Google Maps adds experimental features to its maps page.

Google Maps has added a lot of experimental features to its maps.google.com page. To enable/select each of the feature, look for the "New" link at the top right on the Google Maps page.

One of the features lets you rotate the maps. Here is India upside down: (Other features listed below)



Drag 'N' Zoom: Zooming in on a specific part of the map is now fast and easy. Simply click the Drag 'n' Zoom button, draw a box on the map, and zoom! You're there!

Aerial Imagery: Add Aerial imagery to the map! Aerial imagery gives you rotatable, high-resolution overhead imagery presented in a new perspective. Currently imagery is only available in certain areas, but we're adding more all the time.

Back to Beta Tag: Gmail isn't the only one that can enjoy a BETA tag.

Where in the World Game geography game: Test your knowledge of world geography! Guess the name of the country from satellite imagery, and try to beat your top score!

Rotable Maps: Tired of North always being up? Add rotatable map types and give East, West and South a fair go.

What's around here: Adds a second search button that searches for "*", returning the top results in the current view. A great way to browse the map.

Lat Long Tooltip: Displays a tooltip next to the mouse cursor showing the latlng directly underneath it.

Lat Long Marker: Adds an option to the context menu that lets you drop a mini marker showing the latlng of the position that the cursor was pointing at when the context menu was evoked

Smart Zoom: Ever zoom in too far and get the message "We don't have imagery at this zoom level"? Ensure you don't see it again, with Smart Zoom, which will check in advance what imagery exists, and ensure you can't zoom in beyond it.

(via Stephen Shankland's Twitter status)

The Tragedy of Edmund Fitzgerald - #googlemaps #googlewave

Edmund Fitzgerald sank 34 years ago on November 10th, 1975 in Lake Superior. All 29 crew members lost their lives that day. I have created a Google Maps Mashup which shows the exact location of the tragedy in Lake Superior along with hometowns of the mariners on Edmund Fitzgerald who died. I have also created a Google Wave gadget of this mashup.

When the map first loads up it shows the location where the ship sank along with a video of the song from Gordon Lightfoot which is dedicated to Edmund Fitzgerald. There is a link above the video ("Click here for mariners hometown") which when clicked shows the hometowns of mariners hometown. The information window above the mariner markers has a forward and back arrows which when clicked takes you to the next mariner location.

Female to Male Participation in Labor Force

World Economic Forum has published "Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010" which features 133 economies. The report contains extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators. One of table looks at "Female to Male Participation in Labor Force" which I mashed it up with Google Maps. Topping the list is Mozambique where for the ratio is 1.16 (I would have thought it would be much lower in Mozambique) and way at the bottom is Jordan where the ratio is 0.22. United States is ranked 39th.

Twitter goes Big Time with Location Data

Twitter announced today that it will release a new API that will allow developers to add latitude and longitude to any tweet (via Google Maps Mania and Programmable Web)

This is interesting because just last week I created a Google Maps Mashup of users last X number of tweets. While looking at the Twitter API related to user tweets I found out that Twitter does store location information with each status update. However the way this worked was I had to update my location (via tweetie) on my iPhone and this updated location would be attached to my next status update. So hopefully with the new API the tweet location update process would be much simpler.

Here's an example of Tweets(status updates) with location information. User is Zoe Griffin a "Celebrity Gossip Columnist" from UK. The map moves on to the next location after every 8 seconds.

http://www.mibazaar.com/mytweets.php?uid=zoegriffin (replace the user id at the end with your twitter id. However do update your location before updating your status)


View Larger Map

Bollywood Celebrities on Twitter #bollywood

Here is a Google Maps Mashup showing the last 10 tweets of each of the bollywood celebrities. Click on the radio button on the left to select the Bollywood Celebrity whose tweets you want to see.

The Map automatically moves on to the next tweet after every 8 seconds. You can however disable it by clicking on forward/back arrows in the information window above the marker. Currently the Bollywood Celebrities show on this map are Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Uday Chopra, Dino Morea, Mallika Sherawat and Karan Johar. If you know of more Bollywood Celebrities who are on Twitter please do let me know and I will add it.



You can embed this map in your website. Here's the code:


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


Twitter Status Map updated

I have updated my twitter status map. Should have done this early. Now you can click on url's embedded in your twitter status. For example here's how Bollywood's Mallika Sherawat's Twitter Status looks like on a map:


View Larger Map

You can Embed the map in your website. Here's the code!! Replace the mibazaar user id in BOLD with your Twitter user id


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


Problem with Google's Geocoding API

UPDATE: This seems to be working now
All my twitter mashups (iran tweets, iran protests, ford fiesta, latest twitter status, michael jackson tweets...) stopped working because of the following error with Google's Geocoding API:

Looks like the end tag </AdministrativeArea> is missing. Hoping they would fix this error soon.

XML Parsing Error: mismatched tag. Expected: </AdministrativeArea>
Location: http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?key=APIKEY&output=xml&q=plymouth,mi
Line Number 15, Column 5: </Placemark>

Michael Jackson Biographical Map #michaeljackson

Here's Michael Jackson bio map which I created which shows important stages in Michael Jackson's life and also has couple of YouTube videos.

The map automatically animates, in chronological order, through the map markers. You can however pause the auto play feature by clicking on "Pause Auto Play" or just by clicking on forward, back arrows.

Also check out Michael Jackson twitter map (tweets from Western/Eastern United States, Europe, India and Australia)

RIP - Michael Jackson - Twitter World Reacts #michaeljackson

Michael Jackson is Dead and Twitter World reacts. Here is map of Michael Jackson Tweets from Western/Eastern United States, Europe, India and Australia

Embed the map in your website. Here's the code!!


<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mibazaar.com/michaeljackson.html"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://www.mibazaar.com/michaeljackson.html" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>


Ford's Fiesta Movement Mapped (#fiestamovement)

Some time back Ford recruited 100 "Agents" to test drive their Ford Fiesta (to be launched in 2010/2011). These agents will spend 6 months behind the wheel of their own Fiesta, lifestreaming their experiences on Twitter/YouTube.

Check out what they are upto in this twitter map I created.

(Fiesta Movement website)

Embed the map in your website. Here's the code!!


<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mibazaar.com/fordfiesta.html"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://www.mibazaar.com/fordfiesta.html" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>


Iran Election Protest Mashups

With the ongoing protests going on in Iran over the Election results, here are couple of Google Maps Mashups I created:

Tweets from Middle East, Europe, Eastern and Western United States related to Iran Election Protests:



Geo-Tagged YouTube Videos of Iran Election Protests:

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship History on Google Maps

Check out my NCAA Mens' Basketball Championship History - Google Maps Mashup which I had created couple of years ago. It shows locations of championship teams, the runners-up, championship venues from 1939 to 2008. You can sort the data by Scores, Miles traveled by winners and losers.

"Unemployed" Tweets

With the current state of our economy, I decided to look at twitter for tweets with "Unemployed" keyword. I took this information from Twitter along with User's location and mapped it out on Google Maps.

There are two buttons at the top left corner of the map which are labeled "Eastern Untied States" and "Western United States". The map defaults to "Eastern". If you click on "Eastern United States" button then tweets are shown from within 1500 miles radius of "Cincinnati, Ohio". If you click on "Western United States" button then tweets are shown from within 1500 miles radius of "Los Angeles".
(Thanks to Google Maps Mania for mentioning this mashup)

The World's most Dangerous Airports

I bumped into a site called oddee.com which lists the world's most dangerous airports. I have taken this list along with videos from YouTube and created a Google Maps Mashup. Take a look at the 747 landing at Princess Juliana International airport (St. Martin). Wow!

Medical use of Marijuana by State

Here's a Google Map of states where according to this article "marijuana is now, for all practical purposes, legal in 13 states. thanks to Obama".

The map shows the 13 states which allow use of Marijuana for Medical purpose. It also shows usage of Medical Marijuana as of January 14th, 2009 (source: procon.org)

Academy Awards on Google Maps

The 81st Academy Awards will be held on February 22nd, 2009 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

Here's a Google Maps Mashup of the Best Actors from 1928 to present day. There's also YouTube video clips embedded in the Map for some of the actors.

Valentine Day Google Maps Mashup

I created a Valentine Day Google Maps Mashup couple of years ago. It shows Victoria Secret/Lovers Lane stores, florists, movie theaters in your city/state or zip code (for US Locations only).
Note: Click here for facebook version.

Australian Fires - Google Maps + YouTube Videos

I put together this quick Google Maps Mashup of Australian Fires which so far has claimed upwards of 100 lives. The Map shows the latest geotagged YouTube Videos. Click on the arrow button in the top right corner of the map to view the next or previous videos.

Layoffs - 2009

Total number of jobs lost in January 2009 adds to over 130,000 of which yesterday alone saw 70,000 jobs lost. Here's a look on Google Maps, the location of corporations which are laying off employees. (Note: the data shown is sourced from Forbes and is for 2009).

Fortune's 100 Best Companies to work for in 2009

Fortune has come out with a list of 100 best companies to work for in 2009. Topping the list this year is Netapp. Google drops to #4. Here's a Google Maps View of 100 top companies:

Iconic Images from Bush Presidency

Here's a Google Maps Mashup which plots some of the iconic images from Bush presidency on Google Maps. The template used here is exactly the same as "Barack Obama's Journey of Life". I got the idea for this mashup from a CNN post.

(Note: Click the arrow buttons/autoplay to disable autoplay)

Barack Obama Inauguration - YouTube Videos

Check out what and from where the world is uploading videos to YouTube as it relates to upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama.

Also check out Barack Obama's Journey from Honolulu, HI to White House.
Google Maps Version
Google Earth Version

Google Maps Mashup for Lunch Buddies

Lunchn.com not only helps you find a place to eat, it also helps you and your lunch buddies decide where to eat. Lunchn helps you create groups with your lunch buddies and then lets all the group members vote on their restaurant of choice. (via lifehacker)

Mashable: Best Google Maps Mashups

Mashable has published a list of 100 of the best mashups and tools out there right now. In this list there are 6 of my mashups listed. Here they are:

• Barack Obama's Journey of Life
  (Click here for Google Earth Version)


• Gaza Conflict - (YouTube Videos + Google Maps)


• Prescription Drugs in US Drinking Water


• Tax Payer Contribution to Iraq War by State


• Nation Under Siege: The effect of sea-level rise on coastal cities in United States


• World's Creepiest Places

Coolest Desis of 2008

What is a desi?. Quoting Wikipedia:

The term "Desi" refers to a person of South Asian heritage, from either India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, or Maldives.

DesiClub.com has come out with its annual list of "Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2008". So where in the world are these "The Coolest Desis". Here's a look on Google Maps which shows the places where "The Coolest Desis" are from:

Republic of Kiribati the Eastern Most Country(?) to welcome 2009 First.

Republic of Kiribati the Eastern Most Country is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. So therefore it will be the 1st nation to welcome 2009. Happy New year to folks in Republic of Kiribati. Here's a Google Maps view of Republic of Kiribati:

View Larger Map

Google Maps T-Shirt now available

For $13.45 you get the official Google Maps T-Shirt and if I were to buy it, I would have to pay $2.30 more because I wear XXL size. The T-Shirt is described as follows:(via)

royal blue American Apparel 100% combed cotton shirt featuring the Google Maps pin and "I am here" text on the front, Google Maps logo on the back, and URL on the sleeve. 3/4" set-in neck; shoulder-to-shoulder tape; 1" sleeves and bottom hem.

Gaza Conflict - Reactions/Reports in YouTube

I put together this quick Google Maps Mashup of the current Gaza Conflict as is being reported in YouTube from around the world. I pull in the latest geo tagged videos from YouTube which is then shown on Google Maps. Click on the arrow buttons located at the top right corner to view the next or previous videos.

Towns and Cities named Christmas and Holiday Season names

Did you know that there is a town named

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

Check out this Google Maps view of towns in United States with holiday season names.

Layoff Chatter on Twitter

November, 2008 saw job losses upwards of 533,000 which was the worst in 34 years. According to the labor department unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent last month which is the highest reading since 1993. That is terrible and that too so close to the holidays.

Twitter is one of the places to find out where the layoffs are taking place because some layoffs might not make it to front page news. I have put together this quick Google Maps Mashup of Twitter statuses of folks talking about layoffs.

Stinky Google Maps

First it was rotten neigbors, now you can map that rotten/stinky smell. A Japanese site has come up with a Google Maps Mashup where a user can track down weird and stinky smells. Some of the stinky smells being tracked are watermelon smell, ferret odor, gasoline fumes, and curry (is curry stinky?). (via gizmodo and japan probe)

Does Detroit matter? - Auto Jobs in USA

Here's a Google Maps view of Auto releated jobs in United States. With all the talk about Detroit Auto Bailout, the map shows that its not just about Detroit. Fortune states that

The auto industry employs workers in every state - including Alaska and Hawaii. More than 2 million jobs - from manufacturing, to parts, to auto dealers - depend on carmakers for their pay.

Detroit Auto Chatter on Twitter

So what do folks on Twitter have to say about "Auto Bailout". I have pulled in tweets from North America as it relates to "Auto Bailout" and in addition I have mapped it to their profile location on Google Maps.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The forecast calls for snow this week in South Eastern Michigan and then I see "Polar Express" DVD next to the TV and neighbors putting up Christmas lights.
What else?
Just found out (via Google Blog) that Google has

teamed up again this year with NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, to bring you the NORAD Santa Tracker.

Visit NORAD website on Christmas Eve and you can track Santa in both Google Maps and Google Earth and view videos of his flights over several landmark cities, captured by special "Santa cams."

Here's a video from last year's Santa Tracker

Voices now Google Mapped

Woices.com has come up with a unique idea. It provides location Based Audio Services (LBS). Woices can be used for art as audio guides of museums, for cities, for routes, etc.

It is an interesting site to create a new layer of audio information and for improving people experiences and be more realistic.

Woices.com - A must see website!!

Mumbai Terror Attacks - Latest Videos from YouTube

Here's a quick Google Maps Mashup I put together of GeoTagged YouTube videos as it relates to Mumbai Terror Terror Attacks. Click on the arrows on upper right to go forward or back to view videos.

Mumbai Terror Attacks - Chatter on Twitter

Here's a quick mashup I put together of Twitter Tweets as it relates to Mumbai Terror Attacks along with Google Maps + YouTube video. It shows on Google Maps where in the world people are twittering on Mumbai Terror Attacks. It also shows the latest YouTube videos.

Turkey Day Facts on Google Maps

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Here's a Thankgiving Day related Google Maps Mashup which I had created last year and which shows the following:

• Towns/Cities in USA named Turkey
• Towns/Cities in USA which claim to being the Turkey Capital of the World
• Towns/Cities in USA named Plymouth
• Towns/Cities in USA named Cranberry

Christmas Decorations for your and/or a friend's house in Google Maps.

With the help of Coca Cola you can now decorate your house or your friends house with Christmas decorations. (details here).

I hope President George Bush does not mind, because I took liberty in decorating his current house (White House). Here's how it looks:

Google Mapping worldwide Piracy Incidents

There have been numerous piracy incidents reported lately off the coast of Somalia. Numerous other piracy incidents around the world have also been reported as shown in this Google Maps Mashup. This Map shows all the piracy and robbery incidents in 2008 which were reported to International Maritime Bureau.

Moms respond to Motrin via Twitter and YouTube

Motrin came out with a ad targeting babywearing moms with something like "We feel your pain". This did not go well with Moms. Makes you wonder who they consulted before coming up with this ad.

Moms are angry with MOTRIN and they have taken to Twitter and YouTube to express their displeasure. Result: As of this writing Motrin's website was down. They might be taking their ad down.

I quickly put together a page which shows "Motrin/Mom Chatter" on Twitter. In addition I pull in videos related to "Motrin Moms" from YouTube. All this is shown on Google Maps.

Now Motrin is "Feeling the Pain"

Los Angeles Fire Tweets - Google Maps Mashup

Southern California has been hit by wildfires which were driven by hurricane-strength winds. Lot of folks have lost homes. Other then CNN and other media outlets how does one get information as to what is happening on the ground there in Southern California?

Twitter is a great tool to get a feel of what the situation is on the ground. With the help of Twitter Search API + Google Maps API, I have put together a Gooogle Maps Mashup which shows you the tweets as it relates to Los Angeles Fires.

All the US Presidents

Couple of years back I had created a Google Maps Mashup of United States Presidents from George Washington to George Bush. I have modified it now include Barack Obama. This mashup also includes information on spouse(s). Here it is:

Vaishno Devi, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Vaishno Devi is one of the holiest Hindu temples, located in the hill of Vaishno Devi, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the second most visited religious shrine in India.

Back in January, 2005 I visited India after a gap of 15 years. After attending a family wedding in New Delhi we headed north to Jammu & Kashmir for a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi. From the base camp we had to walk approx 12 kms of narrow path up the mountain to the place of worship. It was a unforgettable experience (the view, having to walk thru metal detectors after every couple of kilometers).

The satellite view of this place of worship was blurred, I guess because of security reasons.

I am again planning to go on a pilgrimage to this temple in February. So while planning the whole thing out I decided to take a look at this location on Google Maps. Wow!! it is no longer blurred. Here's the view in Google Earth. For a view in Google Maps click here.

Barack Obama victory celebrations (YouTube + Google Maps)

Here's a Google Maps Mashup which I put together last night which captures geo tagged YouTube videos which relates to Barack Obama Victory Celebrations.
(Thanks to Keir Clarke of GoogleMapsMania for featuring this mashup)

Twitter Voter Reports from across the country on Google Maps

TwitterVoterReport.com is a website where voters

will be able to share their experiences and resources with one another (e.g. “#wait:120″ meaning that the wait time is 120 minutes). These messages will then be aggregated and mapped on Google Maps so that we can “see” voting problems around the country in real-time.

A great team was behind this project and one of them is TWITTERVISION fame: David Troy who just today has been featured in Baltimore Sun which also covers David Troy's role in the Twitter Voter Reports project.

To embed a state-specific map on your site, use the following code:(replacing MI with your 2 letter state code)

<iframe src="http://votereport.us/reports/map?state=MI" frameborder="0" class="stream" width="535" height="500" scrolling="no" ></iframe>

Who is googling Halloween, Trick or Treat?

Check out a Google Maps + Google Trends mashup I had created couple of weeks ago. It shows top 10 cities where the search is originating from. Since today is Halloween let's take a look at who is searching for Halloween:



and who is searching for Trick or Treat?

Creepiest Places in the World

Since Halloween is around the corner, wanted to mention a Google Maps Mashup I created about a year ago which shows the World's most creepiest places. Topping the list at the time was Bhangarh, India. The data source of this mashup is concierge.com.

Most expensive Postal Codes outside London, UK

Majority of my maps are US centric. Here's one which relates to United Kingdom. Couple of weeks back Forbes came out with a post on most expensive postal codes in United Kingdom. Here it is and not in this life time will i be able to ever live in these Postal Codes. (BTW this mashup has wikipedia and panaramio layer also).

Trick or Treating? Map your path with Google Maps and be safe.

Plan to go Trick or Treating on October 31st? then map out your path with Google Maps. Head over to maps.google.com (My Maps) and plot out your route by placing icons to mark important stops along the way and share it with others (by turning the collaborate feature on) so that they can contribute too. Another neat thing you can do is turn on the Street View feature to make sure that there are side walks. (via Google LatLong Blog).

Here's a video which shows you how to create a personalized map at maps.google.com

Reverse Geocoding comes to Google Maps API

Google's Geo Developers Blog is reporting that Reverse Geocoding is now available in Google Maps API. What is reverse Geocoding?

It is a process of converting a latitude/longitude pair into an address.

Check out the sample posted in Geo Developers Blog as to how reverse geocoding works. Clicking anywhere on the map will display the address for that location.

Here's a modified version of the sample with satellite view. I clicked at a location where GM World Headquarters is located.

Create Google Maps easily with Click2Map

Check out Click2Map. Click2Map lets you create Google Maps easily without any knowledge of programming.

Maps created with Click2 Map can then be published as web pages and shared, or as widgets that can be embedded in existing websites.

With Click2Map you can create as many maps and as many markers as you wish. There's no limit.

Check out Click2Map's Product Tour page to see Click2Map in action.

Get Stock Quotes on Google Maps

My latest Google Maps Mashup is Stock quotes from Google Finance shown on Google Maps. This mashup also lists all the related companies along with the current popular searches on Google Finance which includes Price Gainers/Losers. You can type in the ticker symbol in the url or in the mashup page.

For example to get the current stock quote for Google you would type in http://www.mibazaar.com/googlefinance/index.php?ticker=goog. I have also created a form shown in the right column and below where you can type in any ticker symbol and then click "GO" and it will take you to the mashup page with the stock quote being shown on Google Maps at a location where the Corporate Headquarters is located.

Latest Stock Quote on Google Maps
Please enter Stock Symbol

Obama, Mccain, Biden and Palin Journey Maps - Mapplets and Gadgets

A reminder that now you can view Obama, McCain, Biden and Palin Journey Maps as a Google Gadget or a Google Maps Mapplet.

Here are the links: (Note: To stop the autoplay feature click on either the forward or back arrows)

Gadgets for your website:

Barack Obama's Journey

John McCain's Journey

Joe Biden's Journey

Sarah Palin's Journey

Google Mapplets (view it at maps.google.com)

Barack Obama

John McCain

Joe Biden

Sarah Palin

CEO's who Lose/Gain Millions in Minutes

Forbes takes a look at CEO's who lose/gain millions in minutes. Forbes is reporting in a article published on (9/26/2008)

The annual median household income in the U.S. is about $50,000. A band of 30 of America's richest bosses lost that much money in less than two minutes last year.

The rich get richer a lot faster than most. That also means they can lose their fortune a lot faster, too.

Here's a Google Maps View of 10 "CEO's who lost/gained millions in minutes".

Create Maps Mashups with GeoCommons "Maker"

"Maker" launched by FORTIUSONE is a web application that enables non-technical users to create Mashups using their own data or/and GeoCommons open source data. FortiusOne's GeoCommons enables you to leverage massive amounts of valuable data to detect trends, risks and opportunities, resulting in a complete view of your business information.

The tool provides users the ability to view multiple datasets on a single map. You can choose from 'Basemap' from Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Live Maps or Open Street Maps.

Check out these interactive maps at "Maker" on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.

Barack Obama and John McCain's Journey Maps - Mapplet Versions

A while ago I had created Barack Obama and John McCain's journey maps. Now I have created a mapplet version of these maps:

Barack Obama
John McCain

This morning I see the mapplet version of these maps make to maps.google.com. WOW!!
(also the gadget version of these maps are available at maps.google.com/elections)