Google Maps

I found the exercise of mashing the Google Maps site with images from elsewhere on the web incredibly frustrating. The act is promoted as being simple and fast, however I think it is this exercise that has taken the most of my time and energy in order to get to a point where I am even half satisfied with the results.

Initially I had thought to incorporate some of my own images into the map. Therefore I gave way to my objections to revealing information about myself to Yahoo, and created a Flickr account and uploaded some images. Next step was to link to these images from the Google My Maps. Repeatedly I was left with an annoying little icon with a question mark inside it. Google Maps didn't give any explanation as to why my photograph linking didn't work. In disgust I gave up on Flickr thinking that Google was refusing to link information from a competing site. Therefore off I went and created a Picasa account and uploaded my images again. Whilst I was able to post my images to a Picasa map, the same annoying question mark icon kept on popping up every time I made the attempt to link to the Picasa site from Google Maps. Much study ensued over Creative Commons licensing, as I now began to figure that the default allowances on the Picasa and the Flickr accounts over reproduction were not allowing the linking of the image. Alas, no matter what setting I chose for my photo licenses Google Maps did not allow for any photograph linking. Of course I could hyperlink to the photo site via text, which would annoyingly go to precisely where I wanted, but no matter what I could do I could not link the image to the Google Maps marker so that it would appear.

Thus I gave up and began searching the web for generic images of my locations. Of course there were many and varied photographs available, so these have formed the basis of my Google Maps My Maps Mash Up.

I succeeded in the end in linking these images because I could get to the specific .jpeg file extension, which seems to be what the Google Maps Marker is requiring when you direct it to make a link to an image site. In every previous instance I was attempting to link a Flickr or Picasa website location for the photograph, which appears to be the reason why the Google Maps marker was not allowing the publication of my images to the My Maps mash up. This appears to be because each time I was attempting to source the URL location of my images I was actually logged in, so the Flickr and Picasa services were giving me the editor's URL for the image, rather than the passive view that is accessible via Google Images. I am sure that with some more persistance I will be able to work out how to access the web based .jpeg file extension for my images, however as I am now overdue to complete this component of the exercise and the wrap up of the assignment is now due pending the cut off, which is Monday of next week, I have left my voyage of discovery with this mash up page as is. Please see below for the embedded version of this very frustrating little mash up site. Note: Customising the embedded html is just as frustrating as actually using the service. Many attempts at resizing have been made before I have given up with my hands in the air.

Whilst I am not the most techno savvy IT proffessional, I have found this application annoying and frustrating beyond measure, and my MAC is very lucky to have not found itself developing wings and flying out of the window. Online help pages and related queries on Google Maps and Picasa have also both been singularly unhelpful in assisting me with my problems. 

It appears that site mashing is at a point where it has departed from the realm of the tech pioneers and is now entering the general consumer market. However it is not yet at a point where it is user friendly enough to be commonly accessible. As I stated I deal with computers and software every day both proffessionally and at home, however this exercise has been a significantly frustrating one.

Please see my attempt at Site Mashing using Google Maps. It shows our beloved Glenelg River Estuary on the South Australian/ Victorian coastal border and some of the many places that we have stayed there through the years. The photographs as harvested from various places throughout the web certainly do it the justice that it deserves. You will need to zoom out to see all of the place markers from Moleside Landing to the Estuarine River Mouth, as despite all of my attempts at customisation this annoying little initial view is all that Google Maps will give me.

View Lower Glenelg River Estuary in a larger map