Google Maps Rock, The Google Maps API Rocks More

We don’t need to hack Google Maps anymore. Now that Google has released a public maps API, we can make more reliable map-dependent apps (which will now have better browser compatibility, thank you). Within a few minutes of signing up for a maps API key I had put together the following of the Nevada Test [...]

Space Shuttle Tracking (and other good uses of the Google Maps API)

Tom Mangan has put the Google Maps API to interesting use with his space shuttle tracking page. Also worth checking out: his Blackbird Spotting site and TLable, a little extension to make pinning/annotating maps even better.
blackbird, google maps, map api, space, space shuttle, spacecraft, sr-71, tom mangan

Street-Level Photos in Google Maps!

Thanks to Ryan Eby for tipping me to this. Go try it out.
Whatever you think of them, they do keep delivering.
I wonder if people will ask for stack-level photos of our libraries?
Google Maps, gmaps, Google, street-level photos

Google Geo News

This post started with Ryan sending me this link demonstrating a KML overlay of county borders of his bifurcated state in Google Maps.
Then I found this Roundup of Google’s Geo Developer Day (btw, I so wanted to be at Where 2.0) with tales of the new geocoding feature of the Google Maps API, more details [...]

Google Maps Gets All The Attention

It would reasonably appear that here in the US, there’s only one map site: good ol’ Google. But until Google adds maps for countries other than the US, Canada, and UK, the rest of the world will have to look elsewhere. Enter the UK competitor: Multimap.com has been serving the world outside the bubble since [...]

Google Maps Rock, Hacking Them Rocks More

People are going wild over Google Maps, but I honestly didn’t get too excited about it until I saw Glen Murphy’s Movin Gmap project. It’s a Python script that reads location data from a connected GPS and pans the Gmap to follow. Upon seeing this hack of Gmaps, I went looking for more. Hack a [...]

Seattle911

Via the ProgrammableWeb: Seattle911.com. It’s another mashup with Google Maps, but who knew anybody could get 911 data in real time? Sure, it’s only for Seattle, and only their fire/EMS servers (no police), but technology wise, it’s cool. Kudos to Seattle, I guess.
What’s my reticence? I don’t know if I should have this data…and [...]

BeerMapping.com

In yet more geolocation news, beermapping.com’s maps to breweries will make my travel planning easier, and my travels boozier.
Hey, it’s casual Friday, take off early and go find a new brewpub for lunch.
beermapping.com, brew maps, breweries, brewery, brewpub, casual friday, geolocation, mapping, maps

Google MyMaps and GeoRSS

O’Reilly’s Where 2.0 Conference isn’t until the end of May, but Google just released two sweet new map-related features: GeoRSS support and MyMaps.
The GeoRSS support means that any application that can output it’s geocoding — as simple as <georss:point>45.256 -71.92</georss:point> — can now be linked to a live map with no more effort than it [...]

pinch me

I’ve been away from my computer for a couple days, but very much online with my iPhone. Today, as I looked at something on my laptop in Google Maps I found myself trying to pinch and flick my monitor to manipulate the position and scale.
iphone, interface, habits

Crime and Privacy on Google Maps

Annalee Newitz last week posted a column on people’s fear of privacy loss as a result of Google Maps. Her point:
So while all these people are wringing their hands over how simple it is for strangers to discover the color of their roof on Google, we forget that we can already be tracked everywhere [...]

New iPhone maps locate circle …

New iPhone maps locate circle has yet to locate me

Who Knew Transit Maps Were Copyrighted?

The MTA, the folks who run New York’s subways and busses and such, weren’t the only ones to smack a cease and desist down on iPod Subway Maps last week, but they’re the first to tell they can pay $500 for the privilege of distributing those maps in an iPod-readable format — but only for [...]

37signals Tells Google A Thing Or Two

37signals takes on Google and suggests some improvements.

tags: 37signals, consulting firm, design, google, google search, improvements, improving google, search, search improvements, usability consulting, web, web design, web search

bsuite_geocode Plugin For WordPress

I’m a big fan of the WP Geo plugin, but I want more.
My biggest complaint is that I want to insert coordinates using Google Maps or MultiMap URLs, rather than insert them in the modified story editor. So I wrote a bit of code that reads through the URLs in a post, finds the “maps.google” [...]