Webware

Wikipedia killed the encyclopedia business, in print and online, as it's hard to make a revenue model work that involves paying people to create content when there are hordes of enthusiastic experts around the world willing to do the job for free. The business of mapping may be similarly doomed, as indicated by PublicEarth, a new wiki-style database of places launching Monday, and by the continued improvement in authoring tools at the crowdsourced mapping service OpenStreetMap.

PublicEarth

PublicEarth is an open database of places. Michael Rubin, who was an architect of Netflix, wanted to bring the same "element of delight" of connecting people to things they enjoy. Netflix did it for movies, and Public Earth is doing it for locations.

As with other crowdsourced place databases, anyone can insert a location. And as with most of the other products, PublicEarth uses Google base maps. The difference in PublicEarth is in the execution: It's slick, in a good way. For map users, PublicEarth lets you quickly find categories of locations -- romantic, kid-friendly, historic, for campers, etc. -- for places you are going. When you're looking at a map of places, you can get a lot of data by just rolling your mouse over hot spots, without clicking. "We learned how expensive a click is," Rubin says.

The system will have a recommendation engine that learns what you like. So if you've been using the system and then head to a new town you can just see the "recommended for you" locations.

The real value to PublicEarth is that it can find places that aren't, as they say, on the map. It's very easy for users to create a point of interest, draw a boundary line around a park, or trace a route to walk or hike. If enough people get into this system it could be a great resource for travelers. Which is the business model.

The PublicEarth team wants to make this service the go-to database of unusual places, and to partner with standard booking sites like Hotels.com, OpenTable, and travel solutions like TripIt. Getting traffic from those sites will get people into the system, and then sending booking and ticket traffic out to venues will generate revenue.

PublicEarth is also being marketed to activity groups like RV and sports clubs, parents groups, birdwatchers, and so on. It can be used by social networks to collect and collate locations aimed at specific interests, which can help people with those interests when they visit a new region.

Of course, success hinges on contributions, and it's not easy to create a user-maintained location database that sticks. There's also competition: Wikimapia and Yelp come to mind. But if PublicEarth can affiliate with other travel resources it could work out. It is a very strong product. It has the potential to compete with the guidebook market.

OpenStreetMap

PublicEarth is an open database of items on top of a map. OpenStreetMap is a crowdsourced map itself. The project was started before Google Maps came on to the scene, and while the search juggernaut's global road map is certainly more popular, there's a lot to be said for the OpenStreetMap approach. The fact that anyone with an interest in an area can create, correct, or update a map means you can get a lot of very specific data onto the map, created by people with very specific, nearly microscopic, knowledge of their regions.

And since the OpenStreetMap data itself is open, developers can do anything they wish with it. With a commercial map like Google's you have to push everything through one API, but with a truly open system you can create your own maps from the data, perform calculations on map points, and so. OpenStreetMap would be a great mapping database for the calculation engine Wolfram Alpha.

Later this month a new map editor, MapZen, is coming to the system from CloudMade, a company that commercializes the OpenStreetMap project. MapZen will make it easier for mappers to create and correct roads and points of interest. An iPhone app, currently in approval limbo, will also make it easier for anyone to walk and map. And new social tools should be good for to help groups of "map buddies" coordinate their work.

The MapZen/OpenStreetMap combo also lets you do very specific and modern cartography. There's a junction editor, for example, that lets contributors specify turn restrictions by time of day.

CloudMade will monetize the system by offering search features and routing (with awareness of the junction turn restrictions), and possibly by working on location-based advertising.

OpenStreetMap currently matters more to people in less-mapped regions than to dwellers of hyper-mapped U.S. cities. But ultimately the system may enable new location-based apps and services thanks to its wide-open system.

The crowded map

Google has already added a form of crowdsourcing to its mapping services: Its traffic system gets location and speed data from its mobile users. (Users can get their own raw data through Latitude, if they wish.) But Google relies on its own private mapping data, and its own servers to deliver maps to users. It's an expensive model and it doesn't serve all users in all locations equally. The crowdsourced mapping model is a serious competitor to the proprietary map business. I wouldn't have thought it could work, but Wikipedia shows that it's a mistake to dismiss the power of millions of individuals, each willing to chip in a little bit, to create great reference works.

Stop the presses: According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, a security guard was hunting around on Google Earth and spotted a mysterious object that he believes is the storied Loch Ness Monster.

The most shocking part of the report: The fact that it took this long for anyone to claim that Google Earth has found something funny swimming around in Loch Ness. I mean, hello, people. Google Earth has been feeding us tasty satellite maps for over four years now. If Google Street View can surface multiple puking drunks and streakers, you'd think that a massive sea monster (enthusiasts claim it may be a long-thought-extinct reptile called a plesiosaur, to be more specific) would have a tough time staying hidden from Larry and Sergey's snooping.

As you may recall, earlier this year someone with way too much free time on his hands claimed he had found the lost city of Atlantis off the coast of North Africa, as evidenced by a grid-like pattern on Google Earth. Google's response was that it was basically feedback from sonar data collection (so boring), not a legendary sunken city.

Unfortunately for conspiracy nuts and "X-Files" loyalists, the "Nessie" of Google Earth is probably just a boat, as the Daily Mail article points out. The 65-foot-long object really does look pretty similar to other Google Earth aquatic oddities that are more obviously man-made watercraft, after all. So the search remains fruitless, I'm afraid.

But a side note: Shouldn't whoever was in that boat on Loch Ness be concerned that the monster might think they'd make a nice snack? Safety first, people.

Photos are one of the most used parts of Facebook, yet you'll never find shots that show perspective, or that let you zoom in to see fine details.

That's where SpeakTech has stepped in, with a Facebook application called MySynths. It lets you take any Microsoft Photosynth and share it on Facebook, just as if you were viewing it on the Photosynth site. You and your viewers will, of course, need Microsoft's Silverlight rich-media technology installed, but for them, there is nothing else to install.

Photosynth is Microsoft's 3Dish photo experience that takes several photos and stitches them together into a landscape that can show an extraordinary amount of detail, as users zoom in and out of high-resolution photos. Late last year, Photosynth became a commercialized part of Microsoft Virtual Earth, after originally existing as a technology preview.

In the case of this app, it simply embeds a synth for you, and lets your friends both view it and leave you comments as if it were another first-party piece of content on the site.

One small hurdle to using the app is that you're required to manually dig up all the information about the synth, including source URLs, an image thumbnail, and short and long descriptions. These things cannot be automatically sucked in from the Photosynth site, which means that you need to enter them one by one. Luckily, this takes only about a minute per synth, but if you're a heavy Photosynth user, it can be a real process to insert all your synths.

(via Bing community blog)

Here's what's embedded on the Facebook page:

This week, astronomers will be up in the early morning hours to see Perseids, a meteor shower that has historically proven to put on quite a show. This happens every August when Earth passes through debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet.

If you're an amateur astronomer or someone looking to get started with the hobby, you might be surprised to know that there are online tools to help you tonight, when you want to see Perseids, and every other night you go in the back yard and set up your telescope.

Go star gazing

Astronomy Network Astronomy Network is a social network for astronomers. It sounds like a neat idea, but after you sign up, you quickly realize that the site has such a small community, it's tough to find value in it.

That said, Astronomy Network's forums are a great place to hang out and communicate with some of the members. If you end up making friends with some users, you can instant message each other, send direct messages, upload videos, and add images to the site. It's a full-featured social network designed specifically for amateur astronomers, but until more people join, it won't live up to its potential.

CalSky CalSky is an invaluable astronomy tool. The site provides you with a search that you can modify to find exactly what you're looking for tonight. Do you want to see the International Space Station? Are you looking for meteor streams? The site will help you find it all.

When you get to the site, it determines your location. From there, it will find all the objects you search for in the night sky on a specific day (you can search for any day of the year). The site explains each cosmic event and where to find it in the sky. When you click on one of those events, it delivers a page that provides even more information. If you're serious about astronomy, this is the site for you.

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Google Earth can now take you to the moon.

Timed with the 40th anniversary of the first moon walk, the Internet giant on Monday released an addition to its Google Earth mapping software to provide images of moon landscapes and traces of human exploration there.

Called the Moon in Google Earth and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, the software allows you to see topographical features on our closest celestial neighbor with the lunar equivalent of Google Street View. People can also see a gallery of the Apollo space missions and get information on every robotic spacecraft that has visited the moon.

"This tool will make it easier for millions of people to learn about space, our moon and some of the most significant and dazzling discoveries humanity has accomplished together," Anousheh Ansari, a trustee of X Prize Foundation and the first female private space explorer, said Monday on a Google blog.

Google is hosting an event Monday to launch the Moon in Google Earth site at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where Ansari and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin will speak.

To access the images from Google Earth, you select Moon from the toolbar in Google Earth. From there, the viewer zooms down to get detailed images of the moon's surface.

From the left panel, people can surface information about the moon, including historical charts used by astronauts for training and NASA mission control. High-resolution photos break down the moon's surface into different quadrants to show its features.

The tool is designed to teach people about the missions to the moon by visiting the various Apollo landing sites. After zooming into a location, people can see video clips and panoramic stills taken by the astronauts, such as Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. Aldrin also offers a guided video tour of the moon from within Google Earth.

The artifacts tab allows people to see three-dimensional models of the spacecraft that have gone to the moon.

The Moon in Google Earth project was done through Google's partnerships with NASA, which allowed researchers to develop much of the content. Japan's space agency, Jaxa, also donated the global terrain dataset for the moon.

Updated at 8:45 a.m. PDT with more details.

At least the residents of the moon are unlikely to be annoyed by the Google Street View car.

Google announced plans Thursday to hold a press conference on July 20 in Washington, D.C., to discuss "a very special announcement about the newest addition to Google Earth," according to an invitation sent to reporters. Further details were not included, but it's not too hard to guess what Google might be up to here.

July 20 is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. One of the men who set foot on the moon that day, Buzz Aldrin, will speak at the event, as will Andrew Chaikin, author of "A Man on the Moon." And NASA's launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in June has yielded all kinds of new detailed images of the moon's surface.

Google already offers a limited overhead view of the moon that highlights the sites of the Apollo landings, but it seems more detailed maps could be in the works as part of the ongoing partnership between Google and NASA. All kidding aside, Street View for the moon is probably not on the agenda, although those lunar rovers are still up there.

Each Memorial Day we honor the men and women in uniform who have paid the ultimate price for the freedom we enjoy. Traditionally, this is the day many people visit cemeteries and memorials, especially the Arlington National Cemetery. But not all of us can do that. This year there's an alternative.

Sean Askay, a Google engineer, released on Sunday a Google Earth layer, called Map the Fallen, that contains detailed information of more than 5,700 service members who died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. This is an interactive tool that lets you see photos, learn about how each service member died, visit memorial Web sites with comments from friends and families, and explore the places they called home and where they died.

Askay has no military affiliation or background and developed the project on his personal time. He said on his Map the Fallen blog that he came up with the idea when he was still a student and ran across icasualties.org, a public database of soldiers who have died since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to Askay's blog, the Map the Fallen layer contains information collected from a number of sources, including the Department of Defense's Statistical Information Analysis Division, icasualties.org, MilitaryTimes.com's Honor the Fallen, The Washington Post's Faces of the Fallen, the Iraq and Afghanistan Pages, and Legacy.com.

The layer requires Google Earth 5.0 or later. Once the software is installed, you just need to download the Map the Fallen layer layer and choose to open it. After a few seconds, the layer will be loaded and you can learn much about honorable men and women who you might otherwise not know about at all.

Personally, seeing the sheer number of human figures closely shown on the surface of the Earth is enough to leave me feeling somber and humbled.

What Askay did shows the true meaning of Memorial Day, and for a lot of us it offers an easy and convenient way to frequently remember and honor those we are often too distracted to do that for.

This case could either be seen as cute or maddening.

Sarah Quinlan, a New Zealand mom, went to take nap after having made some online bids on toys. When she came back, her 3-year-old had taken over the computer and bought a much more serious toy: a real earth mover for a cool 20,000 New Zealand dollars (about $12,300).

According to Rodney Times, Pipi Quinlan was happily clicking away on the keyboard while her parent was asleep and ended up being the winner of a Kobelco digger, a gigantic earth-moving vehicle.

Sarah had the shock of her life when she found out via e-mail which auction her account had won. She immediately called popular New Zealand auction site TradeMe, and the seller, to explain what happened. She added that her little girl was kind of a girly girl and not generally into earth movers.

TradeMe reimbursed the seller for the successful auction, and the product was relisted.

I'm pretty impressed that TradeMe resolved this matter so quickly. If it were eBay, you'd have to wait up to two weeks to get your fees back.

Lesson learned. However, don't leave your computer without locking it or at least logging off the Web site you were using.

Earth Day happens one day a year. But it should spur us to do our best to reduce our impact on the environment for the other 364.

I've picked five sites that provide a framework for how to live your life in a way that's better for the environment. Whether it's car-pooling or simply eating the right foods, you'll find ways to be a more responsible Earthling.

The tools of the trade

Carbon Diet

Though there are countless "carbon calculators" on the Web that try to measure your carbon footprint, the Carbon Diet does it better.

When you start using Carbon Diet, you'll be required to input your usage of electricity, natural gas, and vehicle fuel. Simply input your monthly bill amounts and Carbon Diet will do the rest. It then calculates your impact on the environment. You can go back each month to update your usage. As you input more information about your activities, it continuously modifies your impact, displaying graphs and charts to give you a visual outline of what you're doing to the planet.

The best tool on Carbon Diet is its "analysis" feature, which examines your activities and gives you tips toward becoming a more responsible environmentalist. It told me that I need to stop driving so much. I also need to turn the TV off instead of leaving it on for most of the day.

You'll learn a lot from Carbon Diet. It's the best carbon calculator I've seen. Try it out.

The Daily Green

The Daily Green is the best resource for green living on the Web. It delves into healthy recipes, better living, low-impact gardening, and more.

When you first go to The Daily Green, you'll probably have trouble finding what you're looking for simply because there's so much content to consult. If you start with the news, you'll find a host of interesting articles and discussions on topics that relate to the green lifestyle. The section is also filled with articles on political news surrounding environmental concerns.

But the most value you'll get from The Daily Green can be found in the site's "Tips and Advice" tab, which shows you ways to save money with green products. The site also provides advice on how to turn your home green so you become a more responsible environmentalist.

If you want to change the way you eat, The Daily Green also has green recipes. All of the dishes contain organic products, like soy milk and basmati rice. The site claims green food is just as delicious as dishes that don't use organic ingredients. I can't corroborate that claim--the recipes didn't sound all that appetizing to me.

The Daily Green is the perfect destination to immerse yourself in the green lifestyle. It makes you a better inhabitant of Earth.

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