Taxi seguro
This application uses Google Maps to help users find taxis ranks in Mexico City.
To find a taxi you can search the map by street name. The nearest taxi sites are then shown on the map. You only need to give a street name as the application uses the Google Maps geocoder with a custom built database of taxi rank locations.
You can also search for taxis by simply clicking on the map. The results are then displayed on the map and listed in the map sidebar. If you click on any of the returned map markers an information window opens displaying the company's name and address.
Vanquish Official Trailer
The UK online trailer for Sega's new Vanquish game cleverly uses Google Maps Street View to let viewers see their own houses being attacked.
To view the trailer you have to enter a valid UK postcode. If you don't know any UK postcodes you can try SW1A 0AA, which is the postcode for the Houses of Parliament. The Street View scene comes at the end of the trailer and involves a pan around the view of the submitted post code.
German TV Ad
On the subject of Street View Sehsucht has been employed by Google to promote Street View in Germany. The campaign includes this clever TV ad, which features a number of Street View animations.
Yesterday we became aware of a dispute that referenced the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua as depicted on Google Maps. This morning, after a discussion with the data supplier for this particular border (the U.S. Department of State), we determined that there was indeed an error in the compilation of the source data, by up to 2.7 kilometers. The U.S. Department of State has provided a corrected version and we are now working to update our maps.
Current, incorrect depiction of the San Juan River boundary
Unlike the image above of our current depiction, the corrected version will follow the east bank of the San Juan River going northward, nearly to the Caribbean. It will then turn eastward and follow the southern shoreline of a large lagoon, Laguna los Portillos. This depiction follows the demarcation laid out in the First Award of Arbitration of 1897, which affirmed the Cañas-Jerez Treaty of 1858.
It is our goal to provide the most accurate, up-to-date maps possible. Maps are created using a variety of data sources, and there are inevitably going to be errors in that data. We work hard to correct any errors as soon as we discover them.
Given the complexity of the issue, I thought that I’d take this opportunity to provide some additional historical context.
The dispute in this area goes back to at least the mid-19th century, and both the International Court of Justice and the United Nations have weighed in. The dispute mainly centers around control of the mouth of the San Juan River, and was recently reignited because of dredging activity in this location.
In 1888, U.S. President Grover Cleveland was called upon by Nicaragua and Costa Rica to arbitrate the dispute. That year, the New York Times published President Cleveland’s decision. The 1888 Arbitration upheld the 1858 treaty and its terms.
The New York Times, 25 March, 1888
Then, in 1897, Cleveland sent Edward P. Alexander to do a more detailed Arbitration Award for this region. Alexander went into great detail on the San Juan river boundary and drew the map depicted below:
Map attached to the Sept. 30, 1897 Arbitration Award
Once our updates go live in Google Earth and Maps we will be depicting the border according to the most recent and definitive records available. But as we know, cartography is a complex undertaking, and borders are always changing. We remain committed to updating our maps as needed.
