First off, I had several questions this week asking what happened to my old picture in the Daily News-Record. If you have read the column in the DNR in the past, you know what I mean…the picture of me with the keyboard in my hand and wired mouse hanging around my neck.
At that time (2002) those items were appropriate. However, today in 2020 things have changed, including my face. Not many people are using wired mice or keyboards, for that matter and my face has changed a bit, too. So, I thought it was time for an upgrade. Who knows, in another 18 – 20 years maybe you will get another current picture of me.
Today I am going to share an overview of a new Google product which I only recently discovered. It is called “MyMaps,” not to be confused with regular Google Maps. Again, this is an overview describing portions of MyMaps. In my opinion this is an amazing addition to the Google Family; hopefully, one that remains.
Most of us know how Google Maps work. You can visit google.com/maps. Look around the surrounding area. Find any address, business, or places you may be searching for. Print the map to take with you or just use your phone to be guided there. You may also choose to zoom in on the map or drag the little golden man into the streets and “walk” around town.
MyMaps is used for a different purpose. At google.com/mymaps you may create your own, personal, or shared maps and save them for different reasons.
You may build your own maps here, save them for later or share them with others. I have started two maps to learn, experiment with and to use for my family and myself.
The first is a map of all the homes we have lived in over the years, from our birthplaces to where we live in Harrisonburg today. Now some of you may have only lived in one or two homes but we have moved many times over the years. An interesting thing is that if the home is still there you can also see it as it is currently. You may check my first “MyMap” here, dblclx.com/MyMaps (click on the link or the picture below to interact with my map). It is not finished but when done I will only be sharing it with family.
The second one I am working on includes photos from trips we have been on over the years. I will be adding pictures that we took and placing them in the correct location on the map of the world. It is neat too as most of our pictures were taken with GPS on with our phones. That means that all the longitude and latitude coordinates are kept with the pictures. This allows me to mark each location of these pictures to be very accurately placed…even if in the middle of an ocean.
If you want to learn more about MyMaps, visit Google for more information at dblclx.com/aboutmymaps. Also, I will be creating a Video Podcast about details of MyMaps in Google 19 at DoubleClicksLive.com. Go there, sign up for a free (my favorite word) account and get an email when it comes out in the next two weeks. Of course, after you register at the site you may also view the other 18 free episodes.
