DotHomes real estate map mashup incorporates Google Maps and Street View

DotHomes is yet another real estate mashup, however, this app (which I wasn't familiar with) has really harnessed the potential of the Google Maps API. It also answers the question, "What is Google going to do with all that street view imagery gathered from residential areas"? The app is simple but VERY effective for those searching for real estate. Simply search an area of interest, then when a hit comes up you toggle and view detailed info on individual listings bu clicking the familiar Google map bubble icons - I think a custom icon (like a little house) would make the app look much more professional. But here's what gets cool, users can click the "street" view option and get a view of the property as if they were standing outside, heck, you can even "walk" down the street! USers can also upload video of a property directly to the service! What a fine job on this one. Finally, the search service enables users to search using a slightly different criteria than most real estate portals as users can enter a simple string like "Denver, Co 4 bedroom under $350K" - See http://www.dothomes.com

Jaiku moving to Google App Engine

This interesting update comes via the Jaiku blog... Today we’re taking off our welding goggles to announce Jaiku will be one of the first apps to run on the new Google App Engine. See also www.jaiku.com

Pennsylvania Couple Sues Sues Google For Showing House On Street View - are you worried?

Google's Street View imagery (you know, the cool high-res 360 degree data collected by vehicles using Immersive Media technology) is still causing trouble... no doubt as the company now starts driving through residential areas gathering imagery the problems and complaints will continue. Now a couple in Pennsylvania is suing the company for showing their home to the world. According to this article the couple feels their privacy has been invaded. I'm not sure if they realize that the imagery isn't constantly updated and they aren't on a webcam! I just recent;y noticed that my town has been driven by the company and street view is now available on my street... big deal though! I asked myself, what's the big deal, what would people want with the imagery any way? For someone shopping for real estate this is going to be huge - no doubt real estate mashups will drool over this new imagery. But what else will people use the data for? Apparently unknown to the couple, Google does provide a request form to have your imagery removed. The couple should go and check out Zillow.com as they use Microsoft's imagery to display high-res oliques of pretty much any neighborhood... perhaps their lawyer should contact them as well! What about you? Are you concerned about having your house available to the world to see via street view?

nautical charts overlaid on Google maps

This is cool from NOAA... view raster nautical charts overlaid on Google maps... nice! See http://demo.geogarage.com/noaa/