Google Lat Long: May 2010

Code for My Tracks is now yours

May 28, 2010

A year ago, we released My Tracks, an Android app that lets you track activities like hikes, bike rides and trail runs using your mobile device. Now we’re announcing the release of the My Tracks source code into the wild.

What this means to users: My Tracks will become even better. The collective intelligence of the development community will create a more powerful, more intuitive, more useful, and more robust My Tracks. In addition, complementary apps will be written (For details on third party app development, see the wiki documentation). Applications for fitness activities, geocaching—heck, even dog tracking—are not hard to imagine.

Open-sourcing My Tracks also means that bug tracking is now public. Go to the "Issues" section of the My Tracks Code site to see what is being actively developed and to file your own feature requests/bugs.

What this means to developers: You can now contribute code directly to My Tracks to improve it, fix a bug, or add a feature. We don't promise that all changes will become part of the My Tracks codebase, but cleanly coded, useful contributions have a darn good chance. If you’re feeling adventurous (and slightly masochistic), file and fix bugs for unreleased--and probably buggy--versions of My Tracks, to improve overall quality and stability. Note that for all contributions, we have a code review process—see the wiki for more information.

How non-coders can contribute: Translate My Tracks! If you'd like to translate My Tracks to your language, or fix a translation that is incorrect, please let us know at mytracks-dev@googlegroups.com and we'll explain how to do it. We'll soon post documents explaining the process, on the My Tracks wiki.

All development-related discussions will occur on the mytracks-dev@googlegroups.com list (but please don't post coding-related questions there).

This is an exciting new track for My Tracks. Jump in!
Posted by Sandor Dornbush and Rodrigo Damazio, Software Engineers for My Tracks

Styled Maps and wrapping up I/O in style

May 27, 2010

Thanks to everyone who made Google I/O 2010 a success! We always look forward to this event each year as a chance to speak one-to-one with developers from the Maps and Earth API ecosystem and this year did not disappoint.

Last week at Googe I/O, we made several announcements about updates to our tools for geo developers. I wanted to give you a closer look at one of those updates -- Styled Maps for the Google Maps API v3. You now have more control over how to style the base map within Google Maps API implementations. Styled Maps gives you the ability to change and customize various features of the base map, like changing the color of the water or removing roads altogether. This new styling feature gives you full control to display and customize the parts of the map that lets your data on the map shine. Take a look at this Styled Map Wizard and make the map your own!

If you want to watch this announcement or any of our other sessions, stay tuned to the Google I/O Geo session pages where we’ll soon be posting full video from each talk, including complete presentation materials. We’ve also put together a photo album to recap some of the highlights from our time at I/O:

A big thank you to these 16 companies who met with developers to share their experience in implementing Google Maps and Earth APIs in interesting ways!

Posted by Mike Pegg, Product Marketing Manager

Congratulations to Aadith Moorthy, the 2010 National Geographic Bee Champion

May 26, 2010

[Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog]

Tswana is a Bantu language spoken by the largest ethnic group in what landlocked country?

The production of yerbe maté, a tea made from an evergreen plant, is important to the economy of Misiones. This province is located in which country that borders Paraguay?

The Øresund Bridge, opened in 2000, connects Copenhagen, Denmark with what Swedish city?

The largest city in northern Haiti was renamed following Haiti’s independence from France. What is the present-day name of this city?

Aadith Moorthy tackled these and other questions to win this year’s National Geographic Bee held today in Washington, D.C. While he missed his first question of the day, he didn’t let that get get in his way. His win is the culmination of many months of preparation and local competitions that began last fall at schools across the country.

Aadith is a 13-year-old 8th grader from Palm Harbor, Florida and attends the Palm Land Middle School. When not studying geography, he is a South Indian classical (Carnatic) music concert singer. At the beginning of the final round, he gave the audience a taste of his talent when Alex Trebek, the host of the Bee, asked him to sing on the spot.

We’re proud that Google is this year’s sponsor of the National Geographic Bee. This contest exemplifies the importance of being geographically literate and showcases just how well these students understand the world around them. This skill-set will be a vital asset as they continue their education and careers. As you can tell from the questions above, it’s not just a matter of memorizing state and country capitals!

I had the great opportunity to speak at both the preliminary and championship rounds of the Bee and was impressed by the dedication of the teachers who made special efforts to train their school finalists and the depth of knowledge of the students. This is contest with important implications for their future lives and careers.

We’re excited to follow all of the 54 finalists to see where in the world they land.

Answers: Botswana, Argentina, Malmö, Cap-Haïtien

Posted by Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps

Experience the 9/11 Memorial in Google Earth

May 26, 2010

The 9/11 Memorial organization, a non-profit group responsible for care-taking the 9/11 museum and memorial park, first contacted Google in 2008 to explore ideas on how our technology might be used to enhance the experience for people visiting the museum (currently under construction) and on its website. Several ideas were proposed, including the use of Street View, which the group added to their Make History website in 2009.

We met at Google’s New York City office and learned about the many creative exhibit ideas that were planned for the museum, as well as the design concepts behind the 9/11 memorial park. I found it very fascinating. I couldn’t help but wonder: how can this be shared with the world? How can we enable everyone, anywhere to learn more about events of that day, and experience what proposes to be an unforgettable museum and park?

The 9/11 Memorial designers presented artist renderings and physical models of the proposed construction, both of which were impressive, but the audience for each is limited to the small population of the public who can see them in-person. The meeting could have concluded with a list of proposals for the 9/11 organization to pursue, however we left feeling as though Google could and should do more. The events of that day are etched in all of our memories, and we felt obligated to identify an appropriate way to honor the families of the victims and support the organization whose charter it was to preserve our collective memories.

Our proposal of course was Google Earth. The products’ popularity and reach would make it an ideal platform for people to visit and explore the 9/11 site - virtually. Virtual tourism is one of the most common uses of the Google Earth, and, it’s been used to represent both historical and future buildings in the past, so we thought it would be fitting to create a 3D model of the 9/11 memorial so that people anywhere could envision what the memorial will look like when it’s completed next year.

We requested design drawings, artist renderings, and any other visual materials that could be used to construct a 3D model, and went to work. Mason Thrall, one of our most experienced 3D modelers was the first to volunteer to develop a model of the park. The 9/11 Memorial group incorporated the Google Earth plugin into their website, and developed KML placemarks that help orient visitors to the site. Take a 3D tour of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum within the context of the surrounding landscape of lower Manhattan.

The 9/11 memorial is scheduled to open next year, however you can experience today via Google Earth on their website.

Posted by Bruce Polderman, Product Manager

Stockholm is on the 3D map

May 25, 2010

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp blog]

Stockholm, which is said to be referred to as the “Venice of the North” may not receive a lot of sunlight throughout the year, but today it’s in the limelight as the newest city to be included in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth. Watch the video below to see Stockholm, Sweden in 3D:

Stockholm is a unique geographic location - filled with historic bridges, buildings, and parks. The rich architectural history make it a fulfilling destination for the virtual tourist.

The city's oldest section is "Gamla Stan"(The Old City). It's located on the original small islands of the city's earliest settlements and features cobbled streets and medieval alleyways.

And if time is short, make sure you fly over to The Royal Palace, the official residence ofHis Majesty The King. Explore Stockholm in 3D with Google Earth and now with Earth view in Google Maps.

Posted by Bruce Polderman, Product Manager

Top geography students prepare to compete for championship

May 24, 2010

Since last fall, more than 4 million students across the United States have competed in local geography bees, answering complex geographic questions to show their understanding of the world around them. In just a few days, this year’s 54 National Geographic Bee finalists will be arriving in Washington D.C. to compete for the winning spot.

Google is sponsoring the Bee for the second year in a row in support of its mission to raise awareness and support of geography education. Held at National Geographic’s headquarters and broadcast on public television stations across the country, the competition inspires and challenges students to learn how people and places interact and how environments and economics interrelate. These students’ knowledge exemplifies why geography matters! You can get to know the finalists by using this interactive Google Map.

From there, you can check out the videos the students have created about their passion for geography, with a surprise appearances by several members of Google’s geo team:

As the proud sponsor of the 2010 National Geographic Bee, Google wants to wish all of the finalists good luck!

Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education Team

Keeping up-to-date on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

May 21, 2010

[Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog]
It is estimated that at least 6 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion a month ago. Cleanup efforts are underway, but the oil has spread extensively around the Gulf and along the southern U.S. coastline. Oil has begun washing up on the beaches of Louisiana and the delicate wetlands along the Mississippi River, and can spread to Florida and throughout the Gulf as weather conditions change. This sequence of images, coming from NASA’s MODIS satellites, illustrates the movement and growth of the oil slick over the past few weeks:

April 25, 2010

April 29, 2010

May 9, 2010

May 17, 2010

The last image, taken earlier this week (on May 17), shows the coastal areas currently at risk from the spreading oil, and can help those working on the wide range of relief efforts.

You can view this and other MODIS imagery in Google Earth by downloading this KML. You can also view additional imagery and find other resources and news at our oil spill crisis response page.

Posted by Pete Giencke, GIS Data Engineer

Train station searches, simplified

May 21, 2010

When you search for a station, you can see a list of transit lines that service the station. The lines are colored and grouped by transit type to make it easier to find the line you are looking for.
For railway trains, you can see the departure time directly. And for other type of transit, namely subways, buses and commuter trains, you could click on the line name to get the next departure time of each direction without leaving the current page. So maybe if biking to work this month doesn’t work out for you, you can have an easier time getting the transit info you need to get around town.
Posted by Xinxing Gu, Associate Product Manager

Updates from Geo at I/O

May 20, 2010

Google I/OGeo Developer Day in 2006Geo trackGoogle Maps API v3 Graduationenterprise geo developersDirections Web ServiceMaps API Issue TrackerPlaces Web Service, Nearby Places Widget previewBooyah@GoogleMapsAPIGeo Developers Blog

You may now see new imagery

May 18, 2010

Have you been anxiously awaiting our next imagery update? Well, the time has come once again. Check out some of our favorite examples and a full list up updates below.

New Orleans, LA

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

High-resolution aerial updates:
USA: Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans, Galveston, Norfolk, Tulsa, Waco
England: North Yorkshire, Eastern Durham, Eastern Derbyshire, Telford
The Netherlands: Amersfoot, Rhenen, Ouder-Amstel, Oegstgeest, Nootdorp

Countries receiving high-resolution satellite updates:
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hondurous, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malawi, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Medium Resolution Updates:
Kansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Pensylvania, Indonesia

For a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth. The updated imagery should be available in Google Maps within a few days.

Posted by Matt Manolides, Senior Geo Data Strategist

Announcing the Google Model Your Town Competition winner

May 14, 2010

[Cross-posted with the SketchUp Blog]five finalist townsGoogle Model Your Town CompetitionBarranco - Lima, PeruBarranco DistrictBarranco 3D Project

Google Earth Gallerywinners page

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, SketchUp Team

What’s new with biking directions on Google Maps?

May 12, 2010

Since 1956, May has been recognized as National Bike Month and in most cities, Bike to Work Day falls during the week of May 17-21 (but for those of us in San Francisco, Bike to Work Day is coming up tomorrow on May 13). To help celebrate all these festivities and help make it easier for folks around the country to participate, we’ve been busy improving biking directions on Google Maps. Here’s what’s new:

Biking directions for mobile
Check out yesterday’s post for some great news: biking directions are now available on mobile! Back when we first launched in March, we promised we were working hard on it, and now the wait is over for Android users. Now you can plan out your route to work directly from your phone - and if end up having such a great time while you’re on your way, pull out your phone and search for some new rides!

In addition to getting customized routes, you can also turn on the Bicycling layer to see dedicated bike-only trails (dark green), roads with bike lanes (light green), or roads that are good for biking but lack a dedicated lane (dashed green).

Biking Layer in the Google Maps API
There are two important parts of Google Maps biking directions: the bike specific routing and the customized look and feel of the bicycling layer. Our routing algorithm tries to put riders on trails and roads with bike lanes or recommended streets as much as possible, while the bicycling layer visually highlights the information that's most relevant to cyclists. We've drawn attention to the bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads with color-coded lines on the map. This custom layer is now available in the Maps API v3, so when you add biking directions to your website, users will get the same visually rich experience that they get on Google Maps. Globe Bikes is already taking advantage of this improvement by placing our simple biking directions gadget on their website. If you have the skills to copy and paste, you have the skills to add the gadget to your website.

Ongoing Data Quality improvements
In March we launched biking directions with more than 12,000 miles of trails and bike lane data for 150 cities across the country. We’re continually working to improve this coverage by adding new trails and route information submitted by our users via the “Report a Problem” tool. So far we’ve received thousands of suggestions and tips from dedicated cyclists around the country and have made a number of additions and improvements. You’ll now find 39 more cities with trail and bike lane data; for example, check out all the new data in Sacramento.

Hopefully this has managed to convince you to hop on your bike to get to work - and lots of other places - this month. Before you head out, you can check out the League of American Bicyclists' website for more information about special Bike Month festivities in your part of the country, as well as tips for a safe and fun ride.

Posted by Laura Melahn, Product Marketing Manager

Save the Date: Google Geo Teachers Institute, July 21-22

May 12, 2010

For years, Google's Geo products have been identified as a powerful learning toolkit that can help students conceptualize, visualize, share, and communicate information about the world around them.

This July, Google is hosting the first Google Geo Teachers Institute. This event is a FREE professional development experience designed to help educators get the most from Google's Geo products and technologies. The Geo Teachers Institute is an intensive, two-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google's Geo products: Google Earth, Google Maps, and SketchUp, including a focus on features like Mars, Moon and Sky in Google Earth. Attendees will learn about innovative instructional strategies and receive resources to share with colleagues. The Google Geo Education team hopes this event will empower educators to bring the world's geographic information to students in a
compelling, fresh, and fun way.

To apply, send email to geoedu@google.com.

Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education team

Local marketing 101 at “Local University”

May 11, 2010

If you manage a small business and happen to be in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on May 13, come check out the Local University event, at the Westin Edina Galleria. I’ll be there to give tips and tricks for using Google Places most effectively, and will be joined by my counterpart from Bing’s Local Listing Center, as well as respected leaders of the local search field (you can see the full list of“faculty” here.)

There will be two identical half-day sessions (8am - noon and 1pm - 5pm) on May 13th, 2010. The regular price is $129 but if you use coupon code LatLong at checkout, you’ll save $40. You can get more details and register at this link.

This event is part of a nationwide series of events which are organized by GetListed.org, as a primer for business owners who wish to use the internet effectively to promote their business. Keep an eye out for the university to come to an area near you.

Posted by Ryan Hayward, Product Marketing Manager

Google Maps for Android Gets Biking Directions, Navigation Shortcut, Sharing, and More

May 11, 2010

[Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog]

Starting today, Google Maps for mobile has a few new ways to help you and your friends quickly get to where you’re going whether you’re on 4 wheels or 2 (or maybe even 3). With Google Maps 4.2 for Android you can now get biking directions on the go, start Navigation from your Home screen, share places with friends, and more.

Biking directions
Since launching biking directions on desktop Google Maps, we’ve wanted to get you biking directions, lanes, and trails on your phone too. Just in time for National Bike Month, select the bike icon when getting directions to get an optimal bicycling route in the U.S. If you’re in the mood for a more scenic ride, you’ll also see the Bicycling layer on the map which shows dedicated bike-only trails (dark green), roads with bike lanes (light green), or roads that are good for biking but lack a dedicated lane (dashed green). You can always turn on this layer from the Layers menu to pick your own route. Add in the Labs’ Terrain layer, and you can decide to either climb or avoid that big hill on the way home!

Google Navigation shortcut
If you’re driving instead of riding, we wanted to make it easier and faster for you to get on the road with Google Maps Navigation as soon as you’re ready. With the new Navigation shortcut, you can pick a destination and be on your way with as little as 2 taps of your finger. Select the “Navigation” icon in your phone’s app launcher to get the new destination selection view. Then, speak or type your destination, pick one from your contacts, choose a starred place, or select a recent destination. Navigation will begin and you’re good to go. Make it even easier on yourself by adding the Navigation icon right on your Home screen.

Sharing
Once you figure out where you’re going, why not get some friends to meet you there? From any search results page, choose to “Share this place” to send that place’s info, such as its address and phone number, to whomever you like. If you want to meet someone on a street corner or gather friends at an outdoor concert, you can also send an exact location from the map -- even a snapshot of your current location. Just use the share option after selecting a point on the map, your “My Location” blue dot, or yourself in Latitude if it’s enabled. Whether you’re sharing a place or a location, you’ll be able to send it to small groups via an email or text message or send it widely with apps like Google Buzz, Facebook, or Twitter.

Get these new features by searching for Google Maps in Android Market from Android 1.6+ phones (On your phone now? Tap here). Update Maps to version 4.2, available in all the countries and languages where Maps is currently available. Visit our Help Center to learn more, ask questions in our Help Forum, or give us suggestions and vote on other people’s on the Mobile Product Ideas page.
Posted by Michelle Chen, Software Engineer, Google Mobile Team

How big is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?

May 7, 2010

Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion continues to leak into the Gulf Coast. Official estimates state a rate of 200,000 gallons a day, while some private estimates think it could be over a million gallons each day. The spill covers an area of over 2,500 square miles, and shows no signs of slowing down.

2,500 square miles is a large number, but how big is that, really? It's very difficult for us to imagine something that large, and it's doubly hard to grasp the true size when it sits over the vast ocean surface.

To help understand the scale of this ecological disaster, I built a page using the Google Earth Browser Plug-in that will let you see the oil spill in comparison to something everyone has a good grasp on: the size of your own home town. Also, you can compare the oil spill to some very large cities around the world -- is it bigger than San Francisco, New York, London? You'll be surprised at what 2,500 square miles really means.

And it's still growing.

See it here: http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill. If you’re interested in learning more from Google or our data providers, you may want to check out these following sites:

The State of Louisiana and NOAA-NESDIS provide oil spill data. My teammate Pete Giencke and other volunteers from Google have worked to make this data also available on our site and in Google Earth.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Google’s response website: http://google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/

Posted by Paul Rademacher, Google Maps Engineering Manager

Five continents and counting - new cities in Building Maker

May 5, 2010

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp Blog]cities availableGoogle Building Maker

Victoria & Alfred WaterfrontSpringboksGoogle Building MakerSouth Africa

Bloemfontein

Cape Town

Durban

Johannesburg

Nelspruit

Phokeng

Polokwane

Port Elizabeth

Pretoria

California

Oakland

Berkeley

San Francisco (extended coverage)

Redwood city (extended coverage)

Posted by Matt Simpson, User Experience Designer

Google & Small Business Administration partner to share tips with businesses

May 5, 2010

(cross-posted from the Google Policy Blog)

websitevideo testimonials

Establish your online presence. One out of five searches on Google are related to local information. Massive numbers of consumers are using the Internet to search for everything from taekwondo classes on the south side of town to a trusted vet for the family pet. Small and large businesses can easily create a rich online presence using tools like Google Places and, for businesses that want to take the plunge and create a full-blown website, ready-made site templates and free hosting services like Google Sites make creating one painless and fast.

Use free marketing to reach customers. You can build a fan base for your business with free services like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter that will keep your customers in-the-know about new products and special promotions. These services are great "word of mouth" platforms that make it easy for a customer following your business to tell their friends about it.

Understand your customers. Online tools can make you smarter about your customers by analyzing the search terms they use to find you and the pages they visit on your site. This data can help you tune your offers and site to what's truly popular and can be used to help you select terms for online search advertising such as Google AdWords.

“Tools for Online Success” booklet
Posted by John Hanke, Vice President of Product Management

Mapping the Gulf oil spill in Google Earth

May 4, 2010

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]Deepwater Horizonour crisis response siteNASA’s MODISoverlay for Google EarthESA’s ENVISATthis KML file

Google Earth

our sitea sitePosted by Christiaan Adams, Google Crisis Response team