Mashabless Blogspot

Most people think of Google Maps () in terms of finding a place or business, or getting directions from one point to another. Others use the satellite images and terrain mapping features. But there are tons of other uses out there for Google () maps.

From mapping the weather and news to mapping things that aren’t maps at all, like paintings or magazines, Google Maps has a lot to offer. And there are free tools available out there for those who want to use the Google Maps API without doing a bunch of coding. Here are more than 100 of the best mashups and tools out there right now.

Have a favorite Google Maps tool or mashup? Tell us more about it in the comments.

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Travel and Transportation

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Mapness – An online travel journal that interfaces with Google Maps to show where you’ve been.

The AA Route Planner – Plan trips around the UK.

Montreal Metro Map – A complete map of Montreal Metro stations.

TubeJP – A London Tube journey planner using Google Maps that also incorporates a search function to find local businesses.

District Taxi Fare Estimator – A taxi fare estimator provided by the Washington Post that shows travel routes in Google Maps.

Washington, CD Taxicab Zones – A zone map that covers each taxicab zone and is zoomable, unlike the ones in the actual cabs that are poorly labeled and hard to read.

Dublin Public Transport Advisor – A trip planner for public transportation in and around Dublin.

Most Dangerous Roads on Earth – A map of the most dangerous roads in the world.

Perfect Escapes – A travel search engine that features a click-through Google Maps search interface.

hotspotr – A map showing more than 14,875 wifi hotspots all over the country.

safe2pee.org – Find a public bathroom anywhere in the country.

Mezzoman – Find a place to meet in the middle of two points on the map.

Wines and Times – Use this map to plan a winery tour anywhere in the United States.

fastfoodmaps.com – Find fast food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendy’s and more, anywhere in the U.S.

Photo Enforced – Get maps of red light cameras in multiple cities across the United States.

World Port Source – Maps of more than 3,100 ports in 189 countries, plus a map to find ports anywhere in the world.

IMB Live Piracy Map 2008 – A map of all of the armed robbery and piracy incidents (both successful and attempted) reported over the past year.

flexTraffic – A map of traffic delays and construction projects across the UK.

Cheap Hotels – A map of more than 66,000 cheap hotels in more than 165 countries that also lets you book online.

NOAA Nautical Maps – A mashup that overlays NOAA nautical maps over Google Maps and allows you to adjust the transparency of each.

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News, Weather and Politics

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Gaza Conflict YouTube Videos Map – This mashup shows the latest YouTube () videos about the Gaza conflict attached to their locations along the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.

Track This Now – Search for news worldwide or in a specific country (or group of countries) and have news stories marked on a map.

TimeSpace: World – An interactive map from the Washington post that shows current news items linked from a world map.

iMap Weather – An easy way to get current weather conditions and the forecast using a map-based interface.

Barack Obama’s Journey to the White House – A Google Map of Barack Obama’s entire life, from Honolulu to the White House.

RMI’s Oil Imports Map – A mashup that shows all of the U.S.’s oil imports from 1973.

Who is Sick? – Find statistics on a map for illness in your area, everything from allergies and runny noses to fever to stomach aches.

HealthMap – Map of disease cases worldwide, including rabies, salmonella, and more.

Taxpayer Contribution to the Iraq War by State – View how much taxpayers have paid for the Iraq War by state.

Missing Kids Map – A mashup that shows the origins of missing kids (from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) on a Google Map.

Map of Election Conditions in Zimbabwe – A map of the corruption, from vote buying and gerrymandering to abduction and murder, that occurred in elections in Zimbabwe.

MetaCarta GeoSearch News – A map with links to current news stories from all over the world.

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Recreation and Entertainment

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Theatre In Chicago – An interactive map for Chicago that lists theatres with current and upcoming plays.

Gruvr – A map that shows live music shows at clubs and elsewhere anywhere in the country.

LOST Maps – A map that shows all of the locations mentioned in the ABC television series “Lost”.

The London Knowledge – A map of London that shows tube stations, restaurants, nightclubs and more.

Drive Score – Shows a map of nearby restaurants, schools, hospitals, bars and more for any address and awards points based on what’s close by.

Google Maps Disc Golf Courses – A map of disc golf/frisbee golf courses all over the United States with descriptions and directions.

Live Sports Map – Find sports scores and news on a Google Map that includes stadium and arena satellite views.

FindLakes – Maps for each state showing more than 40,000 lakes around the country.

SafeFoodFinder – A map showing Seattle area restaurants and what their health department inspection scores have been.

Broadway2Day.com – A map of current Broadway shows with information on price, genre, run, and more.

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Environment and Climate Change

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The World’s Most Polluted Cities – A map with geotagged photos of polluted cities all over the world (though mostly in Asia).

San Francisco Solar Map – This interactive map shows residential, municipal, commercial, and other solar projects around San Francisco.

RoofRay Solar Calculator – Find your house on their Google Maps interface, trace your roof, determine the roof’s orientation and pitch, and get a solar estimate.

Climate Change Wales – Interactive maps that show what flood levels will be based on rising sea levels from climate change.

United States Sea Level Rise Map – A map with geotagged photos that show the impact of different sea level rises in cities around the United States.

Flood Maps – Shows what new coastlines would be for sea level rises between 1M and 14M.

MapEcos – A map showing U.S. industrial facilities that use toxic chemicals and includes information about each facility.

Wasting Away – A map showing all 1,623 superfund sites in the United States, including sites that have been cleaned up.

DaylightMap.com’s Clouds – A map showing regularly-updated cloud cover overlaid on a Google Map of the world.

Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water – A map showing the levels of prescription drugs in various cities around the country.

Carma – A map showing the world’s highest CO2 emitting power plants.

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Photo and Media Maps

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Panedia – Maps of places all over the world with placemarkers linked to panoramic images.

Driving Detroit – A map of Detroit that includes placemarkers that link to photos, slideshows and other media.

Star Viewer – A Google Map of the night sky that includes YouTube videos of different stars, galaxies, and star systems.

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Games and Simulators

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googleDrive – Another Google Maps driving simulator.

Real World Racer – A car racing game in Google Maps that is surprisingly challenging.

2D Driving Simulator – A Google Maps Flash driving simulator.

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Pedestrian and Bike Maps

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Where is the path (or street) – A mashup that shows regular street and footpath maps next to a Google Maps satellite view so that you can see things not indicated on the Google Map.

99Trails.com Philadelphia Map – A map showing walking and biking trails around the Philadelphia metro area.

NYC Bike Maps – A map of New York City’s bike paths, lanes and greenways.

ActiveTrails – A map of trails throughout the United States and France that allows users to contribute trail information.

HikeCT – A map of hiking trails in Connecticut.

I Need A Bike – Find bike rental locations in and around Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.

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Information, Education and History

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Cassini – An overlay of 18th century maps over Google Maps that lets you adjust the transparency of either layer.

mapdango – A mashup that teaches about a new place every day, showing news, weather, and more.

MapsZipcode – A Google Maps mashup that shows zip codes nationwide.

London Profiler – Get maps of demographic and other public information in London.

Solar Eclipses – A list of solar eclipses from 1961 to the present that link to maps showing the path of the eclipse over the earth’s surface.

Area Code Maps – An area code map overlay.

BibleMap.org – An interactive map of locations from the Bible.

World Heritage Google Map – A Google Map of UNESCO World Heritage Sites worldwide that includes photos.

MailboxMap – Find a USPS or UPS mailbox anywhere in the country.

UFOmaps.com – A map of UFO sightings all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Qibla Locator – Find which direction Muslims should pray in from anywhere in the world.

PlaceOpedia – A map of Wikipedia () articles linked to their locations.

Meteor Craters – A map of meteor impact craters around the world.

World’s Creepiest Places – Just as the name implies, this map shows information about the world’ creepiest places.

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Housing and Real Estate

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Roomapes – An apartment finder app with a Google Maps interface.

CribQ – An apartment finder for San Francisco that interfaces apartment listings, Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth (for a birdseye view, streetview and WalkScore).

SuiteMatch.com – Find shared office space and see a map that shows all of the amenities surrounding that space including coffee, food, bars and gyms.

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Non-Map Uses

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The Kremer Collection – Use a Google Maps interface to browse a large collection of paintings.

zkimmer – An online publication viewer for newspapers and magazines that uses the Google Maps UI.

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Other Maps

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Samknows – Find a house or building on a map of the UK and see what types of broadband internet are available at that address.

If I dig a very deep hole, where will I end up? – This map shows you where you would end up if you dug a hole straight through the earth at any point on the globe.

If the earth were a sandwich – This pair of maps shows you the point on the earth that is the exact opposite of any other point you select.

RoadlessLand.org – Map of all of the designated road-free areas in the United States.

Google Maps Recent Edits – A constantly updating map that shows the most recent edits to Google Maps.

DishPointer – An application that shows you which direction to point your satellite dish based on your address.

DaylightMap.com – A map of where daylight currently is on earth as well as the lights appearing on the night side.

We Tell Stories – A map of the stories of six different authors that lets you follow the trail of their stories around the world.

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Directories

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MapTube – A directory with nearly 200 different mashup maps available.

Popular Google Maps – Browse popular Google Maps covering a variety of topics.

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Tools

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Map Builder – A quick and easy Google Maps mashup builder.

MapMyPage – A simple tool to put Google Maps on your website.

Map My Life – An easy to use mashup that will map your life and show a timeline using an XML file you provide.

The Google Maps Image Cutter – A free application for cutting any image into tiles for use with the Google Maps interface.

Automatic Tile Cutter – Another app for cutting any image into tiles to use with Google Maps.

GMapCreator – A tool to make creating thematic Google Maps easier.

Geo Twitter – GeoCode your tweets and plot them on an embeddable map.

Mapmsg.com – An app that lets you put a message (smoke signals, crop circles, etc.) into a map and then email it to anyone.

Dual Maps – Free mapping tools to combine different Google Maps views as well as Microsoft Virtual Earth maps.

maps-for-free.com – Get relief layers for Google Maps free for creating your own mashups.

HeatMapAPI – Use this API to create your own heat maps to overlay Google Maps.

PdMarker – An app to help you easily customize Google Maps marker behavior.

Facebook provides users with the opportunity to share just about everything: photos, links, videos, virtual gifts and random musings in the form of status updates. Under the guise of “being social” and “maintaining transparency,” Facebook () fiends post anything and everything about themselves on this now omnipresent social network.

This begs the question, how much is too much? Younger generations have no problem sharing nearly every detail of their lives, but is publicly posting all this minutiae really such a good idea? Knowing what you had for lunch is hardly ever going to be interesting, unless you’re a chef, and seeing your drunken antics very well may get you fired. So where do we draw the line, and for whom?

The beauty of Facebook’s many features is that now you can choose what you show and to what type of people. By using friend lists and playing with your privacy settings, you can create different views for each segment of your life.

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Segmenting your friends into lists

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Facebook Friend Lists can be utilized for a variety of purposes, but the biggest draw for the average user is that they can label their friends for easy adjustment of Profile Privacy Settings. Creating Friend Lists may sound harsh or judgmental, but this categorization happens every day in real life; Facebook just allows you to put it to good use.

The names or types of Facebook Friend Lists you create will depend on your use of Facebook and the overall purpose of your Profile. If it’s personal, I suggest “People You Don’t Know,” “Real (offline) Friends,” “Work People,” and “Online Buddies” for effective tweaking of privacy settings to control each list’s level of profile access.

There is no limit to how large a Friend List can or should be when discussing Privacy Settings; however, if you want to use lists to batch invite, message or tag people, you will need to create smaller, more targeted lists. But for privacy purposes, you can make each list as large as you’d like.

You can create a list from the Friends page, or choose them individually by name while working on the Privacy Settings page. Simply choose a feature you want to limit, like your Wall, and select “Customize” from the drop down. Then enter the name of the person or list you want to keep from seeing that feature. You will be prompted to create a list if you enter multiple names by hand. Privacy settings can be adjusted by hovering over “Settings” in the upper right corner of Facebook and clicking on “Privacy Settings.”

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What’s safe to share?

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How much you’re inclined to disclose on Facebook depends on a lot of factors, and can change based on what you did last weekend, who has recently joined the network, and what your overall goals and use of the site are. But a basic breakdown looks like this:

1. People you don’t know (your public profile listing)

First, adjust how someone you aren’t connected to views your profile. Allow them to view a bit of personal information, in case a potential employer, networking contact or old friend is looking for you. To do this, make your profile available to “My Networks and Friends” and your search visibility to “Everyone.” You should also make sure that the “Public Search Listing” box is checked off so your profile can be indexed.

Now decide what you don’t want non-friends to see and change these settings, allowing “Only Friends” to see that information. This also sets up the all-access version of your profile for your friends. “Safe” stuff typically includes Basic Info, Personal Info (depending on how much detail you provide), Education Info and Work Info. That means no photos, no videos, no wall. Applications with a more professional focus, like your blog or LinkedIn () profile, are also okay.

2. Your “real” friends

You may or may not consider online-only acquaintance to be “real” friends; if so, put them in this list. Either way, these are the people who get the full version of your profile. Things reserved exclusively for actual friends might be Photos Tagged of Me, Photo Albums you upload, Videos Tagged of Me, Wall Posts and the ability to post on your wall. You also might want to limit “fun” applications to this list as well.

3. Online buddies

In the old days, people would recommend hiding indentifying details from this group of friends, but that goes against the nature of Facebook. However, if you have children you may want to block these friends from viewing photos of your kids. Decide what works for you; you can switch your settings at any time.

4. Coworkers

Sometimes coworkers are friends, sometimes they are a kind of in-between friend. If it’s the latter, you may want to shield them from some of your Photos, Status Updates and Wall Posts. People have been caught lying about “sick” days on Facebook and fired for it, so think long and hard about how friendly you get with your coworkers.

5. Family

Yes, Facebook is finally popular enough that you might need a separate list for your family members. Depending on how cool your family is, or how out of control your photos and various Facebook antics are, adjust your settings accordingly.

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Final tips

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No one will know you’ve changed settings, either for them or in general; these updates will not show up in your news feed, so block people with abandon. Also note that photo albums settings must be changed individually, either when you set up a new album or by going to the Photos section of the Privacy page. However, any photo you use as a profile picture goes in a separate album called “Profile Pictures” which the settings cannot be changed for. So don’t make an inappropriate photo your profile pic. But you knew that.

No matter how knowledgeable you are and how much research you do, there will come a time when someone disagrees with something you write. Might be a friend on Facebook () or a stranger on Twitter () or your blog. How you handle a differing opinion will speak volumes about you and can either enhance (or undermine) your personal credibility.

When you encounter conflict in the face-to-face work environment, you can go into that person’s office, have a private chat, talk out the matter then go out for a beer. But, how do you handle it in the world of social media? And with the whole world watching?

Let’s use an example. Say you’re a Mac and I’m a PC. You write something about how great Macs are…and I decide to write a vivid response about my differing view. There are 3 things to remember when responding to differing points of view.

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1. Don’t take it personally

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Chances are the negative comment is not about you personally. It’s about something that you wrote. Yes, there’s a difference. No one is calling you stupid, ugly or talking trash about a close family member. They’re just saying they don’t agree with what you wrote.

So let’s use the example above. You write an article about how great Macs are and I write a reply that Macs are lame because you can’t right click. (Might seem like a simplistic example but people can get very attached to their computers.)

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2. Process before responding

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You might be tempted to shoot off an immediate knee-jerk reply but resist that urge. It’s important to take time, fully understand the other guy’s position, and compose your thoughts. Determine the purpose of your reply. (And, as tempting as it may be…the purpose is not pwning the guy back.)

The other thing to remember is…by just allowing a little bit of time, other people could give you some creative inspiration or maybe even help fight your battle. For example, someone recently posted a comment on my blog. Something that I needed to respond to. As I was compiling my thoughts, another comment came in. That next comment was directed at the same person and helped me refine my reply. So patience can indeed be a virtue.

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3. Find something to agree with

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This is important. Try to find something…even if it seems minor, that you can agree with. It helps to balance the conversation.

Using our Mac/PC example, you might say you agree the no right click capability is a pain but the stability of the operating system far outweighs the inconvenience of the no right click feature. You’ve found some common ground. That opening statement immediately takes the sting out of anything else you might say.

Don’t forget when responding to differing views that conversation is key. It’s obvious that this person felt comfortable expressing their negative or alternative view with you. The last thing you want to do is betray that trust.

So while you can’t have a private convo and buy this person a drink afterward, it’s possible to have a productive and beneficial difference of opinion. You might need this person’s PC view some day…and you will be able to tap into them as a resource. In the end, following these three steps might mean you are achieving the goal of conversation…which is pretty much what social media is all about, right?

Ever had one of those moments when you really wished you knew how to do something specific? If only there were someone you could ask…

Thanks to the social web, particularly niche blogs and expert-driven communities, it’s easy to find knowledge, insights and guidance direct from the pros, no matter what the topic area. In fact, online tutorials and how-to sites have been around almost as long as the web itself.

Here’s a run-down of more than 60 great how-to sites and guides covering everything from building a mashup to being more productive, creating a website and more.

Have a great how-to site that will teach us something new? Add it to the comments and tell us more about it!

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General How-to

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wikiHow – A huge collection of how-to guides edited by the community.

eHow – One of the largest collections of tutorials on the web. eHow is a 2008 Open Web Awards Blogger’s Choice winner.

How To Do Things.com – Find articles from experienced contributors on how to do just about anything.

WonderHowTo – A human-edited collection of video tutorials from more than 1700 websites.

Instructables – A community that creates tutorials on an enormous variety of topics, some practical, some not-so.

Expert Village – A collection of more than 130,000 video tutorials.

Howcast – Find how-to videos on a variety of topics. Howcast is the 2008 Open Web Awards Blogger’s Choice runner-up.

MindBites – Watch how-to videos or create your own to earn money.

VideoJug – How to videos for just about everything in life.

SuTree – A collection of how-to videos covering everything from beauty & fashion to language.

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Technology How-To

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Wired How-To Wiki – Get information on how to do technology-related things from linkbaiting your blog to surviving a nuclear blast.

The Java Tutorials – A collection of Java tutorials from Sun on using various components.

the How-To Geek – A collection of computer tutorials covering everything from protecting your children online to using different wallpapers on dual monitors.

How to Make Your Own Web Mashup – A short tutorial outlining the steps necessary to build a mashup.

How to Podcast – A complete, free tutorial that teaches you how to set up your own podcast.

HowtoForge – A huge collection of user-friendly Linux () tutorials.

PCWorld – A huge collection of tutorials for PC users.

HowToJoomla.net – A collection of Joomla () tutorials.

Screencasting: How To Start, Tools and Guidelines – A guide outlining why you should screencast and how to do it.

How to get traffic for your blog – A huge list of things to do to get traffic for your blog from marketing guru Seth Godin.

How to design a website layout in Photoshop – A complete tutorial showing you how to create your website layout in Photoshop.

Tutorialized – A collection of tutorials and how-to guides on a variety of tech-related topics.

How to design a website – A comprehensive tutorial on how to design using HTML and CSS.

How to Design a Website – A web design guide from About.com.

Good-Tutorials – A large collection of web-design tutorials covering Java, HTML, CSS, PHP (), Ruby, and more.

Video-Tutes.com – Free video tutorials for a variety of software programs including Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and MS Word.

A Beginner’s Guide on How to Install Linux Software – A basic guide to installing Ubuntu ().

PSDTuts – A huge collection of Photoshop tutorials and other resources.

PhotoshopStar – How to Photoshop articles and tutorials on a variety of different techniques.

Gimp-tutorials.net – A collection of tutorials on everything from photo manipulation to text effects in GIMP ().

Tutorial Blog – A blog filled with how-to guides and tutorials on design topics.

Blog Tutorials – A blog offering how-to advice for blogging.

Noupe Tutorials – A blog that focuses on web design and development and offers a large repository of great tutorials.

CBT Cafe – The Computer Based Training Cafe offers free tutorials and how-to guides on Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and more.

Niche Blogging Tutorials – How-to blog posts from DoshDosh covering niche blogging techniques.

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Productivity and Efficiency How-To

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How to be More Productive – A guide from the Blog Herald that focuses mostly on how to be a more productive blogger.

How to GTD – A small collection of blog posts covering how to get started with Getting Things Done.

How to Start with GTD – A basic 10-step guide to starting out with GTD.

How To Be More Productive – A very complete guide to becoming more productive, covering everything from technology to dietary changes.

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Business and Career How-To

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Inc. How To Guides – A collection of business guides for just about every topic.

How To Write A Resume.org – A complete resource for writing resumes and cover letters.

How to Blog Your Way to Small-Business Success – A short guide on using blogging to promote your business.

Startup How-To Guides – A collection of business how-to articles from Entrepreneur.com.

Score – Find how-to articles on a variety of business topics from advertising to management to starting a business.

How to Market in a Recession – A how-to guide from Harvard Business school.

How to Twitter your way to marketing success – A guide to using Twitter () as a marketing platform.

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Mashable How-Tos

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HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter – Build a loyal following and engage those followers.

HOW TO: Market to Bloggers According to Timothy Ferriss – Techniques for marketing to bloggers from the New York Times bestselling author.

How to Track 500 Business Blogs in 10 Minutes a Day – A great guide for all of us who need to keep up with tons of incoming information.

How to Manage Your Social Profiles and Create Virtual Business Cards – A must-have guide for anyone who uses multiple social media sites.

How to Build Your Online Brand – Covers how to use social media and Web 2.0 tools to create a name for yourself online.

How to Know if You Should Fire Your Social Media Consultant – A guide to some tell-tale signs that your social media consultant isn’t all they’re cracked up to be.

How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps – A simple guide to creating an effective social media marketing campaign.

How to Live Blog a Conference – A guide to live blogging preparation and execution.

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Miscellaneous How-To

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How To Meditate – A complete online guide to teach you how to meditate in the Buddhist tradition.

How to Draw Manga – Manga University has a great collection of how-to articles on drawing different elements of manga characters.

Sushi Eating HOW TO – A complete guide outlining how to eat sushi and sushi bar etiquette.

How to Go Green – A collection of guides to green your life on topics ranging from investing and hybrid cars to workouts and weddings.

The Storque How-To – The how-to section of Etsy’s blog covers all sorts of topics from cooking to selling on Etsy.

How to Clean Stuff – Tutorials for cleaning everything from old photos to ballet flats.

Lowe’s How-To Library – A huge collection of home improvement how-tos.

PopPhoto HowTo Archive – A collection of photography how-to articles covering image editing, composition, lighting, and more.

How to Photograph… – A series of tutorials on photographing a variety of situations and subjects from weddings to urban landscapes to zoos.