Google Maps and Google Earth imagery updated - includes #Haiti

Google LatLong Blog reports imagery updates for Google Maps and Google Earth which includes more updates for Haiti. To see which areas have been updated, download this KML for Google Earth or view the updates in Google Maps. The updated areas are highlighted in red.

Also looks like Haiti gets more updates. Here's a image from Western Haiti region of Leogane which shows people camping out. If you pan out you can see the devastation caused by the earthquake.

Who is Hiring - #fortune #bestcompanies #googlemaps

Fortune has a list out there of the Best Companies which have job openings of at least 500 or more. So who are these companies and where are they located. I have mapped out the headquarters of these "Best Companies" on Google Maps. The map shows a sidebar with the list of the companies that are hiring. If you click on the names of these companies a information window pops up on the map above the location of the headquarters of the company. Additional details shown in this information window are Company Name, Address, Number of Job Openings and the type of job openings. The information window has a forward and back arrow which will take you to the next/previous "Best Company" Location.

Turn a Hamburger into Cheeseburger and you get fired #mcdonalds #fail

McDonalds fast food chain in Lemmer, Netherlands fired a worker who

sold a hamburger to a co-worker who then asked for cheese, which she added.

McDonald gave this excuse for firing

this turned the hamburger into a cheeseburger, and so she should have charged more. She had broken staff rules prohibiting free gifts to family, friends or colleagues.

Fortunately for the worker the courts in Netherlands ordered McDonalds to pay the former employee more than 4,200 euros ($5,900; £3,660) for the last five months of her contract. In a written statement the court said

The dismissal was too severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese

(via BBC)
BTW ... here is the Google Maps Street View of the McDonalds restaurant in Lemmer, Netherlands:

View Larger Map

Haiti Volunteer Opportunities - #allforgood #haiti #googlemaps

There are lot of people wanting to help out with the "Haiti Earthquake" relief effort. But where do you look for help? Allforgood.org is one such place where you can look for volunteer opportunities.

Fortunately Allforgood provides us with a API to access "volunteer opportunities" data. So I signed up for access to Allforgood API and created a "Haiti Earthquake" Volunteer Opportunities Google Maps Mashup.

Initially when you load the mashup page it shows you volunteer opportunities in your area (if any). However you can look for opportunities in other areas by typing in the location in the form located on the left side of the map.

(Note: I tried various international locations (outside US) and it looks like there is no data available for outside US)

Galápagos Islands - Question for #googlemaps

I am looking at our world on Google Maps and I come across Galápagos Islands which is west of Ecuador (South America). Google Maps has the Galápagos Islands enclosed in a Polygon/Polyline. I am just curios as to why. Is it because it is a UNESCO World Heritage site? but then I look at other UNESCO world Heritage sites and those are not enclosed in a Polygon/Polyline. Does anyone have an answer?

Here's what it looks like in Google Maps. (Note: Bing Map View image at the bottom)

From Detroit to Sydney - 15,720 miles (55 days 23 hours) :-)

In 2008 I wrote this blogpost on Google Maps Driving Directions from Detroit to Sydney, Australia which included 7906 miles of Kayaking across Pacific Ocean.

Not sure when Google Maps changed the driving directions. When I checked last night the driving directions had one kayaking first to Hawaii (2756 miles) from NW United States:

and then kayak from Hawaii to Japan (3879 miles):


and then kayak from Japan to Australia (3358 miles):


Here's the full screen grab of Driving directions from Detroit, MI to Sydney, Australia from Google Maps:

Google Maps for Haiti now with Post Earthquake Imagery

UPDATE: I updated this mashup with pre-earthquake images in the pop up window.

My latest mashup now is useless. Last night I created this google maps mashup which showed "after earthquake" images from different locations in Haiti.

Well this morning I notice that Google has updated the Haiti map (at maps.google.com and Google Maps API) with post earthquake imagery. This is good though. Thanks Google Maps. (more about this update at Google-LatLong Blog).

Help Haiti Tweets in #facebook, #Google Wave and is now embeddable

Last week I had created a Haiti Earthquake "Tweet Map" which showed tweet locations related to the devastating Earthquake which struck Haiti. Now I have modified the map to show tweet locations of folks who are pleading for help and mobilizing help for Haiti. Now the map shows tweet locations from Haiti/Caribbean Islands, South East, North East, Mid West, Central, North West, South West and Southern United States.

Haiti Tweet Map in facebook
Link: http://apps.facebook.com/tweethaiti

Haiti Tweet Map in Google Wave
Add the following gadget URL: http://www.mibazaar.com/haitiwave.xml


Embed it in your website or blog:
(adjust the height/width for your environment)

Here's the code which you can embed in your webpage to see tweets related to ongoing "Help Haiti" efforts from Haiti/Caribbean islands and from across United States.


<iframe width="425" height="475" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mibazaar.com/haiti.html"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://www.mibazaar.com/haiti.html" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>


View Larger Map

Happy Martin Luther King Day 2010 - His Journey #martinlutherking #googlemaps

Today is Martin Luther King Day in United States. Its a federal holiday in US celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday and occurs on the 3rd Monday of January.

Here's a "Martin Luther King" journey map which I created last year. It maps out important events in Martin Luther King's life. The map automatically moves on to the next event in Rev. King's life. You can however manually move forward/back by clicking on the arrows located at the bottom left on the map.

Haiti Earthquake - Geotagged YouTube Videos #haiti #earthquake #googlemaps

Here's a map I put together of Geotagged YouTube Videos which show the severity of massive earthquake which struck Haiti yesterday.

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

Haiti Earthquake tweets #haiti #disaster #googlemaps

Haiti got hit with a major earthquake today. CNN is reporting that "Serious Loss of Life is expected". Twitter activity from the region is just a trickle. However there's a lot of twitter reaction from Eastern/South Eastern United States and some from the Caribbean. Here's a look at some of the reaction in this Google Maps Mashup I put together.

Lagos, Nigeria to Detroit, MI #terror #googlemaps

I put together this map which plots Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's journey from Lagos, Nigeria to Detroit, MI. On Christmas Day 2009 Umar failed in his attempt to blow up a Northwest Jet on its final approach to Detroit.

The map animates through early years of Umar's life and ends with the safe landing of Northwest Flight 253 in Detroit where Umar was taken into custody. The map starts up in auto play mode. You do not have to click anything. The map moves on to the next location after every 9 seconds. However if you wish to navigate between locations, click on the arrow buttons located in the lower left corner.

The Data sources for this Google Maps Mashup are: Wikipedia and MSNBC.

California (Eureka) Earthquake Tweets #earthquake #googlemaps

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the shore of Northern California, leaving a lot of folks without power. Here is a Google Maps Mashup which I put together which shows tweets from around Northern California related to the Earthquake.

College Football's most valuable teams mapped #googlemaps

Forbes is out with a list of College Football's 20 most valuable teams. Topping the list is Texas Long Horns which is valued at $119 million. You can see all these teams on a Google Maps Mashup which I created. The map centers on to the Football Stadium of each of the colleges in the Forbes list. You can click the college name at the sidebar to see the info/stats on that college or you can click the "next/prev" button in the information window to move forward or back in the list.

New Year brings new State Laws #googlemaps #statelaws

2010 starts with a whole bunch of new state laws which went into effect throughout United States. Some of the laws are serious and some not so serious. I have compiled few of these laws and mapped it out on Google Maps. If you know of any frivolous or serious state laws do let me know and I will add it this map. Happy New Year!! BTW don't be texting and driving in Illinois and if you are in California.. eating in restaurants has become a bit more healthy :)

Google Qualified Developer Badge for me :) #googlemaps

I am pleased to announce that I recently earned a new badge from Google - "Google Qualified JavaScript Maps Developer". My name has now been added to Google's new Qualified Developers directory which is a part of Google's new Qualified Developer program.

To get qualified one has to show proof of community participation, references, mashup projects worked on and finally appear for a online exam.

My Google Mapping journey started with Hurricane Katrina, way back in late 2005. My first mashup was showing where businesses were opening up in the New Orleans area once Hurricane Katrina was gone. Check out the blog post on my 1st mashup at GoogleMapsMania. (Note: The link (weshallrise.org) in the blog post no longer exists as I cancelled it after couple of years.) Since then I have created numerous mashups which you can check out at this site.

Happy Holidays!! #googlemaps #christmas #santa

As another year draws to a close, I wish everyone a safe and Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. On this note I would like to share a Google Maps Mashup which I had created couple of years ago. This mashup shows the locations of towns and cities in United States which are named "Christmas" or Holiday season names like

• Santa in Benewah County, Idaho
• Santa Claus in Mohave County, Arizona
• Santa Claus in Toombs County, Georgia
• Santa Claus in Spencer County, Indiana

Tiger Woods Tweets #tigerwoods #googlemaps

Tiger Woods and his women are in the news a whole lot these days. There is also tons of tweets related to the Tiger Woods Saga. So where are these tweets coming in from. Its not just the US, but also Europe, India and elsewhere. I have created a Google Maps View of these tweets coming in from Eastern/Western US, Europe and India. Click on the radio buttons on the left of the map to view the tweets from different regions. The map animates through all the latest tweets which mention "Tiger Woods". (Thanks to Keir from GoogleMapsMania for mentioning this mashup)

Time Person of the Year (2009). Who will it be?

So who should be Time's Person of the Year? I put together this quick Google Maps Mashup based on list of possible candidates published by TIME magazine.

The sidebar on the map lets you vote for the candidate. The map then will sort the markers and sidebar entries based on candidate vote totals. (Thanks to Google Maps Mania for mentioning this mashup).

If you click on the map marker of a candidate there is a link to more information about them on the Time magazine website.

Augmented Reality Twitter Application for iPhone

First there was "Layar" a Mobile Augmented Reality Browser and now comes a new Augmented Reality App for iPhone - "Twitter 360" - which helps you to visualize your Twitter Friends. Cool.. (via GoogleMapsMania)

When you look through your iPhone camera with Twitter 360 you can view information windows superimposed on the screen showing the direction and distance away of your Twitter friends. Twitter 360 also shows arrows on the screen that, as you move around, uses the iPhone's in built compass to point you in the direction of a chosen Twitter friend.

Download Twitter 360 from iTunes Store

Check out this video about this cool new Application: