Google Maps Should Push The Wikipedia Analogy Further
Google comes out with a seemingly unending stream of little enhancements to its stable of excellent online properties. One of the more exciting additions to come along in a while is the fact that...
View ArticleGoogle Maps Becoming Even More Like A Wiki
A few months ago, we noted that Google had taken some tentative steps to make Google Maps more wiki-like, and we encouraged them to take further steps in that direction. Now Techcrunch reports that...
View ArticleGoogle Inches Toward Wikified Maps
I've been saying for a few months that Google should begin wikifying Google Maps, so that users can make corrections and add missing information to Google's map database. Google took a tentative step...
View ArticleUK Police Worried About Online Crime Maps
One of the first sites that kicked off the whole "map mashup" craze was Adrian Holovaty's ChicagoCrime, which showed the locations of crimes in Chicago placed on a Google map. The site has since been...
View ArticleUnblurred Google Satellite Images Is The Equivalent Of Yelling Fire?
Earlier this month, we wrote about how a politician in California, Assemblyman Joel Anderson, was looking to force Google and other providers of online mapping/satellite offerings to blur images of...
View ArticleThere's An Apology For That: AT&T Dismisses Its Pointless Lawsuit Against...
We still don't understand why AT&T called so much more attention to Verizon's ads that highlight AT&T's weak 3G network coverage by suing over the ads. Things were made worse when a judge...
View ArticleGoogle Releases Stats On Country Info & Takedown Requests; Leaves Us Wanting...
Google's getting some attention for its decision to launch a tool highlighting the information requests made by various governments to Google, either to gather information or to take down certain...
View ArticleCompany Claims Patents On Generating A Map From A Database; Getting Real...
Judith Lindenau alerts us to the news of a company named CIVIX-DDI, who holds two incredibly broad and obvious patents on generating maps from a database of location info: Patent 6,385,622: "System...
View ArticleFrench Court Fails Digital Economics; Claims Free Google Maps Is Illegal
Three years ago, we wrote about Bottin Cartographes, a French mapping company, suing Google because Google offers its Google Maps product (mostly) for free. Bottin argued that this was unfair...
View ArticleTomTom Kicks Off FUD Campaign Against 'Dangerous' Open Source Mapping
Recently, Techdirt wrote about the increasing number of Web sites that were dumping Google Maps and turning to OpenStreetMap (OSM) instead. But that's only one aspect of the increasingly important...
View ArticleCraigslist Quietly Begins Testing The Feature It Sued PadMapper For Adding
Craigslist is somewhat famous for keeping its rather antiquated design, and refusing to make changes. Even when well meaning fans have suggested ideas for improving the site, Craigslist has resisted,...
View ArticleDespite Threat Of $50,000 Fine, Montreal Designer Plans To Release More 'Real...
Recently, we covered the story of a Canadian Counter-strike enthusiast who created a map based on a Montreal metro station. It was greeted with a thorough lack of enthusiasm by Montreal's transport...
View ArticleCalifornia Court Rules It Illegal To Check Maps On Your Phone While Driving
For years, we've discussed the problematic nature of "distracted driving" laws that seek to outlaw things like talking on your phone or texting while driving. It is not that we don't think these...
View ArticleAwesome Stuff: Maps Aren't Just An App On Your Phone
I don't know why I've been thinking about maps lately -- perhaps it's because I've been traveling, and as this is posted, I'll actually be in an airplane flying home. I've always been a fan of maps --...
View ArticleSuitcase-Sized Drones Extend And Deepen OpenStreetMap's Coverage
An increasing number of online services use location information. This places suppliers like Google, with its Google Maps, in a strong position, since creating such geodata for entire countries -- or...
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