MIBAZAAR

The Tragedy of Edmund Fitzgerald - #googlemaps #googlewave

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:33:00 +0000

Edmund Fitzgerald sank 34 years ago on November 10th, 1975 in Lake Superior. All 29 crew members lost their lives that day. I have created a Google Maps Mashup which shows the exact location of the tragedy in Lake Superior along with hometowns of the mariners on Edmund Fitzgerald who died. I have also created a Google Wave gadget of this mashup.

When the map first loads up it shows the location where the ship sank along with a video of the song from Gordon Lightfoot which is dedicated to Edmund Fitzgerald. There is a link above the video ("Click here for mariners hometown") which when clicked shows the hometowns of mariners hometown. The information window above the mariner markers has a forward and back arrows which when clicked takes you to the next mariner location.

Argleton a (non-existent) town created by Google in UK - #googlemaps

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:02:00 +0000

Telegraph is reporting that there is brand new town in UK called Argleton. What's so unique/great about this town? Argleton actually does not exist in real life. It is a brand new town which exists only in Google Maps. So why and how did this happen?

One theory is that Argleton could have been deliberately added, as a trap to catch companies that violate the map's copyright.
A spokesman for the Dutch company - Tele Atlas which provided the map data, said it would now wipe the non-existent town from the map. He added: "Mistakes like this are not common, and I really can't explain why these anomalies get into our database."

View Larger Map

A year ago today - Journey to White House

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:58:00 +0000

A year ago today Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States. At the time I had Google Mapped his journey which began from his birth place in Honolulu, Hawaii to White House. Here it is: (If you would like to embed this in your website, I have provided the code below)

View Larger Map

<iframe width="425" height="425" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mibazaar.com/obama_igoogle.html"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://www.mibazaar.com/obama_igoogle.html" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

PHP script problems... :( causing my Google Maps Mashups not to work.

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Looks like Yahoo Web Hosting (my webhosting provider) has changed something, because none of my php scripts which have parameters passed to them are working. As a result most of my Google Maps Mashups have stopped working.

Am working with Yahoo Support. Hopefully things will get back to normal.

placeSpotting has a map quiz for your iPhone #googlemaps

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:34:00 +0000

placeSpotting.com a popular "Google Map Quiz" mashup now has a version for your iPhone. Now you can test your knowledge of geograpic locations and landmarks "on the go". You can test it on iPhone.

The quiz on the iPhone will provide you with hints and then you try to match the image with the map snapshot. There are 15 thousand quizzes waiting for you.

Google Mapping World's Creepiest Places #spooky

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Since Halloween is around the corner, wanted to mention a Google Maps Mashup I created couple of years ago which shows the World's most creepiest places. Topping the list at the time was Bhangarh, India. The data source of this mashup is concierge.com (unfortunately the page from concierge no longer exists).

Bloosee - Google Maps Mashup for sea-lovers

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:29:00 +0000

Just been informed about BlooSee a great new Google Maps Mashup for sea-lovers. BlooSee (BTW a great domain name) is a web application for sailors and sea-lovers, a place to share your knowledge about the oceans of the world on a global map. Users may find critical information such as facilities, aids to navigation, and dangers, but also commercial services, surf/kayak/windsurf spots, art and marine history, ocean conservation data, etc. Those layers of information are color-coded for easy interpretation, and can be switched on and off, to concentrate on your particular likes/needs.

BlooSee is also a social network for all those sea-lovers to share their passion and engage in discussions, share photos and experiences, etc.

iPhone Halloween Costume #iphone

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:05:00 +0000

(via Mashable)

President Obama declares H1N1 emergency #swineflu

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:24:00 +0000

CNN is reporting that President Obama has declared H1N1 emergency which made me go back to my swine flu Google Map and see how folks are reacting to this on twitter. Here's a screen shot. You can click on different regions mentioned on the left hand side of the map and see the reaction from those regions.

Google Maps and India's Arunachal Pradesh #googlemaps

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:45:00 +0000

I always thought and still do that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India. So is it or is it not? Take a look at Google Maps (Indian Version, Chinese Version and Global Version). (via)

Google Maps: Indian Version: (shows Arunachal Pradesh as part of India)

Google Maps: Chinese Version (To heck with you India!!)

Google Maps: Global Version (I don't know whose side I am on)

CNNMoney.com Map of Best Places to launch a Business

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:11:00 +0000

CNNMoney.com has created a Google Maps Mashup of Best Places to Launch a Business in America. Oklahoma City leads the list followed by Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Houston, Hartford.

You can also filter the results by State. The red push pin markers when clicked on the map shows a information window which displays information related to population, # of small businesses and number of employees.

Happy Diwali Tweets on Google Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:12:00 +0000

Happy Diwali to everyone. Here's a look at "Happy Diwali" Tweets mapped out on Google Maps.

Global Hunger Index Map

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:06:00 +0000

Today is World Food Day.. So how has our world progressed in reducing hunger? Check out this 2009 Global Hunger Index map. Drag and drop the marker to see the Global Hunger Index value for your country of interest...

Party Princess - Zoe Griffin mapping her tweets

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:15:00 +0000

London's self-styled party princess Zoe Griffin relaunched her website which now has a Google Map which shows her latest tweets.

The map animates through Zoe's latest messages on Twitter. The information windows for each Tweet include forward and back buttons, so it is also possible to manually navigate through the messages.

BTW if you want a similar looking map on your website then try out this code. Replace the mibazaar user id in BOLD with your Twitter user id

<iframe width="425" height="425" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mibazaar.com/mytweets.php?uid=mibazaar"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://www.mibazaar.com/mytweets.php?uid=mibazaar" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

Tweet your Senator on Health care Reform

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:33:00 +0000

Tweet your Senator is a Google Maps Mashup which plots your Tweet on Google Maps. This mashup a feature of BarackObama.com was launched in late July. (via Mashable)

To use it, you enter your zip code and the mashup will create a pre-populated tweet which is targeted for a Senator from your State. Even though the pre-poulated tweet is pro Health Care Reform you can edit it and express your opinion either way, just leave the hash-tags alone though.

Google Mapping the Flight Status Tweets

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Commercial jets (ok not the jets but the airlines) are now Tweeting. Lufthansa has set up a new service called MySkyStatus which automatically posts the current position of your flight to Twitter (via). The service supposedly updates your twitter status with your flight location. I put together this quick Google Maps Mashup which shows these Flight Tweets (with the flight location) on Google Maps.

NFL Players Tweeting

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:24:00 +0000

Mashable has a post titled "Football Tweets: 20 Must-Follow NFL Players on Twitter". I have taken this list and mashed up the last 10 tweets of each of these players with Google Maps. Just a couple of them have their location geotagged while Reggie Bush of New Orleans Saints has his location as "The Best Coast" which Google thinks is in New Zealand.

Gender Pay Gap in United States

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Cenus.gov has published a report which lists the gender pay gap in America. In Wyoming women earn 64.3% of what men do and at the other end of the scale is Puerto Rico where women earn 101.1% of what men earn. Here's a look at the rest of United States on Google Maps and how it fares.

Climate change in Google Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Check out this video of "Google Earth Climate Change Simulator" which shows effects of climate change. Its narrated by Al Gore. This video has been released to coincide with the upcoming UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. (via)

Related: Also check out my map of Effects of Climate Change on US Coastal Cities

Furthest point in United States from a McDonald's Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0000

So what's the furthest distance you can be away from a McDonald's in United States. Blogger Stephen Von Worley has figured it out. The answer is you will never be more than 107 miles away from a McDonald's in United States.

"Between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley lies the McFarthest Spot: 107 miles distant from the nearest McDonald's, as the crow flies, and 145 miles by car!"

(via Huffington Post)

Here's a Google Maps view of the "McFarthest Spot"

Who was the 1st President of United States?

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:56:00 +0000

Guess what, only 23% of the Oklahoma High School Students can answer that question (via Daily Kos). This was also reported by CNN.

Reading the Daily Kos article, I remembered the Google Maps Mashup I had created couple of years ago which lists all the US Presidents (including their spouses). This could be a very useful educational tool in schools. Here it is...

Mapping the Toxic Water Polluters near you

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:33:00 +0000

New York Times has come up with this great Google Maps Mashup which maps the facilities (200,000) in United States that have permits to discharge pollutants into the nation's waters. It also lists responses from states regarding compliance. You can search the map by city or zip code or by selecting a state. (via Google Maps Mania)

Related: Prescription Drugs in United States Drinking Water

Google Logo Today - Crop Circles?

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:22:00 +0000

Google's Logo today is - Crop Circles. Why? I got no idea. Take a look at Google's tweet (image shown at the end of this post). This Tweet's status has a Latitude/Logitude of 51.327629, -0.5616088 along with a twitpic image which when clicked takes you to the Google Logo Image.

Mashable states

The latitude and longitude that were tweeted out correspond to Surrey, England, where one enterprising soul noticed a “flying saucer” sighting by a family car on the 15th, back in 1985.

And now my finding: I found Latitude/Longitude in the tweet refers to Horsell, England (Google Maps). The Wikipedia entry for Horsell, England states

Horsell in Surrey is an ancient (pre-Domesday Book) village nearby to the more modern 19th. century Woking, probably best known because of its association with the story The War of the Worlds, written by H.G. Wells. (The War of the Worlds (1898) is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells describing an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians equipped with advanced weaponry. It is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth.)

Female to Male Participation in Labor Force

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:20:00 +0000

World Economic Forum has published "Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010" which features 133 economies. The report contains extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators. One of table looks at "Female to Male Participation in Labor Force" which I mashed it up with Google Maps. Topping the list is Mozambique where for the ratio is 1.16 (I would have thought it would be much lower in Mozambique) and way at the bottom is Jordan where the ratio is 0.22. United States is ranked 39th.

LA Fires - Mapping the Tweets #lafires

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:28:00 +0000

I created the LA Fires Tweet Google Map sometime last year. I updated it last night with "auto play" feature. After every 8 seconds the map moves on to the next tweet (with keyword fire) around the Los Angeles Area.