Get Great Local Advice from the Crowd

Crowdbeacon

Crowdbeacon is a great new app that lets you ask location based questions. The app is available for the iPhone and for the desktop.

Using the app you can click on a Google Map to set your location (if you are using your phone your location will be detected automatically). Once you have determined your location you can then ask your question. For example, you could ask where the best restaurant for tapas is nearby or ask if there is anywhere with live music in the neighborhood.

Your question is then posted to other Crowdbeacon users in your vicinity. When you sign up to Crowdbeacon you are asked to choose one category that you are willing to help people in your home city with (i.e, nightlife, shopping, restaurants etc.). This self-identified choice powers the Crowdbeacon notification system, which lets the user know that someone in their city has a question about the category they chose.

I asked Crowdbeacon for a great place to get breakfast on Van Ness Ave in San Francisco. Despite it being 2.30 am I started getting suggestions in a matter of seconds. Which is pretty impressive (unfortunately, as I was actually in London, I couldn't check out how good any of the suggestions were).

If no one nearby is listening and you don't get a real-time repsonse Crowdbeacon will answer your question with relevant information from other location-based services such as Yelp, Foursquare and Wishpond.

________________

2010 Census on Google Maps

Moonshadow Census Maps 2010


Last month Moonshadow released a great Google Maps application to visualise the 2010 New Jersey census data. The company have now released apps to visualise the census data for the states of New Jersey, Maryland and Oregon.

These Google Map based apps allow users to closely examine the census data returns in each state. Using the applications you can set filters, colors and generate heat maps. You can display census block lines, as well as County lines, Congressional, State House and State Senate districts. You can even zoom down to the census block level and download the actual census data for a block.

More state maps will follow in the coming days and weeks as additional block level data becomes available from the US Census Bureau.

________________

Don't Get Caught Short with Google Maps

Toilet Map

Toilet Map is a Google Map of public toilets in London. The map is available from your desktop, as an iPhone and Android app and from a dedicated mobile site. Toilet Map currently shows the location of nearly a 1,000 public toilets in London.

It is possible to refine the toilets shown by male, female, disabled and whether the toilet is free or has a charge. If you click on a marker you can view details and see the toilet's opening hours.

If you know of a toilet not on the map you can add it by completing a short form.

Find Toilet

If you are ever desperate for the loo in Denmark you will be thankful for this Google Map. Find Toilet is a map of public toilets with some excellent search options.

Using the map it is possible to find a toilet by town or by region. It is also possible to search for public toilets in a radius of any given location. Lastly, you can also search for a toilet by type, for example handicapped or unisex toilets.

Diaroogle

Diaroogle is a community submitted map of Manhattan toilets. The site says that is is for "the discerning, on-the-go defecator who is brave enough to use a public bathroom, but still demands a hygienic and private bathroom experience."

Each mapped toilet tends to come with a general report on its cleanliness and occupancy levels. You can search the map by address, cross street, zip, Manhattan neighbourhood, landmark or park and probably most usefully can access the map from a mobile phone.

LooToGo

LooToGo is a Google Map that shows the locations of public toilets in Germany. The site currently has over 28,000 restrooms in its database.

It is possible to search the map by location. If you click on a map marker you will be taken to the reviews section for that public toilet. If you know of a loo that is missing you can even add it to the map.

LooToGo also comes with an iPhone app, so now you can find your nearest toilet when you are out and about and caught on the hop.

Also See

• SitOrSquat.com - thousands of toilets mapped around the world
• NYRestroom.com - A map of New York restrooms

________________

The Data Buoys on Google Maps

National Data Buoy Center Map

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) operates, and maintains a network of data collecting buoys and coastal stations. The stations measure wind speed, direction, and gust; barometric pressure; and air temperature. The NDBC are using Google Maps to show the locations, and to allow you to view the collected data, of NDBC buoys and the buoys of other providers around the world.

The map allows you to filter for stations by program and/or operator. You can choose to view only the stations from a particular program or show only the stations belonging to a particular owner. It is also possible to display or hide the station identification labels on the map by selecting the Show Labels option.

If you click on a center's map marker you can view the most recent data collected. The map also includes an option to share or save the current map view.

________________

Location Based Reminders

Geoloqi

Geoloqi is an iPhone app with some great location sharing features. The features of Geoloqi include Geonotes, automatic Foursquare checkins, and private real-time GPS tracking.

Similar to Glympse, Geoloqi allows you to share your location with those you want to, for a limited time. Your friends can then view your location on a Google Map only for the time that you have defined.

The Geonote option allows you to leave a message in a location and have it e-mailed, texted or pushed to you when you get to that location. You can therefore send yourself a message reminding yourself to pick up milk. You can set the location so that you receive the Geonote when you are passing the store. Or you could leave yourself a note at work reminding yourself about an important task.

________________

Better Facebook Places with Google Maps

Localley

Localley is a tool that broadens the functionality of Facebook Places by letting you check-in to places using a date and time in the future. It also allows you to view your check-in history on a Google Map, visualise your friends' latest check-ins and view the people who are checked in around you.

Localley's future check-in service lets you share your plans with your Facebook friends and even invite them to join you. For example, you can tell your friends where you will be tonight and when.

Localley really does seem to add some great extra functionality to Facebook Places. The site is currently in Beta. Hopefully some detailed instructions of use will be added to the site before a full launch. At the moment it is quite hard to work out some of the site's functionality.

________________

New Street View Imagery Released

The Google Street View trike has taken to the gravel paths again. Google have released some new Street View imagery for some select locations where that Street View car just can't go.



Google LatLong report that Street View is now available at the Château de Chenonceaux in Civray-de-Touraine, France, in the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin and in the gardens at the San Diego Art Institute, as well as several spots in Balboa Park in San Diego, California.

Via: Google LatLong

________________

How to Create a Real-Time Google Map

Best Buy - Live Mobile Scan Map

Best Buy place QR codes on all their products. When a customer uses the Best Buy app, or any other QR code scanner, they are shown the product details for the product they have scanned. The Best Buy - Live Mobile Scan Map uses Google Maps to show the latest real-time scans of products in stores across the US.

The map uses the recently launched App Engine Channel API to update the map in real-time. The Google App Engine Blog has a good guest post by the developer explaining how the app was created. You can also play with a working demo on the channel-map-demo project on GitHub.

The map itself animates between the latest scans in Best Buy stores and makes good use of the Google Maps API styled maps functions to create a distinctive look for the app.
________________

Location Based Stories on Google Maps

Broadcastr

Broadcastr has created iPhone and Android applications that allow users to record geotagged audio stories. The recorded stories can then be browsed on a Google Map on the Broadcastr website.

Using the apps users can post audio restaurant reviews, oral histories, guided walks or any other sound recording. The Google Map on Broadcastr provides a great means to browse the submitted recordings. It is possible to browse the postings by location or by category.

If you click on a map marker you can listen to the recording directly from the map. It is possible to create a playlist from your favourite users or from featured recordings and the map will automatically play the entire playlist.

________________

Google Map of France's Diplomatic Blunders

La Carte des Echecs Diplomatiques

French political party Parti Socialiste have used Google Maps to produce a map highlighting the 'diplomatic mistakes' made by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his government.

The map seems to have been inspired by the recent resignation of Michèle Alliot-Marie from her position as Foreign Minister. However the PS claim that "the failure of French diplomacy for the past five years is not only due to the blunders and mistakes of Michèle Alliot-Marie."

If you click on the map markers on the map you can read about the 'blunders and mistakes' of French diplomacy around the world. Obviously supporters of the UMP may not agree with the views expressed on this map.

________________