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Showing posts from March, 2012

Code Samples Indexed

       Considering the request from a number of blog readers to index all the code samples on the blog, I have now created a page from where you can refer to all the code samples in a sequential manner. You will be able to see a " Code Samples " tab on the top of every page on the blog from where you can access all the code samples you wish to! The code examples are now live and you can actually see the outputs here itself on the blog. No need to copy paste the codes anymore!        Hope you find this simple page helpful! I would be happy to hear from you all. Please leave your feedback and comments!

Why this difference?

       Several of you must have observed this like I did, that the Google geocoder returns different results on the Google Maps website and Google Maps API v3 for the same address string. To understand why this difference exists, I dug deeper into the web and came up with the following.        The first and foremost place to look for an answer was the Google Maps API FAQ section. The FAQ section did not let me down of course! The FAQ section says: The API geocoder and Google Maps geocoder sometimes use different data sets (depending on the country). The API geocoder occasionally gets updated with new data, so you can expect to see results changing or improving over time.         What I concluded from the above is that, in a lot of cases Google licenses data from other companies like DigitalGlobe, Infoterra Ltd & Bluesky, GeoEye, Getmapping plc, Tele Atlas, etc. When negotiating a licensing agreement for copyrighted map data the two companies have to come to a mutual

You can't Google in Google

       Yes! You can't Google in Google, for Google or 'Googal' (as it is seen on Google Maps) is a sparsely populated village on the banks of river Krishna in the Raichur district about 510 km from Banglore - the IT hub of India. No wonder only a handful villagers know of their famous namesake in the cyberspace. You can seen "Googal" on the Google Maps. Googal - Google Map link         The story goes that 12th century saint poet Allama Prabhu stopped by in the village while traveling from Basava Kalyan to Shreeshailam in Andhra Pradesh. The cave he stayed in has been described as 'Gavi Gallu' (cave of stone). The village was since know as Gavi Gallu, which later became Googallu and now it is Google or Googal! There is a temple atop the underground caves now. Devotees crawl through a hole in the ground to enter the cave, which has an idol of Allama Prabhu and a small well.          Another story that makes the rounds is that, the Helavas,

Girlfriend to fiancée...

       Does this post title "Girlfriend to Fiancée" seem a bit out of place here? Well, actually no! A googler recently had his girlfriend navigate a proposal with Google Maps for mobile.        Ari Gilder - Software Engineer with Google decided to propose to his girlfriend Faigy. He wanted to do something special and different but also meaningful. And this resulted in his developing a mobile application using Google maps to create an ultimate romantic scavenger hunt!       Ari wanted Faigy to visit places around New York city that were filled with memories of their relationship. His plan was to construct a map of the route and get Faigy from one destination to another, all with an element of surprise and Google maps provided him the tools to create the magic.      Ari used Google My Maps to plan out the route - from the Trader Joe's where they shop at on the Upper West Side, to Magnolis Bakery where they spent part of their first date, to Hudson Bar & Lounge w

Google Public Alerts

       I was in the office having my lunch today with my colleagues, when we felt the tremors of a 5.2 magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was at Bahadurgarh in Haryana about 46 km (28 miles) from Delhi - the capital of India. I went back to my desk and that is when I came across this new initiative of Google - Google Public Alerts . Google Public Alerts is Google’s new platform for disseminating emergency messages such as evacuation notices for hurricanes, and everyday alerts such as storm warnings.        Google Public Alerts is actually a project of the Google Crisis Response Team , supported by Google.org which uses Google's strengths in information and technology to build products and advocate for policies that address global challenges.Google Public Alerts has started by showing relevant weather, public safety and earthquake alerts from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) , the National Weather Service , and the US Geological Survey (USGS) when

UFO or what?

       Is it really an UFO or what, was the question that struck my mind when I saw the following image on Google Maps.          This object looks like a perfect circular light object surrounded by multiple circular lights equidistant from the central light sphere. You can also see a single ray of light between each of the outer spherical lights and the inner spherical light globe. This UFO is located on the the Laguna AAF Airport in Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. You can see the object for yourself by typing the coordinates 32.866436,-114.385992 into Google Maps.          Now this UFO could also be an helicopter as seen from above. Good and logical explanation some would say. But, photographs of an helicopter with or without their blades rotating look nothing like the image that we see on Google Maps. Moreover, even with the rotating blades, the main central body of the helicopter should have been clearly visible. Don't you think so?         Well, I clearly think an

Hilarious Google Maps

       I came across these simple yet wonderfully done illustrations based on the Google Maps Street style by Christoph Niemann - Illustrator for the Times Magazine. These illustrations are absolutely stunning show of creativity, design, execution and general beauty. All the illustrations show exactly how it is on the roads in New York. Sit back and enjoy the show.