links for 2010-07-14

Ogle Earth: First post

Oops: Ogle Earth saw it's fifth birthday... last week.

Google Confronts Map Censorship -- InformationWeek

Article about the Ogle Earth post calling for an end to the censored Google Maps for China. The author gets a response from Google:

"Google Maps is one of the products still under review--in particular since the government recently announced new mapping regulations that we also need to take into account," a Google spokesperson said in an e-mail. "We hope to reach a conclusion on this soon; until then, we will continue to operate ditu.google.cn in accordance with local Chinese law. As we've said, we are committed to ensuring that our products in China are not censored."

The Vancouver Sun - Google gets data for free, B.C. gets a bill

"Government pays for licences after tech giant given free information."

Washington Monthly - The Agnostic Cartographer - John Gravois

or "How Google’s open-ended maps are embroiling the company in some of the world’s touchiest geopolitical disputes." Features Ogle Earth's coverage of several of these disputes.

IMINT & Analysis: Underground Airfields: The DPRK

No self-respecting paranoid totalitarian regime can be without at least a few underground airfields. Here they are in Google Earth.

Azerbaijan to Google: Nakhchivan is (still) ours

Azerbaijan is upset again with Google. Several villages in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, an internationally recognized exclave of Azerbaijan, are labeled in Google Earth as belonging to Armenia. The Azeri Press Agency (APA) writes:

Google shows Nakhchevan’s villages and regions as Armenian area

[ 13 Jul 2010 12:30 ]

Baku. Aynur Valiyeva – APA-ECONOMICS. Azerbaijan’s area was perverted in Google Earth’s maps again.

According to APA-ECONOMICS, Nakhchevan’s Ordubad, Sadarak regions and Nehrem village of Babek region were shown as Armenian areas.

According to head of press service of Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies Mushvig Amirov, Azerbaijan has already applied to Google’s management about it. “If Google does take measure about our application, the ministry intends to apply to international regulation bodies in accordance with this problem.”

Here's the original in Azeri, which is longer, and which alludes (according to Google Translate) to this sort of thing having happened before, and that Google corrected the mistake last time after an appeal by the government, only to reintroduce these errors recently.

Indeed, we've heard all this before. Back in January 2010 Ogle Earth published the complaint by Azerbajian's government to Google, and confirmed there was a labeling error for Nakhchivan:

That popup is no longer shown in Google Earth, because the entire region is no longer labeled. (This is likely as result of the reorganization of the default layers a few months back). Instead, we have popups for the villages of Nakhchivan. The capital (also called Nakhchivan) is labeled correctly:

But the other villages are not:

It's a clear and straightforward error, which Google should correct (again), especially considering the strained relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the fact that Armenia currently occupies other parts of Azerbaijan.

On a side note: I'm not sure the threat to take this case up with "international regulation bodies" has much promise, considering that there is no such thing when it comes to names and borders. The UN will recognize countries and the International Court of Justice will adjudicate border disputes between countries if asked, but there is no international law that obligates a private corporation like Google to be accurate or fair in its depiction of the world on its maps. Of course, it is in Google's best interests to be accurate and fair, but that's another matter completely.

Exploring the Suwarrow Atoll

Google Earth provides a great way to "visit" some of the beautiful islands out in the middle of the ocean, which is something I often do. This is no doubt influenced by Frank's visits to various islands, including the amazing imagery he often captures with his kite-mounted camera (such as Petite Tabac and BBQ Island).

Stefan at Ogle Earth recently wrote an article all about the Suwarrow Atoll, located in the South Pacific. Made semi-famous by Tom Neale in his 1966 book "An Island to Oneself", Suwarrow looks like a beautiful place to visit.

To take it a step further, Stefan has created a KMZ file that shows the location of Suwarrow along with many of the places that Neale mentions in his book.

Two of Stefan's friends, Rhian and Andy, will be visiting it soon as they sail across the Pacificfrom Chile. Frank is relatively close to Suwarrow right now, but has no plans to visit (as far as I know).

As a commenter on Stefan's blog says, "Thanks for being such a thorough researcher, Stefan. Means we don't all have to travel there physically to enjoy the place.". I agree completely, as Google Earth gives us the opportunity to "explore" places like this from the comfort of our own home. It'd sure be cool to visit one day, though. :)

On a related note, @astro_wheels (astronaut Douglas Wheelock) posted a great photo of an atoll from the Line Islands, roughly halfway between the Suwarrow Atoll and Hawaii.

He's already posted some great pics, and I expect many others. Follow him on twitter if you'd like to keep up with his latest images.

Tour de France Elevation Charts

Wall Street Journal -Tour de France Map

The Wall Street Journal are using Google Maps to show the route of the stages of the Tour de France. The map is particularly impressive at the moment as the race enters the mountain stages.

The WSJ's map includes an interactive elevation chart. This means the user can click on the steepest climb in the stage or the steepest downhill sections and find out exactly where they are on the map.

The WSJ map also includes a nice map animation when you click on each stage of the race. On the initial load of each stage the map animates the stage's route, whilst also highlighting the elevation at each point of the stage.

Also See

• Follow Team HTC
• Ubilabs - Tour de France 2010

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Get the Best Seat with Google Maps

eSeats.com

eSeats.com are using Google Maps with custom tiles of a map of the United Center in Chicago to help customers find the best seats when booking.

Importing the map of the stadium into Google Maps allows the user to pan and zoom the map. However eSeats.com have also made all the seat blocks clickable. So if you click on a numbered seat block on the map you can preview a photograph of the court from that block. In this way you can preview your view before booking a seat.

Inspired!

Find Something To Do with Google Maps

FurlanGo

Furlango is a Google Maps mashup to help you find events around your location. FurlanGo uses Yahoo Upcoming to show music concerts, cinema listings and other events in your local area.

Users of the map can search by location and by type of event. The categories of event that you can search include, Music, Arts, Media, Social, Education, Commercial, Festivals, Sports, Comedy, Politics and Family. It is also possible to refine the results by date, showing events 'today', 'tomorrow' and 'this weekend'.

Results are displayed on the map with numbered map markers and are listed in the map sidebar. To get the full details of the event just click on the respective map marker. 

Replacing Google with Hand Drawn Maps

Mapplers

Mapplers is a great project to create an atlas from hand drawn maps. Currently the map consists of a hand-drawn map of Brisbane that has been made interactive with the Google Maps API.

The site wants to expand the map with user contributions. If you wish to add a contribution you need to e-mail in your hand-drawn maps to the site's creator but there are plans to allow users to upload maps themselves.

Via: The Map Room

Google Maps Moves to Open Democracy

Tessa Jowell on Google Maps

Google Maps' latest innovation is the mapping of politicians. 

Many people are worried about sharing their location online. Not so Tessa Jowell, a British Member of Parliament. In fact Tessa Jowell has apparently set up permanent residence in the UK Houses of Parliament and Google Maps has given the MP her own place name.

Giving a place name to politicians is another great improvement in supporting open democracy by Google. Now users of Google Maps can rate Tessa Jowell just by clicking on her name.

The reviews for Tessa are very useful. For example Jim says,

"Don't waste time and money on a day out at Tessa Jowell. Save your money and go off the beaten track to landmarks like Tony Benn or Ed Balls instead."

Benj disagrees, he says,

"Tessa is resplendent in the evening light. Visiting London and watching the sun set over her is one of the most profound spiritual moments I have ever experienced.‎"

Martin however is in agreement with Jim, he claims that,

"The whole edifice needs knocking down and starting again."

Google's decision to map British MP's again proves that Google Maps is at the forefront of online mapping. A lot has been made recently at the improvements being made by Bing Maps. However have a look at Bing Maps in London and, even with the help of Ordnance Survey, they completely miss the British politician. 

Even Open Street Maps, with their thousands of amateur cartographers continuously circling and mapping Parliament Square, fail to spot Tessa Jowell.

I'm sure that there will be some who will scoff at this innovation or who will claim that this is just another mapping error by Google Maps. I say Google haven't gone far enough. How long do we have to wait until we get the compulsory tagging and online tracking of all politicians?

Mapping the Skyway with Google Maps

SkywayMyWay

The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connects buildings in Minneapolis. The system forms a network of climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that link sixty-nine full city blocks over seven miles.

This huge network of walkways provides quite a navigational challenge for those who wish to get from one building to another. What one needs in such a situation is a map!

SkywayMyWay is a new website that shows the Skyway network on a Google Map and can help you find stores, businesses and other points of interest within the connected buildings. You can use the search box to search for a store or you can filter the map markers by category.

Users can use SkywayMyWay to send a 'Meet Me Here' link to a friend or colleague. You can even find parking near any point of interest. In the pipeline are directions and a mobile phone application.

Follow Team HTC-Columbia on Google Maps and Then Let Others Follow You

In case you missed it, check out the Official Google Blog’s post about how Team HTC-Columbia is using Android-powered phones and a special version of the My Tracks app with SRM to share real-time data from the Tour de France. Head over to google.com/mytrackstour to follow along during the race and see riders’ real-time location along with their power, heart rate, cadence and speed right on Google Maps.

Want to record some of this data or share your location on Google Maps during your next big ride? Track your rides, runs, or walks in detail with the My Tracks app on your Android-powered phone. From many popular smartphones, you can share your location with friends using Google Latitudeand then publish your location to the web with the Google Public Location Badge.

Posted by Chris Nguyen, Google Mobile Team