Sunday, July 07, 2013

The Google Maps of the Week


The Yelp Wordmap was probably the was most shared map on social media this week. The map is a series of heatmaps of common words used in Yelp reviews. The fact that one of the words is 'hipster' seems to have caught most people's attention.

If you select 'hipster' from the available words in the map sidebar and then select a city (from a choice of 14 cities worldwide) you can view a heatmap of where the hipsters hangout in your town. It is also possible to view heatmaps for other words used in Yelp reviews. The words are different for each city, which presumably reflects the geographical popularity of certain words in Yelp reviews.


Turn off your phones and buckle your seat belts because you are about to take a flight on a Boeing Dreamliner.

The 787 Dreamliner Flight Tracker is a fantastic flight tracking map that shows in real-time the location of 787's around the world. The app allows you to select any 787 currently flying for any airline around the world and then zooms in on the plane's current position. The plane itself is shown using a detailed 3d model, which even displays the individual airline's logo.

The user then has the option of two Google Earth views. '360 view' pans your view around the plane, giving you a great view of the sea, mountains and / or 3d buildings on the ground. 'Passenger View' actually places you inside the 3d model of the plane and gives you a view as if you were actually looking out of the plane's window.  


Here is an interesting idea. Instead of annoying your friends with constant updates about your current position why not use your favorite location tracking app to find a little 'me' time.

Hell is Other People has found a rather unique way for you to use your Foursquare data. The application doesn't help you to check-in to different venues, instead it displays a Google Map of where your friends have checked-in and then shows you the optimal places that you can go to avoid them.

Sign into Hell is Other People with your Foursquare account and you will be shown a Google Map that tracks your friends and also calculates and shows you the optimally distanced locations for you to visit in order to avoid them.

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