GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 21

The last day of this phase of the project is to make sure all of the businesses are in the right place.  I can tell you from walking the area yesterday that my map is more exact than where Google Maps list some of the businesses.  Most notably is Best Buy, if you were to follow Google Maps to Best Buy, then you would end up two blocks or more past where you need to be.   So I am very satisfied with my map and how accurate the markers are.  The next part of the project involves getting the exact addresses and adding them to the description boxes just below the web addresses.

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 20

Just got home from doing today's work on the project.  What I did today was I went to the places on the map and walked the area.  I was able to walk the area within a two hour period.  The only snag I ran into was getting from the area with Best Buy and Lens Crafters to the area with the other stores.  The road that you have to cross is six lanes total, and it is the busiest street in the city.  I'm not going to change the map on that account, but I would recommend that anyone using the map just drive from the one side of the street to the other.

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 19

Today I will be finalizing the icons and colors of the markers on the map.  I found that all of the markers are to my liking so I will leave them be.  Also the marker color coordinations are set up the way I want them to be.  Now that the map is finished with all of the points of interested being added, it is almost time to move to the next phase.  Tomorrow I will be walking the area to see if it can be done.  Then I will make any changes based on that experience, then after that the next phase will start.

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 18

As I transition to the next phase of the project, I must make sure that everything done so far is correct and to add anything I feel the map needs.  As of right now, I feel that the map is fine the way it is in terms of the amount of places on the map.  I feel that with this number of places it is easy to visit all of the places in one day, by walking.  Tomorrow I will add any new icons or icon colors I feel the map may need, then I will walk the area on Sunday to be sure it can be done.

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 17

For the last day in this phase of the project I will be adding the last web link for the Shops at College Hills complex.  Most of the businesses I listed are in this area, but there are many more that I did not list, as I am trying to keep the map simple for the sake of the project.  If I find that the map is lacking later in the project, then I will add more places as I see fit.  I did the copy and paste feature, and moved the marker to the main enterance, click the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 16

The second to last website to be added to the map is Cold Stone Creamery.  I used the same copy and paste method as before.  One more website and the project moves to the next phase.  I have to admit while viewing the website I got extremely hungry and had a huge craving for ice cream.  Click the map below to enlarge:

There seems to be a problem with the upload feature, I will add the map at a later time

Here is the map all seems to be working now

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 15

Continuing with adding links to my markers, I added lens crafters website today.  I used he method of copying and pasting the web address as I did yesterday.  Again this is the easiest way to do this and guarantees the correct web address is used.  Just one more day and the project moves into the next phase, which makes me ahead of schedule.  Click on the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 14

Today I am going to add the website link for Flat Top Grill.  This time I went to the website, copied the address from the address bar and pasted it to the description box.  With the description box set to rich text, the link is added without any further work needed.  This seems to be the easiest and fastest way to accomplish linking websites.  Just a few more and the next phase of the project can start.  Click on the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 13

I am going to add another website to the map, and I will continue to do this until all of the locations have their websites in the description box.  Today I am going to add Verizon's website, however, I found both the Verizon Mobile website and the local Verizon store website.  The local website lists all of the stores in the Central Illinois area.  I find it helpful to me and the people who would use the map, but if someone wanted the Verizon home page, they would be disappointed, so I added it as well.  Click on the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 12

Today I will add another link to a business on the map.  Best Buy is a great store that I enjoy going to while I'm in the city.  I have found that the first way I described putting a link to the description box doesn't always work.  I used the method described yesterday to add the link to Best Buy's website, and it worked just fine.  Click on the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 11

Continuing the work form from yesterday, I will add another link for another business.  Today I will add the link to the Logan's Roadhouse website.  I click on the icon to edit it, and add the website address.  Another way to add a link from the way I described yesterday is after you add the web address to the description box, highlight it, then click the add link icon and enter the address again in the pop-up window.  Click the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 10

Now that all of the points of interest are on the map, I though I would move on to the next stage of the project, adding links to the businesses websites.  Today, I decided to start with Target, so I clicked the marker to edit it so I could add the website to the description.  I thought that this would be more difficult than it was.  I simply had to type in the website into the description box, then set the text to Rich, hit enter, and the text appears as a link that you can click on.  The more I use Google maps, the more I appreciate the ease of use that it was designed around.  Click on the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 9

Today I will be adding the final destination to the map, as this will give me plenty of time to add pictures, descriptions, and links to the businesses websites throughout the remainder of the project.  So the last point of interest is the Verizon Store.  This is the place where I purchase my Windows phone, the staff was very helpful, and the store has a great selection of phones and accessories.  As this project is about emerging technologies, I thought it would be appropriate to include where to get the biggest emerging technology; smartphones.  It is right around the corner from Flat Top Grill and is within walking distance of all other stores.  It is to be noted that all of the pictures to be uploaded to the map will be taken with my Windows phone.  Click the map to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 8

Since most people won't walk this map until it gets warmer out, I thought I would add a business that provides a cool treat, Cold Stone Creamery.  It does seem a little weird that they didn't spread the restaurants out a little more, they are too close together.  Anyway, Cold Stone has a great variety of ice cream and it is a fun atmosphere.  I know that it is very busy during the summer so expect a line.  I added a red icon marker at Cold Stone Creamery's location.  Click the map below to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 7

Another day, another location.  Today I think we will back off of the normal shopping and add a location that is more of a necessity for some people, Lens Crafters.  I have been going there to get glasses since I was in grade school.  Its in a nice location and even has there own eye doctor on site.  This is over by the plaza that contains Best Buy, which is a great place to go while you wait for your glasses to get made.  Since this doesn't fall into either category, I placed a yellow marker in its location, click to enlarge the map below:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 6

Now that we have some shopping set up, lets add another restaurant in case you get hungry while out and about.  One of my fiance's favorite places to eat is the Flat Top Grill, which happens to be within walking distance from Target.  This whole area is easy to navigate, but with so many stores, you may overlook a lot of great places.  This was the case with Flat Top Grill, we had no idea it was there until recently and we love it.  So I just place a red marker in the location of the restaurant and it is added to the map.  You know the drill, just click to enlarge the map below:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 5

So now that I have put some of the stores in the right places, I can now move on with adding more places to the map.  A large part of the shopping complex is the Target store.  The best part of this area is that everything is within walking distance of each other.  I find that this is the one stop shop area of the city.  Target is nice to have if Best Buy doesn't have what you need.  I also decided to keep all store icons green and all restaurant icons red.  Here is the map with Target added, just click to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 4

I was going to fix another location today, but I noticed that the map is kind of generic with just the blue push pins populating it.  I decided that it was time to change the color of my current push pins, which wasn't hard at all.  What I did was I clicked on the icon and when the information popped up, I click on another icon that looks just like the push pin and I can now change the icon colors or the icon itself.  For now I will just change the colors and I will color code everything later in the project to give the map a more uniform feel.  This will help me and the person using the map a whole lot more.  Here is the map with the colors changed, just click to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 3

My original plan was to add places of interest to a map so that people have an idea of the shopping that is available in the Bloominton-Normal area in Illinois.  Now that I see there are many places that are not where they are supposed to be, I will spend part of the project listing where the actual locations are.  Today it will be Best Buy, as it is way off on the map.  I would say it is at least a block or two away from its actual location.  It is an easy fix, I will just place my pushpin at the real location.  When I go back and add pictures to the map I will also list the addresses for all of the stores.  Here is the map after today's correction, just click to enlarge:

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 2

Now that I have the general area of the map laid out it is time to start placing areas of interest.  I plan to point out several stores that are in walking distance of the starting point.  As I progress, I will add pictures and descriptions to the push pins, detailing how I went about doing it as it happens.  For today, I will add my first point.  I noticed some discrepancies with the actual locations of some of the places that I want to put on my map.  So what I did was I placed my marker on the spot that I wanted to add to my map and put in the description that this was the actual location of the point of interest.  Today's point of interest is my favorite restaurant in the Bloomington-Normal area, Logan's Road House.  I will be adding a link to the restaurant's website on my map later in the project.  Here is a screenshot of the map in satellite view, if you click to enlarge it, you will notice the actual location is further down the road from where it is listed.

GSP 475 Google Maps Project-Day 1

Today I started my google maps project for my GSP 475 class.  The first thing I had to do was either sign in with a gmail account or sign up for one.  Since I already had an account I was able to move on to the next step.  I clicked on my places and it gave me the option to create a new map.  After clicking create, it asked me to name the map and set the area.  Now that the map is set I can start to add the points of interest to it, adding a starting point so that the map has an area of focus.  With no previous experience with google maps, it only took me 10 minutes tops to get my map up and going.  The map is set to unlisted so here is the web address for it, maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
208818397110683187045.0004b58fa805f69252ab6

3D TVs Not Woth My Money

I am an avid gamer, so I try to get the best TV that I can afford.  I currently have a 42 inch LED TV that has 1080p resolution, but only a 60hz refresh rate.  As I come to the end of my college days, I am looking to upgrade to a better TV.  Every electronics store that I have walked into, the sales person always takes me to the 3D section first.  They tell me that the 3D is great for gaming and watching sports events.  So I put on the glasses, and 2 minutes later my eyes hurt. This may be due to the fact that I wear actual glasses and the people who designed the 3D glasses never thought about the visually impaired.  Now, if I want to play my games in 3D, not only do I need a 3D TV, but the game must support 3D graphics as well.  I tested out the 3D gaming with the setup the store had involving a PS3.  I wasn't impressed as I thought I would be, and I really prefer gaming without the gimmick.  Also, I like watching football, and the had football on to demonstrate the 3D as well.  Again, not impressed, just gave me a headache.  With the price tags far exceeding what I want to pay, I made the conclusion that 3D TVs are not worth my money.  I think I would be much happier with a nice LED TV, maybe after taxes.

Zune Software: Microsofts answer to iTunes

As I progress through these blogs, you will find that I have not the income, nor the need for social status to own Apple products.  This has led me to search out alternatives to the main stream products.  So instead of an iPod, I purchased a Zune instead.  Even though Microsoft has ceased production on the players, the software still exists for the Xbox 360 and the Windows smartphones.  I would like to think that getting all my devices so that they integrate with each other was part of a master plan, but it was more like I purchased the devices and the became integrated over time.  When I started using the Zune service, it was not integrated with the Xbox 360.  Now that it is, everything feels like it was made for each other.  I can take the movies I rent or purchase on the Xbox and put them on my Zune player or Windows phone and take them on the go.  The best part of the Zune service is you can pay a $15 a month subscription fee and have unlimited downloads, the only draw back being that if you cancel the service, you lose the songs that you didn't purchase.  I have used the Zune service for 4 years now and I don't miss iTunes at all.  In fact, I think I enjoy not having to ride the bandwagon like everyone else.

Windows Phone 7: Underated Smartphone

In a world dominated by iPhones and Android phones, often the Windows phone is overlooked, or ignored completely.  Over the summer, my contract was up with AT&T, feeling dissatisfied with their service, I decided to switch to a new carrier.  Since I had to get a new phone and plan, I decided to look at smartphones.  I asked friends and they recommended the iPhone.  So I set out to do some research and found some articles on the Windows phones.  Not only did the phones have a great look and easy to use interface, but a huge software update was coming out soon.  Most reviews of the update said that it put it on par with the current smartphone market.  What sealed the deal for me was that Windows phones have seamless integration with the Xbox 360 and the Zune software, both of which I have subscriptions to, so it made perfect sense to go for a Windows smartphone.  I picked the HTC Trophy and I have not had one complaint in the six months that I have owned it.  If your are looking at getting a smartphone, take a second look at the Windows phone, the underdog might just surprise you.