Blackberry and Google Mymaps

[whynot]

This may not be the right place to post, but I think it most closely relates to GPS mapping, so here goes...

I hunt a lot of tot lots in Florida because they are proven finding grounds... That said, I wondered how I could best utilize the Google Maps application on my blackberry to find ALL the parks...

I started by going to county and city web sites which listed all the parks. Some sites were nice enough to actually list which ones had playground equipment. Some parks actually had photographs which really helped out, especially to wean out the lots with rubber padding... They frown on you digging through that

After I made my list of park names and addresses (comma separated), I went to a web site which geo-coded them into GPS locations and eventually into .kml format. One such free site is www.gpsvisualizer.com.
The .kml format is an XML-type file format which Google maps can understand (you can also chose to use .kmz which is just a compressed version of the same).

Now I had a real map, with pin-points for each site (there were over 100 parks pin-pointed in my immediate area). I saved the map to my computer (.kml file).

Then I went into google/mymaps and created a new map and used the import feature to cut and paste the contents of my .kml file into the map. Voila! My very own treasure map.

Additionally, there is another way of setting up a link to your map... The instructions are here: http://groups.google.com/group/mymapsmobile
Basically, you can put your map here and utilize the short URL to host your map.

Either way works for me....

Now for the sticky part... You MUST upload the LATEST version of the Google Maps Application on your Blackberry, as of this posting, that is version 3.2.1.

Now you have access to your map on your Blackberry. Please note, an unlimited data plan is probably warranted as maps can be quite data intensive. Additionally, the Gooble Maps application also lets you see a satellite view which you can zoom in/out.

This opens a lot of opportunities for navigation as well... Once I am at a site, I can get turn-by-turn directions to the next pin-point I select... Pretty cool...

This will work for any address list and certainly works better than the "search" feature provided by Google Maps Mobile...

Hope this helps!
HH
-whynot

[Nevada Coyote]

I have a friend that used his cell phone to find my house, he got lost. I drew him a map with a pencil and a piece of paper, he found my house without any trouble after that.
This is just a snicker and a giggle. Some cell phone gps devices work good, some don't.
Nevada Coyote

[TerryC]

NICE! Whynot! A very good way to use today's technology. I have another suggestion... Keep a GPS in the car. Go on "site" seeing trips. As you find potential sites, hit the "mark" function. At the house, match the sites to google aerial views. Then pick the ones you've made from the list and DIG. One of my favorite kind of site is the ones where they scrape the topsoil away. That gives you an instant 5-7 inch headstart! Good luck, TTC