Monthly Archives: October 2007

Tracking the trackers

Posted on October 29, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

My friend Jason ran in the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday. The marathon, like many races, uses a chip on runners’ shoes to track times. The Marine Corps Marathon also offered runner alerts: you could sign up before the race to … Continue reading →

Posted in mobile, random, wireless, wireless data | 1 Comment

Trying new ways to cover fires

Posted on October 26, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Crises force people to think differently. Faced with a rapidly moving story, media outlets in Southern California have done an outstanding job in adopting Web 2.0 tools to keep readers informed during the tragedy. SignOnSanDiego, the Web site of the … Continue reading →

Posted in geotagging, journalism, maps, media, newspapers, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments

GPS as the cure to roadside blight

Posted on October 26, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Creative Commons image by Eye Captain via flickr. It’s a staple of American road trips: signs all along the interstate inviting you to grab a bite, fill up or spend the night. You’re likely to see hundreds of these signs … Continue reading →

Posted in gps, local search, maps, satellite navigation | 4 Comments

Google Maps gets social

Posted on October 23, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google has added a profile page for its My Maps and local reviews products. The profile page allows users to roll up their maps and reviews onto one page. Here’s a screenshot of my profile page: In addition to links … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, google, local search, maps, social networking, yelp | 1 Comment

Forgetting our freedoms

Posted on October 20, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Very few occupations are constitutionally protected. Journalism is one of them. The first amendment says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, journalism, media, newspapers, random | Comments Off on Forgetting our freedoms

Google Satellite View, the hard way

Posted on October 18, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

From the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, a book of pictures of London taken from a balloon. The book covers eight square miles.

Posted in fun, maps, random | Comments Off on Google Satellite View, the hard way

The quest for buried treasure in mapping

Posted on October 18, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I wrote the other day about MapQuest’s new beta launch and how they’ve so far missed the mark on mapping innovations that have occurred in the last two years. Maps can serve many purposes. Finding a business or a place … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, geotagging, google, maps, yahoo | Comments Off on The quest for buried treasure in mapping

A new MapQuest beta with not much new

Posted on October 14, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

The latest beta of MapQuest shows how far behind MapQuest is in the functionality race with Google and Yahoo! There are two big improvements in this release: MapQuest finally supports a single search box for entering addresses. The current version … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, yahoo | 1 Comment

Technology’s effects on our language

Posted on October 14, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was at the Wright Brothers National Memorial a few weeks ago and struck by the telegram that Orville Wright sent to his father announcing the success of the first machine powered human flights. The message was kept short, probably … Continue reading →

Posted in email, fun, im, instant messaging, random | 1 Comment

What’s the most screwed up media business?

Posted on October 13, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Among television, movies, newspapers and music, which industry is the most screwed up when it comes to adapting to the new world? The newspaper business won some serious points this week in the “screwed up” race with Roy Peter Clark’s … Continue reading →

Posted in journalism, media, movies, newspapers | 2 Comments