2 posts tagged “architecture”

Ever since Google officially started offering a way to create customized maps within both their 2D Maps program and 3D Earth one, I've of course wanted to make one; and as regular readers know, last weekend I went out and finally shot a whole mess of photos for my first one, a four-mile tour of the southern two-thirds of Chicago's Lincoln Park. I got on a tear tonight and just finished, and the results are so stunning that I simply had to write up a quick blog entry about it, and post some screenshots.

Here is the 2D Maps version you're seeing above, which is impressive enough (click on any of these thumbnails today to see the larger versions); as you can see, I can plot quite the detailed paths, could've added shapes as well if I had wanted, can change colors along the way, and can even embed photos and videos into placemarks. (You don't have to host your photos and videos at Google's Picasa and YouTube respectively; but it doesn't hurt, and both are free, just as the ability to make these customized maps are.)

Where things get truly jaw-dropping and science-fictiony, though, is with the 3D Earth file also generated in the process; imagine this customized map but now with the ability to spin it in real time in all directions, and to have the placemarks' titles virtually displayed on the map itself. Google Earth is freaky enough, as habitues of the software will attest; but now imagine being able to add your own hyper-customized path to it, too, that you can spin around at any angle and at any altitude you want in real time.

But of course it's even better than that -- just like with the 2D Maps version, clicking on the placemarks will bring up the description and photo or video I've embedded to it, no matter what the direction or zoom level you're at in the file itself. It...is...amazing, and I can't stop playing with it.

In fact, one of my fun activities has turned out to have very serious benefits; and that's when you manage to line up the path in Earth with the angle the placemarked photo was taken at as well. I realized, this cool new thing one can  do in Google Maps and Earth, it could also be a profound and powerful research tool for anyone planning a trip as well, whether that's a local bicycle one or an international tourist one. I can't get across what a mind-jarring thing this customized 3D Earth file is, putting it together yourself out of your own cellphone photos and videos, suddenly having this hyperreal virtual version at your fingertips, ready to share with the world.

But hey, don't take my word for it; try it out for yourself. Here is the link to the 2D Maps version, for those who would simply like to check it out online quickly right now; and once you're there, you can just click on the "KML" link in the upper-right corner to download the 3D Google Earth file. (Of course, you'll need Google Earth downloaded and running on your computer for it to work; but you already knew that.) If you've got any suggestions regarding future maps, send them along to ilikejason [at] gmail.com; I hope to make lots more of these maps over the course of this summer and fall. Coming next: a detailed look at Montrose Harbor in my neighborhood, another eight-mile (13 km) round trip, photos of which have already been taken.

So how am I feeling, a day after making an eight-mile bicycle trip (13 km), which was not only my first long trip of the year but also now officially the longest amount I've ever bicycled in my life? Eh, not so bad, actually, besides being a little stiff and a little sore; don't forget, though, that eight-mile trip actually took me two and a half hours altogether, and I made something like 20 stops to take photos for my eventual Google map on the subject. So, it's not like I was exactly pushing myself yesterday, so it's not exactly unexpected that I'm not too worn out; but still, given it was my first long ride of the year, and was done exactly nine days after having oral surgery, and that the thought of putting in an eight-mile day a year ago when I was a smoker would've been a joke, no matter how slowly I took things, I'm grateful frankly that I could manage yesterday's trip at all, much less come out of it not too sore. (Of course, I did sleep 11 hours as well last night, which should for honesty's sake be noted. I'm such a decrepid old man, I swear.)

Anyway, I'm hoping this is all good news, as far as my plans to slowly increase my maximum distance this summer -- for example, the 16-mile trip I'm planning for Memorial Day (from my place in Uptown to Jackson Park on the southside, as well as Washington Park and the Midway); or the 30-mile trip I'm hoping to tackle by the end of the summer, from my place to the Chicago Botanical Gardens in Glencoe, via the North Branch national forest trail (and then back home by train via Metra, because you must be high if you think I can take a 60-mile bike ride in one day at this point in my life).

By the way, didn't want to let my muscles get all tight and spasmy today, so ended up taking another ride, although not nearly as long today of course -- just down to Intelligentsia Coffeehouse, via the lakefront path getting there, then a straight shoot up Broadway on the way back (total distance 4.25 miles, or 7 km). Here's a shot, for example, from the busy Belmont underpass in Lakeview, where I also shot a video for my eventual Google map; for those who don't know, one of the most magical things about the Lakeview area of the lakefront is that it was originally developed during the Victorian Age, and contains all kinds of intricate structures from that era like these grandiose apartment buildings you're seeing, most of which miraculously survived the years that Lakeview was a slum neighborhood (roughly 1950s to '80s -- post-war white flight ruined the neighborhood, punk-era gentrification saved it). Anyway, my eventual map will be getting a lot more into Lincoln Park and Lakeview's tony Victorian roots, and how elements of that spill all the way up into my neighborhood (for example, the golf course and tennis courts found near Waveland, originally created because of both activities' sudden popularity in the early 1900s), for anyone who's interested in learning more.