Google Maps Envelope - Beta #googlemaps

Here's a nice idea which interestingly surfaces around April 1st. Say you want to send a paper mail to someone but are lazy enough to print it out. Not to worry because if Google ever embraces this concept then all you would have to do is type your letter in GMAIL and then click the "send envelope" button in GMAIL instead of "send" button. What this does is that your letter is printed by Google and then mailed by Google (for a small postage fee) in an envelope which has "Google Maps" printed on it showing the sender's and recipients destination along with the route.

Designers Rahul Mahtani & Yofred Moik from the Industrial Design program at Syracuse University came up with this concept called Google Envelopes. (via Yanko Design)

Google Maps Street View of Indian Temples in Michigan

I have created so many mashups but never created one with Google Maps Street View. So here it is ... a mashup showing Indian Temples in Metro Detroit. This mashup shows the temples in Street View along with a Satellite view of the temple location.

The information window in map view has a forward and back arrow which will take you to the next or previous temple location. This mashup page also has a sidebar with Temple listings which when clicked will show you the Google Map Street View of the Temple.

If there are temples in the area I missed please do let me know.

Global Warming settles island dispute between India and Bangladesh

A 30 year island dispute between India and Bangladesh has been settled, thanks to Global Warming. The rising sea-levels caused by Global Warming has buried the island in Bay of Bengal known as "Moore Island" to India and "South Talpatti" to Bangladesh. Now there's nothing to dispute over. This Google Maps view (2010 imagery) of the island clearly shows it being covered by water. (more at BBC)

NCAA Basketball Championship History Mapped!!

Check out my NCAA Mens' Basketball Championship History - Google Maps Mashup which I had created couple of years ago. It shows locations of championship teams, the runners-up, championship venues from 1939 to 2010. You can sort the data by Scores, Miles traveled by winners and losers.
(GO GREEN!!)

Indian Railways could have used Google Maps in their Advertisement :)

Check this Indian Railways Advertisement which announces inauguration of a luxury train service "Maharaja Express" from eastern Indian city of Kolkata to New Delhi. This advertisement has a small map embedded in it which shows the route. Great Idea!!

The only problem is that the map shows Kolkata sitting on water in Bay of Bengal and it shows New Delhi in Pakistan.

Indian Railways' PR Officer said "It is a great mistake. We apologise for this. The advertising agency has been suspended".

(via Hindustan Times)

World's Most Admired Companies - 2010 #fortune #googlemaps

Fortune has come out with its annual list of "The World's most Admired Companies". Coming in at #1 this year is of course Apple followed by Google.

Here's a Google Maps view of the locations of "Top 50 Most Admired Companies". The map opens up with a marker placed at Apple's headquarters (Cupertino, California). The information window which opens up above the marker has very basic information like the company name with a link to more detailed information at the Fortune site. In addition the address information is also shown.

Indian Premier League Tweets Mapped #ipl #googlemaps

Check out Indian Premier League Tweets from India, mapped out on Google Maps. The map moves on to the next tweet location after every 5 seconds at which point a information window opens up at the tweet location showing the tweet text.

Indian Premier League is is a Twenty20 cricket competition initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) . The first season of the Indian Premier League commenced on 18 April 2008. It includes 8 teams or "franchises" consisting of players from different countries.

Indian Premier League Venues Mapped #IPL #googlemaps

The Indian Premier League is a Twenty20 cricket competition got underway in India yesterday. There are 8 teams taking part in the tournament. Mumbai Indians leads the list in terms of valuation ($111.9 million). The combined total valuation of the 8 teams is $723.59 million. Cricket players from around the world are taking part.

Yesterday Google announced that the YouTube global community will be able to tune in to the IPL’s YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/ipl) for streaming and on-demand access to witness the start of what promises to be one of the most widely-distributed sporting events in history. Fans can watch matches, highlight videos, player interviews and much more all on the IPL’s YouTube Channel

Here's a Google Maps Mashup of the Indian Premier League Teams with some basic information (Home Stadium, Team Owners, Team Worth ($$), Latest News (via Google News RSS Feeds), Video (YouTube)).

Chile and Haiti earthquake maps mentioned in Google Earth Outreach Showcase

Google Earth Outreach showcases how non-profit and public benefit organizations are using Google Earth and Maps to visualize their cause.

I would like to pass this along that couple of my maps related to Haiti and Chile Earthquakes have been mentioned at the Google Earth Outreach Showcase Gallery. They are

• Chile Earthquake - GeoTagged YouTube Videos
• Chile Earthquake Tweets
• Haiti Earthquake - GeoTagged YouTube Videos
• Geographically Organized Haiti Volunteer Opportunities

Plan a Bike ride with Google Maps in cities across United States

TechCrunch is reporting that Google Maps will now include biking directions in the U.S. When you clicked on "Get Directions" on Google Maps, you would see "By Car, By Public Transit, Walking". Now Google has added "Bicycling" to directions.

When you select "Bicycling" for directions, the appearance of Google Maps changes as follows:

• Dark Green Lines represent Bicycle trails with no motor vehicles
• Light Green Lines represent streets with Bicycle Lanes
• Dashed Green lines represent other streets recommended for biking

In addition you can turn on Biking Layer in the MORE menu.

Check this video out for more details in this new feature on Google Maps:

Thank You Google! for the awesome Prize!!

Over the years I earned MCSE certification (late 90's) and then Sun Java Programmer Certification in 2003. Both Microsoft and Sun gave me a paper "Certificate" and it felt great at the time.

Fast forward to December 2009 and I enrolled into "Google Qualified Developer" program for JS Maps API and fulfilled the program requirements (BTW cost of the program is $0.00). Like others I was expecting a "Certificate". WOW! Unbelievable.... FedEX package from Google gets delivered yesterday. I open it and this is what I get as a PRIZE. How cool is that... Thanks Google!!

Nexus One

Burj Khalifa, Dubai - a closeup view from way up above

GeoEye has released a high resolution (half-meter) satellite image of the tallest manmade structure in the world. This skyscraper (Burj Khalifa) is 828 meters (2,717 feet) tall.

Check this clear/sharp image which was taken by GeoEye-1 satellite from 423 miles in space on February 9, 2010.

Swami Nithyananda Scandal Tweets mapped #nithyananda

I did not hear about Swami Nithyananda up until yesterday. Now a lot of people know about Swami all over the world after news came out from India about Swami's sex tape with a Tamil Actress. There is a lot of Twitter activity from India related to #nithyananda and some of it is hilarious. I have created this Google Maps Mashup of latest #nithyananda tweets from India. The map moves on to the next tweet location after every 7 seconds.

Earthquakes from around the world in last 24 hours

There is a lot of activity/movement going on deep inside our Earth. This Google Maps Mashup I created shows the latest earthquakes from around the world during last 24 hours. The data source for this mashup is usgs.gov.

The map plots the markers for all the earthquakes during last 24 hours with the information window opening up for the most recent earthquake first. The information window has a forward/back arrow which will take you to the next/prev earthquake. The map initially is in auto-play mode as the next information window opens up after every 8 seconds. The auto-play mode is cancelled once you click on the arrow buttons.

Welcome to the capital of Kansas....GOOGLE, KANSAS!!

Google, Kansas. Yes for the next month the capital of Kansas will be Google, Kansas instead of Topeka, Kansas.

This, it looks like is related to Google's plan to "sell 1 gigabit-per-second fiber optic broadband to consumers" to no fewer than 50,000 homes in the initial test, and maybe as many as 500,000. Google though has not specified where it plans to roll this out. Topeka, Kansas is going all out to get Google to implement this in Topeka.



Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten signed a proclamation Monday calling for Topeka to be known for the month of March as "Google, Kansas — the capital city of fiber optics."

(via Techcrunch).

Chile Earthquake - GeoTagged YouTube Videos #chile #earthquake #youtube #googlemaps

Here's a map I put together of Geotagged YouTube Videos which show the severity of massive earthquake which struck Chile early on Saturday.

There are forward and back buttons below the video which will take you to the next or previous videos.