Visualise Your Foursquare Check-ins

Recently a lot of internet sites simultaneously discovered that you can visualise your foursquare check-ins on Google Maps. To see a map of your check-ins all you need to do is right click the KML link on the foursquare feeds page and copy it. Then you can paste the link into the search box in Google Maps and voilà - you have a map of your check-ins.

However this is not the only way to visualise your check-in history. There are actually a few applications that can help you create maps of your check-ins.

Wee Places

Wee Places is probably the best application I've seen for visualising your foursquare check-ins. I'm not sure what mapping service Wee Places is using, it doesn't look like Google Maps and there is no other map logo.

Wee Places provides a map of your check-ins and a time-line. The map animates through your time-line and zaps a yellow line between your check-ins as the time-line plays.

Once the time-line has come to an end you are left with a map of all your check-ins. The size of the map markers reflects the number of times you have checked-in at a venue and, if that is too confusing for you, the marker contains a number telling you the number of check-ins you made here.

4Mapper

Not so visually attractive but effective none-the-less is 4Mapper. Sign into 4mapper with your foursquare account and you can view your check-ins on a Google Map.

4mapper lets you keep your map private or you can make it public and share your map with the world.

4sq Maps
4sq maps is another application that hasn't gone overboard on the design budget but it does have some very nice features.

4sq Maps uses different coloured map markers to show your check-ins, your mayorships and also shows you where your friends have checked-in. 4sq Maps can also provide a static image of your map so that you can place an image of your map in your own website or blog.

Tripline

The wonderful Tripline, that I reviewed last week, also has an option to visualise your foursquare check-ins.

Tripline has some wonderful features that do make it a great way to visualise your check-ins. Unfortunately at the moment you can only import your last fifteen check-ins, so it is limited in scope.

Gowalla Walk

Just in case Gowalla users were beginning to feel left out there is one great Gowalla Google Map mashap. Gowalla Walk is a cool Google Map based application that lets you visualise your Gowalla check-ins.

To create your own Gowalla Walk map all you have to do is enter your username. All the places you have checked-in with Gowalla will then be shown on a Google Map. The locations visited are also listed under the map.

Finding TV Channels with Google Maps

TV Fool - TV Coverage Browser

TV Fool have created a Google Map to help you find all the available TV channels for your location. The map also shows the direction of transmitters in range to help you point your antenna.

To use the map just enter your address. The map will then display your location and list the available TV stations under the map. If you are unhappy with the position of the map marker you can drag it to the correct position. Each time you move the pointer, the list of channels and their predicted signal strengths will be updated automatically. It is also possible to change the height of the antenna.

Listed below the map are the transmitters within range of your location. If you select any of the transmitters, the map will load a coverage map overlay for that station and also display an information window with additional details about the selected transmitter.

Finding Topography Data with Google Maps

Open Topography Portal


The Open Topography Portal is a project that aims to provide access to various public domain airborne and terrestrial LiDAR, bathymetry, and other topographic data. As part of this project the Open Topography Portal has created a Google Map to show where topography datasets are available.

Available datasets are shown on the map by yellow polygons. If you click on the polygons you can learn about the available dataset at that location and see what data products are currently available. The classes of data types available include standard digital elevation models (DEMs), LiDAR point cloud data, and Google Earth files.