Google Maps Envelope: "

Google Maps may be nothing new, but using the maps for something other than directions is. The example above was created by graphic designer Beste Miray Dogan, who 'showed that with a Google Map print out and a little ingenuity, you can make a custom envelop that pinpoints the exact location from which it was sent.'

There's no template on her site, but with some trial and error I trust you'll be able to master the mapenvelope in no time.

Google Maps is an interesting service for quite a few purposes. It can be used to get directions or take a closer look at a specific location on the planet. Many mashups extends its functionality making it without doubt one of the most popular map applications on the Internet. Google Maps does require an Internet connection which can be problematic in some situations like downloading directions from point a to point b to a computer to access it on the road where Internet access is either not available or to costly.

Offline Maps is a software program for Microsoft Windows that offers the following functionality to users and developers:

The application provides following functionality to its users:

• The ability to download tiles to a folder on your computer of a given zoomfactor along a path


• The ability to view the downloaded tiles in the application


• The ability to draw a path on the map and save that path to a file


• The ability to receive data from a GPS device and position the map at the points received from the device

To developers it provides following functionality

• The ability to develop new layers with specific functionality


• The ability to draw on the map using longitude and latitude coordinates


• The ability to draw on the map using regular coordinates

The developer provides access to a version for the Microsoft Windows operating system and a mobile version for Windows Mobile devices. Supported are Google Maps and Open Street Maps. It is furthermore possible to load maps that have already been downloaded from either service. Several additional options are provided in the layers tab including ripping, routing and GPS options.

The software program requires the Microsoft .net Framework. Interested users can download it from the Codeplex website

Embed PDFs and PowerPoint Files for No-Software Viewing [PDFs]: "

Want to show off a PDF or PowerPoint presentation on a web space without having to include an obligatory link to Adobe's PDF viewer for the link-doesn't-work crowd? You can embed those documents anywhere using Google's document viewer.

Google Operating System points out an embed code that works for any PDF or PowerPoint file that's hosted somewhere, anywhere online, and can be pasted into just about any web space that tolerates frames. Here's an example of what that embedding looks like with an old 1040 tax form:

Hit the link for the cut-and-replace embed code, and check out the previously mentioned Scribd iPaper embedding for another no-software-needed document sharing solution.

Embeddable Google Document Viewer [Google Operating System]

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