Google Maps Masups 18


Julien Levesque is a French artist who has created a number of interesting Google Maps experiments.

Street Views Patchwork mixes together three different Street View images to make a new imaginary landscape. Once the page loads – keep watching, as after a few seconds a new imaginary landscape will appear.

Some of these imagined landscapes are truly beautiful. It must have taken Julien an age scouring Street View to find partial Street Views that match so perfectly.

 


Rock Around the World is a Google Map shaped to look like a record. Click on the map and the record spins around and plays Rock Around the Clock. Once you take your mouse off the map the record slows its spin and comes to a stop and the song slows and grinds to a halt.

 


Marker Attack is a simple map that uses the marker animations in the Google Maps API v3 with lettered map markers to attack the world with an avalanche of Google Map markers.

 


Yellow Road places a large number of different Google Maps in a chain. Each map is centred on a different location but each location has been carefully chosen so that it contains a horizontal road across the map. Each road connects with the road in the map to the left and right of it. The result is one long imaginary yellow brick road.

Improved sharing via Google+

A few weeks ago Larry mentioned that we’d start shipping the Google part of Google+. The Android team then launched Ice Cream Sandwich, with a focus on improved sharing via Google+. And today we’re rolling out two more Google+ features that integrate with two more Google products: YouTube and Chrome.

YouTube

It’s no secret that YouTube is filled with tons of great content (from inspiring speeches to music videos to honey badgers). We wanted to bring YouTube directly into Google+—as well as make it easier to watch and share your favorites—so we’re launching a YouTube “slider” in the stream. Here’s how it works:

  • Mouse over the new YouTube icon at the top right of Google+
  • It’ll slide out and ask, “What would you like to play”?
  • Enter whatever you’re in the mood for (like a topic or a musical artist)

Sharing YouTube videos with your circles also works (of course), but there’s a nice little twist: the people you share with can open a related playlist directly from your post! Last but not least, we’re starting to include YouTube playlists in Google+ search results.

YouTube video in the stream (left), YouTube playlist in Google+ search results (right)

Chrome

We’re also rolling out two new Google+ Chrome extensions:

  • +1 button: +1 any webpage and share it with your circles
  • Notifications: check your Google+ notifications while you browse the web

Of course, if you don’t use Chrome, then you can use Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer. The new version—also rolling out today—includes these same sharing and notification features.

Google+ Chrome extensions: +1 button (left), notifications (right)

We’ve got lots more planned for Google+, YouTube and Chrome (and all the other Google products you already use). But we hope you enjoy today’s small taste of shipping the Google in Google+.