Do you have hand-drawn maps laying around?
Try MapplersThe site wants to expand the map with user contributions. If you wish to add a contribution you need to e-mail in your hand-drawn maps to the site's creator but there are plans to allow users to upload maps themselves.
Via: Google Maps Mania via The Map Room
Keep Track of Your Topo on Mytopo
Find a Class Via Map Mashup at TeachStreet
It is possible to search the TeachStreet listings by subject and by location. So, for example, it is possible to search for yoga lessons in New York. The results of a search are then displayed in list form and on a Google Map.
It is possible to refine your search results by distance and price. TeachStreet also allows users to rate and review listings so learners can see what other people think of a teacher / instructor / class before signing up to a class.
Via: Google Maps Mania Via: Programmable Web
Create a QR Code for Any Location
To create a code jut let the map determine your location. You can drag and zoom the map to refine your exact location. If you mouseover the map marker you can preview your QR code. If you click on the link in the marker's information window you will be taken to a dedicated page for your code. The page includes the html code to insert the QR code image on your own website or blog and a link to a static Google Map of your location.
QR codes created with this mashup can be placed anywhere; on your website, on your business cards, on leaflets or even hung on the wall.
Find Free Data Sets for GIS Work on Koordinates
Koordinates is a great resource to get free geographical data sets from around the world. Koordinates allows you to download various kinds of geographic or GIS data. Some of the data is commercial and requires payment before it can be downloaded however the majority of the geographical layers seem to be free.
The site uses Google Maps to allow you to browse geographical layers on a map before you download them. The layers can also be viewed by category, by country / region and by 'most popular' and 'recently added'.
Koordinates seems to be based in New Zealand and has a huge amount of data available for the country. However the site also seems to have a large number of geographical layers for the United States and sporadic coverage elsewhere.
Replies
The Worldwide Coordinate Converter is a nice tool to convert data between different geodetic systems.
To use the converter select the reference system of your data and the reference system you want the data converted to. You can then enter the coordinates manually, click on a Google Map, or enter an address. Finally, when you press convert, your coordinates will be returned in your chosen geodetic system.
The converter can also accept data with comma separated values (CSV)
This Google Map based application will send you a warning when rain is approaching.
Rain Alarm displays an animation of current precipitation and can warn you against approaching rain or snow. The app checks a perimeter of 75 km around your selected location every 30 minutes. If rain is approaching your location the map will then sound the alarm.
The app is currently available for the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain including the Balearic and the Canary Islands.
Finding Topography Data using Google Maps
The Open Topography Portal is a project that aims to provide access to various public domain airborne and terrestrial LiDAR, bathymetry, and other topographic data. As part of this project the Open Topography Portal has created a Google Map to show where topography datasets are available.Available datasets are shown on the map by yellow polygons. If you click on the polygons you can learn about the available dataset at that location and see what data products are currently available. The classes of data types available include standard digital elevation models (DEMs), LiDAR point cloud data, and Google Earth files. (found via GMM)
Etymology of US State Names
GMM pointed out a great new map which gives the Etymology of US State Names plotted on a maphttp://metzgerwillard.us/EarthSurvey.html
http://www.metzgerwillard.us/hcbm/HCBM.html
The map lets you explore the available data for a specific location. Once you have selected a location you can search against one or more data sets at the same time. You can obtain information about each of the data sets by clicking on the information icon next to each data set.
The Results tab lists the results of your search. 10 records for each data set are displayed at a time. If you then select the 'download' button you can export the metadata in multiple formats including KML, shapefile, and delimited text file.
Other Great News Sources for Google Maps and Google Earth
You can also install a network link in Google Earth that will let you view the trails there, similar in nature to the new Google Earth layer from Trimble.
Michael Kosowsky, who's behind HeyWhatsThat (the website for generating panoramas from digital elevation models that I gushed about a few months ago) was invited to give a Tech Talk at the Googleplex a month ago. Michael writes:
Ogle Earth Blog also created a pair of "Mapplets" for Google Maps: Elevation Contours and Path Profiler. To see what I'm talking about, start at
http://maps.google.com/preview
Hit "Add Content" on the left near the top. As of press time my mapplets haven't appeared in their directory, so hit "Add by URL" and enter
http://www.heywhatsthat.com/contours.xml
and then
http://www.heywhatsthat.com/profiler.xml
Hit "Back to Google Maps" in the top left and you're off.