at any specific weekly period over the last four weeks. The timeline control below the map allows you to view an animation of the past thirty days on the map.

HealthMap is another Google Maps based application that plots real-time infectious disease outbreaks from around the world.

The map gathers data from disparate sources, including online news aggregators, eyewitness reports, expert-curated discussions and validated official reports.
15:24
Instagram on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

InstaBrowsr is a nice little Google Maps application for finding photos submitted to Instagram around any location. The app was knocked up over the weekend so it is a little rough around the edges (e.g. the info windows don't always expand to accommodate all the photos) but I still like it a lot.

There have been a few other Instagram Google Maps developed but the one's I've seen before haven't allowed for the same fine degree of location searching as InstaBrowser. Using InstaBrowsr you can use the Google Map to find photos around any location. So if you want to see photos of your street submitted to Instagram you just need to locate your house on the map.

You can use the map to explore photos from any location. Want to see photos of the London Olympics site? Then just navigate to 'Stratford, London' on the map. Want to see photos of the Golden Gate Bridge? Then pan to or search for San Francisco. Simple!
11:26
The Google Maps Slideshow Sideshow
sur Google Maps Mania

The Earth is a beautiful place and thanks to Google Maps satellite view we can now virtually explore this wonderful planet like never before.

Here are a few Google Maps Slideshows that celebrate the beauty of planet Earth:

Chuchichechocha is a Google Maps satellite view slideshow developed by David Schmidt. The slideshow automatically animates through a large number of beautiful images found in Google Maps.

The application includes controls to pause or to manually navigate through the images. Each image also comes with a unique URL so you can share your favorite views with your friends.

Stratocam is a nice slideshow of satellite images that can be found on Google Maps. As users watch the slideshow they can give each image a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' to show whether they like the image or not.

Users can also submit their own finds by dragging and zooming the map and clicking on the camera icon to select their favourite view.

Aerial View Slideshow is a collection of my favorite oblique 45° imagery that can be found on Google Maps.

The application animates through a number of 'bird's eye' view images that have been found in Google's expanding coverage of 45° imagery.
1:00
To the Office via the Store
sur Google Maps Mania

Japanese company Aid DCC has created a nice Google Map that gives directions to their Osaka office with the option of going via different types of store.

Here We Go To Aid DCC's Office displays an animated route from the nearest subway stations to the Aid DCC office. Users of the map can choose to get directions that include stops at different categories of stores along the route, e.g. via bread shops, banks or flower shops.

The map includes custom designed circular information windows that make a nice change to the default square information windows that you normally associate with the Google Maps API.
07 mai 2012
19:42
What if Google Maps Went Live?
sur Google Maps Mania

What if Google Maps Went Live? is an art project from flux/S that imagines a map with live satellite views.

The film was recorded using six cameras attached to fishing rods on the former Philips industrial site Strijp S in Eindhoven. The concept explores ideas around redefining public spaces as places for collaborative performance art.

The project reminds me of Gidivigo's video that previews what Google Maps live satellite view will look like (when it is released in 2050 (maybe)).

His video shows a Google Maps satellite view with cars and trains moving as they would if the view was live.
13:19
The Museums of France on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Carte Interactive des Lieux d’Histoire et de Mémoire is a Google Maps guide to over a thousand museums in France.

As well as searching for museums by location it is possible to refine the museums displayed on the map by their historical period of interest (prehistory, antiquity, contemporary etc). If you click on a museum's marker an information window opens with details about the museum, a picture gallery and sometime even a video tour of the museum.
10:58
Cussing London on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Ed Manley, a researcher at University College London and author of the Urban Movements blog, has analysed Tweets in London looking at the prevalence of swearing on Twitter.

Manley looked at the swearing patterns on Twitter by time (swearing seems to get more popular the longer the day progresses) and geographically. A Google Map of the spatial patterns of swearing in London can be viewed on The Guardian website.

The map shows that swearing is less prevalent in the centre of the city and more widely practised in London's outer boroughs.

So do Londoner's swear more at home than at work?

Manley thinks not.You can read his theory about why swearing is more prevalent in some boroughs that others on the Urban Movements blog.
06 mai 2012
21:57
Hollande Wins France on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Nicolas Sarkozy has already conceded defeat to François Hollande in the French presidential election, despite the fact that results from some regions are still coming in.

You can view the latest results from the presidential election on a Google Map at Google Politique et élections.Where regional results have already been called that region is color-coded on the map to show which candidate received the most votes.

Users of the map can click on any region on the map to view the breakdown of the votes given to each of the two candidates.
14:11
The Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

My favorite Google Map this week was Open Road. Open Road from OpenFile is an awesome bike directions application that shows you all the reported bike accidents that have occurred along a suggested bike route. So not only are cyclists given directions but they are warned about the most dangerous locations along the route.

The application uses the Google Maps API bike directions function to suggest a bike route between two points. All bike accidents reported to the police are then shown along the route and the most accident prone location along the route is also highlighted on the map.

This week we have to give a special mention to Google Maps Cube, Google's long awaited Google Maps game. The game is a great way to promote some of the features of Google Maps whilst users are having fun.

In the game you have to navigate a ball on a 3d Google Maps cube, avoiding the 3d buildings and other obstructions, by rotating the cube. Whilst you are also informed about some of the things that you can do with Google Maps.

Resource Intensity of Cities is a Google Maps based visualisation tool to analyse data on material and energy use in 42 U.S. cities.

The application uses a Google Maps interface to allow users to select an area and visualise a heat map of population, material and energy. It is also possible to generate a downloadable PDF report for the selected area, with a detailed breakdown of population and housing density, material intensity, material comparison, energy intensity and energy comparison.
05 mai 2012
12:22
The Street View Social Network
sur Google Maps Mania

Wallit uses Google Maps Street View as the interface for a unique social network. Wallit allows users to create a virtual wall on Street View anywhere in the world, that they, and other users, can then post messages on.

Users of the Wallit iPhone app can find nearby virtual walls and leave a message on the wall. Users actually have to be physically near the location of a virtual wall in order to be able to add a message. This means to leave messages you need the Wallit iPhone application.

However, if you don't own an iPhone, you can still browse the virtual walls on the Wallit website using Google Maps Street View.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
04 mai 2012
10:47
Is East London Dead on Google Maps?
sur Google Maps Mania

With East London about to host the 2012 London Olympics Dazed magazine poses the question 'Is East London dead?'.

The magazine argues that East London has been a centre of cultural activity with a vibrant grassroots, underground creative scene. With The Secret History of East London Google Map Dazed are trying to build a crowd-sourced memory map of East London's cultural scene. They are asking readers to post a memory to the map of a music, art, fashion or film related event or happening that they have taken part in, in East London.

Users of the map can browse the submitted memories by location and can use the time-line slide control to refine the results shown by date.

Creating a memory map of the East London cultural scene is a great idea. Looking at the number of events added for 2011 and 2012 I think we can also safely say that East London isn't dead yet.
03 mai 2012
15:44
Tampa Crime on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The RAIDS Online crime mapping website has just added Tampa, Florida to its list of cities.

Using RAIDS Online it is possible to view Tampa crimes by type and by date. If the user types in an address each crime shown on the Google Map will also display how far the incident was from their home.

If you want to see if your city's crime data is covered by RAIDS Online use the 'Jump to City' dropdown menu. Cities in the menu are organised alphabetically by state.
12:09
Google Maps of the Brain
sur Google Maps Mania
Texas A&M University's Brain Networks Laboratory has released Google Maps that allow users to view images of mouse brains captured by their knife-edge scanning microscope (KESM).

The KESM Brain Atlas currently has maps of three different mouse brains that can be viewed using the Google Maps interface. Users can zoom in and explore the brains as they might any other Google Map. It is also possible to turn on labels to see the names of the different regions of the brain.

Also See
- Brain Neural Maps - Brown University's two-dimensional neural image maps of the brain
- NYU School of Medicine Virtual Microscope - the Virtual Microscope uses the Google Maps API to display and navigate scanned slides of microscopic images
- Genome Projector - a searchable database browser that uses the Google Maps API to provide a zoomable user interface for molecular biology
- Zygote Body - a body browser that uses a Google Maps type interface to explore the human body
02 mai 2012
21:14
Bike Directions with Accident Black Spots
sur Google Maps Mania

Open Road from OpenFile is an awesome bike directions application that shows you all the reported bike accidents that have occurred along a suggested bike route.

To use the application you just need to enter a starting point and your destination or click on the map to set both points. The application then uses the Google Maps API bike directions function to suggest a route. All bike accidents reported to the police are then shown along the route and the most accident prone location is also highlighted on the route.

It is also possible to adjust the date range for the accident data shown and the accident data is automatically updated on the map. Below the map Street View shots of the accident hotspots are also displayed.

The application currently works in six Canadian cities.

Via: PatrickCain.ca
16:15
The ...
sur Google Maps Mania

The University of Washington Campus Map is a great example of how the Google Maps API can be used to create a guide to a university campus.

I really like the building overlay on the map. Just the simple addition of shadows to the building outlines gives the map a nice sense of depth. Another really useful feature is a white circle outline that snaps to the interactive buildings on the map. As you mouse-over the map the white circle snaps to the nearest building. This simple feature greatly adds to the usability of the map, as it guides the user to the interactive elements on the map.

The map also includes all the usual features you would associate with a campus map. You can search for individual buildings and you can overlay useful locations, such as food, parking, libraries, computer labs etc.
14:02
The Mappiness Marker Spiderfier Library
sur Google Maps Mania

Mappiness, the UK emotion map, has a nice solution for visualising individual markers when they are in an overlapping cluster of other markers. The Overlapping Marker Spiderfier Library allows map developers to add the 'marker spiderfier' to their own maps.

With the marker spiderfier when a user mouses-over a cluster of overlapping markers on a Google Map the markers will spiral out so that all the individual markers are clearly visible. You can see the effect in the screenshot above, on the Mappiness website or in the library demo map.
01 mai 2012
19:27
Mississauga Culture on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The City of Mississauga in Ontario, Canada has today launched Mississauga Culture on the Map. The Mississauga Culture on the Map uses Google Maps to provide a comprehensive source for all things arts and culture in Mississauga.

The upcoming cultural events can be searched by location and by category. Results of a search for events appear both on the map and in the map sidebar. Registered users can submit culture-related events and they will be added to the map.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
14:35
Resource Intensity of Cities on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Resource Intensity of Cities analyses data on material and energy use in 42 U.S. cities.

The application uses a Google Maps interface to allow users to select an area and visualise a heat map of population, material and energy. It is also possible to generate a downloadable PDF report for the selected area.

The PDF includes a Google Map of the searched area and a detailed breakdown of population and housing density, material intensity, material comparison, energy intensity and energy comparison.
9:03
Aerial Street Views with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

On April 1st Google Sightseeing ran a spoof post about Google releasing aerial Street View on Google Maps. Google might not have glued a pair of wings to the Street View trike - yet - but a number of other websites are concentrating on providing interactive 360° aerial panoramas.

The New York skyline has to be one of the most interesting in the world and the Pixelcase's Aerial Tour of New York City does it full justice.

The tour includes ten interactive 360° aerial panoramas taken above New York City. Each panorama includes a Google Map that shows the location of the photo and the direction of view as you pan the image.

Be aware however that Pixelcase also includes the most annoying welcome screen I've ever seen. The screen makes you wait to view the site for over a minute unless you 'share' or 'like' it with a social network.

Tours from Above is a showcase of some amazing 360 degree aerial panoramas. The site uses Google Maps to show you the locations of aerial panoramas. These panoramas allow you to view oceans, forests, waterfalls and some of the world's cities in a way that you have never seen them before.

AirPano also has a great collection of 360 degree aerial panoramas of locations around the world. Each of the panoramic images has an option to use Google Maps to show the location of the image and to show the current field of view.
30 avril 2012
15:44
A Google Maps New York Special
sur Google Maps Mania

Uncivil Servants is a crowd-sourced Google Map of illegal parking incidents by New York city employees.

Apparently New York city civil servants have been rampantly abusing parking permits. Uncivil Servants wants to to eliminate this parking permit abuse. Anyone can use the site to post photos of vehicles abusing parking permits and the reports will be added to the map.

NYC DOT and Alta Bicycle Share want to establish a bike share system in New York City.

The New York City Bike Share Map is a Google Map which New Yorkers can use to suggest where bike share stations should be located.

The Jackson Heights Neighborhood Transportation Study is a Google Map of data collected by DOT as part of a Jackson Heights study.

The map shows average traffic speeds on Jackson Height's roads, pedestrian volumes and the locations of vehicle accidents in Jackson Heights.
12:20
What Your Phone Company Knows About You
sur Google Maps Mania

Cal Flyn, a journalist for The Daily Telegraph, has used Google Maps to map one year of her movements. Using Freedom of Information laws Cal obtained all the location data held about her by her mobile phone company.

Digital surveillance: what my phone records say about me, animates through the year's location data showing Cal's to and from work, visiting her parents in Scotland and everywhere else she visited.

The Daily Telegraph article is obviously inspired by German Green party politician, Malte Spit's Google Map, published in the German newspaper Zeit last year. Verräterisches Handy uses Google Maps to animate Spitz' movements over six months.

The amount of data collected by Spit's and Flyn's phone companies is amazing (some would say frightening). Spit's location was logged 35,000 times in a six month period. Flyn's map shows her whereabouts for a whole year, with only two days missing (when on vacation and she had left her phone charger at home).
29 avril 2012
18:18
Maps Cube - The Google Maps Game
sur Google Maps Mania

Google Maps Cube, Google's long awaited Google Maps game, has now been released. In the game you have to navigate a ball on a 3d Google Maps cube, avoiding the 3d buildings and other obstructions, by rotating the cube.

The object of the game is to roll a small ball through a city on Google Maps and reach the indicated destination. If you manage to steer the ball to the correct destination your time is displayed and you can proceed to the next level.

The game has a few nice features. For example, in London you can use the Underground subway lines to move from one part of the map to another. The game also becomes a bit more interesting as you progress through the game, the later levels feature some indoor maps and the final level involves some tricky maps created by mixing up the map tiles from different cities.

The game seems to require the Chrome browser.
13:17
The Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

This week I loved TweetedTrips, an application that lets you create a journey map of your geotagged Twitter messages in a matter of seconds.

If you want a mapped journey of a vacation or trip you just need to send some Twitter messages from your phone and they will automatically appear on your TweetedTrip map. You don't even have to use your own account. You can enter any user name Into TweetedTrips and view a Google Map of the user's geotagged movements.

The real big theme this week however was real-time live transit maps.

Stadtbahn Tracker Freiburg is a real-time map of tram cabs, buses and local trains in Freiburg, Germany.

MTA Bus Time is a Google Map that shows the live position of buses on New York's bus system. Currently the map tracks all bus routes in Staten Island and will be rolled out to other NYC boroughs, with expected completion in 2013.

The DC Circulator Map is a live real-time map of the DC Circulator bus system in Washington, DC. The map shows the system's bus routes and the bus stops on each route.
28 avril 2012
20:31
Photoshop Tile Cutter for Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

If you want to create your own map tiles for the Google Maps API you can now use Photoshop thanks to Bramus Van Damme's Photoshop Google Maps Tile Cutter Script.

With the script you can automatically cut a very large image in Photoshop into tiles which you can immediately use with the Google Maps API.

The script is available for download on Github. There is also an example map on Github (screenshot above) with tiles created using the Photoshop Google Maps Tile Cutter Script.
12:41
Danish Data Journalism Award
sur Google Maps Mania

Google, The Guardian and the Danish newspaper Information have announced the winner of the Danish data journalism competition, Nyhedshacker 2012.

The winning project, Doctors for Sale was created by Anders Pedersen. Doctors for Sale is a Google Map, created with Fusion Tables, that shows all the Danish doctors who are sponsored by the medical industry. The information is designed to inform patients about which of their local doctors might be prescribing drugs based on their sponsorship rather than based on strict medical reasons or prescribing the cheapest drugs available.

Anders Pedersen's prize for winning the competition is €2,500 and a one month secondment with the Guardian newspaper in London working with the paper's Datablog team.

Hat-tip: microformats.dk
27 avril 2012
21:26
The ...
sur Google Maps Mania

The DC Circulator Map is a live real-time map of the DC Circulator bus system in Washington, DC.

The map shows the system's bus routes and the bus stops on each route. It is possible to click on a bus stop marker and find out when the next bus is due. When you click on a bus stop's marker you can also find out about nearby points of interest, including how far they are from the stop and in which direction.

The map also shows in real-time the location of all the system's buses. The bus map markers are color-coded to show which route they belong to and include arrows to show the direction of travel.
13:50
University Campuses on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The University of Arkansas Campus Map is a good example of how the Google Maps API can be used to create a mapped guide to a university campus.

The map includes all the useful features that you would expect from a campus map; you can search for rooms and buildings, find dining areas, view the location of computer rooms, see where parking is available and view bus routes through the campus. The map also includes walking directions, so that students and staff can enter a starting point and a destination and view walking directions on the map.

Another really nice feature is the labelling of buildings, which becomes more detailed the more you zoom in on the map. When the map is zoomed out the building labels are abbreviated to fit on the map but as you zoom in give the full name of a building or department.

If you want to create something similar with your own maps you can use the MapLabel Utility Library. Labels created with the utility are dynamically rendered on Google Maps using Canvas 2D. Developers can define the font size, the font face, color and alignment of the labels. The library also includes maxZoom and minZoom controls which let you define at what zoom levels labels should be visible.
26 avril 2012
11:37
Freiburg's Buses Live on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Stadtbahn Tracker Freiburg is the second live transit tracking map featured on Google Maps Mania this week (the first was MTA Bus Time). In fact live real-time tracking maps have become so common that it is easy to became rather blasé about them and forget just how amazing it is to track in real-time whole transit networks on a Google Map.

Stadtbahn Tracker Freiburg is a live map of of all tram cabs, buses and local trains in Freiburg, Germany. The developer of this map has taken a novel approach to how he fetches the real-time data of the vehicles. The map loads all departure/arrival times in advance during startup. These times are then updated every 5-10 minutes or so. The calculation of the exact vehicle positions is therefore completed on the client side by JavaScript.

Another interesting feature of this map is that you can query the map by time. For example, you can view the city's transit network during the morning rush hour by attaching a time stamp to the URL, for example [tracker.patrickbrosi.de]
9:00
Create a Personal Journey Map
sur Google Maps Mania

Go Pro Travelling lets you create a Google Map of any trip whether it be a walking tour, a bicycle ride or a vacation. Users can add information and photographs to each stage of the trip and create a great mapped record of their journey.

The finished map includes numbered map markers showing the chronology of the trip. If you click on a numbered marker you can view the text and photographic entries for that stage of the journey. The application automatically displays how far has been travelled since the last stage and you can even indicate what mode of travel was taken.

Links to Twitter and Facebook mean it is very easy to share created trip maps with friends and friends can even leave comments on the map itself.
25 avril 2012
23:31
New 45° Imagery for Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Google Maps has unveiled new 45° oblique imagery for 8 international locations and 11 U.S. locations.

Avignon in France and Rotterdam in the Netherlands are amongst the international locations to get 45° imagery for the first time, whilst Miami is one of the American cities to be featured.

The full list of new locations is:

International: Avignon, France; Reus, Spain; Rotterdam, Netherlands; L'Alcudia, Spain; Gandia, Spain; Sueca, Spain; Burgos, Spain; Los Palacios Y Villafranca, Spain

US: Albany, GA; Omaha, NE; Baytown, TX; Miami, FL; Amarillo, TX; Monroe, LA; Manchester, NH; Alexandria, LA; Rapid City, SD; Loudon, TN; Farmington, NM

You can view all the locations with oblique imagery on this Google Map.

You can check out my personal picks of the best 45° views in this Slideshow Map.

Via: Google Lat Long
18:14
Introducing Google Maps Photo Tours
sur Google Maps Mania

Google has introduced an amazing new Photo Tours feature on Google Maps. When you use the WebGL version of Google Maps (try it in Chrome) you can view some amazing Photo Tours of famous locations around the world.

Photo Tours are available for more than 15,000 popular sites around the world, try St. Mark’s Basilica in Italy or the Half Dome in Yosemite. When available a link to the photo tour will appear in the left side-panel. Alternatively, if you’re browsing the map and click on the label for a particular landmark, the info window that appears will indicate if a photo tour is available.

This map shows the locations of all the currently available Photo Tours.

Via: Google Lat Long
16:02
Greek Coupons and Deals on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Deals on Map is a nicely designed Greek coupons map and if anyone deserves to be able to find cheap deals at the moment it's the citizens of Greece.

The site uses Google Maps to show users the nearest deals and coupons nearby. The map can be searched by location and by type of deal. Links in the map sidebar allow the results displayed on the map to be filtered by category, for example hotels, food, beauty etc.

When you click on a deal's marker on the map the offer is loaded into the right-hand sidebar. To claim a deal or coupon you just need to click on the sidebar image for the deal.
14:32
Middle Earth on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Middle Earth Map is an interactive map of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. This one doesn't use the Google Maps API but the map is beautifully designed and it includes a nifty little feature to change the map labels from English to Elvish.

If your Spanish is better than your Elvish then you might want to check out La Tierra Media. This Google Map of Middle Earth includes a sidebar with links to zoom and pan the map to locations in Middle-Earth on the map (in Spanish).

If your English is better than your Spanish and Elvish then you need the Lord of the Rings - Middle Earth Map. This map also includes handy sidebar links to find locations on the map.

The Interactive Map of Middle Earth uses the Google Maps API to create a simple interactive map of Middle Earth. There aren't any map markers or guides to the locations on the map but you can pan the map around to explore Tolkein's fantasy world.

And Finally -you can always use Google Maps walking directions to get directions to Mordor, although do remember that One Does not Simply Walk into Mordor.
24 avril 2012
21:43
A Supercharged Google Maps Rocket Ride
sur Google Maps Mania

Chemin Vert is a simulated rocket ride across five continents using Google Maps Street View images. It takes you on a bone shattering journey at close to a 1000 mph using Street View imagery from around the world.

There are three versions of Chemin Vert, one in normal resolution, a high resolution version and lastly a Vimeo video. To view either of the first two versions you need a browser that supports WebGL (such as Chrome). After either of the first two versions load you just need to sit back as Chemin Vert animates through thousands of Street View images, taking you on a virtual journey across five different continents.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny
16:03
New York Buses Live on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

MTA Bus Time is a Google Map that shows the live position of buses on New York's bus system. Currently the map tracks all bus routes in Staten Island and will be rolled out to other NYC boroughs, with expected completion in 2013.

It is possible to search the map by intersection, bus route or individual bus stop. If you click on an individual bus you can view its next three stops. If you have a mobile phone you can use the QR codes posted on bus-stops to find out when your next bus is due.
12:14
TwitTrips on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

TweetedTrips allows tweeting travellers to create and share an interactive map of their tweets, complete with their photos and an 'Indiana Jones-style' polyline of the journey.

Creating a Google Map of your journey couldn't be easier. All you really need to do is enter your Twitter user name. TweetedTrips then automatically creates a map of your geolocated Tweets. If some of your Twitter messages aren't geo-located you can manually add them to the map.

Once you save and publish your map you can share the map page with your friends and followers. Any future located tweets will automatically be added to your map so that your friends can follow your progress on your Tweeted Trip.
23 avril 2012
18:22
Cannabis Dispensaries on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania
Leafly is a marijuana dispensary search engine and strain reviewer.

The site uses Google Maps to help users (ha!) find their nearest marijuana dispensaries and cannabis collectives.The map includes options to filter the results by dispensaries that accept credit cards, those that deliver and those with an online menu.

If you click through you can read detailed reviews about the individual dispensaries, including strains on offer and customer reviews.

Also See
- Potlocator - dispensary finder
- Cannaberg.com - cannabis street price tracker
- The Price of Weed - cannabis street price tracker
16:03
Germans Living Near Nuclear Plants
sur Google Maps Mania

Last year I reviewed Zeit-Online's American Nuclear Power Plants Map. A Google Map that shows how many Americans live near nuclear power plants. Zeit-Online has also created a similar map for its German readers.

The German Nuclear Power Plants Map shows how many people live close to German nuclear power plants. The map includes a distance slider tool that lets you visualise how many people live within different distances of a nuclear power plant.

After radioactive material escaped from Japan's Fukushima power plant, everyone within 30 kilometres of the plant was evacuated. The Zeir-Online map shows that nearly 10 million Germans live within 30km of a nuclear power plant.
13:56
Revisit Film Scenes with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Allen Fuqua has been travelling around the world recreating scenes from popular films. The photographs of these scene recreations can be found on his website Movie Mimic.

Movie Mimic shows Allen's photographs of locations used in films next to a still of the same scene from the actual film. Each photo is accompanied by a small Google Map that shows the location where the scene was shot.

There is also a Picassa Web Album Google Map of all the Movie Mimic photographs located on one map of the world.
22 avril 2012
20:48
Digging for Earth Day
sur Google Maps Mania

To celebrate Earth Day Google has released an Earth Day Resource Page. The page includes a link to a Google Map where you can find your local community gardens.

The map will help you find a space in a community garden or discover farmers' markets and local farms in your area. The Earth Day Resource Page also includes links to get discounted seeds for flowers, herbs, and vegetables and to connect with the gardening community on Google+.

Via: Google Lat Long
16:52
French Election Results Live on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

From 8pm this evening (French time) you will be able to watch the results of the French presidential election live on a Google Map.

The Google Politics and Elections website features a Google Map that will display the results for each electoral department as soon as the results are announced. The first official results will be released after the last stations close at 8pm.

The map can even be added to any website using, this iframe code:

<iframe frameborder="0" width="788" height="540" src="http://fr2012.election-maps.appspot.com/results/embed?hl=fr"></iframe>
Via: The Official Google France Blog
13:20
The Google Maps of the Week
sur Google Maps Mania

If you are planning your vacation then you should check Weather Hopper to find out what you should pack. Weather Hopper is a great Google Map that can tell you what the weather is normally like for any month anywhere in the world.

The weather itself is displayed in a small information window which automatically appears over your searched location. You can select what type of weather information you wish to view from the side-panel, including average usual temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and wind.

Weather Sentiment Prediction is a clever Google Maps based application that can tell you how people feel about the weather at any location.

You can select a location on the application by dragging the map marker and adjusting the radius of the search area. Once you hit the 'search' button the application begins to analyse Tweets from that area which mention the weather. Each message is machine analysed to determine whether it is a positive or negative response to the weather.

This weekend's Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain has been very controversial and should probably have never been held. However with about half an hour to go before the race (as I write) it looks like the race will go ahead.

Lusob.com has created a Google Map that will hopefully track the race in real-time on Google Maps. The F1 Live Timing Map is currently showing a demo race using imagined data. The map shows the cars moving around the Bahrain Formula 1 track on Google Maps satellite view.
21 avril 2012
15:19
Free Stuff Advertised on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

If you have any unwanted items that you would like to give away then you can use Curb Side Goodies to advertise their availability.

Using Curb Side Goodies you can pin your unwanted items to a Google Map and then just leave them out in your garden or sidewalk and wait for someone to come and pick them up. Adding an item to the map simply involves right-clicking on your location on the map and describing your item.

To avoid random people visiting your house every day for the next three years all pins added to the map are removed after a 24 hour period.
12:48
Kickstart Art on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

geocodedArt has been busy mapping the world's fine art paintings for the last few years. Their website provides a great way to explore some of the world's great artistic masterpieces geographically with a Google Map.

geocodedArt now want to develop a smartphone application that will allow users to find and explore paintings of the landscape around them. The app will allow users to stand in the spot that inspired a masterpiece painting, and study the painting at the same time; to fully appreciate how the atmosphere has been captured in the art.

To help raise the funds to develop the app geocodedArt has started a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign is trying to raise $7,750. Supporters of the app can pledge from as little as $5 dollars to the campaign.
20 avril 2012
19:32
Bored of Zombie Maps. Here's Count Dracula!
sur Google Maps Mania

Frankly I'm getting a bit bored of the current trend for Zombie Maps. On the 100th anniversary of the death of Bram Stoker what we need are some Dracula maps.

Thankfully ikiMap have stepped out of the shadows and created two Bram Stoker related maps. The Map of Bram Stoker Facts is a Google Map exploring the life of the Dublin born author.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: The Map is a map plotting some of the important episodes in Bram Stoker's Gothic novel Dracula. The map uses suitably blood red styled OpenStreetMap tiles. If that doesn't whet your appetite for blood then you can also visit Dracula's Castle itself on Google Maps with Google Street View.
16:07
The ...
sur Google Maps Mania

The Civic Crowd is a Google Maps based application mapping amazing citizen-powered initiatives and ideas in the UK.

Users of the map can search for initiatives on the map by location and by type of project, for example, education, enterprise, housing etc. Projects are displayed on the map by categorised map markers and it is possible to click-through to read more details about each project.

Users can 'Appreciate' individual projects or ideas to show support for an initiative. It is also possible to 'Volunteer to Support' a project and specify the type of support you offer from within your personal profile.

If you know of a project that hasn't yet been mapped it is possible to add it by completing a short form.
11:46
Friday Fun with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Four Seasons in One Day
I came across this satellite view on Google Maps this week. You can clearly see that some of the images have been captured at different times. I think the effect is rather nice.

One of my favourite maps from the last few months is the Nature Valley Trail View. Nature Valley Trail View provides custom Street View tours of nature trails. This morning I noticed that the site has expanded its coverage from the Grand Canyon to also include a number of virtual trail tours in Yellowstone Park and the Great Smokies.

Google Sightseeing has been busy finding some of the great views in the new Israel and Ukraine Street View images. This image shows the World Heritage site, Kiev's Monastery of the Caves.
19 avril 2012
19:20
Street View Arrives in Israel
sur Google Maps Mania

Wailing Wall

Street View imagery is now available on Google Maps in Israel. The imagery is available in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv and also in a few universities and museums dotted around the country.

If you haven't got time to check out all the new Israeli Street View you can cheat by taking a quick tour of Mini Israel, a miniature park located near Latrun, Israel in the Ayalon Valley, which also now has Street View imagery.

Church of Gethsemane

A number of cities in Ukraine also now have Street View (I think these are new). The cities include Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odessa and L'viv.

Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv
15:04
Capital Bikeshare on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The Capital Bikeshare Tracker is a Google Map that displays the locations of the 140 bike stations of the Washington, D.C. Capital Bikeshare.

The map uses dynamic map markers to show the current availability of bikes and dock spaces at each bike station. If you click on a marker you can get the exact number of available bikes and free dock spaces.

It is also possible to click through on each bike station to view the usage patterns of that station. Each station can be searched to view bike and dock space availability over different periods of time.

Also See

Montreal's BIXI - a map of Montreal's bike stations and current bike availability
Brisbane CityCycle - Brisbane's CityCycle bike stations and available bikes
Dublin Bikes -Dublin's bike stations and available bikes
Paris Velib - Paris' bike stations and available bikes
CityMapper London - London route planner that also shows you how many bikes are available at your nearest bike station.
12:33
Austrian Google Maps Round-Up
sur Google Maps Mania

Teleschirm is an Austrian website that wants to turn the tables on the pervasive users of CCTV by mapping where video surveillance is being used in public spaces. The site allows anyone to take a photo of a CCTV camera and enter its location on an OpenStreetMap or a Google Map.

Currently Teleschirm has active maps for all the major Austrian towns and cities. As well as the map view it is possible to view a list and photographs of the latest CCTV cameras to be posted to Teleschirm.

Öffliner is a free iPhone application that provides route planning on the Linz AG public transit network. Just enter a departure station and your destination and the application will show you the best routes and times available for your journey.

AustroZoom.at wants to be your one stop map for Austria. The application uses Google Maps to provide access to over 522,000 Austrian business locations, localised weather information, route planning and much more.

Fruchtfliege has created a number of Google Maps showing the location of different types of fruit trees in and around Vienna. In addition to the Google Maps the site features recipes and information about the different types of fruit.
18 avril 2012
20:29
U.S. Renewable Energy on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has created a series of Google Maps related to renewable energy in the U.S..

The maps help to visualise a number of renewable energy data sets that show the potential for renewable energy in the U.S.. The maps include solar power and wind power guides, alternative fueling stations, geothermal resources and many more.

Hat-tip: Visualising Urban Futures and Street View Funny
15:11
Annoyed with the Weather on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Weather Sentiment Prediction is a clever Google Maps based application that can tell you how people feel about the weather at any location.

You can select a location on the application by dragging the map marker and adjusting the radius of the search area. Once you hit the 'search' button the application begins to analyse Tweets from that area which mention the weather. Each message is machine analysed to determine whether it is a positive or negative response to the weather.

A smiley face and an unsmiley face at the top of the Twitter stream give an indication of the overall response to the current weather. My unscientific analysis suggests that the Weather Sentiment Prediction for London today is fairly accurate with a negative response to a grey and rainy day.

As an experiment I dragged the marker to Los Angeles and in response the Weather Sentiment Prediction gave me a big smiley face. If only I could drag my big lardy derrière to LA as easily then I'd have a big smiley face as well.

Via: ProgrammableWeb
11:54
Post a Virtual Postcard with Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Dabble is a new photo sharing application that lets you share virtual postcards with your friends and the rest of the world.

Dabble allows users to pin photographs or 'postcards' to a Google Map and attach a short message to the picture. If you share your location with the Dabble desktop app you can view the 'postcards' that have been submitted around you.

Dabble is available on the iPhone and an Android app is also in development. This makes taking a postcard very easy. You just need to use the iPhone app to take a picture and add your message and your photograph is automatically added to the map.
17 avril 2012
18:49
The History of the USA on Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

The History Engine is an educational project from the University of Richmond that is creating a collection of historical articles about life in the United States throughout its history.

The History Engine includes a Google Maps based time-line that allows users to explore the project's history articles by date and by location. If you select a decade from the time-line states that have essays available from that decade are highlighted on the map.

If you select a highlighted state the available essays can be accessed by clicking on the map markers that appear on the map.

Via: @geoparadigm
14:05
The Bavarian Forest in Google Maps
sur Google Maps Mania

Der Bayerischer Wald is a great Google Maps guide to hiking routes, accommodation and events in the Bavarian Forest region in Germany. Points of interest are organised into five categories (food, accommodation, events, sights and tours) which can be accessed from the map side-panel.

A nice feature of the map is that areas outside the map's area of interest are shaded so that the Bavarian Forest region has more visual impact on the map. For those interested in creating a similar look then you can use Swiss Trains' open-source masking effect for Google Maps.

The effect transforms a KML polygon into a mask that effectively highlights the polygon on the map by shading the rest of the world. You can see a demo of the effect on this Swiss Administrative Boundaries Map.

If you want to use the effect in your own Google Maps then grab the code from GitHub - Masked Polygons.

Via: Lankartenblog

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