Category Archives: maps

Facebook Places is at the beginning of a long road

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Rakesh Agrawal

Facebook’s much awaited Places product finally launched this week. It’s the first step toward bringing friend finding to the masses. People have been using Facebook to do this for years; posting their location in freeform status updates that their friends can … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, foursquare, geotagging, lbs, maps, mobile, twitter, wireless | Tagged | 6 Comments

Heading toward the Facebook recommendation engine

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Rakesh Agrawal

There’s an interesting thread over at Mike Blumenthal’s blog on the effect of Facebook Places on the local reviews space. My view is that reviews and updates will coexist, much as blogs and Twitter coexist. People who were less committed … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, lbs, local search, maps, yellow pages, yelp | Tagged | 15 Comments

Checking in with foursquare at SFO

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Rakesh Agrawal

With the increasing use of mobile applications such as Yelp and foursquare, it’s becoming possible to pull ideas from thin air. Users of these apps can leave tips for others to find that are linked to a specific location. In … Continue reading →

Posted in audio, foursquare, geotagging, lbs, local search, maps, mobile, social networking, twitter | Tagged | 1 Comment

Now we’re going Places

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve been writing about Twitter and location since my first post about Twitter in 2007. This week, Twitter launched Places, which allows users to add their location to a tweet. Here’s a screenshot from 2007: and today: In 2007, I … Continue reading →

Posted in geotagging, gps, lbs, local search, maps, mobile, social networking, twitter | Tagged | 1 Comment

Geo-enabled Twitter comes alive on Twitter Maps

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve been playing with Bing’s Twitter Maps lately and it’s one of the better implementations of Twitter’s geo APIs that were introduced last fall. It shows tweets within the last 7 days plotted on the map. Google Maps recently introduced a … Continue reading →

Posted in bing, geotagging, lbs, local search, maps, mobile, social networking, twitter | 3 Comments

Past, present and future of online maps

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google announced yesterday that it has added more detail on its maps, highlighting businesses and landmarks. They even solved the Albert Einstein Memorial problem that I wrote about last year. Businesses and landmarks are important because they make maps more … Continue reading →

Posted in bing, google, local search, maps, microsoft | 4 Comments

You too can be Rand McNally

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

How long does it take to get from Pike Place Market to Mount Rainier National Park? According to Google Maps, it’s a 5 minute walk; less than 1/3 of a mile. Pretty easy, huh? In reality it’s a 2 1/2 … Continue reading →

Posted in city guides, flickr, geotagging, google, gps, iphone, lbs, local search, maps, satellite navigation | 6 Comments

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

Posted on August 27, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve long advocated that news organizations geotag the news. But I’ve been skeptical of automated systems for doing this. Google News recently provided a terrific example of what can happen when you use entity extraction for such a task: In … Continue reading →

Posted in geotagging, google, journalism, local search, maps, media, newspapers, web 2.0 | 4 Comments

How’s the weather out there?

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

One of the things that takes getting used to living in the Bay Area is the many microclimates. Temperatures and conditions can vary dramatically within a few miles. I was deciding whether to head out to the Beach Chalet, a … Continue reading →

Posted in geotagging, google, maps, social networking, twitter, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

Occasional reader – Saying no to Google, popcorn prices popping, economics and height, Pringles

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

North Oaks tells Google Maps: Keep out – we mean it (Star Tribune) — A suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota has demanded that Google remove all images from Street View, citing its laws against trespassing. The city’s roads are privately … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, google, maps, movies, privacy, random, reader, street view, weekly reader | 1 Comment