Video: Rolf Potts Speaks at Authors@Google

by Justin Glow on


Our good friend Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel, was recently invited to speak at Google’s New York office as a part of the Authors@Google program. Fortunately for us non-Google employees (or is it open to the public? I can’t tell), each talk is filmed and posted to YouTube. What you have above this paragraph is nearly an hour’s worth of Rolf talking about his book and sharing various experiences on the road. He then fields questions from the audience. Here’s a few of those questions:

  • When your traveling in case you get hurt? What kind of documents do you carry with you?
  • What are attitudes have you experienced when you travel as an American post-9/11?
  • Is it possible to not be a tourist? How do you get off the tourist’s trail?
  • How do you deal with coming home after a long trip?

Check it out — well worth an hour of your time.

Google’s Free 411 Service: Now with Maps!

by Justin Glow on

Did you know that Google has its own free 411 service in the U.S.? I’m not sure how this slipped under my radar. Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) to search for businesses by voice, and Google will connect you at no charge.

A few days ago, Google announced a new feature on their 411 service: maps. How does it work? “During your call to GOOG-411, just say ‘map it’, and you’ll get a text message with the details of your search plus a link to a map of your results right on your mobile phone,” says the official Google Blog. I just tried it out, and it worked beautifully. I said “map it” and seconds after the automation system told me it was sending a map, the text message came through with the address, phone number, and map URL of the business I was searching for. I hadn’t even hung up yet.

Pretty soon you’ll be able to say “take me there,” and a Google Robot will pop up out of the ground and carry you to your destination. Until then, I’m not leaving the house. [via]

Streetviewr Is A Fun Time Wastr

by Willy Volk on

We promise not to turn this into the Google Streetview blog, but this morning I learned about Streetviewr, which I thought was pretty cool. Well…if you think wasting, like, 30 minutes clicking on cryptic captions to see what kinds of images they reveal is “cool.”

In any case, Streetviewr — similar to Google Sightseeing, which highlights interesting locations across the globe using Google Earth — is a fun link dump for many of the odd images the Google Van captured as it photographed the US. I can’t wait to start hearing stories about how the Google Van documented something illegal or immoral. For example, I can already see the headline: “Girlfriend Catches Boyfriend Cheating on Her Via Google Street View.”

I wish I knew when the Google Van was going to be passing my house. I’d hang up a sign that says “Read Gadling!”, so it would be forever immortalized — at least, until the next time it drove by.

More on Google Streetview:
* Google Streetview Round-up
* Streetviewr is a Fun Time Wastr
* Is Google Streetview a Web 2.0 Peeping Tom?
* The Google Streetview Vehicle Revealed
* Google Streetview Finds One Fugly Buick and More
* Google Streetview Car: Take a Look at The Vehicle That’s looking At You

You are the Cartographer with Google’s My Maps

by Dave Luna on

Google introduced a new Google Maps feature called My Maps. This new option lets you create custom maps with relative ease via a simple point-and-click interface on Google’s site.

My Maps gives you the ability to draw on a Google Map with placemarkers, lines, shapes, images, video, and text. Then, if you want, you can share that map with friends and family. You can even show your maps to the world by allowing Google to include your creations in Google Maps searches.

I love this idea of collaborative mapping. Community-driven content always brings new insight to a previously utilitarian service. A Google Maps search augmented with user-created My Maps could yield results you may have missed otherwise. A standard query for “Route 66” might just show you the highway. However, a My Maps search would also give you this Route 66 map complete with oral histories. Fancy!

More ideas for My Maps:

  • Share a parade route with the marching band.
  • Highlight a hiking trail and pass it onto your son’s Boy Scouts troop.
  • Tell others about famous monster sightings.

The possibilities are endless! Sneak a peek at Google’s blog to view more sample My Maps.

Virtual Land Preservation

by Dave Luna on

Last month, Microsoft launched Virtual Earth 3D. The product is essentially Google Earth, but in a browser and with cleaner building imagery. Though, I’m not here to talk about who has the better interface or prettier pictures. I’ll leave that up to the qualified people like our friends at Download Squad.

I’m more concerned with how advertising can affect these virtual environments. Yes, Microsoft already has plans in the works to inject virtual billboards into their 3D Earth construct. Obviously, since it’s their product, they can do as they see fit with their version of the globe. However, imagine these ads as ubiquitous as South of the Border and Wall Drug signs. For instance, outfitters could pepper the summit of Mount Rainier with icons of boots and granola bars. Also, advertising could turn the Great Wall of China into the next Las Vegas Strip with flashing faux-neon cowboys flanking the World Wonder.

Sure, the addition of advertisements is a hardly as questionable as — say — putting our National Parks into the hands of catering companies, but it does cheapen the experience of seeing places you’d love to visit. I’ll pose the question to you, dear reader: Is there such a thing as the responsible treatment of land when transitioning from the real world to the virtual world?