We recently discovered a few map mashups, Flash Earth and Map Compare, which allow you to compare a variety of mapping APIs (Application Programming Interface). The first, Flash Earth, as its’ name implies uses Adobe Flash to pull in aerial and satellite imagery from Google Maps, Virtual Earth, Yahoo! Maps, Ask.com, OpenLayers, and NASA Terra. This zoomable mashup allows you to directly compare the different map services within their aerial or satellite mode. It was really interesting to see the different imagery that each service provided. Often times, if your zoomed in far enough you’ll find missing data from one service or imagery that varies by season, color, and quality. I’ve never experienced this type of comparision through any other mashup. Most of them tend to focus on street level mapping where the only thing that seems to change is the pixel width of the streets. An amazing feature found in Flash Earth is the ability to rotate the entire map in any direction using the navigational compass. You can also zoom using your keyboard or mouse wheel and it provides the ability to search a location with a street address or through latitude and longitude. Another little trick on Flash Earth is the ability to create a permanent link to your map location. This has typically been problematic when developing these types of applications in Flash.

To create this mashup the creator, Paul Neave, used “unofficial techniques” to pull in the imagery. In doing so he was able to gain better control over the service. The navigation is quite smooth because the zoomable interface was developed using Flash. Ajax mashups typically have to refresh when you zoom because image tiles need to be swapped out. When I asked Paul about how he worked around the API, he mentioned he pulled the “map images (tiles) directly by accessing their URL rather than using the JavaScript API.â€? He continued, “The API doesn’t allow you to do this, you must use their interface and layout to access the imagery. Once the files are downloaded, they’re stored in your browser’s cache similarly to the Ajax version.â€? In this instance the advantages over Ajax are apparent in the ability to more easily modify the imagery and enhance the interaction to make a more cohesive user experience.

On the other side, Map Compare displays three maps together using Ajax. It combines Virtual Earth, Google Maps, and Yahoo! Maps. It allows you to compare all three simultaneously. One of the more interesting observations between the three was the lack of mouse wheel support for Google Maps. Virtual Earth was the only one that attempts to smooth the zoom level transition by adding an effect (similar to Flash Earth). It didn’t seem to work properly and added even more of a distraction than the image reloading delay. However, Virtual Earth did offer an interesting “Bird’s eyeâ€? view, a nearly isometric view into major cities. You can then rotate your camera perspective into the four cardinal directions within this view.

In addition to this mashup, I was able to find a more technical comparison by James Church who looks at the Yahoo! and Google Map APIs side-by-side. If your looking for even more examples, you can visit Google Maps Mania. For more unusual sightings you might want to take the guided tour at Google Sightseeing. With nearly half of all mashups using some variety of mapping software we were happy to find some ways to compare these services.

Today is Election Day in the U.S. and we are once again reminded that voting is a right. (It is not a privilege as our highest elected official stated just this morning.) Over the last week or so we’ve come across some interesting sites worth sharing.

First, if you need to know where to vote go to Vote411.org. For an interesting experience in viewing the results, there is an election mashup that combines Google Earth and Google Maps (CNET has the story). It is available with the Google Earth pack. Unfortunately, it is a Windows only add on. For all platforms, the New York Times has an interesting Flash-based interactive Election Guide and Map as does the Washington Post.

To gain some historical insight and to see an interesting Web 2.0 application, take a look at the US Presidential Speeches Tag Cloud. Use the slider to see the top “keywords” in speeches over the last 200+ years. Finally, for a reminder about what today is all about, check out the Interactive Constitution at the National Constitution Center.

The Google Maps mashup we developed for the City of Torrance, “Where to Recycle,” is featured today on Google Maps Mania. (The permanent link is here.) This blog is the “unofficial” authority on everything Google Maps. The review briefly explains how our mashup works and ends with a very positive statement, “In my view, this kind of mashup should be present in every city website!”

We’d like to see that happen, too. As I mentioned before, the key motivation for developing the site was to make recycling easy and to make it happen more often. The goal was to help visitors to find out where they can recycle a product in the fewest number of steps and then guide them to the location.

I think most people know recycling is the right thing to do, but it needs to be more convenient. Our hope is that “Where to Recycle” does just that.

Over the last two months, we’ve been working on our first Google Map Mashup using the Google Maps API. Our client has given us permission to release the site to solicit feedback. The application is (of course) in “Beta.”

Where to Recycle in Torrance, California allows city residents to easily find recycling centers based on the items they wish to recycle. The concept is simple: the easier it is to recycle, the more recycling will happen.

We conducted a card sort and worked with the City to try to come up with logical categories for items. In addition, we added a “Find As You Type” search function.

An extensive administrative back-end allows the City to easily update locations and items (see image below). We’ve made extensive use of Ajax for both the front- and back-end of the application, making tasks simpler and improving usablity.

Where to Recycle will be part of a larger web presence focusing on recycling in the city, to be released in the Fall. In the meantime, please feel free to try out Where to Recycle, we’d appreciate any comments you might have.