Grasshoppermind

Over at the Google Earth Blog, Frank Taylor asks whether people are Making Money via Google Earth. Well I’m not sure that there is sufficient take up of Google Earth to replace web stores (yet). But several insights in his post resonate with me.

-Firstly, Google Earth lends itself brilliantly to location based items. I used an example of this in my earlier post Howto geotag anything. I created a Tagzania account to list several items for sale that were relevant to my location (Isle of Man). Once the KML file is opened in Google Earth, you will see some links to DVD’s and Books etc. If you click on these, you get taken to Amazon using my affiliate links. (I used ElfURL to keep the links nice and manageable)

- Secondly, The Network Link in Google Earth allows that content to be dynamic. If I add additional items for sale in my Tagzania account, these will also be displayed next time you open up Google Earth. The Network Link IS the Killer App of Google Earth

The main problem is that first someone has to find your Network Link and then load it up in Google Earth. If Google Search adds KML output for geotagged items, then we’re in business!

How about it Google?

Updated: Added link to KML file

During one of my foray’s into the history of geotagging, I rediscovered this article by David Weinberger (of Cluetrain Manifesto fame). Many of the things that David was talking about back in January 2004 are becoming real. If you’re interested in all things “geo“, it’s well worth reading in full.

The GIS industry is now breaking out of its box. The technology, data representation, economics and security-driven needs for real-time geographic information are coming together. Businesses are becoming location-aware, making existing processes more efficient and enabling new processes and new relationships to emerge.

But something even bigger is happening.

Thanks to the constellation of technology that enables digital networks to be laid over the places of the earth, wherever we are we will be able to hear the human conversation that has occurred about that place – the history that occurred there, the aesthetics to be savored, the commerce transpiring at that very moment, recommendations offered by strangers and friends. The mute places of the earth are being given voice, and the voices are, of course, ours. Meanwhile, the places themselves are becoming digitally alive and are noting our presence, too.

Andy Fowler created a Google Earth script that displayed geocaches via Google Earth. Andy’s script was well written and was responsible for raising awareness of geocaching. Given the massive interest in Google Earth, it would seem sensible for geocaching.com’s owners to encourage innovation like this. However, Geocaching.com have asked Andy to cease and desist.

Clueless.

From the Pervasive and Locative Arts Network

Announcement and CFP

A new international and interdisciplinary research network in pervasive media and locative media has been funded as part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Culture & Creativity programme. The network will bring together practicing artists, technology developers and ethnographers with the aim of advancing interdisciplinary understanding and building consortia for future collaborative projects. It will be of relevance to people working in the arts, games, education, tourism, heritage, science and engineering.

The network will stage three major gatherings. Each gathering will have a distinct form and focus: an initial workshop to launch the network and assess the state of the art; a technology summer camp for artists and technologists, including hands-on prototyping sessions using the facilities at Nottingham’s Mixed reality Laboratory; and a major public conference and participatory exhibition as a central component of the Futuresonic 2006 festival in Manchester; as well as a supporting web site and other resources.

There’s some pretty interesting stuff happening here. Professor Benford and the team at the Mixed Reality Lab in Nottingham University are involved in a number of interesting projects many of which will have an impact on the world of geotagging, geolocation etc.

Oh dear, comment SPAM, *sigh*. Hopefully this is a sign of the extreme popularity of my blog!

Anyway, thanks again to Jacko at Tuazon who pointed me at Spam Karma 2. This is a pretty comprehensive Spam killer plugin for Wordpress users. Initial thoughts are: Wordpress plugin technology is brilliant, Spam Karma 2 is pretty comprehensive and looks very well put together. Now all I need is some more comment SPAM to test it on. bwa ha ha ha ha ha!

Paul Downey has released a great little web app called Flyr. It’s a lovely clean interface for seeking out Geotagged flickr photos and outputting them to your screen as a Gallery, or to Google Maps or Google Earth. Here’s a screen shot of the interface:

This Siemens SGX75 could be the phone that Flickr, geobloggers, geocaching and geograph people have been waiting for:
The Spec looks good, GPS, 2MP camera, xD storage, etc, etc.

Now, Siemens, how about getting one delivered to me so I can try it out? Please?

From Techcrunch:

Placeopedia tackles the problem with Wikipedia of not having a visual guide to where (in a map) articles refer to. Naturally, it doesn’t make sense to localize every single article, but where correctly used, this may become an extremely powerful (and fun) tool.

Well in fact many Wikipedia articles do have a visual guide to where they are referring to, although this is dependent upon custom image files uploaded by article authors. Placeopedia offers a simple method to link a Wikipedia article to a location (once you’ve figured out the Wikipedia Article name). Placeopedia have also made a reasonable attempt to stop their service being abused because you need to confirm your entries via an email verification step. It would be great to see a reciprocal arrangement with Wikipedia, where articles tagged on Placeopedia have a location map displayed within the original Wikipedia article!

The only issue I can see is that their system covers the UK only at present. I wonder if they are going to add the rest of the world?

Now I know why the google bot was sucking up my bandwidth!
Google’s Blog Search looks pretty good, and the entries are pretty much up to date. In Web 2.0 fashion you can subscribe to your search terms via RSS or ATOM like Technorati.

Seth Godin’s 2nd Ebook “Who’s There?” follows on naturally from “Knock Knock” and was just released. This one’s about Blogs and Bloggers, and it’s a great introduction to give to someone asking what blogging is all about. It’ll save you a lot of time.

Just like the previous one, it’s free.

Get the PDF here (1.8MB)
or the ZIP here (1.6MB)

The community at Geograph have only been geotagging photo’s since May 2005 and there are over 41,000 photos already! I am seriously impressed. Their stated purpose is to:

…collect a geographically representative photograph for every square kilometre of the British Isles and you can be part of it…

There’s hardly any photographs left to take where I live (Isle of Man). The red squares signify where there’s a picture, anything green is still up for grabs.

Looking at some of the photo’s I recognised a few names from the Geocaching crowd as well. I wonder how long it will be before they put a KML Layer together for Google Earth?

Now all we need is to get Geograph and Geobloggers together - how about it guys?

Barry Hunter has created an excellent location finder resource for UK based locations. His site Nearby.org.uk has links to most UK mapping resources including plenty I hadn’t heard of before. Unfortunately the Postcode converter doesn’t work for Isle of Man locations, sigh. Any chance of an update Barry?

This project by Airtight Interactive gives a nice simple flash interface to Flickr photo’s.
Best of all the viewer is available free here

UPDATE: Mentioned this to Jacko at Tuazon, 40 minutes later - this is up already

Seth Godin’s latest book, Knock Knock was released today. Seth turns his attention to Websites and what they’re for. This is his incomplete guide to building a website that works. It’s incomplete because he wants you to write the sequel!

If you have a website and you want customers, and then you want to keep them, then this is a must read.

Oh and by the way, he’s giving it away, free.

Get the PDF here (6.4MB)
or the slightly smaller ZIP is here (5.75MB)

Bill Beaty quotes this strange forcefield phenomenon encountered at a 3M factory…

David Swenson of 3M Corporation describes an anomaly where workers encountered a strange”invisible wall” in the area under a fast-moving sheet of electrically charged polypropelene film in a factory. This “invisible wall” was strong enough to prevent humans from passing through. A person near this “wall” was unable to turn, and so had to walk backwards to retreat from it.

Bill goes on to speculate whether you could turn this on its side and sleep on it! Now while this could be pretty comfortable, I’d be too worried about the huge scary moving parts to sleep.

Easier to follow is the sensationalised account of this phenomenon over at the ESD Journal. I like the contrast between the two articles, which are obviously for different readerships.