Maps
A blog about maps

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Ray Liew asked:




Recently, I came across a software which allows me to access great deal of satellite photos. Then an idea comes to my mind, I can perform some research with these satellite photos. If we have access to topographic maps, aerial photographs, together with the use of satellite photos and maps, we will be to make a great deal of landform research without leaving our homes.

This software which gives me the access to satellite photographs is Google Earth 3D. Although it is a free software, it also provides paid premium services. As a start, the free version is good enough for me as it already allows me to access the satellite images of great deal of cities (New York, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, Singapore, and alot more) and places. I can even locate the house I’m staying in with Google Earth 3D. With the software, we can also tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings, providing even more flexibility for the research.

Besides displaying these satellite photographs, Google Earth 3D also let us find the distances between places, which is another big plus.

We can perform research on things like incoming roads, incoming water, outgoing water, incoming mountains around the places of our interests. These satellite photographs should provide us with great deal of information and idea of the places before we personally going down to perform even more refine research. The terrain feature and the ability to zoom in and out also allow us to perform analysis from the town aspect, or even from the city aspect. We can trace the rivers which run over a great deal of distances, the great mountains which link to the smaller mountains. There is some much we can do with this free resource.

Today’s high tech resources have enable us to carry out even more research, and the access to these satellite photographs is definitely one of the fantastic resources out there.



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Matthew Hoey asked:




Two weeks ago I blogged about some of the really cool features and fun things to do with Google Street View. As well as an interview with CBC Radio Canada (Stay tuned for this) and great feedback from our subscribers it also sparked a lot of interest around the office to discover what else we can find that can really make a positive impact and bring a little order to the whirlwind that definitely is everyday life.

Enter the Blackberry; we’ve had a bit of a blackberry craze amongst ourselves and our clients recently. Not quite “new”, blackberry is still finding it’s way into the everyday lives of ordinary folk. However, the Blackberry is fast becoming an essential tool for a wide variety of business needs, from keeping in touch with clients on-the-go without having to lumber a laptop around just to check email, to carrying a virtual arsenal of client support busting applications. Which leads me to introduce you to “Google Maps Voice Search”, you’ll love this, this one is a killer

But first, I want to show you just how far this technology has come. Google Voice is the brainstorm of Google’s Laboratory which reigned in the form of a telephone number that can be dialled and used to make a Google Search using voice recognition technology. The voice recognition system progressed into GOOG-411, a free service which combined the updated voice recognition system with businesses e.g. “Wall-mart Florida”. Not quite 118 118, but pioneering a technology through science fiction into the realms of reality is no small feat, think of Star Trek “communicators”, beam me up Scotty! sorry.

So put down your A-Z and wind up your car window, there’s no need to clear your throat and look for the elusive stranger who will direct you the wrong way, Google Maps Voice Search is here. Google Maps Voice Search, smaller than an A-Z, faster than an A-Z, easier than… you get the picture.

So What is Google Maps Voice Search? Google Maps Voice Search combines the usefulness of Google Maps with the highly refined voice recognition software developed through Google labs and then applied it to the ever accessible and convenient technology of the Blackberry. Google Maps has certainly come a long way, providing the new mobile platform for such software, Blackberry.

It’s been claimed it’s now possible to never be lost if you have a blackberry. At Ph.Creative, we don’t like claims, so we put this to the test and drove our very own Steve(AKA “Disco Steve”) to the far reaches of nowhere(blindfolded, of course), handed him a blackberry tooled up with the latest Google Voice Search and…. well we still haven’t heard from him. Jokes aside the Blackberry Google Voice Search came across formidably. Firing up the GPS system for the first time Steve was able to pinpoint his location after waiting a minute or two while the software searched for satellites. Navigating Google Maps on the Blackberry is a breeze using the stylus and Steve easily found his way into Google Maps Voice Search. In fact it was so simple to use we had to make it harder so we set Steve a few challenges which he had to complete without working up too much of a tab and in a timely manner.

The instructions:
Buy from a Health shop Get a quote from the nearest GYM Fine dine at Italian restaurant Navigate to base using trains and buses

All this while using Twitter to keep us updated on-the-go

Steve managed to complete all his tasks paying extreme attention to number 3 and never broke a sweat. Steve was able to use several key features of Google Maps Voice Search to complete his tasks.

Steve Began his journey by using the Blackberry GPS to find his location on Google Maps, he then used Google Maps Voice Search by asking his Blackberry to find him “health food” in “Halewood Liverpool”, he then proceeded through the list while keeping us updated on twitter. The voice recognition software worked a treat but Steve had to try and find an enclosed space because with wind and external noises his voice wasn’t recognised as easily. Google Maps Voice Search also incorporates Google Street View into the fold which made it even easier to visually recognise the surroundings and find the property he was searching for.

Can you image how far technology has come when you can stand in the middle of a field, begin talking to a handheld device and look at panoramic views of locations which are specific to your needs? or you can just sit at home and order a pizza. To be honest, either is just as important because what this technology really does is push the boundaries of what makes our lives easier. Today, Blackberry is top of the list, tomorrow, hover boards.

Therefore we can conclude that Google Maps Voice Search on the Blackberry = Awesome.

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Tobias Pimentel asked:




Google Map Listings and Optimization, when considering all aspects of this strategy, is overall a great tool to implement in one’s business. In order though to make an educated decision on whether Local Map Listings is the solution to your company marketing needs, it is important that you evaluate for yourself both the positive and negative aspects of Google Map Optimization.

In order to help you make a decision and address some of your concerns lets answer some of the most common questions that business owners have when learning about Google Local Map Listings and Optimization.

How much does Google Local Map Listings Cost? Google provides this service at no cost. A business owner can sign up with Google Local Business Center for free and enter all the information pertinent to the business. However there might be small fees depending on the industry a company is in, and the citations it is trying to build to its listing. When interested in building citations and trying to create relevancy to existing listings, it is recommended to ask a Google Map Specialist for guidance, this will help lower the cost and focus the efforts of exposure.

Who controls Google Map Optimization and how does it benefit a company? It is the business itself that created the Google Map Listing that controls it. This is beneficial to the company because it controls the information posted and it has access to the marketing tools provided by Google. This feature is very useful because it can help your company identify its strengths and weaknesses and improve itself based on the results. What is the 10 Pack and how can it impact ones business? In order to understand how the 10 Pack can impact your business it is important to understand what it is and how it works. Specialists, when speaking of the 10 Pack, refer to the top 10 most relevant local companies that show on the first page listed on Google Maps. These companies are ranked as the top ten because they are the most relevant to the local search that has been made.

Google research has proven that 96% of people looking for local information are not going past this first page (10 pack), this is great news for those companies that are included in this category and not so great for the remaining of the companies. However there is hope for those companies that are not showing on the first page, in fact, by using the tools provided by Google Map Optimization and by building citations, companies can increase their relevancy and work their way up to the 10 Pack in a three to six months period.

What type of information can people find when looking at your company listing? When someone is looking at a company listing they can see the store contact information, business hours, products and/or services provided, printable coupons, and even other clients reviews on the business as well as their personal experience.

Reviews can be both good and bad for a company; good reviews can increase traffic to ones business, bad reviews on the other hand can damage a business reputation. Although reviews are overall mostly positive, some unhappy competitors might try to harm a business by posting nasty reviews, and the only way to make up for bad reviews is to offset them with positive ones.

Now that you have been educated on pros and cons of Google Map Listings and Optimization you should be able to appreciate Google Maps and the value it can bring to your company.

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GoogleDevelopers asked:

At the beginning of the April Silicon Valley GTUG meeting, several Googlers and external developers gave lightning talks about their latest and greatest. Watch Dick Wall talk about Android updates, Van Riper talk about his KML, Tom Brown display transit data visualization in Google Earth, Brian Hamlin show off animated weather KML, the Seero guys demonstrate their live video mapping site, Mano Marks introduce libKML, and Pamela Fox talk about Google Gadgets and Mapplets. Links to slides and websites are here: www.sv-gtug.org

google maps

Google asked:

google.com | A brief overview of the Google Maps Favorite Places project and launch event at San Francisco City Hall, 7/15/09. Favorite Places is a project on Google Maps to call attention to all the interesting places and businesses that are found online. Watch Google Vice President Marissa Mayer and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom describe the project.

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coolsmartphone asked:

Real-life testing. Driving down the M6 with satellite and map view on Google Maps.

google maps

Jerry West asked:




Here are three simple steps of the SEO equation to remember:

1. Choose to target search terms that convert prospects into customers and make sure there is room in the market for you to gain a Top Ten ranking in 90 days or less.

2. Optimize your page content and HTML code for those terms.

3. Actively seek external, one-way, incoming links with variations of the targeted key terms as the anchor text.

Most webmasters make a key mistake in not testing their researched keywords to make sure the visitors targeted actually convert. So, they end up with good traffic but no buyers. Test your keywords through a PPC campaign first before you ever spend time optimizing.

There are a few convenient tools around for selecting your search terms. One that I have been using since 1999 is WordTracker.

The most logical page to optimize is your homepage, but that could be a mistake. Website home pages are generally the worst converting page of the site. There is generally just too much to distract the prospect. Instead, focus on an internal page, or create one.

Your website should include three important tags in the head. They include title, meta description, and meta keywords. Stuffing your head tags with other metas and clutter such as lengthy javascript can only harm your search engine results page ranking (SERPs); clutter will never improve your ranking.

Many SEO experts stress over the importance of the Title Tag, and some even use the Meta Title Tag as a way of beefing up the ranking. Our tests show no indication of this and while I state the Meta Title tag is optional, I would advise not to use it.

Now for a list of Don’ts

Don’t bother optimising a page that redirects. Don’t use robots.txt or meta tags to impede search engine access to your optimized pages. Don’t use same color text and background. This makes the text look invisible to the visitor and search engines view it as “Spam”. Don’t Spam keywords with immediate repeats. Don’t force any text to appear at 4px or under. Don’t use frames. Don’t fill your pages up with internal scripts. Where possible, use links to external scripts. Don’t trust automatic linking software. It’s far, far too easy to get listed in link-farms and garbage directories when using automatic submission software. You want to ensure that you have a certain level of control over who and how your site gets linked. The most valuable links you can get are from highly respected sites that are theme-related to your optimised page content.

Directories, directories and more directories. This is a good place to start. Many directories will give you a free link without the need to reciprocate. Do a Google search for directory + ‘your business category’.

Here’s a list of some high ranking directories. Start at the top and work your way down.

Free Classifieds. Search for sites that allow you to post free or cheap classifieds with basic html enabled. Get your key terms in the classified ad as the anchor text for the link to your optimised web page.

Discussion Forums: Start hunting for discussion forums with a solid community with lots of active posts. Avoid those which just have a high Google PageRank but look like a “ghost town”. The forums must allow for links in your account signature. When making the sig, be sure your key terms are the anchor text for the link/s to your site. Once registered, start posting your little heart out and be sure to enable your signature to be attached to your post. Just make sure you are benefiting the forum community or you may be labeled a Spammer and kicked out.

Press Releases. Do you think you have something newsworthy to say? Then write up a news story and be sure to include a link (don’t forget keywords = anchor text) in the body or by-line. Submit the article to related sites in exchange for prominent links. Submit to all the major web news sites. Each website that publishes the article is another incoming, one-way link with your key terms as the guiding light.

Do backlink searches on your competitors. Back link searches are search criteria which asks for sites linking to a page that do not include the page’s domain. For example, at Google a back link search for http://www.acmehosting.com would be link: http://www.acmehosting.com -site:acmehosting.com. Duplicate your competitors efforts and get your site linked where ever they’ve managed to. A great tool to use is Brad Callen’s SEO Elite.

On a finishing note, there’s one important thing to realise about Google SERPs, the “Sandbox” effect. It’s theorised that Google filters new domain names out of all searches except for their own domain name for a period of 6-9 months depending on the popularity of the site’s targeted key-words. Google PR rank and SERPs are inter-related but are not the same thing. Your site can enjoy a Google PR of 7 yet still be sandboxed and appear nowhere in the results for your targeted key terms. The only thing you can do is work on your external linkage and optimize more pages of your site. The hard work will pay off on steady incoming traffic and high ranks at MSN and Yahoo etc. When Google finally releases your domain, then you’ll enjoy similar SERPs to the other majors and reliable, incoming qualified traffic.

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Kenneth Elliott asked:




The vastness of the planet is something that needs to be appreciated as soon as possible. Children need to understand that the world goes beyond the state boundaries and that thousands of miles from their suburbs, there are other people with a whole new culture and way of life. Getting a geographical map with climatic info and terrain representation is impractical; and that is where the great solution that is children´s pictorial maps comes in.

There is something magical about viewing the world from a map. When this is combined with colorful drawings, pictorial representation of the kind of people living in each part, it not only becomes educational, but also fun. This is undoubtedly one of the best ways to let a child know about the world and all its dimensions. It gives a solid foundation into understanding what the world is, and the people, animals and continents that make it. In a nutshell, it helps a child in viewing the world from an extensive point of view. When it comes to working the memory, audio listening helps, but optical viewing is an added plus. That is what the pictorial maps are out to do; help in getting the children in not only learning about the world, but seeing it in colorful illustrations.

Children´s pictorial maps are especially designed to get the attention of the learning kids through the icons and illustrations of sealife, wildlife, ships, sport, folklore and many other things. After the attention is well netted, there are informative texts that are usually included to shed more light on the icon. This in the bigger picture helps the child associate certain places with certain things. For instance, if they see penguins in Antarctica, they will learn to associate them with cold areas. If they see whales and penguins in the pacific, they will learn to associate the ocean with sea life. It´s a learning process in disguise.

The concept of pictorial maps has a long history of usage since the medieval times when castle and forest icons were in the heaviest usage. This means that their effectiveness is not underscored and their message is well passed out. This is in regard to the ancient times when the levels of literacy were not stretching to the highest points.

What the pictorial maps are out to do is to help the child see the world in a whole new light. Their aim is to help the child in seeing the world as this collection of different cultures and geographies, instead of limiting their thoughts to their neighborhood where the riches of the planet are limited. They are an essential learning and enjoyment tool for any kid that is curious about the universe as a whole. With that being said, children´s pictorial maps make for great gifts on several occasions. Most of these are made of durable material with gloss finish. And if the world is too big a place to start your kid with, you can always get a pictorial map of the continent you are in!



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Melanie Young asked:




Did you know that the Google Maps interface has an application for Blackberry that you can download to your phone? I just found this out!

Sure, I know a lot of people have whole GPS setups, and this would be redundant for them. But for some people, like myself, you just have a need for a light application to give directions. You don’t need turn by turn functionality, a sultry voice walking you through the process, or any of the other bells and whistles that come with full blown GPS systems.

If that’s what you’re in the market for, and you are someone who is smart enough to have a Blackberry, then I highly suggest the Google Maps for Blackberry application.

You can download it very simply by navigating your Blackberry’s browser to Maps.Google.com – exactly like you would to use the Google Maps site in your full computer web browser. When you arrive at that site in your Blackberry’s browser, you will be given the option to download the app to your phone.

You simply click that you want to, and the process begins. It is a self installing application, so no assistance is needed from the user on that point.

When the application boots up for the first time, the option will be given as to whether you want to utilize the GPS tracking on your phone so that your start place will always be picked up for you without you having to input it.

Now, the Google Maps application is free to use, but as to whether the GPS functionality comes with your plan or not, that’s something you need to investigate with your own carrier.

After the application has installed itself, you can utilize functionality that is virtually identical to its browser twin, the regular Google Maps. I highly recommend it.

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Google asked:

The new “My Location” (beta) feature on Google Maps for mobile helps you know where you are on the map, even if your phone doesn’t have GPS. Just press [0] to move the map to your approximate location. Save time and tedious keystrokes finding where you are, what’s around you, and how to get there.

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