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SpotCrime Tells You Just How Dangerous Your Neighborhood Is

by Will Safer, posted May 26th 2008 at 9:02AMBreaking News

SpotCrime.com

Online maps are great for more than just plotting a trip or looking up addresses. The folks at Google make it relatively easy for programmers and even novice users to add all kinds of overlays to maps, detailing points of interest, favorite routes and even data points that show the locations of criminal acts.

This brings us to SpotCrime, a Web site that uses Google Maps to show where assaults, shootings, robberies, and other bad deeds have taken place. This is similar to a Brazilian Web site called WikiCrimes we wrote about last month. That site, however, lets users input their own information on alleged criminal acts. SpotCrime marks its map by taking information from police reports, so there's no user input. CrimeReports.com, which we wrote about in February, also maps criminal activity and actually gets paid by participating police departments to review their logs and upload the map stats.

Neither SpotCrime nor CrimeReports offers complete coverage of the United States -- just major cities. CrimeReports does have plans to continue expanding its roster of participating police departments.

While SpotCrime gets most of its information from police reports, it also monitors local news coverage of crime, so like the Brazilian site it goes beyond the official record to at least enhance its data.

Bad acts are represented by icons on the map, which are pretty easy to interpret: A small flame means arson, bull's-eye means a shooting, a dark ski mask (adorable?) means a robbery has taken place.

Do you live on the wrong side of the tracks or in a safe neighborhood? Take a look at SpotCrime. You may be surprised by what you find. [Source: TechCrunch.]
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WikiCrimes Maps Out High-Crime Areas

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 25th 2008 at 8:02AM

Mapping Crime with WikiCrimes

In the U.S. we're lucky to have a police force that's (generally) trusted and can be relied upon to do the right thing and do what they can to solve crime. In Brazil, unfortunately, there's much less faith in the quality and reliability of the nation's police. Because of this many crimes go un-reported. A new project created by a Brazilian Professor aims to correct that, letting people anonymously and quickly report crimes, pinpointing them on an online map for everyone in the world to see.

The site, WikiCrimes, works as a layer over-top of the popular Google Maps service. If you've been a victim, you can zoom in and pinpoint the location of the offense, then add details of what happened, including a date, type, description, and whether it was reported to the police. Others can then browse the site and filter the crimes based on location and a range of dates, perhaps determining whether their chosen vacation spot is really the best place to be.

The initial focus of the site is crime in Brazil, but there's nothing preventing you from posting crimes in any country around the world. In fact, we found a few crimes posted in the U.K., but as of yet nothing reported from the U.S. Somehow we don't think that's because of a lack of crime, so, get in there and report what's happened to you. Even if you do trust the police there's no reason not to share what happened to you with everyone else. It might just prevent another victim. [Source: BBC News]
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Microsoft Introduces "Clearflow" Live Traffic Routing Service

by Will Safer, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 1:02PM

Clearflow traffic information from Microsoft

Microsoft has announced a new tool for drivers to avoid traffic jams. The service, called "Clearflow", calculates how tie-ups affect backups on local city streets which could mean more accurate rerouting along busy routes. There's no word yet on how this could be integrated into personal portable navigation devices.

According to a report in the New York Times, Microsoft's new Clearflow is the result of a five-year project by the company's artificial intelligence team at Microsoft Research laboratories. Clearflow predicts how "complex traffic interactions ... occur as traffic backs up on freeways and spills over onto city streets" in 72 different urban areas.

This is one more way Microsoft is trying to catch up with Google's array of online services, which do include maps with projected traffic delays, but Google's and other Web sites' traffic information is mainly limited to highways and major interchanges.

Mobile device users will be able to look up current traffic information but its still unclear if the service will soon be integrated into live traffic routing on GPS devices.

Garmin, for example, already allows its device users to connect with traffic information service provided by MSN Direct. Garmin users with a compatible antenna receive MSN Direct information which allows drivers to "find the best route through traffic, check traffic flow and receive accident warnings." It also provides information on local gas prices, movie times and weather forecasts.

Clearflow is supposed to be launched today but cursory looks at traffic route information for New York City and Chicago didn't seem to show side street information or alternative routes.

From The New York Times.


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Disney Uses Nintendo DS as Interactive Guide to the Magic Kingdom

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 22nd 2008 at 2:10PM

Disney Uses Nintendo DS as Interactive Guide
Non-gaming uses for the Nintendo DS are starting to become more widespread. Initially, these alternative functions were made up of non-traditional gameplay, brain and face training and skin care. Then, Wii-nnovations morphed into services such as ordering food and showing replays at Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. Now, Disney is piloting a program to use the dual-screened device as an interactive map and guide to Walt Disney World.

The quite extensive application called 'Disney Magic Connection' features not just maps, but GPS for locating the nearest bathrooms, ATMs, and other amenities, as well as estimated wait times at rides and attractions, and, of course, games to help you kill time on those lines.

Currently, 'Disney Magic Connection' is only available preloaded on DS systems provided by Disney, but that may change when the program moves out of the testing phase.

From Engadget

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Lost? Get There By Text Message

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 19th 2007 at 1:02PM

Lost? Get There By Text Message

Being able to read a map is a skill that is quickly atrophying for us as a culture. Step by step directions are always just a mouse click, or a finger's touch away. Google Maps, MapQuest, GPS devices, and even mapping services for cell phones have made memorizing how to get places an optional part of the traveling experience.

For those of us without fancy GPS devices in our cars, however, cell phone versions of Google Maps, etc. are our only ways of getting where we need to go when away from the PC. But, tapping out addresses on even a smart phone or Blackberry's QWERTY keyboard is difficult and dangerous while driving. Enter the latest startup in the world of mobile content: Dial Directions -- turn-by-turn directions by text message.

Lost? Get There By Text MessageTo use Dial Directions, simply dial DIR-ECT-IONS (347-328-4667) with your phone. A robotic but nonetheless pleasant female voice asks you for the city and state of where you're heading, then asks for either the address, intersection, business chain or even event that you're trying to find. Finally, you're asked for your starting location. The service then sends you a text message with turn-by-turn directions from point A to point B, as provided by MapQuest.

The service is currently in beta testing in several metropolitan areas, including New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago. The service worked well enough in our testing, easily finding the nearest Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts and sending us directions almost instantly. When asking for directions to the former Northsix (now the Music Hall of Williamsburg) using the street address (66 n. 6th st.) the service even offered to cut out directions to the highway if you already know them, saving you a text message or two. Directions are sent in abbreviated form to make the most of the 160 character limit of text messages, i.e. L @ Havenwood for Left at Havenwood.

The service is certainly usable if a little rough around the edges. Addresses and business chains posed no problem for the system, but we were unable to find an event in New York City that Dial Directions recognized. As the event and business database is built up, the service is sure to improve. The best part of all, of course, is the price: free.

From The Wall Street Journal

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Mercedes Ties Google and Yahoo! Maps to In-Car Navigation

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 5th 2007 at 11:01AM

Mercedes Ties Google and Yahoo! Maps to In-Car Navigation

A GPS unit for your car is nothing new, but how about a GPS unit that connects to Google or Yahoo! Maps? Mercedes has just announced the launch of Search and Send, a system that allows you to send driving directions from a PC to your car using either Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps depending on personal preference. Friends and family can even be granted access to the system, allowing them to send you coordinates when you're already out on the road. Once in your Benzo, you download the directions directly to the in-car navigation system where you can either chart a route immediately or save the destination for a later trip.

The Search and Send service is free with a subscription to Mercedes Tele Aid, a roadside assistance system similar to GM's OnStar. The system is free for the first year with the purchase of select Mercedes cars. Initially it will only be available on the '07 S-Class, '07 CL-Class and '08 C-Class vehicles when outfitted with the Multimedia and Navigation package.

Though the Mercedes program is the first like it in the U.S., BMW offers German drivers a very similar experience with its Drive Assist program. Drive Assist, however, is limited only to business addresses, where Search and Send can plot any location.

From Engadget

[CORRECTION: It actually turns out that MapQuest and GM announced a similar service called OnStar Web Destination Entry in April which should come out sometime in 2008.]

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Site Maps Sex Offenders Based on Your Address

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 27th 2007 at 10:38AM



The Internet has, in many ways, made it more difficult for parents to keep their kids safe. Children have access to just about any sort of illicit content you can think of. That said, the Internet has also made it easier to keep track of kids, whether by monitoring what they do online, who they chat with, or -- in this case -- quickly and easily finding the location of sex offenders in your neighborhood. We earlier posted about the site Familywatchdog.us, which enables parents (or anyone else) to look for sex offenders near a certain address and even receive text alerts when offenders move into the area, all for free.

Now Vision 20/20 offers much the same service. This site is also free to use, but it seems to have a different, more shady purpose. Vision 20/20 is owned by ThinAir Wireless Corporation and is effectively an advertising tool for its GPS tracking systems. The company's main service lets you put a transmitter on a child or pet and keep an eye on his/her whereabouts.

We compared the two services' online offerings, and while Vision 20/20 has the prettier and more seamless site, Family Watchdog offers more information about the offenders, color-coded icons to indicate the type of offense committed, and an indication of offender workplaces. Schools are also shown on the map on Family Watchdog, which is key information if you're thinking about moving to a new district. However, 20/20 is easier to use, and Family Watchdog's pages are riddled with ad banners.

To be totally safe, we recommend hitting up both sites for information then signing up for text alerts from Family Watchdog to keep yourself up-to-date.

From TechCrunch

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