If you store street addresses in a spreadsheet, you can now plot those addresses on Google Maps in just seconds, with no programming required. And doing so won't cost you a cent--unless you volunteer a contribution to the people behind the Map A List beta service that makes it all possible.
Start by pasting your addresses into a Google Docs spreadsheet. (If you don't already have a Google account, you'll have to create one, but doing so is also free.) Give the spreadsheet separate columns for the location name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code. Make sure you don't leave any blank columns at the top of the spreadsheet.
Next, browse to the Map A List site and create an account by entering an ID, password, e-mail address, security question, and ZIP code. Once your account is in place, choose Maps > Create on the site's home page.
The first step in the map-creation process is to choose a source. At present, the only option is Google Spreadsheet. After you grant the service access to your Google Docs account, you'll see your spreadsheets listed in a drop-down menu. Select the one that contains the addresses you want to map. If the spreadsheet has only one worksheet, it will be chosen automatically. Otherwise, you'll be prompted to select the worksheet with the addresses. Map A List will display the fields it will show on the map.
The free Map A List service lists the spreadsheet fields it will include in your custom Google map.
(Credit: Map A List)If you're happy with the fields Map A List presents, click Next to view and confirm the fields containing the address information to be shown on the map. You can change the order of the fields and set the field that will be displayed in the balloon pop-up for each map pinpoint.
Change the order of the map fields and set the row that will be displayed in the map's pop-up balloons.
(Credit: Map A List)Once the field settings are in order, click Next. The service will generate the geocodes for the addresses. If the addresses are in order, you'll see the "Total Success!" message. Click Next to open the Configure Map settings. Make your selections in the two drop-down menus and go with the default pin or change the icon that will denote each address. You can get a peak at the resulting map by clicking Preview Map, or click Next to open a page with additional settings.
Here you can change the name of your map, choose the view (Satellite, Hybrid, Physical, or Normal), select the default zoom, and set the content to be shown in the footer. You can also make the map public or private and alter its appearance in other ways. When you're done, click Save & View Map.
View the map displaying your spreadsheet's addresses, complete with all the Google Maps trimmings.
(Credit: Map A List)Hover over a pinpoint to view whichever field you selected as your Title in Step 2 of the map-creation process. Click the pinpoint to view whichever fields you chose to display in Step 4, use the zoom controls to move the view in or out, and switch views between normal, satellite, hybrid, and terrain, just as you would with any Google map.
Over the weekend, Google rolled out a brand-new look for its Spreadsheets tool by adding a simplified toolbar to the top of the page, much like the one Google Docs received back in late March. The change is twofold: one to better organize all the various bits and pieces that had turned the tool into something resembling an airplane cockpit, as well as ready it for additional features.
All this isn't just cosmetic ,though; Google says overall speed has been improved, too. One of the things that's kept me away from using it all these years is that Excel absolutely kills it on larger spreadsheets. In a quick test on some older, large spreadsheets I really did notice a big difference, although it still has to stream in all your cells, whereas Excel is ready to go as soon as you open it.
Google Spreadsheets users now have a similar menu to the one in Google Docs, which compacts many of the options into menus for the sake of organization.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Something small, but really important is the inclusion of a full screen mode. Hitting Ctrl+Shift+F lets you cycle through two additional views, one that gets rid of the menu bar, and another that gets rid of both the menu bar and toolbar. If you're working on a laptop with a small vertical resolution this gives you an additional seven rows(!).
Google has also more deeply integrated its Calendaring tool and handling of URLs within its forms tool. You can now plan a meeting with people you're collaborating on a spreadsheet with right from the share menu. This simply opens up a Google Calendar event with the participants, subject, and link to the spreadsheet automatically filled in for you. Likewise, any URL you drop in forms or the form confirmation messages will get converted into links automatically. Previously users would have to copy and paste it into their address bar.
All these changes may be small, but like the change to Docs back in March, it's a fascinating shift. Considering Google's Chrome browser lets you run tools like Docs and Spreadsheets as standalone Web applications, the closer it gets to feeling like software people are used to, the more willing they'll be to try it out. The big question is how far Google is willing to go with this new interface to make it better.
Security researcher Bill Rios reported Monday that a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against Google Spreadsheet could have exposed all of Google's services. XSS can occur whenever a legitimate site accepts input from the user but does not filter that input properly and could allow the injection of potentially malicious instructions. In this case, however, once an attacker gained access to any xxxx.google.com site, they would have access to other Google services, such as Gmail, Docs, and Code.
In an e-mail to CNET News.com, a Google representative confirmed that the flaw as described by Rios has been fixed. "Google takes the security of our users' information very seriously," said a Google spokesperson. "We worked quickly to address the vulnerability and rolled out a fix before it was reported publicly. We have not received any reports of this vulnerability being exploited."
According to Rios, he was able to use Internet Explorer to change the content type of the HTTP response being returned to the server while using Google Spreadsheets. At issue here is whether or not the browser will ignore the content-type header in certain circumstances. Rios points out that all browsers have the potential to do this under certain circumstances, thus the problem isn't entirely with Google.
In his blog, Rios created a spreadsheet, placing an alert (document.cookie) script string surrounded by HTML tags in the first cell. When that string content is saved and downloaded as a comma-separated value or CSV, the content type should be text/plain. However, since Rios added HTML to the string, Internet Explorer will see that first and render it as HTML instead.
Whenever a victim is lured to this CSV URL, an Alert dialog box will pop up on the attacker's desktop containing the victim's current Google session information. The session cookie would be valid on other Google services used by the victim such as Gmail, Docs, etc.
Rios offers this XSS flaw as a cautionary tale, and recommends that security-minded readers check out a paper by Blake Frantz of Leviathan Security. In "Flirting with MIME types," Frantz found that, while other browsers were also indiscriminate about rendering file types as HTML, IE did so on 696 file types out of 735 tested. To give perspective, the next closest was Opera at 14, with Firefox at 8, and Safari at 7.
Google on Wednesday unveiled Gadgets for Spreadsheets in Google Docs, allowing people to create graphical representations of data in spreadsheets and publish them on Web sites.
Google Docs lets you turn your data into a Motion Chart in a spreadsheet via a Google Gadget.
(Credit: Google)These visuals can also be pushed out to appear on an iGoogle home page or any other site and they will be dynamically updated as changes are made to the spreadsheet.
Gadgets will soon be coming to other apps in Google Docs and eventually search, to help people find relevant content and links, says Jonathan Rochelle, senior product manager for Google Docs.
Google has also added new features that make using Spreadsheets easier. For one, there is a notification system that will e-mail you when somebody has made a change to a spreadsheet that is being collaborated on. You can set it to alert you once a day or after each new change is made. The changes are highlighted so you can easily detect what is new.
There is also a column-based auto-complete function that looks for cues from adjacent cells to try to guess what you are typing, an updated color palette and function editing capability that uses the arrow keys, as well as an auto-complete function for typing long formulas.
In addition, spreadsheet creators now have access to historical stock market data through a Google Finance function and new functions to automatically sort and filter data.
Google is doing something interesting with its Gadgets platform, making gadgets a data source for spreadsheets as well as a data distribution method for developers.
"If I'm collecting census data and putting it into a spreadsheet, I can also make that data available to statisticians," through the Visualization API, says Rochelle. "It doesn't have to be in a spreadsheet form" to distribute.
Spreadsheets is just the first data source that can be handled this way.
"We're making the spreadsheet almost a platform for simple development and delivery," he says.
With the enhancements, Google is ratcheting up the competition its free Web-hosted apps are giving Microsoft's desktop productivity suite, which companies pay for.
Google Docs lets you publish graphical data to your iGoogle page as a Gadget.
(Credit: Google)
Have you ever wanted to create your own Google map? Maybe a top 10 list, or some of your favorite eateries. There are ways to do this with Ning and Yelp, but what if you really wanted to make changes later down the road and have those updates pushed out to anyone viewing your map immediately? Google has put together an experimental wizard for creating your own Google Maps mashup using data from Google Spreadsheets. The tool uses APIs from both Google Maps and Google Spreadsheets, but you won't have to know a lick of code, or anything super technical to use it.
Making your own test map with the tool is easy. Just start a new Google Spreadsheet, enter names, addresses, and descriptions. The only tough part is grabbing the latitude and longitude, which you can grab just by clicking the "link to this page" button on the top right of a mapped location in Google Maps. In your browser's address bar you'll see a ton of letters and numbers; you just want the two numbers that come after the ZIP code. Paste each one into the longitude and latitude cells on your spreadsheet and you're done with the hard part. From there, just follow the instructions on the wizard, grabbing the spreadsheet ID and picking how big you want your map to be. When you're done, you'll have a custom Google map that will update whenever you make changes and republish your Google Spreadsheet. Neat.
Our test mashup, which took about 10 minutes to create.
(Credit: CNET Networks)For now the wizard is limited to using a predetermined spreadsheet format setup for restaurants, but, man, is it cool to pull in data from your spreadsheet instead of filling out a form. This also opens up things from a group-collaboration perspective, allowing several people to work on map entries at once.
There are a few other tools that let you create your own Google Map. Google Map Builder is a paid-for software solution aimed at real estate agents that also lets you publish from spreadsheets. Mapbuilder.net is a free service that lets you to create your own maps using forms and a user interface. We're still waiting for a "map this" button in Google Spreadsheets to tie this all together.
[Found on Google Maps API blog.]
It's time for a confession: Although I write about Web 2.0 applications all the time, I use very few of these apps for more than a day or two. In most cases, once I've poked around in a product and written up my thoughts, I don't come back to it.
There are, however, wonderful exceptions, and I want to make it a practice to give a second look at the services that are more than interesting, they're so useful that you can rely on them day-to-day.
Wufoo: Just plain great
(Credit: CNET Networks)First up in this category: WuFoo, the online forms service (previous coverage). I cannot tell you how much trouble this little service has saved me. We use it on Webware for our contact page. Not only has feedback to our editors increased (compared to our previous contact method, a mailto link), but building the form took me all of 10 minutes. I started with the free version of the product but am now paying for it and putting it on my expense report. At $10 a month, several years of Wufoo service will cost CNET a lot less than it would have if we built the form and the data collection system ourselves.
My relationship with Google Spreadsheet: It's complicated
(Credit: CNET Networks)Second: Google's spreadsheet (review; kvetch). I rely on this product even though I loathe its Visicalc-era feature set and occasional "Connectivity lost... reloading" bug. Even so, it does the job. Google Spreadsheet is Webware's air traffic control system: several people here use it simultaneously, to track the services we're covering.
I'm putting Google on notice, though. I am considering changing over to EditGrid (review), which has features Google lacks. I'm also planning on checking out Xcellery, which claims to enable real-time sharing of Excel spreadsheets. Neat trick, that. (I have flirted with SmartSheet [review], but found that it lacks both flexibility and real-time collaboration.)
Since no good deed goes unpunished, I have asked WuFoo CEO Kevin Hale and Google product manager Rajen Sheth to join me on a panel on small business Web services at the upcoming Web 2.0 Expo.
Bonus tool that works: It's not strictly Webware, but I rely on LogMeIn for remote access to my own PCs and to my family's computers when they want me to do tech support for them. Latest update: On March 12, LogMeIn will release a client application that lets you connect to a remote PC without going through a browser. Robert Vamosi reviewed the product. I just got it and have already used it for real--not just to evaluate it--several times. It'll run directly off a USB stick, too, which is very handy.
Feel free to share your own Tools That Work in TalkBack...
BusinessWeek is reporting that Google is ready to mount a paid-for monthly subscription for Google Apps for Your Domain. The service, which launched several months ago, was offered free to beta users. With the graduation from beta status, Google is clearly aiming to make money off potential business users and take some business away from rival Microsoft.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
The service, which we wrote about in August, includes a set of customized Google apps that provides you with free domain-centric branding including a company start page, e-mail addresses, and inter-office calendars.
My question is, what kind of business will dump Microsoft Outlook for a set of apps that runs in your browser? For smaller companies running on unstable connections (like the one I worked for before I came to Webware), the Internet can go out at any time. You can't have that kind of disconnect affecting critical documents and e-mail exchange with customers. If Google offered an offline version of their apps with this subscription, I think the company would have a much more compelling service.
In the meantime, Google's terms of service stipulate that all beta users will still get the service for free, so sign up your entire office before Google Apps for Your Domain makes the jump from beta.
A little Web service called IMified caught my attention this morning. It is an ambitious service that lets you access several popular Web applications from your instant-messaging client. IMified is a messaging bot (like SmarterChild) that lets you manage your apps via text commands. In theory, it could also be used on any IM-equipped mobile phone to turn the phone into a remote control for your Web apps.
Signing up to the service requires no site registration or passwords. To begin, you just add the messaging bot to your buddy list and send it a message. Adding additional services (like Blogger, Basecamp and Wordpress) is done through a special section of the IMified home page. Besides these services, IMified doubles as its own productivity tool with notes, reminders, and to-do lists.
There are some interesting real world uses for IMified, particularly using collaborative apps like Google Spreadsheets. Here at Webware, we created a couple of Google Spreadsheets to share our ideas. Theoretically, IMified could be used to add items to our spreadsheets. IMified could also be used to live blog from your phone using a service that wasn't intended to do so, such as Backpack from 37Signals.
Adding services to IMified
(Credit: CNET Networks)Accounts are managed through a special section of IMified's Web site. There you can set up user names and passwords for each service. Compatible IMified sites are set up to work through the developer's API, so if your favorite service doesn't have one, it likely won't be added to IMifieds list.
Having a group of Web apps to access while on the go is an exciting idea. What piques my interest is whether or not the casual user can handle a text-based interface for multiple and visually rich apps. After thoroughly enjoying Google's mobile Gmail application, I'd like to see IMified evolve into a downloadable Java app for phones that could incorporate an easy-to-use graphical interface, yet combine the simplicity and the ease of use that IMified was designed to provide.
[Found on Museum of Modern Betas]
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