UK Geology on Google Maps

The British Geological Survey have a number of examples of Google Maps created with OpenGeoscience. OpenGeoscience is data that the society has made available free-of-charge for non-commercial private study, research and educational activities.

Google Maps with WMS

This Google Map is an example of how to use a simple overlay of the society's geological Web Map Service. The map uses 1:625 000 scale data.

ArcGIS Server Extension for Google Maps

This Google Map is a demonstration of how geology map services can be used in web applications developed using the ArcGIS Server JavaScript extension for the Google Maps API. The map essentially presents the same data as the first example but includes a slider control so that you can adjust the transparency of the overlay.

Bracknell District Caving Club
This Google Map combines BGS geology with cave information in the Mendips area. It is possible to view the location of caves on the map and select from a number of BGS overlays to show the make-up of the bedrock and deposits.

Google Maps Means Business

Google today announced the release of sponsored map icons in the United States. It is an extension of a pilot project that started in Australia earlier this year. Currently business icons appear in grey on Google Maps. Now business owners can add their own icons to Google Maps, replacing the grey icons with their company logos.



Google says that sponsored map icons are being offered as "a limited beta to companies in the U.S. with multiple locations and a well-known brand. Google also point out that participation in this beta does not affect visibility on the map. The new feature is only available to businesses that already appear on the map, and whose default icons can be swapped out for their logo."

The icons will also be visible on Google Maps for Mobile starting sometime later this week.

Via: Google LatLong

SketchUp 8 released

Google's SketchUp 3D Basecamp in Boulder, Colorado has just begun, and they kicked it off with a big announcement -- the release of Google SketchUp 8!

The biggest difference in this version of SketchUp is the amount of geodata that can be pulled into it. They've rewritten the UI for geolocating models, and they'll pull in a patch of terrain data along with color aerial photos via the Google Maps API. Because they're doing that way, Google Earth doesn't need to be open while you're working in SketchUp, saving system resources.

You can also perform geospatial searches from the 3D Warehouse to show nearby 3D models from other SketchUp users. This helps to add context to your project and offers some nice advantages.

Another neat feature is Building Maker integration with SketchUp. You can start Building Maker from within SketchUp, work on your building, and then convert the Building Maker model into a SketchUp model. The model will be cleaned up a bit (removal of unnecessary interior polygons), but it will maintain the imagery that you'll applied to the exterior of the building.

SketchUp Pro has also seen some upgrades, including some new tools and support for boolean operations such as intersect, union and split.

If you're a SketchUp user, this is a great update for you. You can download SketchUp 8 here,

New BBC Travel Maps (Beta)

Improved Navigation and live feeds (jamcams included), much better Travel News from the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelbeta/birmingham/

What's new:

• Updated design, with wider pages and larger text.

• Improved navigation, allowing movement between adjacent geographic areas

• Interactive mapping, which can be minimised if you prefer the text incident list

• Clearer timestamping of incidents.

• Traffic jam cams showing frequently updated still images of traffic conditions on motorways and trunk roads

Addional Improvements

• The text incident list has been updated to improve readability, and is synchronised with the map.

• Local weather forecast from the BBC Weather Centre for the next 6 hours from now

• Backend improvements to our data-handling system to categorise data, and speed up the reception and delivery of data to the site.

What's not changed:

• BBC's comprehensive traffic and travel information remains at the core of the service, updated around the clock

• The text list remains, and you can hide/minimise the map, to put the functionality of the site back to the way it used to be.

• BBC have made the redesign as subtle as possible, in order to retain the things you've told us you like about the existing site.

• In the final version of the site, you'll be able to click to see a country-wide motorways or major roads overview from every page.

• BBC's door-to-door journey planner, powered by Transport Direct, remains but has been made more prominent.

Why a new version of BBC Travel News:

"Firstly, to update the design to take advantage of the BBC's wider page layout, introduce maps across the site for the first time, and make some basic improvements to the presentation of our information
Secondly, to improve the data-handling processes behind the scenes, to allow us to separate the data into more useful groups, and reduce the time it takes for the data to reach you
Thirdly, to integrate traffic jam cameras (where available) into the main BBC Travel News website alongside our incident data"

Current BBC Travel Maps (Beta) Areas:
Birmingham beta
Black Country beta 
Coventry beta
Herefordshire beta
Shropshire beta
Staffordshire beta
Warwickshire beta
West Midlands beta
Worcestershire beta
Wolverhampton beta

Google Maps for California

Apps for Californians

The state of California has partnered with Microsoft, Google andProgrammable Web to run an apps contest. The state wants you to develop apps that will enhance the state government's transparency and services.

Back in July Google Maps Mania looked at some of the early entries that were using Google Maps. A number of other Google Maps mashups have since been entered.

Explore California

Explore California uses Google Maps to help present demographic data for Californian counties.

If you click on any of the counties on the map you can view population, income, unemployment and other data trends for the county. The application shows the trends for the chosen datasets in graph form over a number of years.

It is possible to select any combination of data sets by clicking the check boxes under the graph. Selecting a combination of data sets allows the user to compare and contrast the patterns of growth and decline in various categories and the relationships between them.

Social Map of California Schools and Universities

This application shows online social activity around universities and colleges in California. The application uses Google Maps to show the locations of schools and universities and shows the number of check-ins around each campus.

ZonabiltySF
This application shows San Francisco zoning ordinance information on Google Maps.

If you use the application to search for a San Francisco address you can view an interactive zoning map that provides information about the zoning code.

Just click on a shaded area on the map to get the zoning details for that block.

Explore Europe with Eurostar & Google Maps

Europe by Eurostar

Eurostar, the high speed rail link that connects the UK to mainland Europe, have created a new website to highlight some of the great cities that you can visit by train and to provide tips on what you can see and do when you get there.

The site's home page features a Google Map, which allows you to navigate to all of the featured cities. This works fine, as long as you know the location of your European cities. If you don't you can always zoom in. Some marker tool-tips however would greatly enhance navigation. It would be nice if you could just mouse-over a map marker to see which city it redirects to.

The city pages each come with their own Google Map. The maps feature colour-coded map markers to show points of interest in the city. The categories include Art & Culture, Food & Drink, Music & Nightlife, Fashion & Beauty and Events. 

Some cities at the moment are a little lacking in points of interest. Eurostar do say that they would love you to tell them about your own discoveries, so I'm guessing that they are planning to populate the maps with user generated tips and advice.