Several New Google Maps Features
July 5, 2007
Google Maps has long been my favorite mapping website, and several recent features has made it even better.
When mapping directions from one point to another, you usually can see a blue path marking the route Google is suggesting to you. But what if you want to avoid a certain highway, or if you want to take your favorite scenic route on the way? You can now click on any portion of the blue path marking the route and drag it to a different street or town or highway. And as you drag, Google Maps will quickly and automatically re-configure the path to give you the best directions along the new path you’ve picked out. Awesome.
An additional new feature: you can now click on the start or ending point (the green arrow or the red square, within balloon icons) and drag it to a different point. As you drag, you’d see a small white box with the street name and closest intersection. Kick-ass feature!
As if these two new features aren’t enough, Google went and added a third feature that I’d found sorely lacking in the past (and which I sometimes used Yahoo Maps just for this feature): the ability to right-click anywhere on the map (and not just on the route) and add that point as a new destination. Might not sound like much, but how often have you browsed a map, found the place you needed, and then wanted to do directions to THAT place but didn’t know the exact address? “Um, um, I know there’s a 7-Eleven on that corner, and we’re to meet in that parking lot, but I don’t know the address …” Now you can just find that spot on the map, right-click on that spot, and pick “Add a destination.” Google, I’m dumping my long-time partner, and will you marry me? :-P (Barry, I’m kidding — I swear!)
Google Maps now has Street-Level View
May 30, 2007
This is gonna be very, very useful. Google Maps now has street-level views in five USA cities, with more on the way.
What are street-level views, you might be asking? Ah, when you’re looking at, say, a Google Map of New York City or any city that has this feature, you’ll see a new button in the upper right corner of the map: “Street View.” Click on that, and you’ll see a series of blue lines around blocks having street views. You’ll also see a cute little yellow “person” icon. You can drag this icon (with this “person” bending at the waist as you do so). Whereever you put this person down, you’ll then see a panorama picture of that block. You can click on this picture and drag it around to rotate this view (as if you were turning around) — seeing all the buildings around you in the progress.
Totally awesome.
(Click on the image for a larger size)
The following cities now have this street-level view feature: San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, and Denver.
How would you use this feature? You’d scout out a place to see how you’d like it before you even drive there. Or if you’re trying to find a place, now you can see what it looks like from the front. Or you could do virtual tourism, visiting this site and then that site before even flying out there. Or, or, or … The possibilities are (almost) endless.
I should note that Google ain’t the first mapping service to implement this kind of street-level view. Microsoft Live’s mapping service has had “birds-eye view” for a while, and I remember at least one mapping service had street-level views — if I can remember which, I’ll post it here. [EDIT: Amazon's A9 service had street-level views too for a while, but A9's maps are now no longer available.]
Another Map: State Flowers / Trees at Risk
May 21, 2007
Another example showing how useful Google My Maps can be — this time in drawing and shading shapes and areas. And yes, this example also makes a point.
The National Wildlife Federation recently released a report, “The Gardener’s Guide to Global Warming” (PDF file). Deep in this report is a list of states (including the District of Columbia) that could see their state flowers and/or trees soon leave or become extinct because global warming has already been shifting growing zones markedly northward.
I created a Google MyMap showing each state that could lose its state flower and/or tree. Orangish yellow areas show each state that could lose its state flower; green areas show each state that could lose its state tree; and purple areas show each state that could lose BOTH its state flower and tree.
(Click on the map to see the actual Google MyMap)
Google Maps has a relatively new feature: making your own personalized maps called Google My Maps. I’ve been wanting to do a simple example of this feature, and now here’s my opportunity.
Over the past week, suburban Maryland has seen at least four water main breaks. One of my employees was affected by the Bradley Blvd water main break. She had to shower at her gym, but even so, she had to scrounge around to get water for simple things like cooking, washing, etc.
Here’s a Washington Post article about three of these breaks, and a WTOP news article about the fourth break.
I created a map showing the locations of these water main breaks. If you know or hear of any more, let me know through the comments and I’ll add them!
(Image below is current as of 12:50pm on Saturday, May 19, 2007. Click on it to see the latest map.)
Let’s meet half-way — but where?
May 17, 2007
Have you ever said to your friend, “tell you what, let’s meet for coffee somewhere halfway between where we live,” and then realized you couldn’t figure out where to meet?
Here’s a good resource: a.placebetween.us
You enter where you live, where your friend lives, and the type of place you want to meet at (i.e., “coffee,” “thai,” or whatever). Then a map is quickly displayed with a green icon showing the exact mid-point as well as several suggestions around that point.
At first, I got results that were actually physically between us, instead of somewhere along roads or freeways. So, I entered a different starting point that was actually more lined up with a long freeway between the two points, and got better results. [EDIT: an a.placebetween.us administrator left this comment -- "Try dragging the green marker around to refine the results. It's easier than entering different endpoint addresses." Thanks, Aron!]
So, let the twain meet betwix, and happy dining!
(Hat tip to Free Geography Tools.)
New DeafDC post: When’s the Next Bus?
May 9, 2007
Just published a new post onto DeafDC: When’s the Next Bus? It’s about a neat Internet service where you can get up-to-the-minute info on when the next three buses will arrive at your favorite bus stop.
Where the *#&%#$ is the closest mailbox?
May 9, 2007
Too often, I’ve ventured outside looking for a “blue” U.S. Postal Service mailbox — and I’d often walk or drive around in vain yet feeling like it was on the next block, or the next. This handy “maps mash-up” at Mailbox Map will show you the blue mailboxes nearest the address you enter into it, both on a map and in a list of locations. Very handy!
Many thanks to Google Maps Mania!
Click on the picture to see a larger version. Bonus points to the first person who identifies this location in the comments. (I know, it’s obvious, but, hey, it’s a slow news day …)
Finding home info via Zillow
April 18, 2007
So you’re curious how much those homes in your neighborhood are worth — or perhaps in the next neighborhood, or in the area where you want to live? Or even your friend’s area? Zillow makes it easy to look up home values in just about any area of the United States. And more.
When you visit Zillow, you’re asked for an address and/or city / zip to start looking at home values. You’re then shown a full-featured map that you can drag around and zoom in, and which you can view by street or satellite (“aerial”) or both (“hybrid”). Zoom in close enough to a city or town, and you’ll see flags showing locations of homes for sale (red) or recently sold (yellow). There are also blue flags showing “Make me move” homes — their owners haven’t put these homes on the market, but did indicate on Zillow that if someone’s interested and is willing to meet a certain price, the owner is willing to sell.
Zoom in even closer, nearly to the block level, and you’ll see prices above EACH home. These prices are Zestimates — which Zillow says is its own “estimated market value — computed using a proprietary [internal] formula.” It says these Zestimates are not appraisals — rather, it’s “a starting point in determining a house’s value.” For each home on sale, recently sold, or which is posted as “Make me move,” clicking on the flag also brings up what sometimes can be a massive amount of information on that house. Exciting yet a bit scary too! I noticed that not all homes for sale on Realtor.com were listed here in Zillow, so it may be that Zillow only posts those that are actually entered into its databases by owners and agents. Realtor.com — especially the new beta version — does have its own mapping functions, but they’re not as sophisticated as Zillow’s.
You can filter your map views by home value, number of bedrooms and/or bathrooms, and a variety of other factors. Under the map is a list of all flagged homes, along with snippets of info and a thumbnail of the home photo (if available / posted). Very easy to quickly find information on the homes in whichever area you want to know about. Very easy to snoop around too!
Zillow also provides quite a few services: a lot of info for buyers and sellers; “heat maps” showing which areas are hot and which are not; “birds-eye” maps (if available) via Microsoft Virtual Earth showing close-ups of each home — from four different directions (!!!); charts and data showing historical price trends; and much more.
What are you waiting for? Go nose around on Zillow. (Me? Do I do that too? Ummmm. I won’t answer that question …)
NOTE: I wrote this post a couple days ago. I just came across a Download Squad post (via TechDirt) saying that Arizona is trying to get Zillow to cease and desist posting “Zestimates” of values of homes in that state without a state appraiser license. Interesting development, will be interesting to see what happens with this.
Cleaning Google Maps Mobile
April 18, 2007
A while ago, I extolled the wonders of Google Maps Mobile for your smartphone. I still think it’s one of the best applications ever developed for smartphones. But it has one huge flaw. It remembers the maps you’ve viewed, so that if you go back there, it loads more quickly – saving time. No, no, that’s not the flaw – stay with me a bit longer. Google Maps Mobile saves these maps in a cache on your smartphone. The “tile-cache.GLM” (as the cache is called on my Treo 650) can quickly grow to massive size. Since I regularly use Google Maps Mobile, the cache can quickly become the largest file on my Treo.
So, it’s important that you periodically wipe clean this cache. To do that, find the option to “Erase All.” On the Treo, first activate the top bar, then Options, then Erase All. You may then get a dialog box asking (in essence) if you’re sure. Yes, you’re sure – hit the “Erase” button. All your old maps and preferences onGoogle Maps Mobile will then be erased, and when you open Google Maps Mobile again, you’ll be looking at good ole San Francisco.
I hope that in a new version soon, Google Maps Mobile will introduce some options to limit the growth of this cache. Maybe a maximum size (after which the older maps are replaced by newer ones), or a reminder to flush one’s cache.
In the meanwhile, Map On!
Don’t map while driving
March 8, 2007
Google Maps Mobile. This is one must-have program for your cellphone, Blackberry, or Palm / Window Mobile wireless PDA. You MUST get it. No argument. Just do it.
Sorry folks, the Sidekick and some older Blackberries aren’t supported.
What is Google Maps Mobile? It allows you to view Google maps world-wide on your cellphone or mobile PDA. You can scroll / move the map around, zoom in and out, and even do satellite views – I was able to zoom in and see my house and yards. (Hmm. Whose car is that parked at my house?) Search for nearby businesses, and get directions from one point to another. In selected cities, you can even view traffic info on the freeways. It remembers your old searches, making it easy to go back to the same locations (ie, check traffic each day) or do directions from previously looked-up point to point.
So, lots and lots of amazing features all rolled into one amazingly simple application.
In your cellphone or mobile PDA, using its Internet browser, go to www.google.com/gmm … Google will then tell you if your device is supported, and give you a link where you can download and install the application. (On a Blackberry, upon running Google Map Mobile, it will ask you if you want to establish a HTTP proxy – say Yes, always for all.) Once you’ve got it running, check out the following features. Most of these can be used just by pressing the corresponding letter on the keyboard if your device has one, but different devices may have different key assignments (or even none at all) so check the “Shortcuts” or “Help” screen while using this application:
- L – find location (address or city or zip or airport code)
- I or + – zoom in
- O or – - zoom out
- H / U / K / J (or 5-direction keypad if available, or touching / dragging the screen on a Palm, or using the Blackberry’s wheel in conjunction with the Alt key) – move map left / up / right / down (differs from device to device)
- D – directions (use space key to go to the next “turn”, or backspace key to back up)
- B – search for a business nearby (name or type of business – “Starbucks” or “coffee”) – will display up to nine choices – jump to each one by pressing the space bar, or back up via the backspace key
- # – turn on / off traffic info for selected cities (freeways turn green if traffic is moving over 50 mph, yellow if 25-50 mph, and red if below 25 mph)
- V – turn on / off satellite view (be sure to check your home out, but not all locations have “high-resolution” satellite views yet)
- 1-9 – Jump directly to that point (when using Business search or Directions)
Some tips:
- On some or all devices, Google Maps Mobile remembers all of the map areas you viewed. So, after a while, its memory cache becomes huge and can interfere with your device. So, be sure to do the “Erase All” option every once in a while.
- Don’t use it while driving. Well, that’s what this program tells you. I, uh, use it quite often to get from point to point, or check traffic …
Again, point your device to www.google.com/gmm and, if supported, download it. Happy Mapping!
(And, yes, this is now my 6th time specifically writing about a Google “property.” See previous posts about Google Reader, Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Picasa, and Google-brought YouTube. 7th time, if you count my quick mention of Google Talk.)
