Google Maps is Really a Piano

Ohio is a Piano

Ohio has 88 counties. A piano has 88 keys. So obviously Ohio is a piano!

Well, it is on this amazing Google Maps for Flash API mashup. Cartogrammar has mapped each county to Ohio to a particular piano key depending on various data attributes. This means that you can play Ohio on this Google Map just as you would on a piano, except here you press the counties rather than tinkle the ivory.

The map has 'The Entertainer' and 'Beethoven's 5th' already programmed, so if you never learnt to play the Ohiophone you can just press play and sit back and listen. Alternatively, if you have always wondered what Google Driving Directions would sound like if each county you passed through played a different note (and come on who hasn't always wondered that), you can select a route from any county to any other county and listen to the route.

Hat's off to Andy Woodruff, the mad genius behind this Google Maps Mashup. I can't wait for the encore.

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Visualizing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

UNFCCC Global Map

The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) has worked with a number of Google employees to create a Google Map that visualises the greenhouse gas emissions of a number of countries.

The map gives users the ability to visualise data collected since 1990. It is possible to select any combination of emission categories to view on the map and to choose to view any year's data from 1990.

Via: Google LatLong: Visualizing greenhouse gas emissions

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The Geospatial Revolution Project

Anyone interested in Google Maps mashups is probably going to love this new Geospatial Revolution Project from Penn State Public Broadcasting. I've pushed this post back to the top of Google Maps Mania because the Project have updated the preview video (embedded below).

The Geospatial Revolution Project is an initiative to show how the world of digital mapping is changing the way we think, behave, and interact. The project will revolve around eight video episodes, each telling an intriguing geospatial story. The episodes will culminate in a 60-minute documentary.

The preview video is shown below:



The topics of the videos will include:

• A historical timeline of mapping, from ancient to modern times
• Digital mapping’s role in national issues such as defense, geointelligence, homeland security, politics and elections, law enforcement, public safety, and disaster management
• The effect of geospatial technologies on world issues such as commerce, communications, human rights monitoring, energy policy, and climate change
• The challenges of related privacy, security, and legal issues
• Geospatial technological innovations in travel, transportation, space and oceanic exploration, the workplace, treasure hunting, and entertainment
• The future of geospatial technologies in the hands of a tech-savvy public
• Questions of accessibility, public-private partnerships, and the public good

3D for Google Maps

The Google Maps for Flash API now has 3D! Check out this screencast of some examples of the new 3D option and then check out the awesome demos below:

UK Weather Tour	ArcGIS Services	PaperVision3D Scene
Ian Watkins	Nianwei Liu	Satoshi Ueyama
Eiffel Tower KMZ	3D Driving Simulator	Weather Radar GroundOverlay
Masashi K	Katsuomi.K	Andrew Trice

Via: Google Geo Developers Blog: 3D Perspective in the Maps API for Flash!

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Virtual Vigil on Google Maps

Virtual Vigil

Two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee of Current TV, are currently being detained in North Korea. The London Times say that the pair face the "possibility of a show trial and ten years in a notoriously harsh North Korean prison camp."

Mike Knapp, a former Google employee turned entrepreneur has created this Google Maps mashup so that you can show your support for the two journalists. The mashup allows you to join a virtual vigil for the release of Laura and Euna. The vigil is held over Pyongyang, where the pair are being detained, on Google Maps.

To add your support you just need to log in with a Google account, choose an avatar and leave a message of support. Your message will then be added to the other messages of support on the satellite image of Pyongyang on this Google Map.

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Friday Fun on Google Maps

I do like these Google Favorite Places map markers. Here are some, spotted by Greg Sterling, on a bus shelter in San Francisco.




Another UFO Spotted in Street View
Here's another UFO found in the Street View coverage of Virginia Beach, VA, USA. Check out this post to view the collection so far.



Fox News Not Using Google Maps

Fox News have decided not to use Google Maps in their news coverage. Instead they have decided to redraw the world, replacing Iraq with Egypt. Fox say that they will be relocating the pyramids to Baghdad early next week.

Via: Joeydevilla.com

Apollo 11 Moon Lander
I know I've already reviewed this game once this week but it is truly awesome. So if you haven't played Paul van Dinther's Google Earth plug-in Moon Lander yet, do so now.

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Boston MBTA Added to Google Transit

Google Maps have today added the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to transit directions in Boston. Google Transit can now show public transportation directions using the MBTA for Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Quincy, Somerville, and the surrounding areas.

Google Transit is accessible on Google Maps both in your browser and in Google Maps for Mobile.



Via: Google LatLong: Welcome to Boston: the MBTA on Google Maps

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Heat Maps on Google Maps

gheat
gheat is an open source application to create heatmap layers for the Google Maps API.

A number of websites have already used gheat to create some interesting heat maps:

The Anglican Church in North America

The Anglican Church in North America is using gheat on their homepage to show Anglican parishes in the USA. From the heat map it seems that Anglicanism is more of an east coast than west coast thing.

Australian Honeypot Project
The Australian Honeypot Project is using gheat to show the locations of computers that are attacking (spamming) the Australian SensorNET. The heat map seems to identify Germany as a particular hot spot for spammers.

Auto and Bike Accidents in Davis, CA

This map is a heat map of auto and bicycle accidents in one town. A heat map is a great way to show the location of accident hotspots.

Create Your Own Street View

RealPlaces

RealPlaces is a web site where anyone can create their own Street View like mapping experience. With RealPlaces it is possible to create and share panoramic walk-throughs for any location in the world.

Unlike Street View RealPlaces works from still images, not from VR panoramas. The walk-throughs that are created are therefore sort of like low-tech versions of Street View. Users take a number of photographs at a given point to capture a 360 degree view and the photographs are then stitched together and placed on a Google Map. Once a number of points are created around one area RealPlaces can then create a walk-through for the location.

This low-tech approach has the huge advantage that anyone with a camera can create a walk-through and post it on RealPlaces. The site's stated goal is to "create a first-person navigable version of the real world." Because the walk-throughs are so easy to create RealPlaces has every chance of achieving this aim.

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Follow Locations On Twitter

Twittori

Twittori is another Twitter and Google Maps mashup. Using Twittori it is possible to Tweet about a location. The message will appear in your Twitter stream with a short link to the location on the Twittori Google Map mashup.

Using Twittori it is also possible to follow places as you would a person on Twitter. You will then receive updates about messages from other visitors to this place. Twittoria is also available as an application for the iPhone. In Japan the Twittori iPhone App is currently number four on the top free social apps download list.

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Independent House Sales with Google Maps

Tepilo

Tepilo is a UK website that allows anyone to take independent control of buying and selling their home. The site explains the whole process of selling a house so that you don't need to sign up with a professional real estate agent. What is more you can upload your property and advertise your property for sale on Tepilo for free.

Teplio uses Google Maps as the means for house hunters to search the listed properties on the website. To find properties users simply add their postcode or address and results are returned on a Google Map.

The map includes two slider bars that allow the user to define the price range that they wish to search within and how a big a radius they want to search from a given location. Beneath the sliders there are a number of options to further refine your search by property type, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, outside spaces and gardens.


Via: Mapperz

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Arranging Tweetups on Google Maps

Twappening

Twappening is a service that helps arrange Tweetups, local meetings for Twitter users.

The service lets users automatically Tweet invitations and track conversations about the meet-up in real time. If you are going to have a meet-up you, of course, need a location to meet and you need to be able to show everyone attending where the location is.

Twappening uses the Google Maps API to show the location of each Tweetup.

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Wow! Street View in Video

Immersive Media
Immersive Media create interactive panoramas in video (think Street View with moving images). Or even better just check out the example below,



Once the video has finished buffering drag your mouse around the image to pan the view whilst the video is playing, then pick your jaw back up from your desk.

Immersive video have created a Data Coverage Map of some of their available videos. The map traces the routes that the camera takes in each video and the videos are embedded directly within the Google Map.

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Lunar Landing Game

Apollo 11 Moon Lander
Paul van Dinther, author of the excellent Ships games has turned his attention to the new Moon in Google Earth and produced an excellent Lunar Landing game.

This game, for the Google Earth Browser plugin, involves having to land the Apollo 11 Eagle lander, whilst controlling your fuel and rate of speed. The Google Earth Blog created this video of a successful landing,



One of the big problems with games for the Google Earth plugin, is the lack of automatic collision detection. Therefore in driving games the cars are able to drive straight through buildings. One thing Google Earth does have though is terrain and Paul has used this to enable collision detection for his Lunar Lander.

Definitely the best Google Earth plugin game yet.

Via: Google Earth Blog

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The Happiest Country in the World is ...

Tweet Sentiments

TweetSentiments.com provides a snapshot view of the world's mood via a heat map from an analysis of Tweets. The site uses Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning technologies to analyse Tweets from around the world and then presents the results on a Google Map.

As well as a heat map overlay the map also geo-tags individual Tweets. Looking at these messages you can see that the analysis often takes individual words out of context. For example, 'war' seems to always be given a negative score even if someone Tweets 'war' in a message about playing a computer game.

However these individual errors should be negligible if the system is built on a large enough dataset. Iraq and Afghanistan seem to score quite badly on the heat map, which seems to suggest a degree of accuracy; although you might expect Iran and Zimbabwe to not be quite as content as the map shows.

And, in case you were wondering, Mongolia seems to be the happiest place on Earth. At least for today.
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Health Care Reform Week on Google Maps

Barackobama.com is using Google Maps extensively this week to drum up support for Health Care Reform. The site has a Google Map showing Week of Action events across the USA and also a Google Map showing Tweets people have sent to their senator in support of the reforms.

Tweet Your Senator

Tweet Your Senator allows Twitter users to Tweet their senator a message in support of the Health Care Reform. Users simply enter their zip code and then their Twitter status box is auto-completed with a message for their senator.

The page uses a Google Map which animates in real-time through the latest messages sent to senators across the USA in support of the reform.

Find an Event
All this week events are taking place across the USA in support of President Obama's Health Care Reform. This Google Maps mashup can tell you the events closest to you.

To find events near you just enter your zip code and the events are returned on a Google Map. The events are also listed under the map , where they can be sorted by date or by distance.


What ever you think of Barack Obama's politics he certainly knows how to use technology to organise grass roots support for his campaigns.

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Google Maps in a School Information System

Pearson SIS
The School Systems group of Pearson have integrated Google Maps into their latest SIS products.

Using Google Maps directly within an SIS will help schools with their enrolment process, easing the input of student address data. Schools can then easily check that students' addresses fall within school and district boundaries.



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Biking and Hiking Trails on Google Maps

Bikehike

Bikehike uses Google Maps to help users create biking and hiking routes. The site will work anywhere in the world but because the site can use Google Maps alongside UK Ordnance Survey maps it works particularly well in the United Kingdom.

Creating a route is very easy and involves just placing a series of map markers along your chosen route. If you want to follow roads then you can select the 'follow road' option and your route will snap to the nearest roads. In the UK, however, you can also plot your route on an Ordnance Survey map, which means you can trace a route on the byways, bridleways and public footpaths that Google Maps doesn't show.

When you have completed tracing your route Bikehike will calculate the elevation profile of your route. The elevation profile is fully interactive with the Google Map, so if you click on the elevation graph you can see the corresponding route point on the map. It is also possible to toggle between an elevation and gradient view.

Routes that you create can be saved and shared with others. You can also search the site for routes created by others. Routes can be uploaded and downloaded from GPS units (GPX, TCX and TRL formats) or to a Garmin GPS unit using the Garmin Communicator plugin.

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Czech Property on Google Maps

Cenove Mapy

Czech real estate company, Bezrealitky.cz, have produced this Google Maps mashup to show current real estate prices in the Czech Republic. The site uses a heat map to show the relative prices of properties at 1m².

The map can be used to find the most desirable (or at least the most costly) locations to live or help you find the cheapest areas to buy. As you might imagine property prices are highest in the centre of Prague but the map also shows which suburbs have the most expensive and cheapest properties.

Ukazky Staveb

Ukazky Staveb are builders of timber homes in the Czech Republic. The company have produced this Google Map mashup to showcase the properties that they have built.

The properties on the map are divided into three categories, classic, modern and reconstruction. It is possible to select which category of property you wish to view via the tick boxed under the map.

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Spanish Summer of Love on Google Maps

Disfruta del verano con Google Maps


Google Maps in Spain (maps.google.es) have teamed up with lanetro.com to produce a Google My Map of the most interesting events happening in Spain this summer.

The listed events include festivals, dance performances and rock and jazz concerts. It is possible to search for any of these events by location and date. Using the Google Maps search feature with the 'businesses' option means you can also find hotels and restaurants that are near to any of the events.

Thanks to lanetro.com the information windows for each of the events contains details, pictures and links to more information.

Also See

• French Summer Festival Guide - French My Map of Summer events
• Alternative Festivals Map - The Guardian's guide to alternative festivals in the Europe this summer.
• The Times UK Festival Map

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BYO GMap

GoBYO

In these cash strapped times one of the best ways to save money when eating out is to choose a Bring Your Own restaurant. GoBYO has a comprehensive database of restaurants that allow you to bring your own bottle of wine.

It is possible to search the GoBYO listings by restaurant name or search within a selected distance from a particular address. It is also possible to search by type of cuisine. Each restaurant displays a button for 'More Info, Maps & Reviews'.

The map view uses Google Maps to display the location of the restaurant and to show the number of stars the restaurant has based on Yelp reviews. Details of the restaurant, including any corkage fees and price range of the restaurant, are given in the map sidebar.

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Twitter & Google Maps Mashups

geofollow

Geofollow is a tool for finding Twitter users in a particular location. It is possible to search the directory of Twitter users by city, state, country, tag, name or by Twitter username.

If you search for users in a particular location geofollow uses Google Maps to show the location of Twitterers in that area. The same Twitter users are all also listed above the map and each user has their own big yellow 'follow' button.

GeoChirp

GeoChirp helps you search tweets for keywords in a particular location. To set the location you just click on the Google Map and adjust the radius of the search area with the slider bar below the map. To search for a keyword within that area just enter the term into the search box.

The results are displayed below the map. Next to your results GeoChirp displays the top Twitter users in that area.


Previously featured Twitter Maps

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Israeli Property Search on Google Maps

KanGarim

Israeli property search website KanGarim uses Google Maps to show the latest properties for sale and rent in the country.

KanGarim crawls the most popular property websites in Israel to ensure that they display only the latest property listings on the map. The map displays rental properties that have been advertised in the last four days and properties for sale that have been advertised in the last week.

At the moment KanGarim only displays a satellite view. This means that the user has to click on the map markers to find the address of the property. The site explains the lack of a street map view by saying that Google doesn't provide this service for Israel. However a street map view for Israel has been available since September of last year, so hopefully the site will get around to adding this option soon.

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Now Street View Almost is Photosynth

When Google Maps released the new Street View navigation tools back in early June, with tongue firmly in cheek, I used the headline 'Street View Goes Photosynth' to introduce the new features. Well today Street View took another step closer to becoming a 'Photosynth' type experience.

In effect Google Maps has today married the 'user-contributed photos' option in Street View with the new navigation tools to create something very similar to navigating in Photosynth.

Check out the video below to see what I mean:



Since their introduction I've really liked the new navigation tools in Street View. Now I like them even more! To demonstrate my love I've put together a quick hacked version of a Street View with user photos of the Eiffel Tower (may not work in Internet Explorer).

Via: Google LatLong: Zoom photo navigation in Street View

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Radar Weather Overlay for Australia

Australian Weather Map

There is something strangely exciting about watching an animation of current precipitation over the satellite view of Uluru or the Sydney Opera House. Thanks to this Weather Chaser Google Maps mashup you can now view Doppler radar animation loops for the whole of Australia.

The map also shows the current wind direction and wind strength for the whole of the country. Clicking on any of the wind observation map markers opens an information window displaying the temperature and rainfall at that location.

If you want live animated radar for the USA check out these sites:

• iMap Weather
• Wunderground
• Fox HD Radar

For the UK:

• Met Office Invent Map

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Booking Tickets on Google Maps

TicketStumbler

TicketStumbler is a secondary ticket market search engine and comparison website that helps you find the best ticket price for your favourite events. The site uses the Google Maps API and the Google Local Search API to show a map of the venue and nearby places to eat and drink.

The use of Google Local Search with Google Maps on this site is pretty neat. Links to Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Bars, Gas Stations and Parking are listed next to the map. So, for the most likely searches around venues, users don't even have to bother typing their request into a search box. They just have to click on a link and the results are shown directly on the Google Map.

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Friday Fun on Google Maps

Nude in San Francisco

Nude in San Francisco is a website of exhibitionists who parade around the city naked whilst having their photo taken. The resulting photographs are then added to this Google Map. As you can imagine this map is definitely not safe for work.

Favorite Places Markers
I love the map markers designed for the new Google Favorite Places map. Here's a little collection of some of the best.


8 Improbable Street View Shots

I'm pretty sure this one has featured on Google Maps Mania before but it is so good it deserves another airing. The Uphaa blog have Photoshopped eight imaginary Street View shots, mostly with a Sci-Fi theme.

Google Street View Finds the Bat Cave

Our friends over at Google Sightseeing have finally managed to track down the Bat Cave after hours of triangulating the Bat signal. Unfortunately The Joker has now refused to pay out the promised bounty.

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Google Latitude on the iPhone

Google have today announced the release of Google Latitude for the iPhone and iPod touch, available in the Safari browser.

To add Google Latitude visit google.com/latitude from your iPhone's browser. You can add a bookmark by opening Latitude in Safari and tapping the + icon > Add to Home Screen > Add.

Using Latitude in your iPhone lets you see the location of your friends on a Google Map. If you don't want to give too much away you can modify your privacy settings and control how your location is shared and with whom.

When you run the application in the foreground of your phone your location is continuously updated.

Via: Official Google Blog: Google Latitude on your iPhone

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The Apollo 11 Google Earth Tour

The Google Geo Developers Blog is featuring a Google Earth plugin version of the amazing Apollo 11 tour, created by Sean Askay for the launch of Google Moon on Monday. To view the tour you will need to have installed the Google Earth plugin on your computer (or you could watch the video of it below).



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Google Maps for Mobile Adds Layers

Google Maps for Mobile 3.2 now allows users to view a number of different layers, including traffic, local search results, Latitude friend locations and Wikipedia. You can also view your own My Maps content as a layer.

Multiple layers can be viewed on the map at the same. Search results have also been improved. Maps for Mobile now displays many more search results, shown as small red dots on the map.

You can learn more about Google Maps for Mobile 3.2 at the the Google Mobile Blog.

Via: Google LatLong: Lots of layers in Google Maps for mobile 3.2

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The USC on Google Maps

USC Maps

The University of Southern California has created a map of its campus using the Google Maps API. The map uses an image overlay to present an isometric view of the campus buildings.

It is possible to search for buildings and locations on the campus in the map sidebar. The buildings are organised into categories of Dining, Galleries / Auditoria, Patient Care, Libraries, Residential, Athletics, Parks and Plazas.

Each building on the campus also comes with its own information window, that explains a little about the building and its history. The information window also contains a link to the building web page on the University's web site.

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360 Degree Street Views

Street Traveller

Street Traveller is a blog about famous and important tourist destinations around the world. Each post looks at a different locations and mashes-up Google Maps Street View with Flickr photographs, YouTube videos and Wikipedia articles.

The Street View option for each location has a neat four-way view. Panning the larger Street View image also pans three smaller Street Views of the same location, which show views 90 degrees apart. In effect this means you can look north, east, south and west at the same time.

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Driving on the Moon

The Google Moon Buggy

Wow! Google have released a Google Earth plugin game that lets you drive a Lunar Rover on the moon.

The game allows you to drive around the various Apollo moon landing sites. The Apollo 11 site is a good place to start because it also contains a model of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module.

Via: Google Geo Developers Blog: Moon in the Google Earth Plugin!

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Space 1999 on Google Moon

Space 1999, Moonbase Alpha
Earlier today the Google Earth Blog reported about Gerardo Paz's amazing 3D model of Moon Base Alpha from the Sci-Fi television series Space 1999. You can view the model and a tour created by Gerardo by viewing this kml in Google Earth.

Søren Johannessen has now created a web page where you can view the tour in the Google Earth plugin. Here's a little screencast:



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Having Designs on Google Maps

Design With An Accent

News Zealand web designer Stas Kulesh has used the Google Maps API to produce a portfolio of his work.

The portfolio map replaces the Google Map tiles with custom map tiles showing Stas' web designs. The result is an interactive portfolio that can be used to scan and zoom in on examples of Stas' web designs and photography.

Stas has has also produced a menu, with links that open information windows above some of the designs. Using information windows means that he is able to give more details about particular designs.

Previously Featured on Google Maps Mania

Academie Arnhem Portfolio Map

The Academie Arnheim have used custom map tiles with the Google Maps API to present the work of the final examination candidates of The ArtEZ Academy of Arnhem. The academie has replaced the Google Map tiles with custom tiles created from images of the students' work. The images represent the artistic work of the students after four years of studying at the acadamie and mark the start of their career as artists, designers or teachers of visual arts and design.

It is possible to use the Google Maps interface to pan around the different art works and to zoom in for a closer work at individual pieces. The acadamie has also done some impressive programming (with jquery I think) to overlay text links on each of the student's work. Clicking on any of the links loads information, directly onto the map, about the art work.

Kalle Hagman

Graphic designer Kalle Hagman has created a Google Map of his art work. He has replaced the Google Map tiles with a collage of his own graphic designs to create an interactive portfolio.

When the page first loads the map is zoomed in on an image of Kalle's business card. The user can then use the Google Maps navigation tools to zoom in and examine in close up any of Kalle's featured work.

You can use CASA's Image Cutter or the Automatic Tile Cutter to create your own collages with Google Maps. You could also add map markers to a collage. For example Kalle could have included map markers on his collage that when opened included details about the artwork featured.

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Your Very Own Twitter Map.

Twitter Map
Mibazaar's latest map allows you to embed your very own Twitter map in your website or blog. This Google Maps mashup takes your latest Twitter status and maps it based on your Twitter profile location.

The more detailed your profile location is, the higher the zoom level. The maps work particularly well with the iPhone generated profile location, which allows you to update your Twitter profile location on the fly.

Here's the URL of Mibazaar's Twitter Map:

http://www.mibazaar.com/twitstat.php?uid=mibazaar

To customise the map just replace the mibazaar at the end of the URL with your own Twitter user name. Then, if you want to embed the map in your own website, head over to Mibazaar for the embed code.

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Where to Dump Your Trash in Toronto

Toronto Garbage Drop Off Map

In Toronto municipal workers have been striking for a month, which has meant that residents' trash has not been being collected. In response the city has set up temporary dump sites for residential and commercial garbage.

CBC.ca have produced a Google Maps mashup to show the location of the temporary and permanent dump sites. The map was produced using the Map Channels map creation tool, a service that lets you embed a custom map into your website or blog without the need for coding.

Coincidently, yesterday I happened to meet with the creator of Map Channels and learnt of a new exciting mapping project in development. More news of which I hope to be able to bring you soon ...

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Dutch Street View Vote

Street View Vote

Google are holding a vote in the Netherlands to determine which locations the Google Street View trike should visit this summer. Google have teamed with Netherlands VVV (the Dutch tourist board) to produce a shortlist of 18 locations:

de Apenheul, het Archeon themapark, de Aqua Zoo, het Binnenhof, de Dolfinarium, de Efteling, de Kasteeltuinen Arcen, Kinderdijk, Nationaal Park de Hoge Veluwe, het Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Paleis het Loo, Scheveningen Boulevard, Slagharen Attractiepark, het Veenpark, de Volendamse Dijk, de Wereldtuinen Mondo Verde, de Zaanse Schans en het Zuiderzeemuseum.



Google held a similar vote in the UK earlier this year (the winners were the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the Angel of the North, Loch Ness, Stonehenge, the Eden Project and Warwick Castle).

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Google Map of Kiva Loans

NeedVision

NeedVision is a Google Map mashup of loans made by micro-lending site Kiva.

Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending website helping individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. Individuals and groups can make a loan and help a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), lenders receive email journal updates and track repayments.

Markers on the map contain a brief description, photograph and a link to the details of the loan on the Kiva website.

Find a Garage Sale With Google Maps

Weekend Treasure

Weekend Treasure lists thousands of garage and yard sales on a Google Maps mashup. The site maps sales from dozens of online sources, including newspapers and Craigslist. The site picks up sales with defined dates, so out-dated sales are never listed.

It is possible to search the map for a nearby sale by zip code or address. The information window for each sale includes the date and address of the sale and a link to further details.

Via: ReadWriteWeb

Google Moon

Today's big news from Google is that the moon has been added to Google Earth. For news of the launch you should check out the Google Earth Blog. Frank Taylor is at the launch event and I'm sure he will be posting about all the features of this latest addition to Google Earth.

You can also check out the Google Earth Blog's Twitter feed, which Frank is using to comment live on the launch in Washington.

Google Moon Landings

Google Moon has also been added to the Google Earth plugin, which means it is possible to view Google Moon in your browser. I've created a quick example of the Apollo Moon landings sites using the plugin. The example includes YouTube videos of the moon landings.

One of the great features of Google Earth and the Google Earth browser plugin is the ability to add tours. Here is a very brief tour of the Apollo 15 Landing Site. The tour is very short and I haven't added any narration or a soundtrack. However, it does show some of the possibilities of creating tours with the new Google Moon option.


The Google Lat Long Blog have now also posted about the launch: Google LatLong: Fly yourself to the moon

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Updated Met Office Google Maps Mashup

Met Office Invent - UK Weather Map
Back in May the UK Met Office released an experimental Google Maps mashup of UK weather. The map shows rainfall, cloud cover and air pressure over the UK for the next 48 hours. Here's a video showing an animation of forecasted rainfall:



The map has now been improved with some added layers. The new layers include two temperature options, one showing a heat map (actually showing heat) of the UK and the other showing the temperature in centigrade at various locations around the UK.

The 'weather' layer shows the usual weather map view, with icons for sun, rain, cloud etc. The 'wind' layer shows wind speed and directions and the 'warnings' layer shows the Met Office's current severe weather warnings for the UK.

The new additions to the map make this the best Google Maps mashup to view the weather in the UK and has led Mapperz to ask if it is "the best UK Google Maps API mashup ever?"

Via: Mapperz

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African Safari Camps on Google Maps

Expert Africa

Tour operator Expert Africa have a large number of Google Maps mashups for the countries, areas, safari camps and lodges in Africa that they send their customers to. Here are a couple of examples:

• Map of the Okavango Delta's Safari Camps and Lodges
• Map of South Luangwa National Park's Main Safari Camps

The maps allow customers to view close up satellite images of the camps and lodges and view details of nearby towns. The map markers for each of the camps and lodges include pictures and a brief description of the camp. Each marker also contains a link to a detailed description of the camp or lodge.

Expert Africa have just added a new feature to the maps allowing anyone to add any of the maps to their own website.

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Mmm... Cake on a Google Map

Cake Delivery Map

Pink Cake Box, based in Denville NJ, are often asked by potential clients where they deliver to. To help customers find the answer to this question they have developed a Google Map showing several of the different venues that they have delivered cakes to in the past.

The Pink Cake Box think that Google Maps is such a good vehicle for displaying a business' product that they have also published a tutorial. The tutorial explains how they created a WordPress plugin that automatically pulls data from their existing blog posts.

The plugin allows the Pink Cake Box to add a latitude/longitude and venue to a post. The plugin then automatically extracts additional information from the post and displays it on the Pink Cake Box's Cake Delivery Map. The plugin also has an added functionality to create links directly to a specific item on the map. So a link in a blog post can take readers directly to that entry on Google Maps.

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