Mapping Google Maps

jgwebber writes "Google Maps is starting to cause a bit of a stir as Google makes the browser do still more backflips than most expected. In the tradition of dissecting Google Suggest and GMail, I've done a little dissecting of this newest service."

Comments

what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[garcia]

What I would like to see them add is something like what GPSVisualizer does. It will allow you to upload a GPX or LOC file of waypoints (from your GPS or various other programs) and plot them on a map. Because GPSVisualizer requires the SVG plugin (or native support) it would be nice to have an advanced application like Google has that doesn't require such support yet is as smooth/speedy as Google Maps is.

It would be awesome if Google could completely take over the commercial mapping software application market (ie Streets and Trips/Mappoint and Street Atlas) by enabling routing/directions between the points on the map. Hell, allow us to then download the planned route back to the GPSs via a GPX and that would really rock. I mean web-based applications such as maps.google.com and maps.yahoo.com have already taken over from older programs like Automap which just gave text directions and simple maps. Why can't they add even more features? I don't know anyone that asks for directions anymore. Everyone just uses the web-based software.

For now I'm just happy being impressed by the pretty scrolling. I'm excited to see what comes of this after the finish up the Beta.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[Moby Cock]

Remember that Google purchased Keyhole a while back. They are a satellite imaging firm. I wonder (or hope) that somehow this technology could be merged with the excellent Google maps. Imagine a "See Photo" button once you have found the location of whatever it was you were looking for. Now that would be cool.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you tried usaphotomaps from JDMCOX?

USAPhotoMaps downloads aerial photo and topo map data from Microsoft's free TerraServer Web site, saves it on your hard drive, and creates seamless maps from it. You can:
1. See the latitude/longitude
2. Add waypoints, routes, and text
3. Jump to any waypoint or latitude/longitude in the U.S.A.
4. Transfer waypoints, tracks, and routes to and from most GPS receivers
5. See your GPS location
6. Scroll and zoom

And it's free.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[ackthpt]

It would be awesome if Google could completely take over the commercial mapping software application market (ie Streets and Trips/Mappoint and Street Atlas) by enabling routing/directions between the points on the map. Hell, allow us to then download the planned route back to the GPSs via a GPX and that would really rock.

While I've fiddled with it and found the interface to have it's up-sides and down-sides (not really very big considering it's a web app.) I think you're looking for functionality at a whole other level, i.e. competing with Delorme or such, which could prove a challenge. I've got the Delorme package on my PC at home and the volume of information its processing to produce things would kill Google's servers. Besides, Delorme is Topo and Google's isn't, and Topo information is actually very useful when travelling. When I moved west I drove a truck, pulling a trailer with my car on it, up a road I never should have taken. Perhaps the squiggly road on a decent map would have given the appropriate clue, not to take that road because of the high pass. Google could at least include some elevation data in their images as an option.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[Anonymous Coward]

For now I'm just happy being impressed by the pretty scrolling

I scrolled right for a long time but Europe never came into view.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[AviLazar]

t would be awesome if Google could completely take over the commercial mapping software application market

So what you are saying is that you want Google to have a monopoly?

Well since it's Google - they can be fully trusted - lets give it to them.............

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[parkrrrr]

And fortunately for us, Google makes it easy by giving us JavaScript code to decrypt the "points" string, and it does indeed contain latitudes and longitudes. Here's the equivalent Perl code, with almost all the same variable names as their JS code, with leading indentation stripped (thanks Slashdot!) Encoded string in $XX, decoded lat/lon pairs to stdout in CSV format. Feed that output to GPSBabel as "arc" format, and you should be able to simplify it and upload it to your GPS receiver.

my $Ch=length($XX);
my $pb = 0;
my @aa;
my $Ka = 0;
my $Pa = 0;

while($pb<$Ch) {
my $ub;
my $oc=0;
my $Fa=0;
do {
$ub=ord(substr($XX,$pb++,1))-63;
$Fa |= ($ub&31)<<$oc;
$oc+=5;
} while($ub>=32);

$Ka=$Ka+(($Fa&1)?((1-$Fa)/2):($Fa>>1));
push @aa, $Ka;
$oc=0;
$Fa=0;
do {
$ub=ord(substr($XX, $pb++, 1))-63;
$Fa |= ($ub&31)<<$oc;
$oc+=5;
} while($ub>=32);
$Pa=$Pa+(($Fa&1)?((1-$Fa)/2):($Fa>>1));
push @aa, $Pa;
}

for (my $i = 0; $i< $#aa; $i++) {
print $aa[$i]/1e5 . ', ' . $aa[++$i]/1e5 . "\n";
}

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[Deviate_X]

http://map.search.ch/ is more similar to Keyhole (on the dynamics) and and even more interesting use of dhtml than googles first attempt.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[parkrrrr]

And of course it has bugs (mine, not theirs.) The two places where it says (1-$Fa) should say (-1-$Fa).

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[Dolly_Llama]

Shit, that code practically debugs itself, doesn't it?

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[fishicist]

Multimap here in the UK does a good job of combining maps with aerial photographs. It even overlays a transparancy of the map.

The photos are at least a few years old, but it's still pretty, if not particularly useful.

Re:what about plotting waypoints on the map?

[parkrrrr]

Yes, it's possible.

First, multiply all your lats and lons by 1e5.

Now, take the first lat, and encode it (encode function to be specified later.) Append that to the string. Do the same with the first lon.

Now, take the DIFFERENCE between the second lat and the first one, and encode that. Append that to the string. Again, do the same with the second lon.

For each additional lat/lon, encode the difference from the previous one.

Now, the encoding:

If the number you have is negative, multiply by two and take the logical not. Otherwise, just multiply by two. Notice that this makes the least significant bit the sign bit.

Now break the number into 5-bit chunks. Encode the least significant chunk first, by casting to a byte, adding 32 if there are more nonzero chunks to come, and then adding 63. Repeat for each 5-bit chunk. Skip trailing (MSB) zero chunks, but always output at least one chunk for each number. (That's why there are so many ? symbols: it encodes a difference of zero from the previous lat or lon. Note that this means you'll also never see three ? symbols in a row.)

I haven't played with the 'levels' string yet; I assume it's used for removing details as you zoom out, and based on the characters that appear in it it may use the same encoding method except without the delta compression. The rest of the XML looks self-explanatory.

Still doesn't work with Safari

[Anonymous Coward]

I find this interesting because Google's response, if you load maps.google.com in safari, isn't "we don't care about your platform, bugger off", it's a short, apologetic note saying that they don't work in Safari yet but you can try one of these other browsers. This seems to indicate the problem isn't with Google's javascript, it's with Safari, Google's javascript is more than Safari can handle.

Hell if I were a browser company I'd pay Google a small consulting fee just to find bugs in my browser. You know, give them some cash and say "have your javascript fellows write the most fucked up thing you can, i am paying you to break my browser".

Re:Still doesn't work with Safari

[LEgregius]

Actually, it works fairly well in safari. There is a link at the bottom of the page that allows you to open the page anyway, and the it seems to function already.

Re:Still doesn't work with Safari

[Em Adespoton]

The problem isn't with javascript, it's with XSLT. If you read the article, you'll notice that the XML transforms are done using XSLT -- and Safari is currently the only browser I've used that doesn't support XSLT. Supposedly it will be in the next version of Safari, so it looks like Google has decided to use it now, and let the browser catch up, instead of using an older technology hack. I hope this provides some incentive for the Safari team to get XSLT working soon, as I have a number of projects that depend on it. http://www.plattiblog.com/2004/08/16.html seems to hint that there has been some progress.

Google + DOM = Mozilla Juggernaut

[aaron240]

Google is bravely doing fantastic thing with client-side programming...something many websites have given up on because of cross-browser incompatibility. My money is definitely on Google being very aggressive with Mozilla/XUL based on this work. That's going to be good times!

Re:Google + DOM = Mozilla Juggernaut

[bcmm]

Have you seen this

Re:Google + DOM = Mozilla Juggernaut

[ad0gg]

You forgot to thank Microsoft for going outside of the standards and implementing XMLHttpRequest in IE5.0. Got so popular everyone started copying it. You see how gmail and google maps can change the content page without loading up a new page? Thats XMLHttpRequest, non standardized browser object.

Re:Google + DOM = Mozilla Juggernaut

[hey!]

Yeah, javascript might be a toy, although there's a bit more there than meets the eye, but DOM is definitely not a toy.

Languages are important, but even more important is the runtime environment they have access to. If the environment has the basic stuff you need, then even a crappy language would be pretty powerful. Think of a templating language like velocity -- it's not designed to be powerful by itself, but to be very convenient to integrate with a context that supplies it with everything it needs to do powerful things.

Years ago, in the era of of the 16MHz microprocessor, I had the problem of writing an Exel spreadsheet that required lookups from huge tables. Using VLOOKUP took hours. So I implemented a double hash algorithm in the Excel macro language. Mind you, this wasn't VB for apps, this was the nasty old lotus-y macro language. It turned out to be easy, because the spreadsheet environment provided most of the lumber I needed, I just had to snap it together.

Re:Google + DOM = Mozilla Juggernaut

[bcmm]

Absolutely.
However, I take this as a sign they are at least considering something more interesting.


Unless it is just part of their well-known secret plan to produce a Google-branded Firefox, operating system and fast-food chain, of course...

backflips?

[Quasar1999]

Either the browser supports it, or doesn't... stop personifying software... it does what it designed to do. Just because other pages out there don't use certain features doesn't mean the browser is doing some amazing task by supporting features.

Re:backflips?

[Shadow Wrought]

...stop personifying software...

I agree, software hates being personified.

Re:backflips?

[TedTschopp]

Trust me, getting PNG transparancy / Alpha Channel support in IE is a backflip.

Re:backflips?

[Shadow Wrought]

Anytime;-)

One of my wife's friends is a retired physics professor. We had a talk once in which he was railing against the anthropomorphization of everyday objects. Since objects aren't supposed to have feelings one way or the other, it got me thinking about how many things in my own life that I anthropomorphize. So given a choice between (a) changing my tendencies to anthropomorphize, or (b) accept that I anthropomorphize and be done with it. Instead I chose (c). I realized that since anthropomorphized objects behave better than non-anthropomorphized objects, that they were the ones wanting to be anthropomorphized. Who was I to argue?

Re:backflips?

[hey!]

Well, sure, but that's just one point among many.

You put everything together, and creating a consistent cross browser experience with something that plays so many tricks with the browser is like jumping into a pool full of crap, swimming a lap, and coming out smelling like a rose.

Looked at one way, the application's features are rudimentary. Looked at another, the means used are pretty extraordinary.

Combination

[augustz]

Google:

- Nice company
- Cool services
- Sweet interfaces

That is a rocking combination.

The fact that they seem to be making stuff available under Firefox as well is also great.

Re:Safari support

[nojomofo]

Does anybody else think that this behavior sounds like Microsoft? The "standards be damned, we're going to do something cool our way". Now granted, it's not their browser, so they're stuck with what browsers can do, but it does suck that this isn't truly cross-platform.

Whoa!

[American AC in Paris]

Find: insufferable whiners in Washington, DC

Not bad, Google!

Re:Whoa!

[meringuoid]

insufferable whiners

That's just beautiful. It also works wonderfully well with the old Slashdot favourite, 'miserable failures'.

Re:Whoa!

[Anonymous Coward]

And of course, try this:

litigious bastards in salt lake city

One hit. Guess who...

Re:Whoa!

[kajoob]

you might be on to something...

"liberal wacko in Washington, DC" comes up with CNN, PBS, and the Washington Post. Spot on!

Re:Safari support

[garcia]

I'm not necessarily complaining, as I can use Firefox, but it is too bad that even Google can't get a webpage to render properly on any modern browser, such as Safari.

I assume you are saying that Firefox isn't modern? I really don't see how your complaint is any different than those posting yesterday from outside of the US (and lower .ca) that Google Maps didn't support their countries.

This is a BETA. They are going to target the largest group of surfers possible. In order to do that they are going to program the software to interface with the browsers that are most widely used (thus IE and Firefox). Yeah, Safari is great and all and I try to use it daily but Mac users (and nevermind those using Safari) are in the minority.

Just hold on tight and wait for Google to get to you. They will get around to it (just like they did for GMail) but you just have to be patient while they work through the Beta.

Re:Quick review

[lindsay rose]

It's definitely still got some bugs! My school, Clarkson University, isn't on the map, and a neigboring school, SUNY Potsdam, is mislabled as Clarkson College. Clarkson College of Technology hasn't existed since the 1980s!

Scrolling only partially works

[Saxton]

All you people complaining about Safari compatibility... For some reason I can't get my maps to scroll after they've been printed. I've tried using Epson and Canon printers. If anyone can help let me know.

Re:Scrolling only partially works

[The Cisco Kid]

As funny as this may be, it *would* be very handy if they supported a way of first printing the textual directions, and then using their interface to select and zoom views of discrete chunks of the 'directions', and then being able to cleanly print each view that you select (just the map, not the text again each time)

Google Search Results

[prakslash]

For some reason, if one enters an address in Google Search to find a location on a map, the resulting search results still point to MapQuest and Yahoo!Maps. (See example)

They need to update that.

Re:Usage...

[Twench]

Have you tried it out yet? I liked Mapquest but have begun finding their implementation clunky. This service is incredibly fast, incredibly accurate, incredibly versatile. The ability to drag the map around changing the center is fun and much more convenient then waiting for Mapquest to reload the page. The simple "find pizzas near my house" type search is incredible too. So, the answer to your question is yes. This app IS groundbreaking enough to persuade people to switch.

new Google browser (alpha) is intriguing

[peter303]

I'm hoping they decide to ship it. There are several very inventive features. And solves some of the issues mentioned in this thread.

Nice as a video game engine

[192939495969798999]

I'd like to see a MMORPG ported for this, like a web-enabled version of ultima 1 that shows where everyone's looking, and we can all interact. How awesome would that be? Totally.

Re:Old info

[networkBoy]

It fairly successfully mapped Folsom, CA to Wilsey, KS which is not on many maps. It even has the friggen farm roads in it's database!

I love how you can clock on a waypoint in the directions and it pops up a bubble window in the main map with a closeup detail!
-nB

Google not promoting their own map app?

[danielcole]

Do a phone number or address search from the main page, and Google suggests you can look at Yahoo! Maps, and MapQuest for directions, but not their own service.

Endless pursuit

[Tmack]

Kinda like what Endless Pursuit has done? You upload you waypoints/tracks, it overlays them on a topo you view from your browser. Dont think it needs any plugins, as the overlay is done by the server and is output as a normal image.

I once had an idea of doing this, and might eventually get around to finishing it. I just dont have the map library to do the overlay. All I could do is draw the tracks. Image librarys (like gd) make drawing the tracks easy, and overlaying just as simple. Getting a library of map images that would allow you to use it for this sort of thing would be the hard part.

tm

Why aren't competitors beating Google to market?

[Anonymous Cowdog]

Google is hitting a lot of the obvious sweetspots for improving the user experience. Some of them are obvious only in retrospect. But we know their competitors have smart people, and they do UI research, and they have resources. Why does Google come out with innovation after innovation?

I have three answers. I wonder which ones are valid:

1. Laziness
2. Encumberance with legacy political and business issues (is feature x threatening to partner Fooinc, how can we hang ads on this, etc.)
3. Focus on fancy-pants analysis of numbers (data mining to try to optimise, rather than revolutionize), leading them to be blind to simple measures like using Javascript and caching lots of content in the client.

What other reasons are there?

Re:Quick review

[DoorFrame]

Yuck, just tried map24 for the first time and was not happy with the EXTREME load times. I don't want to sit around while silly java applets load up. Also, it didn't actually pinpoint my home address, just gave me the street. Google maps is better.

Re:Quick review

[Proney]

While on the continent view in google maps Canada isn't marked at all, but if you zoom in on it the streets are just as finely marked as their American counterparts. The directions functionality also works just fine with Canadian addresses, although it did choke a little coming up with directions from my native Toronto to my current Seattle... ;)

What WOULD you call Google's approach?

[dpbsmith]

It's not quite AI, yet Google comes closer to realizing the fantasy of Isaac Asimov's Multivac than anything else I've experienced before. It's very weird: the impression that Google gives is that it does NOT understand your question, yet it DOES manage to find the answers you want.

It's not quite user-interface, in the sense of elegant widgets or consistency or any of that stuff. Google's traditional search features could almost run on Lynx on a green screen. Maybe they can. Google Maps is visually spiffy by comparison to Mapquest, but it's nothing we haven't seen in standalone programs years ago.

It isn't really "search." Or at least, if it is, with every new thing they roll out, Google does an amazing job of expanding my notion of what "search" means. What does it mean to "search" on "250 pounds in kilograms?"

Something that Google seems to share with Apple is some sort of courtesy or kindness or service orientation to the end-user. It just works. And unlike Microsoft or Apple, Google's services seem to come with fewer strings attached.

One of the things that delights me about Google is a certain kind of freshness I haven't seen elsewhere as often as I'd like. They have the characteristic you used to see in innovative software that when you describe the latest Google feature, it doesn't sound all that new, yet when you use it you get that feeling that something unexpected has been revealed.

Re:What WOULD you call Google's approach?

[Bleeblah]

Google's traditional search features could almost run on Lynx on a green screen. Maybe they can

Google looks great in Lynx.

Re:Why aren't competitors beating Google to market

[Ced_Ex]

4. Google allows side projects which likely hold more interest than actual business projects, hence are produced with creativity and passion.

Where this is going...

[RCulpepper]

I see some features that will tie in well with this. It already makes Local Search a lot more handy. I could see Google using aggregated GSM phone locator signals to forecast traffic patterns and then, after asking you when you intend to start and end your trip (so it can route you around traffic), estimating when you'll want to eat lunch, etc, so that bricks-and-mortar restaurants, gas stations on the selected route can pay for advertising - it's one segment of the economy Google has not yet touched.

It's just an expression..

[JPelorat]

A metaphor for accomplishing a difficult or complex task that the object or system generally wasn't thought of as capable of doing.

Settle down, Beavis.

Re:It's just an expression..

[JPelorat]

'Complicated' is relative.

Safari javascript is based on KDE's kjs library

[Anonymous Coward]

And there are subtle incompatabilities between Mozilla/Firefox's javascript, IE's jscript and KDE's kjs.

Re:Safari support

[Grey Ninja]

Well, I've never developed this sort of stuff with Safari/Konqueror in mind. But I have written some pretty strong DHTML stuff... (A phone directory that worked entirely on the client is what I am immediately referring to.).

And I can see where Google is coming from. Sometimes, to make the cleanest interface possible, you have to use some really powerful tricks. Gmail uses the same sort of setup that I used in my phone directory... I haven't looked into the specs of Safari too much, but I do know that I couldn't find a way of making my phone directory work with Opera. Reason being that the browser just didn't have the capability that I needed (extra strength XML support). To the best of my knowledge at the time, only IE and Mozilla were sufficiently evolved to allow what I was doing.

It's true that it's not entirely standard... but it's powerful enough that Mozilla decided to break tradition and include support for doing such things. And by the time I finished my phone directory, I did make the code mostly standard... but it still didn't work in Opera.

And if you are curious, I developed it for a corporate Intranet, so the code is not available for viewing. (And I don't own the code, so I don't have a personal copy).

Why Safari is NOT supported

[joestump98]

It doesn't support iframes and (as the article clearly states) iframes are a big part of how this application works.

I wished I had safari but from what I saw.

[xutopia]

The ECMAScript (Javascript) code used for this is pretty standard except for a few else{} to acomodate Internet Explorer (unfortunately you cannot do without). I realize people want things to work in their favorite browser but shouldn't they check that their favorite browser follows standards before blaming Google?

Will this bother some Privacy Fanatics ?

[brandonp]

Of course, will this bother some people who are fanatical about Privacy issues?

John Smith in New York City, NY

Depending on how the results are categorized and obtained, this seems like it could be a hot issue.

Brandon Petersen

Re:Will this bother some Privacy Fanatics ?

[Peyna]

Lord help us if the privacy fanatics ever get their hands on a phonebook and see all the privacy issues there.

This might be intentional.

[Kickasso]

Map publishers often insert small errors in their products to thwart copyright violations.

Re:Safari support

[mcc]

The "standards be damned, we're going to do something cool our way".

I really have trouble seeing it as in any way Google's fault that the standards have failed to deliver browser compatibility.

Re:Old info

[Reducer2001]

What, you thought those black helicopters belonged to the government?

Doesn't comply with W3C-suggestions

[DancesWithBlowTorch]

I also think it bears noting that Google is pulling out all the stops to build rich web apps, no matter how weirdly they have to hack the browser to make them go. And I strongly believe that this is a trend that is here to stay -- XHTML Strict/CSS/etc be damned. At the end of the day, what really matters to users is compelling apps that let them get their work done quickly.

At the end of the day, Google _has_ cared about XHTML Strict/CSS/etc. From the head of googles web app:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd ">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

And I'm quite happy about that. There's a reason why the w3c gives out definitions for html et al.

JS / HTML graphics: iWon Prize Machine

[Anonymous Custard]

From TFA:

Probably the most striking thing about Google Maps is the very impressive (for DHTML, anyway) graphics. Now, I'm sure that many of you old JavaScript hacks out there have known this sort of thing was possible for a long time, but it's very cool to see it (a) actually being used for something real, and (b) where normal users will see it.

Back in the Summer of 2000 iWon.com released the Prize Machine.

They didn't want people to need a plugin to use it, so they wrote it in JavaScript.

It's a slot machine with moving prize images. You click the arm and it pulls down and starts spinning. It talks to the server to see if your spin won a prize or not, and spins the wheels accordingly.

Nifty little app, actually.

Re:JS / HTML graphics: iWon Prize Machine

[nautical9]

Although this doesn't talk to a server while it's running, it's still the most impressive DHTML app I've ever seen: DHTML Lemmings.

Really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what JavaScript/DOM can do. Glad to see Google, iWon, and other sites finally starting to make use of it.

Google uses XUL

[fulldecent]

Here's the big secret:

Google uses XUL to develop all their rich websites. For example: Gmail, Maps, Groups and others on the way. This natively XUL interface is then converted to HTML/CSS/JavaScript that we can see and run. This conversion is done by a program Google wrote a while ago and the conversion is very simple. Of course, it's not perfect and needs to be loked over by hand. This is how Gmail is compatible now with all the other browsers.

In the future, when they decide it is time, they will publish their XUL interfaces side-by-side with their current interfaces. I'm not trying to give any hints, but this is related to a large push that Google is going to make to support XUL technology and will happen by the end of this year or early 2006.

Re:Google uses XUL

[christopherfinke]

An interesting example of Google XUL was mentioned earlier in the thread: Google XUL search page.

Re:no workee for me - me too.

[Devi0s]

It wasn't working for me until I realized that I'd have to enable Javascript AND allow it to change images.

Re:When it supports

[arodland]

I did some expert sleuthing, and found that it supports at least four additional regions besides midwest USA. They include:

• Northeast USA
• Southeast USA
• Northwest USA
• Southwest USA
• 
  
  Keep in mind that Southwest USA is where Google is, and I'm sure they have a much easier time getting geographical data. Besides, it would suck if the Google developers did all that work, got the site up, and it couldn't even show them their own offices!

Re:Quick review

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

I find it difficult to believe anything is better or more accurate. It has my grandfather's indiana driveway in it... I about sprayed mtndew all over my new laptop when I saw that.

Re:Usage...

[787style]

Groundbreaking? You obviously haven't tried it yet; I would consider this a bigger blow to Mapquest than them hiring Carly Fiorina as CEO.

In addition to that,

[jdgreen7]

Imagine if they started using this for real estate searches, too. Just link all the local back-end MLS listings to whichever region you're searching in and end up with an MLS service that's better than what most realtors pay for. By partnering with some of the larger realty companies (Century 21, Remax, etc.), they could probably take over a good chunk of the industry in a matter of a few years and make it much easier for individuals to shop for houses without the assistance of a realtor...

RTFA

[j3thr0]

Google Maps is using a hidden iframe to send messages back and forth

Re:Safari support

[molnarcs]

No, you are talking about beta software. Safari support will be there, and what they do doesn't screw anyone. What do you have in mind when talking about "not exactly cross platform"? Not exactly cross browser would be more accurate, were it not for the fact that we are talking about beta software that promises support for all major browsers.

This is nothing like MS not supporting png for instance, (or did not for a long time) forcing me to use crappy gif images for transparent logos and such. Therefore, MS screws me. It also screws many users, even without them noticing it. I have no problem with windows (I think it's not a bad desktop OS), I have a problem with the price tag, which is unrealistic IMHO. Part of the strategy of keeping that price tag is vendor lockin, which goes hand in hand with disregarding standards. GoogleMaps, a free service, supporting multiple browsers (and therefore: multiple platforms) is nothing like that. Who is exactly the victim of Google's practices?

Another example of an excellent online map

[Bio]

I want to point you to another example of an online map:

map.search.ch

This is Switzerland and not the US and it uses aerial photos with an overlay of vector street data. The resolution is amazingly good.

Furthermore:

• It is implemented with (D)HTML and Javascript only (like Google)
• You can move the map holding the mouse button pressed (like Google)
• You zoom in and out using mouse buttons 2 and 3

For me it's one of the most fascinating applications of web/html/javascript technique.

Re:No graphics

[STrinity]

The images don't show up in Lynx either! The bastards.

Not to beat the dead horse, but...

[spud603]

"hateful fearmongers in Washington, DC" returns just one, infinitely appropriate result.

Re:Safari support

[prockcore]

it is too bad that even Google can't get a webpage to render properly on any modern browser, such as Safari.

Safari doesn't support XSLT. It's not google's fault that Safari is behind even IE6 in this respect.

Re:When it supports

[Nevenmrgan]

You know, this reminds me: I've noticed that my local sub shop does these things called "Philly cheesesteaks." I immediately filed a complaint, explaining that the majority of this planet's population would not know what "Philly" was. Come to think of it, most would not know what "cheese", "steak", or a "cheeseteak" were either. However, it turns out the neighborhood doesn't really care when they go out for food.

bookmark is broken

[jhewitt]

I'm blown away by Google Maps but there is one annoying problem that I've noticed: You can't just bookmark a map on Google Maps, you have to first click a "Link to this Page" link to put the state of the map into the URL.

I've described a simple solution for this problem on my blog just in case the folks at Google read Slashdot and want to make my new favorite mapping website just a little bit better :)

http://www.joehewitt.com/

It's not easy.

[Kickasso]

The map is tiled, so you need to somehow produce a big image from all the pieces and then convert it to JPEG. Coding it in Javascript would be a real mess, and doing it server-side kinda defeats the point.

You can easily convert PS or PDF to JPEG with ImageMagick (yes I'm a geek).

Middle of Nowhere

[strider( corinth )]

Anybody remember the old Macintosh Map CDEV? (Or was it a Desk Utility? I can't remember.) It had a location for "Middle of Nowhere". Looks like Google Maps has one too:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=middle%20of%20nowh er e&sll=37.062500%2C-95.677068&sspn=47.687500%2C81.5 64923

What's really interesting is that it's changed since yesterday, when it was located in northern Idaho.

Re:Old info

[Leatherman]

Strangly the map of my hometown is a mix of outdated and new info. There is a street on the map that was put in about 3 years ago, but a road around an entire man made island is missing. The island has been there at least 20 years.

Re:Safari support

[happypork]

"Safari doesn't support XSLT."

Fortunately, Dave Hyatt, one of the lead Safari developers, said in August that it's coming. http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/hyatt/archives/2004 _08.html/

http://map.search.ch/ rocks!

[jpatokal]

I thought Google Maps was spiffy, but this is just insanely cool! Took me less than 1 minute to spot the house where I lived near Geneva over 10 years ago, and the satellite map even shows the community swimming pool and the nearby farm sheds full of stinky fertilizer. I can almost hear the cowbells ringing...

Note that you can also check the "Strasseskarte" box to switch between the satellite view and the just-the-facts-ma'am road map view.

Cheers,
-j.

Or security fanatics ;-)

[australopith]

"George W Bush" in Washington, DC