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We can Populate Google Maps and earth – if they’ll let us
20Mar2008 Filed under: Business, Global, world view Author: alkagsI have the privilege of running Google Maps on my Blackberry and I was interested to see how we can put destinations on the map for our reference. I tried doing it online and realised that for Kenya they dont allow it.
If they had the facility to allow us to label the places on the map, we would make it such a powerful resource because we would label places on GPS markers and as they update roadmaps and such, it would be easy to have well populated content.
My experience so far is that Online, Kenyans cannot label Nairobi. On Blackberry, you can label your favorite spots – 10 I think but I don’t think Google takes that data into a central database. I wonder in this era of social networks, isn’t it possible to have people tell you where what is, based on where they go and spend time. Also, if they got permission from me, I could let them track my movements of GPS (it shows as you move around on Blackberry) so they can see where there are roads for future updates… I would update the roads and landmarks on it and I doubt i’m alone. It is afterall great fun.
Google guys: allow us to update places and we will.
- Tags: Africa, content, Content Development, Google Maps, Kenya
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About Al Kags
Al Kags is a poet and writer based in Nairobi Kenya. He is the Author of the Book - Living Memories (http://living.alkags.com), a collection of true stories narrated to him by ordinary people who lived in the extraordinary times of the 1950s.
As a poet, Al Kags has published the Quarterly Colour Series of Poetry, a series of ebooks since 2009, which have been read by over 1,000,000 people around the world and which are contributed to by people from all over the world.
For his day job, Al Kags is an acclaimed Marketer and project Manager.
ssembonge
March 20th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Google maps positionining is only useful if you are lost in a desert or jungle. Right now, its approximating my position by 3000 metres.
Ssembonge
March 20th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Google maps positioning is only useful if you are lost in the desert or jungle. It basically approximates your postion, which could be off by upto 5 km.
Right now, it’s giving me my approximate position by 3000 metres
surambaya
March 21st, 2008 at 4:56 am
On the contrary. Google allows you to populate the Nairobi map as long as you receive an invitation to do so from someone that’s already doing it and the invitation is approved by Google.
Quite a few of us are already doing it already.
mweusi
March 21st, 2008 at 5:52 am
Today I am here to introduce To you http://www.babawatoto.com/ as a reliable means to send your people goods in nairobi
http://www.babawatoto.com/
hey alkags…. got to post it here…!!
babawatoto is a kenyan online portal that enables kenyans abroad or in kenya to send a variety of practical and items to your relatives and friends in jamhuri. Babawatoto was founded out of a need to help East Africans in the Diasporas stay in touch with and or economically empower family, friends, and business associates back home by sending them resources they need!
nova_cane
March 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am
This ain’t wikipedia…otherwise woulda been ”GoogWikiMaps edit me all you can” r sumthing…lol. ate thet google invitation crap. L8r.
Rico
March 31st, 2008 at 8:57 am
Hi Guys,I downloaded the google-maps java application and installed it on my Nokia N72 and it worked but the ‘Locate me’ function was disabled. I read somewhere that, that particular service is only available in the States & Europe. Another thing I have to say is that it’s a pretty data-intensive application. They even recommend that you be on an unlimited data plan(nothing like my Safaricom pre-paid GPRS connection)It was kulaing my credo voraciously. It was also really slow(due to Safcom I guess). But that said,I still had fun with it.I was so jazzed when I was able to see our house from space. I zoomed in on our roof & could see our compound. That was so gratifying,I felt like a bona fide secret agent. But I don’t think the satellite images for Kenya are updated regularly coz new buildings that have been erected in our area over the past two years were not visible. Locally,Google maps has great potential to become an indispensable travel companion or just a fun pass-time but only if mobile-phone internet connectivity becomes much faster & cheaper.And off course, after our local maps get populated enough to actually be useful.Laterz
Google Earth » We can Populate Google Maps and earth - if they’ll let us
April 4th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
[...] alkags wrote an interesting post today on We can Populate Google Maps and earth – if theyâ??ll let usHere’s a quick excerptI have the privilege of running Google Maps on my Blackberry and I was interested to see how we can put destinations on the map for our reference. I tried doing it online and realised that for Kenya they dont allow it. … [...]