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Bhopu / Tags /
Google maps
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Posted On
Feb 13, 2008
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Have you ever imagined how your house, office building, school, playground and neighbourhood appear to the little birdie in the sky? Try visualizing it. Don’t worry if you can’t……visit Google maps!!! Google maps (henceforth Gmaps) makes it possible to have a “bird’s eye view” of our own earth and its neighbours in space- moon & mars. Before I fly to further features of Google maps, here’s Lord’s Cricket Ground as seen on Google maps.
So, what is Google Maps?
To put simply, Gmaps is a free web-mapping service [Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the web].
It is an interactive web application that possesses high resolution imagery of the world allowing maps to be viewed online, zooming in and out of a place, panning [animating the map] to other places, searching, geocoding, providing real time traffic information, driving directions etc…… Gmaps features following modes of view that can be chosen from Map Type control Read More 
The Map view consists of topographical images and  displays the continents, countries, cities etc down to the street level, labeling the roads and crossroads. As the name suggests,Satellite view makes use of images taken from satellite together with aerial images.
 Hybrid view is a combination of the Map View superimposed upon Satellite View.
Terrain view renders  what we see as physical (features) map in atlases, with street view having natural and man-made structures stand out (see right). Only physical map is rendered for places where structures can not be displayed in high relief (see below).
 To the upper-left is the Zoom Control. The small window to the bottom-right of above map is an Overview Control that allows quick navigation. These controls appear at their default positions in the above map and can be repositioned when embedding maps into websites. To add content to the map, Overlays are user. For ex. the green arrow in our Times Square example is an Overlay. Gmap provides the following overlays:
 Points are displayed using Markers.  Lines are displayed using Polylines (representing a collection of points).  Areas on the map are displayed as polygons. Another overlay- the info window is a special kind of overlay that can contain descriptive text/HTML about other overlays.
Gmaps can be included in websites by registering for an API key.
GOOGLE MAPS API
It’s an Application Programming Interface provided by Google that exposes objects and methods that allows developers to embed Gmaps in websites programmatically. One needs to register for an API key using his/her Gmail account. The service is free for websites that are free for consumers. Once registered, you will be directed to a page that will provide sample code to embed Gmaps in your page. More on this can be read at the sign up page-http://www.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html.
When I began anew with Gmaps, I thought it would be tough understanding and implementing Gmaps with the API. Soon, I discovered that Javascript, Ajax, XML and JSON are the technologies underlying Google maps and these were very familiar names to me (I hope you’ve heard of them too). A Map constitutes collection of Tiles (images). These images are downloaded when the user drags or pans the map out of the current view port. This downloading takes place in the background i.e. the page won’t post back. I as a user of the API find it to be very simple to implement.
What does Gmaps has in store? Gmaps is an excellent example of web-cartography. It can be applied to virtually any thing that has a geographical coordinate. The number of sites utilizing this potential is growing fast. Maps are the perfect place to market yourself and your business! Gmaps can be put to use in: 1. Marking your internet presence by creating a map that lists your home, school, college,office, neighbourhood, friends…..etc. 2. Listing the places one has visited on the map. 3. Be an E-Tourist and travel to anyplace across the world virtually. 4. The number of internet tourist is growing fast and there are sites targeting virtual tourists too. http://www.traveldodo.com/travel-guide/india/lists the places to visit on map (ex. India). Also note the nicely designed Zoom control. 5. See Promotional videos for famous places marked at http://todaysstory.googlepages.com/promo.htm. 6. http://googlesightseeing.com/map/is a site that lists surprising images caught on Google maps submitted by its users over the world. 7. Google maps is most common and a must have in all real estate websites like Trulia and Colorado Homes Stop. These sites feature properties that are displayed on the map by geocoding property address. The user is presented with all properties on the map and he/she can easily navigate to another property location and view its details in the info window. 8. Google maps is widely popular amongst social networking websites. Let’s take up Zolve for example. Zolve is a Real Estate Social Networking site. The map displays member’s Sphere of Influence [Friends Network] page. Few points that emphasize the extent to which maps can be tailored to fit requirements:
 The red (  ), green (  ) and blue(  ) markers tell us about the member’s business type.
The proper use of Google maps depends on ones ingenuity and requirements. Links: 1. Wish to draw your own map? http://quikmaps.com/new 2. Find out how far is it… on http://www.geodistance.com/
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Posted On
Sep 27, 2007
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What is AJAX?
If there is anything about the current interaction design that we can state as ‘fascinating’, it has to be an Ajax application. Ajax is a dramatic departure from the traditional page-based model, which requires an entire Web page to be reloaded for the information to be communicated between the client and the server.
While seemingly simplistic, AJAX opens doors for Web-application developers that had previously been shut. It relies on nothing but the built-in browser internals. No extra software needs to be distributed to users, making AJAX an attractive option for companies that are concerned about the security and logistical implications of distributing installed software to users.
If we look at the Google Suggest, check out the way suggested terms update as you type, almost instantly. Another very fine example is the Google Map, Zoom in, Use your cursor to grab the map and scroll around a bit. Again, everything happens almost instantly, with no waiting for pages to reload. Isn’t that amazing?
Google Map and Google Suggest are two fine examples of the new approach to the web applciations that is called at AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML).
Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways. Ajax incorporates:
• standards-based presentation using XHTML and CSS;
• dynamic display and interaction using the Document Object Model;
• data interchange and manipulation using XML and XSLT;
• asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest;
• and JavaScript binding everything together.
The classic web application model works like this: Most user actions in the interface trigger an HTTP request back to a web server. The server does some processing — retrieving data, crunching numbers, talking to various legacy systems — and then returns an HTML page to the client.
What AJAX Does And Why You Should Consider Using It
AJAX is a new technology that relies on JavaScript. The JavaScript code that AJAX employs allows it to perform to the point that there’s very little perceptible delay with the user interface. This means that the user experience is far more enjoyable since users don’t wait for page updates and refreshes.
AJAX can just about solve the postback delay issue if your applications can simply update the portion of the page that needs to be updated. Easy, right? People have been trying to solve that for years with IFRAMES and other technologies. But none have worked nearly as well as AJAX, which is built on JavaScript technology.
AJAX allows web applications to perform partial page updates. Only the page elements that need to be updated are, thus providing a far more responsive page refresh mechanism. And if a web application developer is judicious in how pages are designed, there is almost no perceptible refresh delay.
AJAX can save bandwidth
Traditional Web applications deliver a tremendous amount of redundant information, particularly if pages are coded in old-fashioned HTML laden with tags. In such sites the amount of structuring and presentation markup required may be nearly as significant as that required to serve up the textual content of the page. However, following an AJAX design pattern, applications need to download page layout and structure items just once, and then update new data as needed, which could significantly reduce the application's bandwidth footprint per user session.
Companies using AJAX application
Google is making a huge investment in developing the Ajax approach. All of the major products Google has introduced over the last year — Orkut, Gmail, the latest beta version of Google Groups, Google Suggest, and Google Maps — are Ajax applications. (For more on the technical nuts and bolts of these Ajax implementations, check out these excellent analyses of Gmail, Google Suggest, and Google Maps.) Others are following suit: many of the features that people love in Flickr depend on Ajax, and Amazon’s A9.com search engine applies similar techniques.
These projects demonstrate that Ajax is not only technically sound, but also practical for real-world applications. This isn’t another technology that only works in a laboratory. And Ajax applications can be any size, from the very simple, single-function Google Suggest to the very complex and sophisticated Google Maps.
AJAX the future of web application
All major browser platforms now support AJAX, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox, Netscape, Opera and Safari. There's also a move toward standardization of XML HTllJthe core component of AJAX.
Performing targeted information updates, or micro-updates, can substantially reduce network loads, in addition to faster interaction with live data. Benefits can be measured through total bytes transferred, total download time and steps/seconds to complete a task.
The increasing relevance of AJAX is most obvious when looking at high-profile offerings, such as Google Maps and Salesforce.com, but what isn't obvious is that it's quietly making inroads in large and small companies. Its rapid adoption signals a shift in the way enterprises will build and deliver future Web applications.
The biggest challenges in creating Ajax applications are not technical. The core Ajax technologies are mature, stable, and well understood. Instead, the challenges are for the designers of these applications: to forget what we think we know about the limitations of the Web, and begin to imagine a wider, richer range of possibilities.
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Posted On
Sep 01, 2007
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Ready or not, Web 2.0, a new generation of web-based services, is changing the way people work and the way records and documents are created, used, and shared. One of the most interesting tools of Web 2.0 are the Mashups.
What are Mashups?
Mashup is web application that combines data from different sources to create one entirely new and innovative service. They are a trademark of the second generation of Web applications informally known as Web 2.0.
This new kind of Web based data integration is soaring all over the Internet these days. The main reason for the popularity of Mashups is the emphasis they lay on interactive user participation and the manner they aggregate the data in. A Mashup website is characterized by the way in which they draw content from outside of its organizational boundaries.
If you not convinced with the data integration definition to Mashups let me give you a good insight as to what makes a Mashup?
The term “Mashup” was borrowed from a pop music scene where a mashup is a new song that is mixed from the vocal and instrumental tracks from two different source songs (usually belonging to different genres)
So how does a Mashup looks like?
The finest example can the ChicagoCrime.org Web site, which was the first mapping mashup that gained huge popularity among the press. This Web site mashes crime data from the Chicago Police Department's online database with cartography from Google Maps.
Some of the very prominent Mashups genre are Mapping Mashups, Video ad photo Mashups, Search and Shopping Mashups, News Mashups and many more.
What is a Business Mashups?
In this era of technology and competition as business world races to catch up with the Web 2.0 applications like wikis, RSS feeds and widgets, the next big thing has already entered and starting to catch on fast: mashups.
Business Mashup is the combination of two or more applications into one new changed application that is customized for ‘business' specific needs.
As the social networking and the Web 2.0 trends came in, it’s the consumers that tend to adopt the business community. The same can be applied for mashups.
(Above image explains the leading Web 2.0 trends in Business)
Companies have realized that introducing their firm to mashups can help increase a professional influence, mashups is a new generation web service that is constantly changing the way we all work and the way records are created, used and shared.
So we can say that it is the business sphere where mashups will likely have their greatest impact. I think it has already starting to happen.
We should give credit to apps like Google Maps, del.icio.us and Flickr, who have made users started to think a lot about remixing the web. In the figure below is a classic example of a mashup - a Twitter Map. This mashup uses Twitter and Google Maps APIs to create a new application, which literally puts Twitter users on the map.
Another fine example of Mashup is a site called HousingMaps.com. The site offers house listings combined with Google map.
Some of the most publicized mashups include Weather Bonk, a mashup site that combines Yahoo! Traffic with Google Maps and various weather feeds that come up with one page featuring live traffic cams and a weather map customized by location. Another popular site is 1001 Secret Fishing Holes, a mashup of Google Maps with a variety of database feeds from sources like the National Park Service, campgrounds and wild life refuges.
Another area where mashups are high is the e-commerce site. Mashups can combine your web traffic data with the marketing data feed of some other company (example: leading provider of marketing, credit, and purchasing information), by mashing up the two, you can look for trends like who visited your site. You can also use mashups like mapping application to trace your web visitors. Interesting isn’t it.
What should business do to utilize mashups and effectively communicate with customers?
Mashups can be of immeasurable use to any business organization, if applied and used in an effective manner.
Following are the different genre of mashups and how companies can use them effectively to communicate with customers:
Mapping mashups
This era of information technology where people collect an abnormal amount of data about things and activities, companies and web developers can mash all sorts of data onto maps and build a huge amount of user-base. Some companies already versed with mapping mashups are ChicagoCrime.org, Secret Fishing Holes.
Video and photo mashups
The photo hosting and social networking sites like Flickr with APIs that expose photo sharing has led to a variety of interesting mashups.
A lot of news companies and sites can make use of such mashups by rendering the text in photos by matching tagged photos to words from the news.
As these content providers have metadata associated with the images they host (such as who took the picture, what it is a picture of, where and when it was taken, and more), mashup designers mash photos with other information that associates with the metadata.
Search and Shopping mashups
Companies can use combinations of business-to-business (b2b) technologies or screen scrapping to aggregate comparative price data. Consumer market places like eBay and Amazon have already released applications to facilitate mashups for accessing their content.
News mashups
A lot of companies can use technologies like RSS to distribute news feeds related to various topics. Feed mashups can help companies aggregate a user’s feed and them over the web, creating a personalized newspaper that caters to the reader's particular interests. Some companies already using feed mashups are Diggdot.us, which combines feeds from the techie-oriented news sources Digg.com, Slashdot.org, and Del.icio.us
Therefore, companies should make use of mashups bring together information from various sources on the Web into a dashboard-like view.
Future of Business Mashups
It appears that business mashups are certainly cool, but not companies have realized their efficiency. The growth has been steady but it still needs an explosion. Reason being that lots of people still create it for fun but very less for business.
Secondly even though Internet companies are trying to expose their services in the simplest possible way, the applications are still not made simple.
There are services like Yahoo! Pipes, Teqlo and Dapper who are working to simplify the process of creating mashups, but I think it will likely remain a fairly technical exercise only done by enthusiasts.
However, I wont deny stating that we will see companies and products taking ideas from many mashups and creating applications with the combined functionality. For example, taking ideas from the best mashups (like Cloudalicious) and creating a set of tools for bloggers and marketers would be very useful. So mashups will, I think, become the labs of the web - where rapid prototyping is done by enthusiasts, which gives rise to more integrated offerings by web companies.
Please let us know what your favorite business mashup is and give us your take on where business mashups are heading.
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Posted On
Aug 09, 2007
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 Spend a week in a vacation rental and see what is near you. Slow down, immerse yourself in the local culture and avoid the fast pace of rushing from one guidebook "must-see" to the next. A great way to travel!
The website Vacating.net is a new portal offering details of vacation rentals and holiday homes across Western Europe. Use the site to search for vacation rentals in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and plan a holiday.
The objective for this portal is to allow house-owners to rent out their properties themselves, without having to pay a fee to a travel agency. On the other side, vacation seekers use this website to search and book vacation rentals in Western Europe, without having to look at annoying advertisements. A win-win situation for both – the vacation seeker and the holiday-home owner.
The site is well planned and displays all the locations that have a holiday rental using Google Maps. Further to this, the ‘Quick Search’ option and visuals on the home page make the search more decisive at the instant.
There are some great deals to be found on Vacating.net. You can choose from a range of economic and expensive stays. There is also an interesting extra curricular activity section that tells of available activities happening around stay, so you are aware of them in advance and can schedule to attend them before you get there.
One of the best features I liked about Vacating was that the registration is free and it lets the owners of the properties get in direct touch with vacation seekers, letting them save on the fees to agencies.
You can look at pictures of the property and places around it. You can read about features of the rental home in detail, like a modern kitchenette and other extra and pictures of the interiors, thus giving you a clear-cut idea as to what you will be getting.
The website is very transparent compared to other similar sites and carries no advertisements.
If someone is looking out for vacation rentals around Europe, you can refer them to http://vacating.net. This is one great website that caters to all your vacations. You can opt for luxury in the most lavish way, or you can opt for budget vacations depending on your budget and plans. You name it and they cater to it.
One of the most complete websites that I have come across, it is very soothing to eyes, classy and informative.
I hope they extend this service to include all of Europe and gradually, make the website global.
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