Other FunAnd InformativeMashups

Many Google map mashups don't fall under any common category. Some of these miscellaneous mashups are entertaining, some are informationalbut they're all quite interesting.

• PackageMapper.com (www.packagemapper.com) One of the most useful mashups I've found; it maps FedEx, USPS, and DHL packages en route to their destinations, as shown in Figure 19.19

  Figure 19.19. Tracking packages via PackageMapper.com.

  

• GeoBirds (www.geobirds.com/yourlocal?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=local.html) For serious bird watchers, maps bird sightings around the country

• U.S. Presidential History (www.mibazaar.com/ushistory/) Marks the birthplaces of all U.S. presidents

• BeenMapped.com (www.beenmapped.com) Lets you create your own location bookmarks to help you remember places you've visited

• Platial (www.platial.com) Billed as "the people's atlas," lets you create customized maps where you can tell stories and show where events happened

• Where I Had My First Kiss (www.whereihadmyfirstkiss.com) as the name says, a map of places users had their first kiss

• HotorNot + Google Maps (hotmaps.frozenbear.com) Uses Google maps to find people from the HotorNot personals site by location, as shown in Figure 19.20

  Figure 19.20. Looking for dates in Indianapolis with HotorNot + Google Maps.

  

• Highest Elevation Points (www.geology.com/state-high-points.shtml) Maps the highest points in all 50 states

• Area 51 Satellite and Aerial Photos (gmaps.tommangan.us/groom_lake.html) Find out what's really going on at that top-secret government site

• Spacecraft Tracking (gmaps.tommangan.us/spacecraft_tracking.html) From the same guy who did the Area 51 mashup, this one goes into outer space to track the orbits of the Hubble space telescope and the International Space Station

• The Big One (www.ducklet.com/earthquake/) Uses map mashups to create a simulation of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire

• What Time Is It? (www.gchart.com) Click anywhere on this map to find the current time for any location in the world

• MapSexOffenders.com (www.mapsexoffenders.com) Zoom in to find the location of registered sex offenders across the U.S.

• Following the Dollars (www.cs.indiana.edu/%7Emarkane/i590/contributors.html) Maps political campaign contributions by area

• FutureCrisis Avian Flu Outbreak Map (www.futurecrisis.com/places/view.php) Find out where the latest bird flu cases have broken out