Google Earth iPhone app

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on October 31, 2008 • google earth iphone review • 2 COMMENTS

Several days late but I finally got around to downloading the Google Earth iPhone app.

First thing to note is that it takes about 5 seconds to fully launch. However, once I got to panning and zooming, the images rendered rather quickly and was responsive to all my touching and pinching and tilting. (This was on my home wi-fi.. trying to use Google Earth on the Edge network will more than likely be painfully slow. Don’t bother.)

The app as we all know is free, and comes with both the Wikipedia and Panoramio layers in addition to the standard borders and labels. Currently there’s no way to overlay any other additional features but surely it’s only a matter of time.

Here’s an amateur video of me trying to use the Google Earth app very early on. You’d think I’m an iPhone noob after seeing me struggle to click on a Wikipedia article. My excuse: the iPhone accelerometer is too sensitive!


Google Earth iPhone app from kumiko on Vimeo.



From Wikipedia to Google Mashup

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on October 16, 2008 • google maps: • COMMENT

A thorough step-by-step tutorial on data scraping Wikipedia and displaying them on Google Maps:

Data Scraping Wikipedia with Google Spreadsheets

It ties in beautifully what’s been readily available on the web for a while now – a simple ImportHtml function on Google Spreadsheets, subscribing to an RSS feed of the Wikipedia data, Yahoo Pipes to read and geocode the data and spit out as a KML file, then importing the KML into Google Maps.

What this results in is a live update of your Google Map based on changes being made on Wikipedia! It’s the first example of this kind that I’ve seen and there are still some potential pitfalls to this method.

Relying on so many sources to always be up and running is a concern (ok, so maybe I have never seen Wikipedia, Google, or Yahoo be ‘down’ but you get the idea). One goes down, and your map is broken. Or perhaps the Wikipedia table changes its structure or is moved to a separate page. Your map is once again gone.

With that said, there’s still something brewing here with data scraping and the connectivity seen in the above example. Can this method be used one day to support the geoweb?



First Look at GeoEye-1

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on October 8, 2008 • imagery: • 1 COMMENT

Of all places, GeoEye-1 snapped its first ever image over Kutztown University right here in Pennsylvania.

As a comparison, I did some quick screenshots of what Google Maps currently provides-

Huge improvement over what’s currently available!  If you recall, GeoEye-1 is capable of resolutions up to 41 centimeters.. keep in mind that in 3 or 4 years, GeoEye-2 is expected to launch. The resolution? 25 centimeters..



Maker! And my Reaction!

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on October 2, 2008 • apps geoweb: • 1 COMMENT

Here’s my first creation on Maker!. It’s displaying obesity in the U.S. along with the top bike commuting cities.

Visually they look great, and Maker! did an excellent job with its ease of use. If you know what you’re looking for and can find it on Finder!, it literally only takes minutes to create a map similar to what’s seen below.

I specifically sought out datasets that weren’t yet available on Finder! so I can upload them myself and contribute to what’s potentially becoming the source for GIS data. This isn’t just for personal use, I believe Finder! can also be used as a resource for businesses and people who are constantly in need of various data (like myself).

However, a downside – perhaps more of a compliment – is that it almost feels like a web based GIS application. You almost expect it to have more robust functionalities and tools like ESRI’s ArcGIS which can cost thousands of dollars. What if I only wanted to show the top 10 bike commuting cities? Would I need to re-upload another .csv file onto Finder! showing just the top 10? And why can’t I zoom in/out with my mouse scroll? I’m being spoiled here, I want more! If only I can code such things..

All kidding aside, I really enjoy what GeoCommons has put together between Finder! and Maker!. The professional cartography behind all of this has made it difficult for anyone to create an ‘ugly’ map. And for that alone, I thank them. This is definitely a step in the right direction for web mapping.. I only wish I had the idea and the skills to come up with it myself!