j’s blog

Yahoo! News - Google Feature Incorporates Satellite Maps

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Online search engine leader Google has unveiled a new feature that will enable its users to zoom in on homes and businesses using satellite images, an advance that may raise privacy concerns as well as intensify the competitive pressures on its rivals.

The satellite technology, which Google began offering late Monday at http://maps.google.com, is part of the package that the Mountain View-based company acquired when it bought digital map maker Keyhole Corp. for an undisclosed amount nearly six months ago.

This marks the first time since the deal closed that Google has offered free access to Keyhole’s high-tech maps through its search engine. Users previously had to pay $29.95 to download a version of Keyhole’s basic software package.

A more traditional map will continue to be the first choice served up by Google’s search engine. Users will have the option of retrieving a satellite picture by clicking on a button.

The satellite maps could unnerve some people, even as the technology impresses others. That’s because the Keyhole technology is designed to provide close-up perspective of specific addresses.

Keyhole’s previous government ties also have raised anxieties.

Founded in 2001, Keyhole raised some money in 2003 from In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm backed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Leading up to the Google sale, Keyhole’s roughly 10,000 customers included a cross-section of government agencies.

There is little reason for people to be paranoid about the satellite maps because the images generally are six to 12 months old, said John Hanke, Keyhole’s general manager. “And it’s not like you are going to be able to read a license plate on a car or see what an individual was doing when a particular image was taken,” he said.

Google believes most people will like the convenience of generating a satellite image with a few clicks of a computer mouse. The company envisions people using the service as a way to scout a hotel’s proximity to the beach for a possible vacation or size up the neighborhood where an apartment is for rent.

Google’s free satellite maps initially will be limited to North America, with images covering roughly half the United States, Hanke said.

Although Google is offering the satellite maps on a test basis, the feature will probably force its other online rivals to upgrade their technology, predicted search industry analyst Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group. “To play in this space, you are going to need some robust mapping capabilities.”

Sterling said Google’s satellite maps pose the biggest threat to Mapquest, a service owned by Time Warner Corp. that has long operated the most popular Web site for finding directions.

The satellite maps also up the ante for the many challengers chipping away at Google’s share of the lucrative Internet search engine market by adding more bells and whistles. For instance, Amazon.com Inc.’s A9 search engine earlier this year introduced a feature that includes an index containing 20 million street-level photographs of building exteriors in 10 major U.S. cities.
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On the Net:

http://maps.google.com

I use this service to make refill requests and it actually works, with my Doctor anyway, don’t know about anyone elses. I fill out the refill request online and its faxed to my Doctor’s office. Pretty handy if you don’t have fax capability. If they have any questions on the request they call me. Very few Doctors have or allow email requests, unfortunately, so if you can’t get through on the phone or don’t want to call, fax is the next best thing.

MDhub.com Revolutionizing the Way Doctors and Patients Communicate. MDhub allows patients to send fax messages to their doctor, using the Little Blue Book Physician database directory, by entering your doc phone number.

Contacting Your Doctor Has Never Been Easier!
Reaching your doctor by phone these days can be an enormous challenge: busy signals, music on hold, press 1 for press 2 for…, telephone tag and even having your personal calls overheard by co-workers. Finally there’s an alternative to using the phone.

MDhub is a FREE service of THE LITTLE BLUE BOOK. There’s no setup, registration or fee. Every medical practice has an MDhub Internet MessageCenter already up and running for NON-URGENT requests. Use your doctor’s MDhub Internet MessageCenter instead of the phone for requesting or canceling appointments, renewing prescriptions, requesting test results and referrals, etc. Since most doctors don’t use the Internet, your message will automatically be sent to his or her FAX machine.

If you’re seeing a doctor for the first time, you can even fill out the paperwork before your visit. That way your new chart will be ready when you arrive.

How Does It Work?
All you have to do is enter your doctor’s name or phone number in one of the text boxes above and you’re on your way. It’s that easy to send your doctor’s office a message that will automatically pop up on the office fax machine.

Trip Gas Price

Calculate The Estimated Fuel Cost Of Your Trip

Using current gasoline prices from AAA’s daily, online Fuel Gauge Report, as well as the latest highway fuel economy ratings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator estimates the amount and cost of gasoline needed to complete a vacation trip. Although the total number of miles driven and prices paid for gasoline during your trip may vary from the estimates provided, the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator is intended to help you determine the cost of fuel needed to complete a vacation drive.

Wikipedia Plus Dynamic Search Term Suggestions = WikiWax

Wikipedia Plus Dynamic Search Term Suggestions = WikiWax

Surfwax has just launched its LookAhead search term suggestion technology combined with Wikipedia into a new site calledWikiWax. Over 600,000 Wikipedia index terms are listed with more than 2,000,000 LookAhead rotations available. Remember, you’ll see LookAhead offering suggested entries prior to clicking the search button.

What’s a term rotation?

LookAhead automatically rotates Wikipedia index terms, so you can find Abraham Lincoln under both Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln, Abraham. LookAhead automatically inserts a comma after the first word on topics that are rotated, e.g., Abraham, Lincoln.

Another example. A term rotation could also help find the entry for the Boston Tea Party. Of course, it would be found if the searcher enters Boston Tea Party. However, term rotation will also point out the entry if the searcher begins their search by first typing the words “tea party.”

By the way, after clicking the search button, you’re taken directly to the article on the Wikipedia.org site.

Also, should you find LookAhead oddly familiar to Google Suggest, be aware that Surfwas was actually offering this technology months before Google Suggest, combined with with their news search engine. I blogged about LookAhead and something similar from AOL in this January post.

Posted by Gary Price on Mar. 21, 2005

Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

Nextaris Overview and Learning Center
Purpose of Nextaris [Top]
In simple terms the purpose of Nextaris is to save you time, make your online life easier, and open new vistas for your use of information on the Internet. In other words, to take you beyond search — to function as your personal Internet information toolkit — to help you search the Web, save what you find, share what you find, create journals (blogs), comment on what you find and have saved, and to optionally publish the information you have gathered — a one-stop process; seamless, simple — taking you to the "other side of search".

Studies show that over 80% of Internet users rely on search to find information. Most use major search engines such as Google, while more sophisticated users rely on specialized engines for searching specific content such as blogs, news, and databases. As a result, the major search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves) are moving to incorporate additional features such as personalization and localization into their search capabilities. But these major engines have yet to address what users actually do with search results.

Enter Nextaris — achieving the next level (terrace) in efficient use of information on the Internet.