Photo Location Game
In this Google Map game you have to guess where in the world a photograph was taken. Each photograph shows the view from someone's window and all you have to do is guess where the photo was taken.
A grid has been placed over the map and you have to click on the grid square which you think contains the location of the view. If you guess wrong the square will be shaded red. If you guess right the map will zoom in one level and you then need to guess again.
With each correct guess you narrow down your hunt and get closer to finding the exact location of the picture. However you only have 50 guesses in all to win the game. There are three different views to find.
_____________Labels: games
London Coffee Houses of the 17th & 18th Century
Inspired by the recent Atlas of the Rhode Island Book Trade I decided to create a map of the London Coffee Houses of the 17th & 18th centuries.
In their heyday there were over 2,000 coffee houses in London. Much has been written about the importance of the coffee house as providing a public sphere for discussion and debate that was largely free from class distinction. Many of modern day London's most important institutions were formed from meetings that first took place in the coffee houses of this time, including the Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London and the Royal Academy.
This Google Map shows the (often approximate) location of some of the most influential of the coffee houses of the 17th & 18th centuries. In creating the map I used Esa's Google Maps API v3 Sidebar with makeMarker() template. I used the Styled Maps function to make the map grey-scale and for the markers I used an image from google-maps-icons.
A quick update on China’s newly launched Map World: Chinese neogeographer William Long has posted a review of Map World on his blog (English translation), wherein he notes that at least some of the imagery in Map World is gleaned from American satellite imaging company DigitalGlobe: William compared Map World’s imagery of Tiananmen to Google Earth’s historical imagery archive and found identical imagery from DigitalGlobe dated Feb 9, 2007. (He posts comparison screenshots.) Google Earth, meanwhile, carries imagery from as recently as Nov 8, 2009.
But he makes the most surprising discovery when he manages to get the 3D viewer to work: Map World’s 3D navigation tool bears more than a passing resemblance to Google Earth’s own, in terms of style:
Can you tell which is which?
(Screenshot. Seriously now, not even an attempt to camouflage the ripoff? Still, what is Google going to do, sue the Chinese government?)
His other point worth mentioning: the 3D view doesn’t actually do 3D. It doesn’t render elevation. It is merely the 2D imagery projected onto a sphere. The one advantage over 2D: The 3D imagery doesn’t suffer the 2D imagery’s north-south compression due to Map World’s funky projection.
[Update 15:54 UTC: China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has now clarified its earlier statements, to the effect that while the software powering Map World is wholly Chinese, the imagery is indeed purchased from DigitalGlobe. I didn't think this was an issue, but apparently many Chinese users were under the impression that the service was completely home-grown.]
The tech news channel of the Chinese portal Sina.com.cn today carries a news update on the legal status in China of ditu.google.cn, the version of Google Maps intended for mainland Chinese users. The original is here; I used the occasionally hilarious Google translation.
In short, things are still not looking up for Google. Sina’s article references government sources who state that Google will definitely not get its license by the end of the year, when China’s laws on internet mapping will begin being enforced in earnest. The implication is that the site will thenceforth be blocked in China.
The proffered reasons are two-fold:
1. The mapping server must be located in China, and the server’s IP address must be shared with the government. The article implies this is not currently the case.
2. Organizations providing web-based maps in China must be joint ventures. Google’s operations in China are not.
The first reason is a bit puzzling: The IP address for ditu.google.cn is listed as being203.208.39.99, which is in Beijing. Still, it’s possible this is the Chinese node of a relay connecting a server physically located in the US. Perhaps the IP address of the originating “server” is opaque for technical reasons — for example, it might be a service distributed across Google’s many server farms — in which case providing a single public IP address to the Chinese government isn’t possible. But I’m speculating.
Note that the above objections do not mention map borders that are not in accordance with Chinese law or the presence on the maps of unvetted user-generated content. That’s because ditu.google.cn’s map borders have long complied with Chinese law, while the site eschews any and all user-generated features, in order to avoid having to censor them.
It’s also possible that this article is a negotiating ploy — making sure the government’s demands are stated publicly so it is clear they are not negotiable. In that case, the intention is still to get Google to form a joint venture and host its Chinese map server on Chinese soil. If plans are not already afoot to make this happen, it is unlikely to be ready by January 2011.
I’ve previously argued that the continued existence of ditu.google.cn is inconsistent with Google’s decision to stop censoring its search services in China, and that the service should be killed off. One way to do so would be for Google not to comply with these new regulatory demands. And that seems indeed to be Google’s current path.
Sina’s article mentions that Microsoft is also not on the list of approved web mapping licensees, for its Chinese version of Bing Maps (at cn.bing.com/ditu). That mapping service does not have the ubiquity of Google Maps, however — for example as the default service for the iPad and iPhone, which are proving wildly popular in China. iPhones sold in China have their default map app locked to ditu.google.cn. What happens if that site is no longer available in China?
It’s not a stretch to infer that the hardening of web mapping regulations in China is coordinated with the timely launch of Map World, a robust government-run web mapping service. Can’t get Google Maps anymore in China in 2011? There will be Map World — just don’t hold out any hope for an API so that you can add user-generated content on your own website. In China, neogeography is not an approved pursuit.
(It will be interesting to see what happens to Google Earth’s accessibility in China in 2011.)
Overplot
Here is an oldie that should brighten up your day. Overplot last featured on Google Maps Mania over four years ago but is as funny as ever.
Overplot maps funny conversations overheard in New York and posted toOverheard in New York. Each conversation posted has a fairly precise location attached so Overplot is able to display the conversations on a Google Map of New York.
If you are interested in how the map was created there is also a lengthy explanation at persistant.info.
