Mashup Guide

Please let me know whether you have any comments on the following chapters:

• Chapter 18 " XML, RDF, microformats" (2007-06-20 12:11:02)
• Chapter 19: "Search" (2007-06-20 17:35:58)

I just posted the following chapters -- for your edication and entertainment:

• Chapter 7: "Other XML Web Services APIs" (2007-06-09 13:38:24)
• Chapter 9: "Dissecting mashups and remixes" (2007-06-09 13:49:43)
• Chapter 13: "Online Maps and 3-D Digital Globes" (2007-06-07 15:44:19)
• Chapter 17:"Desktop and Web-Based Office Suites" (2007-06-07 15:24:53)

As always, I'd be grateful for any constructive feedback:  questions, comments, expressions of bewilderment.

With pointers such as Greg Sadetsky's tidbits on how Google Map's Street View works in the browser (e.g., URLs of specific shots, a pointer to a Flare, an Actionscript decompiler), how long will we have to wait until we get mashups that give us a video tour of Berkeley using photos from Street View?

The online mapping arena is changing so quickly, and I obviously am not able to cover the details of all these changes. Nonetheless, it's helpful to speculate on what I believe to be the long-term trends in this area as a way of priming yourself for future changes.

• I think that you'll see a migration of many features found in typical full-fledged GIS system -- e.g., shading of layers -- into programmable web applications. (e.g., Pushpin Multi-layer map server)
• Not surprisingly, we'll see the platform players (such as Google Maps) incorporate functionality started off as extensions to the platform into the platform itself. For example, sites such as mapbuilder.net provided a user interface for building Google (or Yahoo!) map before Google made it easier to build a Google Map via its "My Maps" functionality. Google's My Maps doesn't exactly duplicate mapbuilder.net but it's bound to win a major audience by virtue of its tight integration with Google Maps.
• Google Mapplets are little applications that embedded in the Google Maps directly. (Note the contrast to the main Google Maps API allows Google Maps to be embedded in third-party websites) Again, because mapplets are located right in the context of http://maps.google.com, users can take advantage of increased functionality without having to go to a third-party website. Google Mapplets are to Google Maps as Google Gadgets are to iGoogle, Google Desktop, Google Page Creator. They are extension mechanisms for different part of the Google Platform.
• We will see increased merging in 2D and 3D representations of the globe. Signs of such activity include
  • Microsoft's integration of 3D and 2D views right in maps.live.com
  • KML as a way of moving data between Google Earth and Google maps (Note the support for KML coming out of Yahoo! Pipes) (Pipes Blog » Blog Archive » Pipes Adds Interactive Yahoo! Maps, KML Support (and More))

KML has moved beyond its use in Google Earth alone. For instance, you can display KML files and export search results and one of your "my maps" from Google Maps in KML. Other applications are beginning to support KML: For instance, you can get KML coming out of Yahoo! Pipes. There is support for KML in Feed Validator KML is being shepherded through a standards process: Paul Ramsey: KML @ OGC. Google is advising people to use KML so that its geo--search can index KML -- in KML 2.2, there is an attribution element. Google apparently will also index GeoRSS.

In Chapter 13, I cover how to use some of major mapping APIs: Google Maps, Yahoo, Mapquest, and Microsofts'. It would be convenient to be able to not worry about the differences among the maps and easily switch among the various maps. That's the promise of a mapping"abstraction" library such as Mapstraction (http://mapstraction.com). We'll have to see how and whether it is widely used to gauge the library's effectiveness.

Along a different vein is OpenLayers (http://www.openlayers.org/), which is:

a pure JavaScript library for displaying map data in most modern web browsers, with no server-side dependencies. OpenLayers implements a (still-developing) JavaScript API for building rich web-based geographic applications, similar to the Google Maps and MSN Virtual Earth APIs, with one important difference -- OpenLayers is Free Software, developed for and by the Open Source software community.

You can try out OpenLayers in FlashEarth. Go to the site and select OpenLayers. You might have to zoom out sufficiently to see any tiles (e.g., http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=38.417308&lon=-122.271821&z=9.9&r=0&src=ol)

Two recent entries of note:

• ProgrammableWeb.com » Blog Archive » API News from Where 2.0 is a good pointer to some of the new developments in this space. This week has been is a busy week for developments in online mapping because of such events as the Where 2.0 conference, the Google developer Day, WhereCamp - alternative conferences for geohacker.... It seems that people who have stuff to show off want to wait until these big conferences to announce their advances.
• ProgrammableWeb.com » Blog Archive » 44 Mapping APIs gives a breakdown of the mapping related APIs. It's helpful to have a conceptual framework for approaching this fast-growing area of mapping APIs, especially if you want to look beyond the Google maps API.

I have uploaded two more first drafts:

• Chapter 15: "Online calendars and Event Aggregators"
• Chapter 16: "Online storage"

They are a bit rough but I'd definitely value feedback from any valiant readers out there!