Mix tower defense games and Google Maps and you get MapsTD.
posted by Foci for Analysis on Apr 1, 2012 - 30 comments

A column by John Brownlee over at Cult of Mac yesterday highlighted his privacy concerns about the app Girls Around Me -- which used a mashup of FourSquare check-ins, Google Maps and Facebook public profile information to show the user women who were nearby. In response to the story, Foursquare cut off the app's API access to their data, effectively knocking it out of commission. CNET: How to prevent friends checking you into locations at Facebook Places. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Mar 31, 2012 - 99 comments

Google now has street view of the Amazon basin.
posted by special-k on Mar 21, 2012 - 32 comments

"Looking at the world through via Google Earth offers striking images of the diversity of our planet and the impact that humans have had on it. Today's entry is a puzzle. We're challenging you to figure out where in the world each of the images below is taken. (You'll find answers and links at the bottom of the entry.) North is not always up in these pictures, and, apart from a bit of contrast, they are unaltered images provided by Google and its mapping partners. So I invite you to open up Google Earth (or Google Maps), have a look at the images below, and dive in. Good luck!"
posted by vidur on Aug 3, 2011 - 22 comments

"With the midterm elections in the U.S. Senate just six weeks away, everyone is wondering how the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats will shake out after November 2." Wonder no more with Google's 2010 U.S. Election Ratings Map. Information can be filtered by state, type of race (senate, governor, house), and by source. A Google Maps blog entry has more detailed info for those who want to dig deeper into the application. [via TechCrunch]
posted by bayani on Sep 21, 2010 - 20 comments

The Agnostic Cartographer : How Google’s open-ended maps are embroiling the company in some of the world’s touchiest geopolitical disputes.
posted by desjardins on Jul 18, 2010 - 23 comments

A crew from Google is capturing images of the Vail and Beaver Creek mountains for its Google Maps' Street View with its own snowmobile mounted with a special camera. Shortly before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February, Google decided to branch out to ski resorts, using a snowmobile to capture images of Whistler ski area. Vail and Beaver Creek are the first American ski resorts to be included in Street View.
posted by netbros on Apr 18, 2010 - 10 comments

Google has invented the Holodeck. Well, not really, but for the moment it's probably the next best thing. Google's Liquid Galaxy Project, a virtual glass elevator that lets you fly around the world, makes for a stunning presentation. Developed as part of Google’s “20 per cent time” initiative, which sees its engineers encouraged to pursue their own projects on company time, Liquid Galaxy allows users to fly through the Grand Canyon, leap into low-Earth orbit and back down into the oceans and even perch oneself on the Great Pyramid of Giza, all without even breaking a sweat. Check out the amazing video here.
posted by Effigy2000 on Feb 11, 2010 - 61 comments

Biblemap.org is an interactive map system for the bible, which is great for visualising where certain biblical events are said to have occured. It's also great for people who don't subscribe to any kind of organised religion but do like looking at maps (like me!).
posted by Effigy2000 on Jun 14, 2009 - 24 comments

Watch anonymous Wikipedia edits as they happen, where they happen.
posted by Pope Guilty on Mar 24, 2009 - 43 comments

Google Maps now integrates with Wikipedia (click "More" tab). Concharto is a geographic wiki for documenting historical events. Flick also has a map service.
posted by stbalbach on May 14, 2008 - 22 comments

The 21 Steps is a spy thriller short story that is told using Google Maps. [via mefi projects]
posted by brain_drain on Mar 20, 2008 - 20 comments

a Google Maps view of NYC, centered on Central Park Google Maps has started displaying subway stops (with the names of the lines that serve each each stop) in New York City. Clearly this is a work in progress (full building outlines are available only in some parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and some subway stops currently list only one of the multiple trains that serve the stop). Still, this is excellent news not only for natives but also for tourists (whose only subway-map reference may be the significantly, sometimes radically "not to scale" version put out by the MTA).
posted by allterrainbrain on Feb 9, 2007 - 46 comments

MTBGuru is a new site that enables bikers, hikers and runners to upload GPS info, along with photos and comments, from their routes that get mashed up with Google Maps to create an ever-expanding trail resource. Mostly Bay Area now but that is changing.
posted by fenriq on Nov 29, 2006 - 9 comments

MIT SIMILE Timeline — a unique AJAX-based scheduling manager with a unique Google Maps-like graphical interface
posted by Mr. Six on Jul 1, 2006 - 17 comments

This video shows how to navigate Google maps by simply tilting your thinkpad. The code is here, a blog post about it is here. I knew the first wave of goofy accelerometer hacks would be followed with better stuff and I can't wait to see what else people do with the sensors. Hopefully someone ports this to the newer macs as well. [via dj]
posted by mathowie on Jun 14, 2006 - 34 comments

Oprahhhhh Froooooom Sppaaaaaaaaacccceee... and other interesting landmarks via The World According to Google.
posted by Saucy Intruder on Mar 23, 2006 - 25 comments

As a public service, tagged mapping can be used for much more than finding pizza parlors and Craigslist rental entries. Here it gets used to plot criminal activity, like bike thefts and other crimes in West Philadelphia and the larger Philadelphia area, as well as Chicago.
posted by Rothko on Feb 6, 2006 - 11 comments

Google's UK satellite photos have been drastically improved
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome on Feb 5, 2006 - 72 comments

Yet another Google Maps hack for the NYC subway system. This one helps you plan your trip from point A to point B, and gives you an estimated travel time. Most locals will quickly find that the routes it suggests usually aren't the optimum, however this may be useful for visitors, at least until Friday morning. In the event of a strike, this is your best bet for some form of direction.
posted by allkindsoftime on Dec 14, 2005 - 20 comments

Wayfaring.com -- Share your personalized Google maps of your favorite watering holes, hiking trails, or roadside attractions, using numerous customization features. Still in its early stages, you can follow its growing pains on the development blog or post bug reports in the forums.
posted by Gator on Dec 2, 2005 - 4 comments

Microsoft wipes Apple from the face of the Earth. Virtual Earth, that is. A search for "1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA" renders only an empty field and some sort of barn. This is what it really looks like. Finding that other microcomputer company is obviously not a problem. Microsoft blames old photographs (from 1991) for the omission, but copyright notices on the images go only as far back as last year.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jul 26, 2005 - 22 comments

AAAARGH
posted by Pretty_Generic on Jul 16, 2005 - 88 comments

whoa...
posted by machaus on Feb 7, 2005 - 134 comments