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Showing posts from June, 2011

Google+ Demo Site is using Google Maps API...

            Have you seen the Google+ Demo Website ? It is making use of the Google Maps API as a presentation canvas. Now, that's pretty cool!            Check it out!

Punjab cities to implement GIS...

            The Punjab government is all set to implement ultra modern GIS systems in 6 big cities of Punjab namely Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Batinda and Pathakot to facilitate future planning, expansion and maintenance of civic infrastructure in these cities. The GIS will be implemented in these cities by October 31, 2011, which would be further implemented in other districts of the state.             Complete information of these cities will be available on the GIS which should prove beneficial and helpful during the preparation of "Master Plans" of these cities in the future. The satellite images of these cities will be taken which would later on be developed to form a large database. The maps that will be generated would provide detailed information on roads and rail networking along with exact locations of bus stops and railway stations. The maps will also show detailed information on the commercial, industrial and residential areas of the city which woul

Curious scenes in Google Map Satellite view...

            Most of you'll must have already seen many images like air crafts, brand logos, animals captured in the Google Satellite images or Google Earth for that matter. I am going to point out some that I found amazing... Italy's Big Pink Bunny - Google Map Link Australia's Blue Tree - Google Map Link  Nevada's Desert Crop Circle - Google Map Link  England's Dino Maze - Google Map Link Oregon's Firefox Crop Circle - Google Map Link              The above images are just a few of the many amazing Google Satellite images available on the web...Hope you enjoy them! Feel free to post links and images similar to these, here... Update - March 15, 2012:         I just came across the following freaky street view in Google Maps. I am sharing the image and the actual Google link here. You will need to enable the street view - i.e. drop the yellow pegman on the Google Map at the pointer location and then check out the sky! Let m

Different map for a different browser!

            The title simply implies that detect the client's browser and then display the map accordingly! This is basically important when you are developing a map application for mobiles. Mobiles usually have a small screen and the maps that look brilliant on the desktops don't look the same on the mobile screens!             Well, in my example, I am considering only two of the most popular browsers in use - Mozilla and IE. The application detects whether the client's browser is one of the two and then renders the map accordingly! If you are viewing the example in Mozilla, then you will see a 600 X 800px map, whereas if you are viewing it in IE, you will see a smaller 500 X 500px map! Here is the code... <html> <title>Basic Google Map Example - Detect browser and render map accordingly </title> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"> </script> <scrip

Google Map Loading . . . . .

    The blank web page seems so boring and dull when the map is still loading. You will come across such a situation quite often where you will be having a slow internet connection! We cannot do anything about the slow internet connection, but we can surely avoid the dull blank web-page by using a simple trick. We can place a "loading" image at the center of the web page so that the page doesn't look blank! An image like this:     The following code will show you how this can be done and here it is!     As you all can see the code is very very simple and the output will look as seen in the result section above.     Do let me know what you think about the examples shared here! Do leave your comments here! Till the next example, happy mapping!

Where does Google get it's live traffic data from?

Referring to a post that I wrote earlier, Google’s - Live traffic Layer , ever wondered how Google collected this data? I was wondering the other day, how Google received live data to display it on their maps as a layer! I looked up the web and found something very interesting and am sharing the same with you all. As we all know, the traffic layer is available most accurately in several states in USA. Most major metro areas in the US have sensors embedded in their highways. These sensors track real time traffic data. Easy to miss at high speeds (hopefully anyway, traffic permitting), more commonly noticed may be the similar sensors that often exist at many busy intersections that help the traffic lights most efficiently let the most amount of people through. The information from these tracking sensors is reported back to the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT uses this data to update some of the digital signs that report traffic conditions in many metro areas. They als

Google Map within an image

    Hope you'll enjoyed the last post describing how two maps can be placed side-by-side on the same webpage ! Most of you'll will enjoy today's code example too! All of you out there who work on Google Maps API, must have visited the API home page several times! You must have seen the map within the Google Nexus Phone frame there! It appears as though there is a map visible on the mobile screen! One of friend asked me the other day if I could implement that, and I did it and here is the code that I am sharing with you all!     I have used an I-Pad frame and am displaying a map centered at India within it! Here is the code!     The output of the above code is as seen in the result section above! The map that is appearing within the frame is not just an image but can be dragged like any other Google Map! Enjoy the code. It is very simple to understand!     In case you have any queries regarding the same, feel free to leave a comment! You can also leave your feedback

Two maps on the same page - Side-by-side

    How good I am feeling to post a code example after such a long time! It's been all "news" over the past so many posts! Well now that I am finally doing a code example, I am posting a very highly requested code sample. Placing two Google Maps on the same page (Now that's simple you would say!), but side by side. Now this is the thing that most people struggle with. Well, implementing the second part is also very simple, as you will see in today's code.     Let's see the code. Here it is!     The output of the above code will be as seen in the result section above.     As most of you will realize, there are two maps, one centered at "Pune" and other at "Noida". Why I chose these two locations? Well, just like that!...The main issue of concern is how the maps appeared side-by-side and not one below the other as would be normal behavior of two "div" elements used in the same page. Now here is the trick! Check out the th