RFM (Request for Mashup)

Thursday, April 20, 2006 (23:30 UTC)

I tried out Google Calendar a few days ago. I switched immediately and I haven't looked back. It really is that clever. Now there's a Google Data API as well. I noticed these Google data "elements" in the developer's guide:

gd:geoPt - "A geographical location (latitude, longitude, elevation)."

gd:where - "A place (such as an event location) associated with the containing entity."

gd:postalAddress - "A postal address."

Elsewhere, coders are told, "Locations that work as Google Maps queries are recommended."

Clearly, Google calendar and Maps/Earth are dying to be mashed.

If I didn't have a day job and a night blog to attend to, I might have given the following project a go myself; instead, I'll throw it out there as a request to the GIS coding community. What I'd love is:

A network link that maps any iCal/RSS/Atom calendar feed onto Google Earth by location. And while we're at it, if in the US, why not also show me the shortest route between successive events? And if I block off a week and label it "Berlin", how about offering the ability to automatically search for cheap flights on the first and last days of my holiday? In fact, how about a calendar you can subscribe to that automagically suggests holidays given criteria like maximum cost, length of stay and flexibility? Import a suggestion into your own calendar to order. All this should be possible with the GData API.

Pardon my vacation fantasy just now. I realize those last bits aren't strictly GIS-related:-)

Permalink | Del.icio.us | Connotea

Comments

There's one coming - GoogleCalendar is a moving target right now. And also, there is no way to set advanced locations from the GCal interface, just a phrase string.

I will make sure and post up when the Mashup is ready. Probably about a week.

Posted by: Andrew at 14:18 UTC, April 21, 2006

Excellent. Looking forward to it.

Posted by: Stefan at 16:50 UTC, April 21, 2006

Post a comment





Remember Me?


(you may use HTML tags for style, and also <a>)

Note: After your comment has been submitted, you may need to reload the page before it becomes visible.

Search Ogle Earth:
Ogle Earth brings you news about virtual globes, with a special focus on Google Earth. By Stefan Geens. Email me.
Get updates via email:

Ogle Earth: Recent posts

Archives