Google Hotpot Unleashed World Wide

Google is bringing Hotpot, it's new recommendation service, to the world after a limited release back in November. Hotpot basically allows you to rate restaurants, cafes, hotels and the like so that when you or your friends are searching for such venues Google can provide "trusted" results. The Google special sauce is based on your likes, your friends likes or properties that are similar to those that you or your trusty friends like. Access to the service is made available via the web (google.com/hotpot), google maps (maps.google.com), or your android phone.

Keep an eye out for those Unicorns!

Google And GeoEye Bring High Resolution To The Devastation

The Google Geo team and their partner GeoEye have released high resolution layers to the Google Earth and Google Map views of Haiti in an effort to aid relief workers and provide the rest of the world a closer look at the devastation. "With the hope of furthering awareness and relief efforts, we arranged for a collection of the Port-au-Prince area at even higher resolution (approximately 15cm) to complement the existing imagery." The imagery demonstrates the scope of the damage and gives a sense of what the country is dealing with in the wake of the disaster.

Source: Official Google Blog

Google Latitude - Share Your Location Or Not

Google has unveiled a new Google Maps feature, for your mobile phone, called Latitude. When you opt in to Latitude you can share your current location with those who might care about your whereabouts.

"Latitude is a new feature for Google Maps on your mobile device. It's also an iGoogle gadget on your computer. Once you've opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and loved ones who have decided to share their location with you... And with Latitude, not only can you see your friends' locations on a map, but you can also be in touch directly via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail, or by updating your status message; you can even upload a new profile photo on the fly."

The nice thing about Latitude is that Google lets you be in control of what everyone sees, with differing degrees of accuracy, and they even allow you to hide if you choose.

Source: Official Google Blog

Vice-President's Home Unblurred On Google Maps After Cheney Moves Out

Under the Bush administration many government facilities have been deliberately obstructed from view in Google Earth, Google Maps, and other such mapping applications. Oddly not long after former Vice-President Dick Cheney vacated the official Vice-Presidential residence, in the partially converted Naval Observatory located just a few kilometres northwest of downtown Washington, the satellite image of the complex appeared on Google unobstructed.

According to the Globe and Mail "Google receives some of its data from the U.S. Geological Survey, which is responsible for the blurry images of the vice-presidential house. However, the company also gets overlapping information from other providers. One such update last week just happened to coincide with the administration changeover in Washington."

Coincidence? Let the conspiracy theories begin...

Tracking Santa

Once again this year the folks at NORAD are tracking the movements of a magical flight across the globe. For those who have wee ones or for you great big kids check out www.noradsanta.org. It's official he's in the air... and Google has gotten in on the act becoming an official NORAD partner in 2007 Together they have Santa on the map and on "Santa Cam" arriving in several different locations around the world, with commentary in six different languages.

The Official Google Blog has more.

Google Map Maker Launched

Developers from Google India have built another great Google web application! The Official Google Blog explains "... enables users everywhere over to create rich, deep maps and fresh local data. People can mark their favorite spots in their cities and hometowns, add features such as roads, parks, and buildings, tag small businesses to help users find them, and collaborate to map neighborhoods of interest."

The team has created this video to explain their motivation:

Google Answers Questions About Maps Of Georgia In Response To Users

It appears as though Google has been fielding a number of questions about the Google Maps rendition of Georgia and it's neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan, all of which have only high level photography and no detail regarding cities or roads. In it's defense Google has posted this comment on the Official Google Blog (Cross-posted from the Google LatLong Blog) "...we never launched coverage in those countries because we simply weren't satisfied with the map data we had available. We're constantly searching for the best map data we can find, and sometimes will delay launching coverage in a country if we think we can get more comprehensive data."

In the wake of the recent conflict in the area some Google Maps users have asked if Google removed the data but Google insists it was never there but says that it is learning from the experience saying that users have indicated that some data is better than no data, to which Google says "... we have started preparing data for the handful of countries that are still blank on Google Maps. Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, as well as other significant regions of the world will benefit from this effort..."

Google Wedding Planner?

Here is a great story about David and Bergin Boyle who used the tools available to them via Google, to plan, organize, and document their wedding day.

• Google Calendar to pick a date that worked for both of their schedules;
  
• Google Docs for documents, to do lists and list of invites, RSVPs and such;
• Google Page Creator to create a web page to inform friends and guests;
• Google Analytics to determine if anyone was using their web site;
• Google Maps to inform guest about the venue and provide suggestions about hotels and sites of interest;
• forms to allow guests to submit their ideas for songs that mean something to them;
• Gmail to communicate with guests; and
  
• Picassa to share wedding photos after the big day.

As one of the commenors on David's blog says "Maybe Google should start a site Google Wedding to have all of this in one site..."

Google Street View Team Banned From US Military Bases

After having asked for and being granted permission to a Texas military base, the Pentagon has issued an order to all Defence Department bases and installations to ban access to their sites. At issue is the panoramic street level views that are made freely available on the Internet. "[It shows]where all the guards are, it shows how the barriers go up and down, it shows how to get in and out of buildings, and I think that poses a real security risk to our military installations," Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, said. Google spokesman Larry Yu said that the images of Fort Sam Houston where taken down immediately when requested and that "It is against our policy to request access to military bases for the purpose of capturing imagery in Street View," saying also that a Google crew mistakenly asked for access to a base, breaking Google policy.

Mapping the California fire zone.

I'm seeing a lot of TV and web news coverage of the California wild fires and, not having had the privilege of ever being in that State before, was wanting to put it all into perspective. It was timely that while I was listening to Buzz Out Load this morning the Buzz crew spoke of an interesting Google Maps mashup that maps the area of the fires and pinpoints some major points of interest. It's amazing to see the area affected by these fires and truly brings into scope the magnitude of this tragedy! There's also something much more compelling about being able to click on the map and move the image around as opposed to just seeing the area represented by a static image on TV. Though the video and stories presented by mainstream media is also very overpowering!

Street View may not comply with Canadian privacy legislation

Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has informed Google that it's Street View technology that presents photographic street level images of cities, ironically created by Calgary based Immersive Media, may not comply with Canadian privacy legislation. In a letter written to Google Stoddart says "In particular, it does not appear to meet the basic requirements of knowledge, consent, and limited collection and use as set out in the legislation." Google is apparently considering blurring images of people and license plates in an attempt to comply. While the service has not yet deployed any Canadian data this CBC report indicates that Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City have all been surveyed.

My Maps feature on Google Maps

Google has added a new feature to Google Maps called "My Maps" that lets you create and share personalized, annotated maps of places that are important to you. Add descriptive text, including rich text and HTML, embed photos and videos in your map, share your maps with others, and open it in Google Earth. Additionally you can apply mash ups to your map such as Google Real Estate Search, Our Earth as Art, and others including my personal favourite, Crop Circles.