Google Maps

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Google Map of Accents for Actors: Great Idea or Dumb Idea?

May 6, 2010 | 7 comments

accentmap-screenshotHere’s the idea: make a Google Map wherein each placemark on the map contains a link to an audio or video source of that place’s authentic accent/dialect — for example, documentaries which can be rented or found at libraries, or radio segments that are archived online (like at the NPR website, and the sites of some specific public radio shows). The important thing is that the media sources contain the speech of ordinary people (i.e., non-actors). See also the screenshot at right for an example of what a placemark on the map would look like.

Great idea or dumb idea? Vote in the comments. And comment in the comments, if you are moved to do so.


Outside The Map Room

March 21, 2010 | Permalink

I’ve always dug geography and considered myself a map nerd. It seems, however, that one of the charter members of the C&B blogroll has proven me wrong. If I were a real map nerd, I guess I would care about the kind of stuff most often posted at The Map Room these days — stuff like the conflation of neogeography with GIS, or the upcoming BBC4 radio series On the Map. I’ll admit that I got a slight kick out of the news that there are now global maps of the Moon and Mars available as apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, albeit a sarcastic one (I just know that the next time I’m on Mars and can’t find an ATM, I’m going to kick myself for not having an iPhone).

I had to scroll fairly far down the front page to find the kind of thing I used to see a lot more of at The Map Room: a link to this delightful set of map art by illustrator Christoph Niemann at his New York Times blog. As a cinephile, I suppose it’s natural that this one is my favorite:
casablanca

Thus it has come to pass that The Map Room must go without the torrential stream of traffic that surely resulted from its presence on my blogroll. I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine. To be clear, I have nothing at all against The Map Room — I’m just, as they say, not feelin’ it anymore.

As for the remainder of my “Niches” blogroll section, websurfers with or without a cartographic bent should find plenty of interest at the whimsical, wonderful, web-based world of Strange Maps. For example, check out this 1940 map by an Irish satirist endeavoring to make his country look maximally unappealing to possible Nazi invaders.

Or, if you’re both a history geek and a map geek (like me), you can frolic away the hours at the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection site. Read the rest of this entry »


Google Maps, Now Featuring… Property Lines?!?

October 19, 2009 | Permalink

I just noticed that the regular view of my area on Google Maps now shows property lines:

googlemaps-propertylines

Maybe only map nerds like me get excited about the rollout of this kind of feature. Frankly, I’m not even sure what utility it has for a normal Google Maps user. The nearest thing I can think of at the moment is perhaps for increased specificity in giving directions, as in, “It’s the fifth house on the right.” Or something like this… Read the rest of this entry »


Google Maps Street View Is My Friend

August 19, 2009 | 5 comments

Prepare to (not) be shocked: apartment hunting sucks. I am currently undergoing my semi-yearly reminder of this universal truth, and it never seems to get any less sucky. Either that, or I just get older and crankier.

At least the Google Maps “Street View” feature has got my back. Check it out – this photo of an apartment building was on the Craigslist ad for a vacant unit:

apt_adphoto

I thought, “Hmm… looks like it could be nice. Or at least OK, anyway.”

I’ve gotten in the habit of checking possible future addresses in Google Street View because it shows what a place looks like in context with the rest of the block.  For the building in question, that context was… rather revealing:

apt_cops