Think College is expensive? How about $30,440 for Preschool

Forbes has come out with a list of "Most Expensive Preschools". The Tuition ranges from $30,440 to a mere $13,169. Quoting FORBES:

If you're like many new parents, nothing's too good for your little genius, including $30,440 for preschool so your 4-year-old can occupy a few hours each day playing with blocks and finger painting in an organized setting.

Here's a Google Maps View of "Most Expensive Preschools".

Alcohol Related Traffic Fatalities in United States

Hawaii led the nation with highest number (52%) of Traffic Fatalities where Alcohol was involved. Utah was at the other end of the scale with 24% of Traffic Fatalities which were related to Alcohol.

Here's Google Maps view of how the other states ranked. (Source NHTSA).

Star Studded Zip Codes

Forbes has published a list of Star Studded Zip Codes in America. Here's a Google Maps View of those Zip Codes with a link in the pop up window (above the red marker) to my local news mashup where you can find out more about that zip code (news, restaurants, traffic, weather, golf courses).

Visual representation of distributed IT network via Google Maps

Zenoss an open source management software provider provides a complete suite of software and services for monitoring corporate IT infrastructure. They have now added a new feature where one would be able to utilize Google Maps in order to have a geographical look at what’s going on with the network. Updates are reflected on Google Maps in real time. (via)

Impact of Climate Induced Sea Level Rise on Coastal Cities in United States

Architecture 2030 has undertaken a study which shows the probable impact on Coastal Cities in United States starting with a 1 Meter Sea Level rise (induced by climate change).

The flood maps generated by the study were

superimposed over Google Earth images to illustrate in detail how localities will be flooded on a calm, rain-free day at high tide at various increments of sea level rise

Here's a Google Maps View of the coastal cities mentioned in the Architecture 2030 Study. On clicking the marker the current image of the city along with a after (sea level rise) image of the city is shown.

Northwest Passage fully navigable

Thanks to Global Warming, Northwest Passage (The most direct shipping route from Europe to Asia) is fully navigable now. In just over a year the ice cover has dropped by about 386,000 square miles. Quoting BBC:

"We have seen the ice-covered area drop to just around 3m sq km (1.2m sq miles)," Leif Toudal Pedersen of the Danish National Space Centre said.

He said it was "about 1m sq km (386,000 sq miles) less than the previous minima of 2005 and 2006".

"There has been a reduction of the ice cover over the last 10 years of about 100, 000 sq km (38,600 sq miles) per year on average, so a drop of 1m sq km (386,000 sq miles) in just one year is extreme," Mr Pedersen said.

Google Maps adds 54 new countries

Google Maps has been updated to cover 54 new countries. This includes all the countries surrounding my birth country India which includes Pakistan, Nepal,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Mynmar (Burma), Bhutan. (For a complete list of countries added visit Google LatLong Blog)

Sultanate of Oman (the country I worked in for couple of years before I came to United States) has also been added to Google Maps.
Note: Sultanate of Oman is a country in the South East coast of Arabian Peninsula which borders Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The World's Most Polluted Cities

Time Magazine's list of 10 most polluted cities in the world, mapped out on Google Maps. Leading the list is Linfen, China followed by Tianying (China), Sukinda (India), Vapi (India), La Oroya (Peru), Dzerzhinsk (Russia), Norilsk (Russia), Chernobyl (Ukraine), Sumgayit (Azerbaijan), Kabwe (Zambia).

25 Hottest Universities in United States

Here's a Google Maps Mashup of Newsweek's 25 Hottest Universities.

These Universities are Hot..Hot in...

• Hottest Ivy (Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.)
• Hottest for Sports Fans (University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.)
• Hottest Men's College (Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA)
• Hottest for No SAT or ACT Needed (Bates College, Lewiston, Maine)
• Hottest for Science and Engineering (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.)
• Hottest Liberal-Arts School You Never Heard Of (Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, La)
• Hottest for Rejecting You (Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass)
• Hottest for Election Year (Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif)
• Hottest on The Rebound (Tulane University, New Orleans, LA)
• Hottest for Free Tuition (Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, NY)
• Hottest Mega-University (University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.)
• Hottest Catholic School (Fordham University, New York, N.Y.)
• Hottest Big-City School (Georgetown University, Washington D.C.)
• Hottest for Pre-Meds (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD)
• Hottest in the War on Terror (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, N.M.)
• Hottest Small State School (State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, N.Y.)
• Hottest for Liberal Arts (Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.)
• Hottest for First-Generation Students (Queens College (City University of New York), Queens, NY)
• Hottest for Loving the Great Outdoors (St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's, Md.)
• Hottest Women's College (Smith College, Northampton, Mass.)
• Hottest Music School (Eastman School of Music, Rochester, N.Y.)
• Hottest for Saving America's Schools (University of Texas-Austin, Austin, TX)
• Hottest Big State School (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI)
• Hottest for International Studies (University of Richmond, Richmond, VA)
• Hottest for Business (Babson College, Babson Park, Mass)

Help find Steve Fossett

Amazon's Mechanical Turk Website has the latest satellite imagery (post September 3rd, 2007) of the area around Flying M Ranch in Nevada from where Steve Fossett last took off and till date has not been found. The idea here is that users could flag potential areas which would be further looked at by team of specialists.

You can load this network link KML file in Google Earth which has the latest satellite imagery of Western Nevada and start looking for objects which might look like small plane flown by Steve Fossett. (Sources: Wikipedia and Google Earth Blog)

Google Earth view of Flying M Ranch airport (latest satellite imagery)

Steve Fossett Still Missing

As of this writing there is still no trace of Adventurer/Aviator/Sailor Steve Fossett who took off on September 3rd, 2007 at 8.45 AM from a private airstrip known as Flying-M Ranch, near Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, near Carson City and the California border. For the latest in rescue effort check out (CNN, BBC).

Here's a Google Earth View of Flying M Ranch (South View) from where Steve Fossett took off. Click here for Google Maps View.

Nuclear development, Testing and Dump sites in United States

Here's a Google Maps Mashup from folks at Peace Action West which shows Nuclear Development, Testing and Dump Sites in United States. Click on the markers on the map to learn more.

Big Mac's Nutritional Values

McDonald's Big Mac Sandwich celebrated its 40th Anniversary last month (August 23rd, 2007). Big Mac was invented in 1967 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania by Jim Delligatti, one of McDonald's franchisees. By 1968 it was being sold all over United States.

Today Big Mac is available in over 100 countries. But Nutritional Values do differ from country to country. Here's a Google Maps View of Big Mac's Nutritional Value in some of the countries.

Related: Obesity in America, World's Fattest Countries

Obesity in America

Mississippi leads the nation in obesity with 30.6% of the adult population which is obese (Percentage of adult population with a body mass index of 30 or higher (2004-06)). (Source TIME Magazine dated September 10th, 2007)

Take a look at this Google Maps Mashup to see where your state compares with other states in obesity.