Free Passes to Google I/O
Google is having their first multi-day developer conference in May. The track descriptions looks great and promise content for developers:
- AJAX & JavaScript: AJAX and JavaScript continue to capture the imagination of web developers. These sessions focus on tools and techniques of client-side code, and how to use them to make serious applications quickly and easily.
- APIs & Tools: Development tools for the web are evolving. Product APIs allow integration and extension of web applications. Tools like the Google Web Toolkit™ provide a whole new way to improve performance and compatibility.
- Social: The web is an inherently social place. A new wave of APIs and frameworks, including OpenSocial, are opening up interesting ways to interact with people through applications.
- Mobile: Mobile devices are blurring the lines between handset developers and web developers, opening up interesting opportunities for applications that span multiple platforms. We'll take a look at how developers can use technologies such as Android™ and Mobile Gears to build applications on the mobile web.
- Maps & Geo: Since the introduction of the Google Maps™ API in 2005, geo and map applications have been one of the most interesting phenomena on the web. These sessions focus on the many aspects of geo applications, from KML to the Google Maps API and more.
It's no secret that Google has been increasing their developer offerings. had one of their first developer events two years ago in conjunction with Where 2.0. At that Geo Developer Day (Radar Post) they focused on their Mapping APIs, KML, and Google Earth. Last year in 2007 they had a second Developer Day with Where 2.0. This time Google branched out and added developer sessions on GWT, Gears (which was launched that day), Advertising APIs and the Google Mashup Editor. At these previous events the Google were usually on-site to answer questions in a frank manner. This is a great opportunity to learn what happens behind the scenes.
Google I/O is happening on May 28th and 29th in San Francisco. I was given 10 free passes for Radar readers. To get a pass leave your idea for the best app, that you might really use, that uses the most Google APIs. I'll decide and send them out tomorrow.
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I want an app where I and my fellow citizens can aggregate our opinions on current issues, in a way that is countable — so elected officials get to see that X people think Y, and so on. I want this for my town, so we're not at the exclusive mercy of inconveniently-scheduled town meetings in a facility that couldn't hold all the town's residents even if they all wanted to chime in. And
I want this for my country, because it's not exactly practical to get 300 million people together in one spot — just getting a million Porta-Johns for it would be quite the challenge.
In other words, I want the millions of people who are casting their votes for US President to have the means to cast their votes on other topics, if they so choose, in a manner that doesn't put the process under the control of any single entity (government, Facebook, whatever...even Google) or class of people (pollsters, lobbyists, etc.). And I want it to be able to scale downward, so it can handle 3,000 citizens of a small town as well as it can handle 300 million citizens of a nation,
perhaps via an App Engine application tied into Google Sites or Google Pages.
I want this app to be available where I am, when I have time to review the material and express my opinion. "Where I am" not only means where I physically am (e.g., Google Android app to participate wherever) but where I tend to go
online (e.g., an OpenSocial widget to keep me apprised of important issues) and how "into this" I am — from casual use to hard-core folk needing a GWT app and Google Gears local storage to help track campaigns around various issues.
I want this app to support citizen-controlled visibility of my positions. If I want to host a Google Gadget on my Web site to advocate a position and get people to cast their votes, great. If I just want to quietly participate, fine.
I want this app to give elected and appointed officials the means to understand the public's position on the issues, both counted votes and any blog entries or other prose that backs them up. For larger jurisdictions (counties, cities,
states, nations), this probably involves some Google Map-backed depictions of how opinions vary by location. It might also involve generating Google Apps spreadsheets of the data to show other types of breakdowns, or maybe Google Charts on another App Engine-powered service.
All, of course, implemented using open standards.
My first Idea:
Build on Google App-jet a mapping service for businesses. Input your customer list and figure out where your customers are located. Possibilities would be for larger businesses:
From your cell, find your ten closest customers to visit:Android
Map Sales Routes:
Area Specific Marketing by zip.
You could also use analytics and more data to figure out from where people are coming to your website, versus who your customers are already, etc, the possibilities are really endless
There is a lot of innovation going on in the field of education. One topic that has my interest is a "Portfolio system", in which a student can show his activities, reflections, evaluations, grades, competences, skills, hobby, collaboration etc.
But I want it to be person-centered, it can not be tied to a specific school. I would like it to be available for the span of my life, from birth untill my only skill is sitting in a chair looking at my grandchildren, which in turn can look up my whole life.
Not that my life is so particular interesting, but who am I to decide for my children etc what they want to know about me... to understand themselves.
An individual must be the owner of the data and must be able to authorize others on certain parts of the information.
Maybe I want it to be the hub of my online identity and I like it to "cache" or stream my life...
Anyway: just serving educational purposes for a start would be nice, with "Life Long Learning" in mind.
Well, no, I won't share my best app ideas but here's one, using most of the Google APIs.
The app is media based and for the coming Gphones using the Android platform: it shows you pictures and video that have been taken at your current location as you move about during the day.
The viewable media can be limited to that of your friends and contacts using OpenSocial and the Contacts Data API, or that match a search term.
The images are overlayed on their corresponding location on a map thanks to the Google Maps API.
Any photos and videos you take are immediately uploaded in the background to either YouTube, Picasa, and/or Blogger, geotagged using KML.
And it all runs entirely on Google's new App Engine.
I come from a Environmental Studies background. I would love it if Google enabled a simple way to do Land Use analysis in Google maps. This could be a based on importing of GPS files into Google Spreadsheet then integrating with Google Maps and overlaying.
So people could do Land Use analysis filter from a Google spread sheet by Soil Type and overlay on top of a google map. This could be very powerful and very useful for those who cannot afford expensive ESRI products.
A "social" network application for municipalities (my wife works for the City of Houston) that allows citizens to link themselves together with their council members via their city council district, zip code, neighborhood designation, etc. to provide information to each other on criminal activity, neighborhood association activity, construction, etc.
It will also provide a way for the city to prioritize their work efforts (where are the city streets most in need of repair) and using the Google maps provide information on where repairs are currently underway, the traffic implications, the expected duration of the construction and links to information on the contractor(s) providing the work.
City employees and even contractors can make use of the information to get directions to and from the work sites, upload things like inspection notes, etc.
rjsjr
A general-purpose map overlay service. Given pointers to map polygon data, quantitative data for those regions, and coloring information (sources which could possibly be built using other Google APIs) it would then use the Maps API to construct a map with a data overlay for visualizing the provided data.
Some similarities with the suggestions about by Mark (political opinion aggregation) and Scott (land use analysis).
Throw in the Visualization API for viewing the underlying data in a non-map format, and links to search for gathering related documents on the web.
Google App Engine idea: A browser based social avatar system like DutchPipe.org or lite.weblin.com using Google IDs and Google Chat for auth and communication.
This would create a virtual world for awareness apps which taps into one of the largest user namespaces and IM systems in the world.
An Andriod-based application to find the stores closest to your location and have a certain product in-stock. Extend this slightly, to calculate a cost/distance relationship for a store.
IE:
Store X, which is 10 miles has a Foo for $20.
Story Y, which is 8 miles has a Foo for $30.
Unfortunately, a lot of the web services that are built on these platforms are simple data storage applications and mashups. Platforms and APIs are supposed to manage the mundane so that developers can focus on the inspired. If we are moving from open software/proprietary data to open data/proprietary algorithms, where are these new applications?
What I need is an application that brings meaning to my data. A knowledgebase that stores various articles and snippets of text; that adapts itself to my personality, tastes, and working style; helps me write, plan, organize my thoughts; and ties-in with a social network for collaboration and feedback.
This application would run on the Google App Engine and make use of the Maps, Calendar, Docs, and OpenSocial APIs.
Not only would I use an application like this, I'm currently experimenting with some of these concepts myself.
OK here's my idea...
I am scheming up an app that would let anyone with a Google account generate OpenID identities easily. It's unfortunate that Google doesn't do this already, but until they do (an I'm not convinced it will ever happen) this would be helpful.
Users could generate identities with no new passwords to remember. Messages could be encapsulated in the app and sent directly to the email address given by user api without the address ever being exposed to the public.
I would grab a new (concise and descriptive) domain to alias the default ***.appspot.com and keep the ID strings pretty.
There's lots of ways to extend the app. I can think of many things to do with FOAF if one were to have access to gmail address books. Also the app could do dual duty by serving up "friend feeds" that seem to be all the rage right now. I could go on, but the idea hasn't really settled down yet.
I would create a social networking application where people could show a pie- and bar-chart breakdown of what kinds of media and sources they read each day. It would be competitive as people would see what respected folks are consuming, and adjust their information "portfolios" (like 401k applications) to match the feed/website combinations of others. The app would also permit media site owners to know to what kinds of people are putting them into their portfolios, and where they are located (using Google Maps). They would also be able to learn what other sources of information were likely to be read alongside their own, which could create new opportunities for partnerships and cross-site projects.
To support its inevitable explosion, :-) I would deploy this as an app inside Google Application Engine as a standalone web app, then use its REST services to connect it to an Open Social app that could be deployed in something like MySpace.
an app that lets the public collaborate in a
project to correct the o.c.r. in google books.
-bowerbird
Could you ask the organizers why they've only got 2 women speaking out of 57 total speakers? I know, it's an old complaint discussed to death elsewhere, but come on, only 2 out of 57?! Jeez... (Sorry, couldn't come up with an app idea that would address this issue...)
My son has been working on an idea for a while that would provide a filtered e-mail / calendaring / IM application for parents w/ young children that they would like to maintain some level of control over. It's currently written in Python so it should work on the Google Apps platform quite well. I'd like to get him to the conference (18 yr old) and tag along myself.
I don't want others to read my idea in public, so I sent you a message via Facebook with my idea.
Thanks,
Chris Sun
Will use google app engine for this, of course. Get google feeds and news (from google news), use contacts (friends) from gmail contacts and let them vote and suggest feeds/news articles for me and I vote and suggest the feeds/news that I read. [Would also use the shared-rss feeds as well]. So now everyone has their own digg/reddit to read based on other's votings and everyone also has their own digg/reddit of their preferences/tastes for others to read.
Two weeks ago, we were not sure we going to enter the Android developer challenge. Last Thursday, we decided to give it a shot. The new dateline is Monday, April 14. We have to port Fon11 and Open Landmark (iPhone version) to Android in less than 10 days. Can we make it?
On Saturday, we concluded our mobile Web version is not going to cut it. We can’t invoke the Location API, native map and address book to integrate our app with the Android platform.
We have to write native Android apps.
Android XML-based UI layout is easy to recreate the Fon11 UI on Android. We need to figure out how to manipulate the UI elements with dynamic data. This should be too difficult. Calling Android location API, native map and address book is quite straight forward.
Today is Tuesday night. We got together at a code camp at 1 PM last Sunday. Ten of us got together. Most of them were my former/current students. Patrick and Tim led the project with Thomas, P. Hetroy, Eric, HsiaoYun, Lex, Chetan and Martin. By 8 PM, we have all the Fon11 pages created on Android. Next, we have to modify the UI dynamically from Java.
Tonight Patrick, Tim and Lex are trying to figure how to invoke REST APIs on the server side. Oh, oh, we have a problem consuming the JSON object from JSON. This is not an Android problem. It is a known problem with Jersey (we use this to create our REST API). Okay, Lex wrote a hack.
Everyone really likes Android now. They are sold. The programming model is cool. Full Java on mobile is cool. Well, I think we have a native Android Fon11 app to enter the challenge. We will submit both Fon11 and OpenLandmark. Fon11 as a native Android app. OpenLandmark as a Web app. Fon11 will launch OpenLandmark.
The iPhone Web app version is 100% compatible on Android browser. Android is an iPhone competitor.
Brady, I can use a pass or two. It’s not for me. I want give them to my students who attended the code camp – now that they are so excited about Android.
Kevin Leong
I am a technology student and want to follow conferences related to my focus area. I want to build a simple google app, which uses calendar and map.
Where people can collabratively place events(conferences related to HCI say) and a simple page with MAP as surface can show where are the events geographically with a timeline on the webpage. [Also allowing importing events, like " happening in a country in a particular timeframe", would be very useful for people who are moving like me in Erasmus."So conferences in geneva from June to aug 08 for HCI" I would like to see that!]
"My Photo Walk" - a Google Street View for touristic attractions and trail maps.
Travel books will usually dedicate a chapter about the interesting things to do and see in around the locatio you plan to visit. The problem is that the photos, being in print, are limited to a few pages and they don't appear in the context of the description text.
When you finally arrive to the place you ask yourself "how do I get to this point? Is it interesting to walk all this way to the viewpoint?" In a city you may ask around, but it's harder in parks with twisted trails.
"My Photo Walk" will generate a customized itinerary which includes descriptions and photos for your trip.
Potential Google APIs to be used:
- Maps - to display the itinerary
- Transit Feed - if you don't rent a car you have to know how to get there
- YouTube and Picasa - link to the points of interest
- Gears - save your customized map on your laptop to be used even if you're offline
- Book search - link to relevant travel guides
- OpenSocial - share the plan with your friends
- Chekcout - link to sellers offering relevant travel gear
- AdSense - support the dev. of the site
- News - local news for the area you'll be visiting
- Calendar - schedule your trip
I am planning a wifi finder (which is extendable to a location service) which makes heavy use of an interface I have developed:
- This interface uses Google Maps Geocoding in many ways - to find lat/lng from a query string, to sort a location into its political hierarchy. It was a bit tricky but now I can show the number of locations in each country, city, down to thoroughfare on the Maps, depending on zoom level. I can search by position, bounds, query string or area.
To find free WiFis is of course NOT a new idea;)
But I think the interface I build in PHP is a real mashup that can be re-utilized again and again for any purpose. It's simple and easy to integrate in your webapp.
- Also I made use of some google maps library extensions (JavaScript) and I am still writing my own to extend their functionality, e.g. LabeledMarkers.
- I use Google Charts API to create Markers and show other statistical data on the site.
- There will be an easy REST like API, too.
You will soon find my application on http://wifind.in/
Falls under applied Geo/Maps. I do research in applied environmental metagenomics. In a paper published last year in PLoS, ocean samples were collected form around the world and the genome profile at each sample location was developed. As the sampple is a point in time, and the physical conditions that governed the distribution of all of the organisms at the date/time of sample are dynamic, we need to know more about (a) how the conditions change and (b) how the changing conditions affect the biological (ie, genomic) profile. I want an app that can import all of the climate/environmental/oceanic data that I use in varying formats, that can be used to develop monthly or seasonal profiles. THen the genoimic sample data can added as an additional layer, and we can start to make better inferences about the distibution of certain genes in a global dataset. Of course, this would go into PLoS.
Well since my first trip to the states in over a decade will put me in the same city at the same time as Google IO, I'd be silly not to go really, so here goes:
Someone should write a system that allowed people to report "bugs" they come across in their environment, using a cameraphone with GPS support. Municipal authorities could then have people who were responsible for weeding through the reports, finding the ones that matter, and assigning them to the right people to deal with them. Some bugs (eg a forest fire) could be flagged as urgent by the person sending them in.
For instance if I, say, find a tree branch has fallen down and is blocking the cycle path on my path to work I currently have to figure out who to call, then I have to describe to them exactly where the tree is, and describe to them how big a problem it is so they can assign a priority to it. I probably don't have time to make that call, I do have time to take a snapshot and hit the report button.
This is a natural fit for an android app (if anyone feels like making a developer competition entry in the next 5 days, go for it!)
Here are the APIs you could use:
Client side, you would need obviously need android.location and android.media.MediaRecorder
Particularly amusing incidents could be cross-posted to YouTube using the YouTube Data API or Picasa via the Picasa API.
The server side of this distributed application could run on
The server side could make use of
The Google App Engine APIs for development, deployment and hosting
Google Ajax Feed API: For deploying appropriately filtered incident lists to the people who might be able to take care of them.
Google Maps API: For displaying incident locations on maps
Google Calendar API: For scheduling people to work on reported problems
Google Spreadsheets Data API: For putting incident lists into online spreadsheets and allowing people working on the issue to report progress / completion.
Google Chart API: For dashboard displays and management reports
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I've written the Songbird Remote for the iPhone. I'm considering working on it for the Android.
Do you have any more free passes?
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RADAR TOPICS
Euan [04.08.08 07:08 AM]
Not startlingly original, but I'd use it:
A simple book review engine that uses Google Books for metadata. Import your friends with the social graph API and see what they're reading, then swap books with them. An OpenSocial front-end brings in your friends from MySpace, Bebo etc. and allows you to display your books on social networking profile pages (a simple Gadget lets you do this on your blog already).
At a push buy and sell second-hand with Checkout.
... all hosted on App Engine, natch.