Google Maps Maships 8

Google Map for the 2011 Hurricane Season

Google Crisis Response has put together a Google Map for the 2011 Hurricane Season. The map currently shows the projected route of Hurricane Irene with the option of viewing a number of other layers on the map.

As well as viewing the forecast track of Hurricane Irene the map includes:

  • a cloud imagery layer from the Navy Research Lab
  • a layer showing coastal areas placed under tropical cyclone watches or warnings
  • evacuation routes from FEMA
  • a surge storm probability layer
  • real-time Stream Gage Data from USGS

Culture on the Map

In the UK tourist signs have a brown background and are often referred to as ‘brown signs’. Their purpose is to direct people to tourist attractions, such as castles, museums or historical buildings.

Brown signs are the responsibility of local authorities and therefore there is no central record of all the country’s brown signs. Follow the Brown Signs is a website dedicated to tracking down (and mapping) all the humble brown signs in the UK.

It is possible to search for brown signs by address or postcode and view a Google Map of all the signs around that location. There are 93 different types of brown signs, signifying such diverse categories as good brass rubbing locations and ‘heavy horse’ centres.

Follow the Brown Signs lets you search for brown sign locations by category. As well as providing a little history about each category you can also view each of the 93 different types of brown sign on its own individual map.

The UK’s Blue Plaque scheme is a way of commemorating the lives of famous residents of the country. Blue circular signs are erected on houses to indicate that someone of note was born or once lived there.

The PlaqueGuide is a Google Map of the UK’s blue plaque houses. The map uses blue circular map markers to show the location of houses with plaques. You can find out who the plaque is for by just mousing over a marker. If you click on a marker you can view a Street View of the plaque and read a Wikipedia article about the individual commemorated by the plaque.

The PlaqueGuide is crowdsourced, so anyone can add information about the location of a blue plaque.

History on Google Street View

I think there is something kind of magical about viewing old film clips on top of the modern Street View image of where the movies were shot. I’ve updated my There and Then historical videos application to try and improve the user interface.

I’ve also added a few more historical videos. Some highlights of the more recently added videos to the app include a 1960’s film of the Vatican and a 1950’s film of the Colosseum in Rome.

I’d love to hear what you think about the app, particularly whether you think the user interface is intuitive or a little difficult to understand. So feel free to tell me what you think in the comments.

The Old San Francisco

Old S.F. is a great Google Map of thousands of historical photographs of San Francisco. The map provides a great way to browse the San Francisco Public Library’s Historical Photograph Collection by location and by date.

The map includes a slider navigational aide that allows you to select a date range for the photographs you wish to view. For example, if you are interested in viewing photographs taken after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake you can set the slider to 1906 to view only the photos taken in that year.

Time Shutter is another great Google Maps based website that allows users to view historical photographs of San Francisco. Users can upload historical images to the site and browse through the images submitted by others.

The site includes many postcards of San Francisco from around 1900 and includes a historical map overlay featuring the Chevalier Commercial, Pictorial and Tourist Map of San Francisco from 1903.

Measuring Twitter

Last week’s Virginia earthquake may only have measured 5.8 on the Moment magnitude scale but it measured a whopping 10.6 on the Twitter scale.

This Twitter Quake Map shows the astonishing rate and spread of Twitter messages about the quake in the 8o seconds after it hit. As the map animates through the 80 seconds, the location and density of the Tweets radiate out from Virginia, almost exactly like the shock or P waves of the quake itself.

@andreitr

NOCA Interactive Map

This Google Map from the North California Chapter of the Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement (DOCOMOMO/NOCA) shows the location of some of San Francisco’s most important Modern Movement buildings.

It is possible to browse the map by location, building or by architect. The map also includes four walking tours in different areas of the city that will take you past some of the most important buildings in each area.

The DOCOMOMO/NOCA website was built by creative company Ted Perez + Associates.

Trip Planning with Tripomatic

Tripomatic can help you create a personalised trip itinerary for a number of major destinations in Europe.

Creating an itinerary with Tripomatic is incredibly simple. Each destination includes a Google Map featuring the city’s attractions, places to eat and hotels. You can select to view a number of categories to view on the map.

Clicking on an attraction’s map marker will open an information window with details about the attraction. If you want to visit the attraction you simply add it to your personal trip itinerary. Once you think you have enough attractions for one day you can simply add another day to your itinerary.

After you have completed your itinerary Tripomatic will devise a Google Map for each day of your trip, that includes all of your selected destinations. Your personal itinerary guide includes your map and details about all of your selected attractions presented in an easily printable form.

All you need to do then is print out your personal guide and pack your bags.

MySociety’s FixMyStreet

MySociety’s FixMyStreet was a leading pioneer in what might be called report mapping.

FixMyStreet created a system that allows residents to view and report problems, such as graffiti, fly tipping, broken paving slabs, or street lighting to their local authorities. MySociety has now created a similar report mapping application to help people get common public transport problems resolved.

FixMyTransport is targeted specifically at problems such as broken ticket machines or buses that always leave early. The application uses Google Maps to allow users to find a specific station or bus-stop where they wish to report a problem.

It is also possible to view a Google Map showing all reported problems in a specific area. From the information users provide FixMyTransport can then report problems through to the correct department of the operator or local authority in charge.