World Map

This week Google has announced "Mapplets" which is a brand new way for developers to make their Google Maps mashups more accessible and viewable to more people on the web. Google Mapplets combine the Google Gadgets API with the Google Maps API to allow embedding of "mini mapping applications".. right within the Google Maps site! At this stage Mapplets aren't yet available on the main Google Maps site but are available at this special preview URL found at:

http://maps.google.com/preview

Check out this YoutTube demo clip where Google Maps product manager Thai Tran explains how Mapplets can be used:

This example Thai outlines in the clip shows how Mapplets will enable a user to aggregate many mashups (in this case crime, transit, and school information about their city) into one view on the map. Google Maps Local Search adds yet another data component by adding in business and points of interest you're used to searching for on Google Maps today. In essence, this Mapplets are a "mashup of mashups" making for a totally customized map user experience. Be sure to also check out Thai Tran's Google LatLong Blog post announcing Mapplets to learn more.

This concept needs developer participation! That means anyone that has ever been blogged about here on Google Maps Mania needs to take a look at how their mashup can be ported to its own Google Mapplet. By doing this you will be reaching millions of additional users that are on the Google Maps site and will be able to utilize your Google Maps mashup while they are there. Check out the Mapplets developer documentation to get started with porting your Google Maps mashup to a Google Mapplet.

Stay tuned to Google Maps Mania to find the coolest new Mapplets and start getting even more out of Google Maps!

(Updated May 30th/07: YouTube demo clip, more details..)

Google has just launched an absolutely mind-blowing new feature for Google Maps called "Street View", and it's available for the following US cities: San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami. Street View gives you the ability to view 360° panoramas of street-level imagery on Google Maps:

For a cool demo of how this works, take a look at this fun YouTube clip:

..This page features the same YouTube clip with more information and links to read about.

This new Maps viewing experience is much better test driven than being read about so head over to Google Maps (or follow the direct city links above), center the map on the US and click "Street View" up at the top. Choose a city with a camera marker and zoom in to have a play!

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The third annual Where 2.0 Conference kicks off Monday evening with the Ignite and Launchpad sessions. These events are described from the Where site: "..This high-energy, fast-paced event will feature up to 20 Ignite presentations and will also include Launch Pad, a platform for start-ups to make their debut." Giving talks at the Ignite session this evening are Google Maps geo-developers (and enablers) Luistxo Fernandez of Tagzania and David Troy of Twittervision and Flickrvision.

For those of you not familiar with Where 2.0, here is an excerpt from conference website:
"At Where 2.0, you'll find source mapping tools, open standards for data and location web services, and sensors for obtaining location data. We'll learn how the established geo industry is reacting to the first businesses making money from their grassroots geospatial projects. There's no better place to meet the people behind the mash-ups, the people behind the platforms, and the people looking ahead to the future of geospatial. Join us at Where 2.0 to debate and discuss what's viable now, and what's lurking just below the radar."

The 2007 Where 2.0 Conference promises to be full of interesting events and exciting product announcements from companies in the geospatial industry. I have already been contacted by FortiusOne who plans to use Where 2.0 as the venue to announce "GeoCommons". Take a look at this pre-brief for more details of what the concept is. O'Reilly has also covered this pre-announcement on the O'Reilly Radar in a very interesting post that should get you excited for FortiusOne's official announcement. While I won't be attending Where 2.0 directly I will be paying attention to and passing on anything relevant to the world of Google Maps and Google Maps mashups. For a comprehensive account of what is taking place at the conference, I recommend tuning into Frank Taylor at the Google Earth Blog who will be posting live from the conference floor. Where 2.0 wraps up with the Google Developer Day held at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California on Thursday May 31st. Check out this ZDNet blog post for a sneak peek of this event.

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Technorati Tag: Where 2.0

Calgary.. Mapped!:

Here is a great Google Maps mashup for those of you living in Calgary, Alberta... Calgary Mapped lets you plot the locations of: Community Centres, Fire Stations, Golf Courses, Healthcare, Hotels, Parks, Police Stations, Public Libraries, Recycling Depots, Registries, and Sports Facilities in the great city of Calgary. Other Google ingredients include driving/cycling directions and search links for each point of interest. it has is a nice tidy, clean UI for you to find all the essentials for this Canadian city!

CBC News: Green Cities Interactive Map - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has used Google Maps to plot the geo-locations of a recent status report on: What Canada's municipalities are doing to help fight climate change. It's nice to see big Canadian media getting into the "news-maps" act! This is the second CBC Newsmap. The first was to plot locations in a story about Mercury levels in canned tuna

Whistler, BC Hotel Map - A simple hotel map for Whistler resort, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. [via]

Apartment Outpost gets off the ground in 8 Canadian cities - A London, ON based Canadian housing mashup with real potential. So far cities include Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Kitchener, Waterloo, London, Ottawa, Toronto. Landlords should check out this page for more information.

Banzza launches local Canadian real estate mashup
Canadian historical large fire database + Google Maps
Simple Map of a few Toronto attractions [via]
Nova Scotia Vacation Cottage Rental [via]

For all recent Google Maps mashups from Canada, please click on the label marked "Canada" below! :)

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Argentina:

Flof Google Maps mashup has Buenos Aires street maps - A fantastic site to share and find out about interesting places in Argentina that features KML export, map embedding, RSS feeds and more! The cool part about this mashup is that they have inserted street maps into the mashup even though Google Maps is not yet providing them in this country!

Buenos Aires Lodging Mashup - Here is bilingual English and Spanish tourism mashup for the city of Buenos Aires. Solving the challenge of no street maps this Google Maps API site has Microsoft Virtual Earth streets and Google satellite imagery and map controls. It features lodging alternatives throughout Buenos Aires including hostels and 1-4 star hotels. Geo developer Javier Vásquez also informs us of another mashup he has created: "..We have created another one for a trendy beach south of Buenos Aires called Carilo Most of the descriptions are in Spanish only as 90% of our visitors are Spanish speakers, however we are translating them to adequately serve our non Spanish speakers patrons."

Post Urbano - Read more about this project here..

Related: Wikimapia - Argentina (Spanish language)

Chile:

GeoTurismo.cl - The government of Chile has created this virtual tourism mashup for Chile. Take a look! Features information for each point of interest, photos and videos.

Portalinmobiliario - Chile's first housing mashup - Here is a great new housing mashup for all of Chile! It features a proprietary geocoding system for placing properties on a map overlaid on a satellite map for many cities in the country. In Santiago for example subway lines and stations are plotted on the map.

Santiago Metro Mashup - Here is a great transit and photo mashup for the city of Santiago Chile. No street maps unfortunately but this will act as a guide to what stations to use to reach certain attractions. All lines are available to be viewed with each station stop plotted.

Japanese language Santiago Subway Map Mashup

Related: Wikimapia - Chile (Spanish language)

A Magnificent Moscow Metro Mashup:

Boris Vikhanskiy of Russia dropped me a line to inform me of a new bilingual (Russian and English) transit mashup he has created for the Moscow subway system. As far as transit mashups go, this is one of the better I've seen in all ways. For the network itself the mashup has routes, station schemas and exits (more on that in a moment) and public transportation by each station. The UI for the map itself features a tool to measure distance, a way to pass a created path as a link and print/email options. This, among many other features.

My favorite part of this map is that it keeps surprising you as you get further and further down in zoom levels. At first you see the color coded spaghetti polylines going every which way to illustrate the various routes. Zoom down a bit more and stations appear. Even further and text labels appear.. then when you reach zoom levels 1 and 2 the actual schema for the station with each of the stairways and exits is displayed! Take a look:

Be sure to take a look at the bottom of the map to find detailed instructions on how to use every part of Boris Vikhanskiy most awesome Google Maps transit mashup for the city of Moscow, Russia!

More Russian Google Maps Mashups:

Wikimapia - This world famous Google Maps mashup was created by two developers in Moscow
domnakarte.ru - A new Moscow housing mashup
Virtual Moscow - A great tourism mashup for Moscow showing highlights and virtual tours

5:03 AM

Since the release of Google My Maps there have been a number of new and very useful new features introduced to Google Maps. With the introduction of the Google LatLong Blog these features have been easier to track and learn more about. Here is a roundup of what's new..

"Avoid Highways" in driving directions - This LatLong blog post outlines the option to avoid using highways when plotting driving directions. Take the scenic route, make the drive less stressful and meander through small towns and eat at quaint diners. A New York Times travel columnist is showing you how it's done. This feature also instantly turns "driving directions" into "cycling directions"!

List View added - When searching for points of interest on Google Maps, you now have the option of viewing the results in List view versus the standard map view. Check this out by searching "Parks in New York City" or "Hotels Los Angeles". Here is some more analysis of the feature by SearchEngineLand's Greg Sterling.

Now search with the name of your neighborhood - Google Maps has also added neighborhood searching to 50 cities in the US. Googler David Tussey explains: "..You can now do searches such as bagels upper east side new york and restaurants, over the rhine, cincinnati on Google Maps. Additionally, this capability allows you to do city-level searches where the city is uniquely named, regardless of size, such as bakery corpus christi, or movie theater albuquerque."

Universal search now blends Google Maps business listings - (See this search for an example of this..)

Search for your home address in more countries - Now you can search for your home address on Google Maps (and Earth) in these countries: Brazil, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal. These additions make "geocoding", or address searching, available now in 24 countries!

Try out these new features on:

[Google Maps Link]

For more past updates on new Google Maps features, click on the "Google Maps" label below for a chronological list of all past posts here on Google Maps Mania.

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(post by Robert de Heer)

Every Friday, I'll try to post a country round-up from a a specific country. I'll call it for now "Wrap-up Friday", but better names are welcome ;-)

For this Friday, I'll post here the fourth round-up for the Netherlands (thanx to Remco from Nederkaart); the previous one can be found here.

ANWB - Dutch automobile association (no idea what the American equivalent is called, but its an association mainly for tourisme and helping drivers) has a site about Dutch beaches.
Ticketatlas.nl - Travel tickets on sale. Google Maps application for finding cheap travel tickets in Europe.

Vanraalten.net - A cute little site, showing old postcards on a map of the city of Utrecht (in the centre of The Netherlands). Old postcards shown on their google map location, sometimes in combination of present day pictures.
Geoskating.com - Dutch skating enthousiasts dont limit themselves to wintertime skating. Onland scating, life tracking of tours, and lots of pictures and more.
Gemeenteanalyse.nl - Dutch city finances: of each Dutch city, all the financial statistics.
Staatopdekaart.nl - Traveling to a Dutch city? Find lots of information on Staatopdekaart.nl . Museums, monuments, theaters, parkingspaces, bike rentals, hotels, etc. etc.
Dakvanrotterdam.nl - A fantastic mashup, with 3 sites in one:
- an interactive skyline, 3d panorama on lots of locations in Rotterdam (maps and quicktime)
- what's on in Rotterdam this summer (maps)
- 3d Rotterdam: the city in Sketchup (kmz-file)
Uitvaartkaart.nl - Everything you need for a funeral

The "Doing Business Map": How easy (or difficult) is it to do business in 175 countries?

DoingBusiness.org is a part of The World Bank Group and offers a database to "..provide objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement. The Doing Business indicators are comparable across 175 economies. They indicate the regulatory costs of business and can be used to analyze specific regulations that enhance or constrain investment, productivity, and growth."

To make it easier to browse this database The World Bank Group has created a Google Maps mashup called the "Doing Busiess Map" which creates a map view to the the database they are providing as a service from their website. Here is the description from the map: "..Take a trip around the world to discover how easy (or difficult) it is to do business in 175 countries. Click on green, yellow or red placemarks to learn more about each country." It's a really nice Map with three clearly labeled map markers that indicate the ease or challenge of doing business for the country marked across a number of indicators. They include:

Doing Business
Starting a Business
Dealing with Licenses
Employing Workers
Registering Property
Getting Credit
Protecting Investors
Paying Taxes
Trading Across Borders
Enforcing Contracts
Closing a Business

Now entrepreneurs and business people all over the world can more easily create business plans and develop their overall business strategy. It is truly a Google Maps mashup that has the potential to change the way the world operates.

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New York Times Frugal Traveler: American Road Trip (On a Google Map) - New York Times "Frugal Traveller" columnist (Matt Gross) is setting out on a trip around the US with the mission to NOT use major highways. I wonder if Matt has read about the latest Google Maps driving directions feature which gives the option to "Avoid Highways" from the Google Lat Long Blog? :) Matt will be using GPS, photos, videos and blog-style accounts to bring you along on the journey!
Related posts:
New York Times Travel Google Maps Mashup: Where to go in 2007
New York Times Google Maps Travel Guides (Worldwide)

Sacremento Bee Google Map: Whales in the Delta - An integrated Google Map shows approximate locations to show the general direction of travel for 2 stranded whales.

TerraIMS holds mashup contest -

TerraIMS, creator of the mapicons Dynamic Generator product recently held a maps mashups contest for their customers that I took part in by helping to judge. Check out the winners, who by the way have not yet been mentioned here on Google Maps Mania:
1st - ApartmentOutpost - A really nice Canadian apartment listings website
2nd - NewConSearch - Find new construction projects in Southeast Florida
3rd - WharTown - An online guide for Wharton
Check out the rest of the entrants in this Maps gallery..

Dog Parks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Largest Banks in the U.S.
2007 - Most Livable States
..More maps from this same person found here.
[both maps via ProgrammableWeb]

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(by Robert de Heer)

Map.movin-360.com - Yesterday, Mike blogged about a driving video in San Francisco, synched to Google Maps. The guys from movin-360.com (Fabian Zastrow, Christian Müllenhagen, post-graduated students from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin) made something even more spectacular. They used a videocamera, combined with a single-shot panoramic camera system to film a route in Berlin which is totally panoramic. During the trip, you can move the camera around to see what's on your left, your right, your back or front. It's really astonishing. They created their own flash-based player to make this work. Check it out on Map.movin-360.com.

Driving video in SF synched to Google Maps:

Found this one on this Flickr page. The image caption reads: "..Exploring the San Francisco docks with a camera attached to the grill of a Cushman, a GPS unit, and a couple of geeks." Take a look, it's pretty cool! This is very similar to the path that is mapped out during the French short film: Rendezvous (using Google Video and Google Maps)..

Key Silicon Valley Places - A Google Maps My Map of tech companies in Silicon Valley (WIRED, Twitter, Digg, Google, Facebook etc.. [Via ProgrammableWeb]

Google Base + Google Maps = BaseEstate:

BaseEstate is a new Google Maps real estate mashup that aggregates listings from Google Base and plots them to a Google Map. With a really nice UI this mashup is available for the US and Australia.

PointMaven.com using Google Maps - Enter a US or Canadian destination and and see all hotels displayed on a Google Map. Very helpful to choose a hotel based on the points that can be collected. Try it out, it works very well.
The MyMapsPlus "Big Map" - Showing locations of Google My Maps based on their location from around the world.

RadiusIM is first Web Instant Messaging service to integrate Google Maps:

RadiusIM, the free web based Instant Messaging service that aggregates many chat services together into one view, has integrated Google Maps to let you find other RadiusIM users in your area, as well as map your existing contacts. If you hold an MSN, Google Talk, AOL, Yahoo! chat IM account, do a quick registration on this service and set your position on the map. As you zoom out people that are logged into RadiusIM are displayed. Very cool! :)

[Via ProgrammableWeb]:

Countries that lie on the Equator
Capitals of the 50 US States
SalaryScout.com + Google Maps - Browse global salaries on a Google Map - be sure to check out the entire site once you've checked out the map to understand the concept.

(post by Robert de Heer)
Planningalerts.com - I guess all of us had had the same experience: suddenly, you see in your neighbourhood a new construction being built, or an old one being demolished. Richard Pope had the same experience with an old pub in his town Brixton. He was mad, and decided to do something about it. In many countries, one needs a planning application from local government to build or demolish a place. Officially, these permits are published in local newspapers or on government websites. But they are difficult to find or to browse.
So Richard built Planningalerts.com: a website that crawls over 150 local UK-government websites looking for new planning applications, and reformats them in a simple to use geoRSS-feed. Anyone can use this data to make Google Maps-mashups, or e-mail alert services based on your neighbourhood.
A very cool and helpful example of what one can do with local content & Google Maps! Which country is next?

LA Metro Rail Map - Finally an LA Transit Map! :) This LA Metro Rail Map was created using Google My Maps and displays station stops for the LA Metro Rail, Blue, Red, Green and Gold Lines.

CityTagz (LA) - Another Google Maps mashup for LA CityTagz "..aims to improve to spatial and historical awareness of Los Angeles residents." [via]

(More LA Google Maps mashups can be found here..)

US Presidential Candidates (2008) on Google Maps - Learn more about the US presidential candidates through this Google Map which maps locations of where each are from and combines additional info and YouTube videos.

AJ's Google Maps Michigan Weather Map - Take a meteorology and personal weather station site add PHP, XML and AJAX (and of course Google Maps) and you have a home-grown user created weather map mashup! See also: Detroit!

American towns damaged by toxic waste - Google Maps and YouTube videos.. created by The Center for Public Integrity. State pages are here.

US Hotels Going Green - a HotelChatter.com feature resulting from this blog post.

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(Post by Robert de Heer)

Eeehop.com - Ok, I know, there are may European tourism sites offering bookings of hotels, holiday homes, campings, etc etc. But this one is worth mentioning: Eeehop.com Although their design is not that nifty, the Google addon-tool they are using is quite handy. They're using the option to draw polygones on a Google Map, to point out exactly the radius around a certain city. So for example, when one is interesting in a holiday house within a 50 km radius of Nice, the map shows many homes in that area, but a drown radius shows exactly what is within your wanted boundaries.
This is very cool, and I'm wondering: why don't more travel sites offer this?

Mapeteria - Generate thematic maps for Google Maps and Google Earth more easily
GeoRSS Map via Google AJAX Feed API - An experiment by Esa Ojala
My Maps Mashup Maker - Combine mulitple KML files from My Maps onto one map then create code to embed to your blog or website
Embedding My Maps into Blogger
Simple Guide To Embedding Google Maps "My Maps" On Your Own Webpage
Google Developer Day schedule posted - Select city then follow the "full schedule" link.. Lots of juicy Maps API and mashup fun to be had!
10 Cool Things You Need to Know About Google Developer Day - From GISUser.com
Looking for somewhere in Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, or the Czech Republic? Just geocode it!- A recent post from the Google Maps API Blog.
Create your own Google Maps travel itinerary
Make your own stadium map
Weebly Google Maps Module
Find LatLong Tool
SmugMug + Project Blackbox Blog + Google Maps
LaudonTech - PDF Maps, GIS Data (SHP, CAD, MapInfo. etc.) via Google Maps, Earth
How to get your information into Google Maps (5): Local Ads
How to get your information into Google Maps (6): User generated data
How to get your information into Google Maps (7): Coupons

For past Creation Tools posts, click the "creationtools" label below:

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World Video News Map:

..GeoRSS feeds + Google AJAX Feed API + Google Maps. News articles get plotted while live streaming video can be played as well. Created by Keir Clarke who also created the VirtualTourism Video Map. [via]

Map of the world's tallest skyscrapers
Mapping a Global view of childhood mortality rates
World Surf Conditions - HowsTheSurf.com lets you select points on the map for up to date conditions. (Maps Australia, Indonesia, Japan, California)
Find World Skate Spots - SkateSpotter.com integrates Google Maps with videos and photos to help you find a place to skate. Look for a spot or add your own!

To see more uses for Google Maps mashups check out:
50 Things to do with Google Maps Mashups
...or check out a few cool mashups here..

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Google Earth - Somehow the Dutch have "something" with Google. A news-report recently stated that half of the population is using Google Earth. That amount is doubtful, but still, Google Maps and Earth is popular there. Now Google just released almost the whole of Amsterdam in 3D. For ow, it's Google Earth only. As Gearthblog.com is writing, they will probably be used for Google Maps as well, but up until now we haven't seen it yet.

(Post by Robert de Heer)

GrowMaps.com - I was quite surprised to learn this website www.growmaps.com exists: a website in France, showing exactly where to buy in France and neighbouring countries, your material for growing home-made cannabis. I actually thought it was forbidden outside of the Netherlands (=capital of worldwide Weed), but apparently not. The website also has Talkback-facilities for user's experiences.

DublinCityBus.com:

James Decraene (graduate student) realized in his spare-time the website www.dublincitybus.com. "I did this website because nothing as such was available and that was not helpful for the Dubliners and its herd of tourists", says James. Interesting enough, James doesn't provide the entire bus network yet, but is calling for help from fellow-Dubliners to draw all of the routes of the Dublin Bus System. So far, over 50% of all routes have been realized. Who's helping James out?

(Check out Dartmaps for another fantastic Dublin Transit Google Maps Mashup!)

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+

Since the addition of Brazil street and road maps to Google Maps back on September 26th, 2006 a number of new mashups and tools have been developed there. Time for a Google Maps Mania roundup of all known Google Maps projects happening in this Brazil:

Street Art in Sao Paulo - Explore the vibrant streets of Sao Paulo with this unique photo map of Sao Paulo street art. This map was created using Google's new My Maps tool.
PontosBR - Here is a great Brazilian Google Maps satellite viewing site that indexes interesting sights found on both Google Maps and Earth (with links to both). Includes tons of options to vote on the location and share with others!
GmapsBrasil - Here is a blog that shows.. "Imagens via satélite, do Brasil e do mundo!" (interesting sights and locations throughout Brazil and the world). This site differs from PontosBR in that it tells a story for each location. Check out how the Google Maps API has been used to create the title banner! Nice!
Geo Serendipidade - Here is a cool Google Maps concept that maps blogs and websites in Brazil, showing geographic relevance to other web properties! See if your neighbors have a blog or website!
UFind - Search for restaurants, bars and cinemas in and Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte on a Google Map.
Tracking TAM Virtual Pilots - Maps pilots flying around using the TAM Virtual simulator. See TAMVirtual.org for more info (and a pretty snazzy YouTube clip).

Brazil Food Finder! - Find Italian, Japanese Food.. Even locate McDonald's and Burger King in major Brazilian cities!
HoteisBrasil - Information, images and hotels of more than 5500 Brazilian cities and 27 states.
Brazilian Satellite Images from different dates - Images taken from the China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS)
Brazil Google Maps/Earth Tools:
GoToGoogleMaps - open Google Maps on a given lat/long
GoToGoogleEarth - open Google Earth on a given lat/long
SeAchando - to find the coordinates of latitude/longitude
CavaCava - where do you will arrive if you dig dig and dig?

Brazilian geo-developer Luis Felipe Cipriani created questionably one of the most popular Google Maps tools on the planet in 2005. He made the first Google Maps tool that would let you choose a point on the earth, dig a hole from that point, then find out where you would end up. I can lay claim to its popularity since I saw it blogged about and reported on in mainstream news everywhere when it was first introduced. It was popular because it was a mapping application that was relevant to everyone, everywhere. Sao Paulo resident Luis Felipe has updated this tool and created one more that should be consistent with his digging tool and remain globally relevant to all users on the web:

[Link]

[Link]

..Try them both out - they're really fun! (See my original post about these tools)

More great Google Maps tools and sites to explore Brazil!

Let's hope many more Brazilian Google Maps mashups and Google Earth KML creations result from the Google Developer Day that is being held in many world locations, including Sao Paulo, Brazil this May 31st, 2007!

If you don't see a specific Brazilian Google Maps project mentioned, please post a comment to share with others!

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Ibiseye Florida Hurricane Tracker launches 2007 version:

With the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season fast approaching, the Sarasota Herald Tribune has polished up its Google Maps Hurricane Tracker (Ibiseye) and launched an '07 version. There is a staggering amount of interactivity in this mashup. Explore storm information, look through storm alerts, news and make choices to bring the info you're looking through into the map or just look through it in its own mini-browser info-window. This is an awesome mapping application created by a local media outlet.

Cicada Emergence Map:

WalkJogRun's Adam Howitt has submitted a new Google Maps mashup and provides us with this description: It's rare that one hopes for an app to be really, really buggy, but in the case of the interactive Cicada Emergence Map unveiled today by the Lake County Forest Preserve District, that's a good thing. At the end of May, billions of 17-year cicadas will emerge from the ground across the Midwest. To track the phenomenon, the Forest District is asking the public to report on the concentration of the insects in their neighborhood. As the dataset grows, the resulting population density map is refined. The bugs will be dead and gone by mid-July, but the information gathered through this app will be analyzed and saved for use in 2024 - the next time the Brood XIII cicadas are expected to emerge. This mashup also takes a novel approach to displaying pins in preparation for lots of cicada reports. When the screen boundaries surround an area with more pins than a preset threshold, the application cuts over to a proportional density or heat map approach using GMap overlays to indicate the neighborhoods with the most cicadas. The developer behind the mashup is also responsible for WalkJogRun.net and works for Duo Consulting in Chicago. Check it out at http://www.lcfpd.org/cicadamap

More New US Mashups:

My name is Robert de Heer and every month, I will be posting a shortlist (call it a hit-list, top-list or whatever ;-)) of new interesting European mashups. As an introductory post, below you will find 9 mashups that appeared since March on the web.

1) Bordeaux (FR) - where does my wine come from? - Always handy to know: you drink a nice glass of Chardonnay, but uhm, where is Chardonnay situated, and what are the characteristics of the wine? No worries, now there is "Findthevine.com', helping you to get all the details of the French wines. Santé!

2) Firenze (IT) - Best tourist places in Italy - Planning to visit Italy? Take a look at dal-satellite.it. This website offers basic details and info on touristic places within dozens of Italian cities. Not too sophisticated, but still a handy one-stop-source if you’re looking for quick and limited tourist information. Interesting however, is how this guy tries to generate revenue: in each map, he insert a Google Ad as a text-balloon. Check out this example, never seen it before.

3) Charleroi (BE) - strange places for airplanes - The Dutch and French sometimes make fun of the Belgians, like the English are making fun of the Irish. But we actually DO sometimes have a genuine reason to laugh. Check out this link, showing all the airfields that Belgian has. So far so good. But what does an airplane do in a school? Check out this and some other examples on this special Google Map.

4) Aberystwyth (UK) - cheap houses in the UK - Never heard of this place, Aberystwyth, but it exists in Wikipedia , so I guess it must exist. If you want to live there, you’re fortunate, because house-prices there are extremely low. How do I know? Because I checked out www.estateangels.co.uk/house_prices, a website that displays using heat-maps the cheapest and most expensive areas to buy a house in the United Kingdom.

5) The Hague (NL) - where to park my car? - Check out the image yourself, a nice way to solve parking problems ;-)

6) Dutch LandRegister website - In the Netherlands, the official Land Register has made an custom beta-version of a maps application. Using Google Maps, they created an extra layer showing the exact boundaries of real estate in the entire country. When visiting the website Find Your Own House (www.vindjeeigenhuis.nl), one can enter his house-address, and sees directly the boundaries of all real estate in the neighbourhood, including not just area boundaries, but also the boundaries of the houses themselves.

7) Googlelittrips - I guess everybody knows the Odyssey by Homer. A great story, which takes place around the current Greece. The website Googlelittrips has made this and several other stories available in Google Earth. It’s a great way to bring old stories to life!

8) No more soft-drugs - The Dutch political party CDA (christian democrats) launched a website enabling voters to display on a map where one can find coffee shops (selling soft drugs) nearby school areas. As it’s the political program to ban coffee shops nearby schools, the party is actively calling for more information on hazardous areas for school kids.

9) Where is Sarkozy? - In addition to an earlier post on euromapsmania.com about the French presidential elections: the website of candidate Sarkozy produced a map displaying his whereabouts since 2002. This is what I call openness!

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Google Maps + Flickr = FlickrVision

David Troy is at it again. Back in March I told you about his Twitter Google Maps mashup called TwitterVision which plots real time Twitters to a Google Map. This time he's taken the Flickr API and worked some mashup magic to show real time "Flickrs" to a Google Map. It's called: FlickrVision. Like TwitterVision and other real time Google Maps mashups it's really quite addictive. Set it in motion and watch photos being added to Flickr by user, by country... in real time! It appears the geo-referencing is coming from the Flickr user's profile and not by photo tag. Plotting by tag would be even interesting since the profile location might not necessarily be the origin of the photo. Also nice would be a Stop - Play - Pause function to go back to a photo that looked interesting. All that aside, this is a cool mashup. :)

FlickrVision blogosphere link-love:
Frank Taylor at The Google Earth Blog
Brady Forrest at The O'Reilly Radar
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