It was this article in the Telegraph that got me thinking about the way in which I use Google Maps.
The article itself is actually about Google Earth – a programme that can be installed on a computer to view Google’s aerial photos of the World. I first came into contact with it a few years ago on a customer’s computer, but I have, as yet, never installed it on a computer of my own. Instead, I use Google Maps.
Now, I am aware that Google Earth offers more features, such as being able to tilt the map and get a sort of 3D representation of the area that I am viewing, but for my daily purposes the Maps version is sufficient.
So how do I use it? Well, the most obvious way is to look up addresses on the maps. Whenever I have a new address to go to (usually to visit a new customer) then I look it up on Google Maps. Knowing the area so well, that is usually sufficient for me to know where a particular street is. Otherwise, I can print off the map of the area around the street that I have to go to, and that will normally be enough.
But if I don’t know the area that I am going to at all, such as some areas of Frankfurt, then will often take a look at the aerial view to see what the roads there are like. For example, are there parking spaces near where I going to? It can also be helpful to zoom in the road markings to see if there are any “no left turn” type of junctions on my route.
However, there are many more features to Google Maps that I occasionally use. There is the ability to view photos that have been taken by other people at specific locations on the maps, so it is interesting to see pictures of places that I have visited, sometimes many years ago. Of course, I can also look at places that I hear or read about, but will probably never get the chance to visit, such as Tristan da Cuhna in the South Atlantic.
Recently Google have been adding their “Street View” feature to a number of places that I have been to, most recently I was able to look at areas of Madrid that I visited in April.
Finally, there is a more serious side to how I use Google Maps. Not only can I embed maps in blog posts to show where a particular place is that I have written about, but I can also place advertising on the map for the customers who’s websites I either create or optimise.
All in all, I may not be addicted to Google Maps as the Telegraph article suggested, but I certainly make good use of it.
Archives for November 2008
How I use Google Maps
New Look for Puerto del Carmen
by Nick Ball
Could Lanzarote’s oldest resort be about to become the Puerto Banus of the Canaries? It’s a bit of a stretch for anyone who has visited the island over the last few years, as Puerto del Carmen, still the most popular destination on Lanzarote, has been looking a little tired around the edges of late. Thanks to the impact of over thirty years of package tourism.
But now island authorities are pressing ahead with ambitions plans to “reinvent” tourism in Puerto del Carmen by taking the resort upmarket. A project which has profound implications for the both the future of tourism on the island and the Lanzarote property market.
Puerto del Carmen is the place where tourism first took root on Lanzarote. Growing dramatically over the last thirty years to transform a small fishing village called La Tiñosa into a bustling holiday destination. And now Puerto del Carmen is about to undergo a second metamorphosis – as island authorires start work on a project that is designed to maintain the resorts popularity as newer, fresher challengers enter the holiday market.
The central plank of this plan is the project to turn the Old Town Harbour area – currently home to a few old fishing boats and excursion vessels – into a luxury marina. A project inspired by the runaway success of the marina at nearby Puerto Calero – now the most upmarket destination on the island, where property prices command a premium.
Local tourist authorities hope that this new marina – which is already in construction and which should be completed by May 2009 – will have a similar halo effect in terms of attracting a more affluent tourist to the resort. Whilst also creating a more upmarket ambience.
This desire to improve the aesthetic feel of Puerto del Carmen also encompasses the current project to part pedestrianise the main beachfront strip, the Avenida de las Playas. Where tourists currently come a very poor second to two lanes of traffic. As well as the imposition of new uniform, shop fronts and fascias on the units lining the Avenida – which currently advertise themselves with a fairly garish kealdsicope of neon signage.
These multi million euro initiatives – in tandem with the opening of the new golf course on the outskirts of the resort next year – are expected to have a positive impact on both tourist numbers and property values over the years to come. Regardless of current concerns about the economic climate.
Neuartige Luftröhrentransplantation rettete das Leben einer jungen Frau
Focus-Online berichtet von einer Medizin-Sensation. Eine junge Frau in Spanien hatte starke Probleme mit der Atmung und war deshalb schon bei einigen Ärzten. Erst in der Uni-Klinik in Barcelona fand man die Ursache. Ihr linker Lungenflügel war infolge einer schweren Tuberkuloseinfektion kollabiert.
Die spanischen Ärzte bekamen Unterstützung einiger italienischer und britischer Kollegen, die von einem Mann, der an einem Schlaganfall starb, ein Stück Luftröhre entnahmen und in einem aufwendigen Prozess die Zellen vom Grundgerüst der Luftröhre entfernten. Britische Ärzte aus Bristol züchteten aus ihren Knochenmarksstammzellen Knorpelzellen und Mailänder Kollegen besiedelten die Luftröhre mit diesen Knorpelzellen. Es wurden aus einem gesunden Teil ihrer Luftröhre Epithelzellen entnommen die dann die Innenwände der ‘neuen’ Luftröhre auskleideten. In der Uni-Klinik Barcelona wurde dann dieser quasi neugestaltete Luftröhrenteil transplantiert.
Schon nach 10 Tagen konnte die junge Mutter nach Haue zu ihrer Familie. Und nach 30 Tagen hatte der neue Teil ihrer Luftröhre eine eigene Blutversorgung gebildet. Auch muss sie keine Medikamente einnehmen die die Immunabwehr unterdrücken. Sie hat wieder erheblich mehr Lebensqualität und kann sich nun um ihre Familie kümmern.
Ich finde dass, in dieser Richtung weiter geforscht werden muss, denn das kann noch vielen anderen Menschen das Leben retten. Auch in anderen Bereichen bzw. Organen.
