Kayaking Around New Zealand

NZKayaker

Tim Taylor set off today to try to set the record for making the first continuous solo circumnavigation of New Zealand by kayak. You can follow Tim's progress live on a real-time Google Map.

Tim is using the SPOT Personal Tracker to show his progress on his journey. SPOT Personal Tracker allows you to send and save your location with a SPOT GPS unit and display your location in near real time using Google Maps.

Tim will be kayaking over 5000 km on his journey, which will take him about 100 days. He hopes to finish his attempt sometime in April 2011.

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Report Local Problems with Google Maps

Neat Streets

Australian website Neat Streets allows anyone to report community problems which are then passed on to the appropriate authorities. The application works in both Australia and New Zealand.

You can download a Neat Streets application for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android based phones. With the apps you can take pictures and submit community problems directly from your smartphone. The latest submitted photos and problems are displayed on a Google Map on the Neat Streets website home page.

Using Neat Streets you can report road obstructions, vandalism, potholes, fallen trees, abandoned trolleys, litter, and graffiti. Neat Streets then automatically forwards the reports to the appropriate authority based on the GPS location

Also See

• SeeClickFix - US site for citizens to report local problems
• FixMyStreet - UK site, allows citizens to report local problems. All problems are then passed onto local government
• Verbeterdebuurt - Dutch local problems reporting site
• Gerecht Geht Anders - German local problem reporting website

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Visualise GPS Tracks with Google Maps

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs is a great application that allows you to view your GPS tracks using Google Maps and the Google Earth browser plug-in.

Using Breadcrumbs you can create map based visualisations of your GPS tracks and include geotagged photographs and videos. The application includes automatic geotagging of your photos and videos and an easy to use editing tool that enables you to correct GPS points. It is also possible to add information and markers to illustrate interesting points on your tracks.

Completed tracks can be shared via a Breadcrumbs public page for each track and through direct integration with Facebook.

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Google Maps Tutorials

Geocodezip - Using the Google Maps API v3

Geocodezip has put together a great list of examples and tutorials for creating Google Maps with V3 of the Google Maps API (and V2).

The examples range from the very simple (for example adding coloured map markers to a map) to more complex examples (such as animated driving directions). The list includes a number of examples of ways to use driving directions, polygons, polylines and create custom information windows.

If you are interested in or involved in creating Google Maps mashups then this long list of Google Maps examples and tutorials will undoubtedly prove very useful.

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Mapping the Recovery Act

Signs of a Failed Stimulus

The website for Republican Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are using Google Maps to show the location of billboards that display where money has been spent as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Republican members of the committee claim that $192 million stimulus dollars are being spent on these signs. If you click on any of the map markers you can view the submitted sign. Strangely information about the number of jobs created by the projects behind each sign is missing from the map.

USDA ARRA Projects Map

The USDA ARRA Projects Google Map shows the locations of United States Department of Agriculture projects funded by the American Recovery Act of 2009.

Is is possible to search the map by location, by agency or by funding amount. The map also includes some cool navigation tools, such as mouse-over state overlays and marker clustering. There is even the option to add your own comments on how your tax dollars are being spent.

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Mapplets to transition out of Google Maps

Earlier this year we announced the deprecation of Google Mapplets. As part of the deprecation plan for Mapplets we will shortly be switching from rendering Mapplets within Google Maps, to rendering them on a dedicated Mapplets page:

http://maps.google.com/maps/mapplets?moduleurl=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/geoscratchpad.xml

In conjunction with this transition the Google Maps Directory will be closed, and links to Mapplets will be removed from the My Maps tab in Google Maps.

Bookmarks for existing Mapplets will continue to work. They will be automatically redirected to the new Mapplets page for the relevant Mapplet. The Mapplets page also has the minimum necessary UI elements so that it is better suited to embedding in third party sites using an iframe.

However because the Mapplets page is not part of the Google Maps application, Mapplets will no longer have access to Google Maps user profiles, which means that User Preferences will no longer be stored between sessions. Users accessing Mapplets will now always see the default behaviour when the Mapplet first loads.

The above changes will be made on or shortly after Wednesday December 8th 2010. If your web site recommends one or more Mapplets by linking to the Directory we recommend that you update your site to link directly to the Mapplets page, or embed the relevant Mapplets page in your site, as soon as possible.

Mapplets to transition out of Google Maps

Earlier this year we announced the deprecation of Google Mapplets. As part of the deprecation plan for Mapplets we will shortly be switching from rendering Mapplets within Google Maps, to rendering them on a dedicated Mapplets page:

http://maps.google.com/maps/mapplets?moduleurl=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/geoscratchpad.xml

In conjunction with this transition the Google Maps Directory will be closed, and links to Mapplets will be removed from the My Maps tab in Google Maps.

Bookmarks for existing Mapplets will continue to work. They will be automatically redirected to the new Mapplets page for the relevant Mapplet. The Mapplets page also has the minimum necessary UI elements so that it is better suited to embedding in third party sites using an iframe.

However because the Mapplets page is not part of the Google Maps application, Mapplets will no longer have access to Google Maps user profiles, which means that User Preferences will no longer be stored between sessions. Users accessing Mapplets will now always see the default behaviour when the Mapplet first loads.

The above changes will be made on or shortly after Wednesday December 8th 2010. If your web site recommends one or more Mapplets by linking to the Directory we recommend that you update your site to link directly to the Mapplets page, or embed the relevant Mapplets page in your site, as soon as possible.

How ratings and reviews work on Google Places

Ratings, reviews and recommendations play an important role in helping people find great places they love. Now that Google Hotpot is available, we want to take the opportunity to share some details on how the Google ratings and reviews system works and remind you of some of the features we’ve launched over the last couple of months.

Whether you’re trying to find a restaurant for some out-of-town relatives or looking for a reputable watch repairman in your neighborhood, your decision-making process is likely to include reading reviews online so you can pick a place that’s right for you. Google helps you find these helpful perspectives about local businesses and services regardless of where on Google you started your search.

Where reviews appear
On the Place page of a business, the “Reviews from around the web” section shows results from the most relevant review sites from across the Web.

In the “Reviews from Google users” section you can read additional reviews that people have posted directly on Google Places. And of course, you can rate the place and write your own review to share your opinions with your friends and other users.


And now with Hotpot, some Place pages may also include a new section called “Recommended because,” which shows you what the friends you’ve added in Hotpot think about various places through their star ratings and reviews.


Also with the addition of Hotpot, if you’re signed in, we’ll use the ratings and reviews from you and your friends to show personalized recommendations in Google search results. These opinions from the people you trust will also be available when searching on Google Maps and Google Maps for Android.


How we handle reviews
We want people to see ratings, reviews and recommendations that are relevant, helpful, and trustworthy. Unfortunately not all reviews and ratings found across the web are entirely honest or legitimate. So to protect both business owners and customers from fake or malicious reviews, we have systems in place that may remove individual reviews from appearing in our products. Our review posting guidelines offer tips for writing thoughtful reviews and provide reasons why reviews are sometimes removed.

Sometimes our algorithms to combat abuse may flag and remove legitimate reviews by mistake. We know this is frustrating when it happens, so we work hard to minimize these instances in our effort to provide reviews that are authentic and useful.

How to flag or respond to reviews
If you believe a review in the “Reviews by Google users” section violates our posting guidelines, you can use the “Flag as inappropriate” link next to the review to report it. We will then investigate if the review violates our guidelines.


However, it’s important to remember that reviews are a forum for users to share both positive and negative opinions. We do not arbitrate disputes and more often than not, we leave the review up.

If you received a review you do not agree with for your business, you can publicly respond on your Place page using business owner responses to reconcile the situation. We know a negative review can be frustrating, but don’t be discouraged. We also provide suggestions on how to engage with customers online to address their concerns and potentially turn an initially negative experience into a positive one.

For the benefit of users who read about other people’s experiences to determine where they want to go, we’re constantly working to improve our review system. At the same time, these continual tweaks also help business owners who use these methods of feedback to learn more about what their patrons think about their offerings.

We hope you continue sharing your thoughts to help yourself and others discover great places, and that the reviews and recommendations you receive from us help you find spots you really love. And if you’re a business owner, we also hope these ratings and reviews bring happy customers through your door.

UKSnow Map Back in Action

#uksnow

If you live in the UK and are a little miffed at the cold weather then you can at least be thankful for Ben Marsh's #uksnow map. With snow now falling in Scotland and northern England #uksnow has sprung back to life.

The app searches Twitter for real-time snow reports and displays them on a Google Map. The map itself has been spruced up with a little Styled Mapsgoodness.

If you want to add your own observations to the map you just need to Tweet the hashtag #uksnow, the first half of your postcode, and rate the snow that is falling out of ten (0/10 for nothing, 5/10 for steady snow and 10/10 for arctic blizzard conditions).

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Danish Google Maps Mashups Roundup

Find Toilet

If you are ever desperate for the loo in Denmark you will be thankful for this Google Map. Find Toilet is a map of public toilets with some excellent search options.

Using the map it is possible to find a toilet by town or by region. It is also possible to search for public toilets in a radius of any given location. Lastly, you can also search for a toilet by type, for example handicapped or unisex toilets.

Kobenhavens Biblioteker

Kobenhavens Biblioteker uses Google Maps to show the locations of libraries in Copenhagen.

The map includes real-time map markers that show not only the libraries locations but also indicate whether each library is currently open or closed. If you mouse-over any of the markers an information window opens displaying the library's address and opening hours.

If you click on a map marker you will be taken directly to the library's dedicated page on the website.

Feriepartner Danmark

Feriepartner Danmark lets you search for holiday accommodation in Denmark. The site uses Google Maps to show the locations of properties returned from any search.

You can search for holiday accommodation by date, location and by the number of beds. The location of each returned result can be viewed in a pop-up Google Map. The map also includes a link to get the driving directions to the property from any location.

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