{"id":1788920,"date":"2020-06-18T13:56:32","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T17:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1788920"},"modified":"2020-06-18T13:56:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T17:56:32","slug":"using-google-maps-to-create-a-real-world-paracosm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/06\/using-google-maps-to-create-a-real-world-paracosm\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Google Maps to Create a Real-World Paracosm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brendan Koerner\u2019s 12-year-old son has been spending the lockdown planning a summer road trip in great detail using Google Maps<\/a>. As it turned out, his son was doing something more than, and other than, simply planning a trip: he was using maps to create a paracosm<\/a>, one based in data and real locations rather than fantasy space.<\/p>\n

In the days that followed, I\u2019d often catch my son on Google Maps with pen in hand, jotting down increasingly specific bits of information that he considered essential to his plans: the names of bridges that span the Susquehanna River, the phone numbers for motor inns in Greater Pawtucket, the best things to eat while watching the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. (The stadium\u2019s clam chowder has received lavish online praise.) As I watched him get lost in the pleasure of these tasks, I realized that he was under no illusions about the trip\u2019s actual odds of taking place. He was immersing himself in Google Maps not because he expected we\u2019d be attending a Norwich Sea Unicorns game anytime soon, but so he could build himself a sanctuary\u2014a space where he\u2019s in charge of how an uncertain future will unfold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Getting lost in maps is an activity I expect a lot of us recognize, and have done ourselves, though the particulars are probably unique to each of us. (Random thought: Is this one reason why fantasy novels come with maps? Are the maps doing more of the work than we thought?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brendan Koerner\u2019s 12-year-old son has been spending the lockdown planning a summer road trip in great detail using Google Maps. As it turned out, his son was doing something more than, and other than, simply… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[82,1449],"class_list":["post-1788920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-mapping-the-personal","tag-google-maps","tag-wired","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1785068,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/two-different-ways-to-make-maps-for-self-driving-cars\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788920,"position":0},"title":"Two Different Ways to Make Maps for Self-Driving Cars","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Another piece on the various attempts to create detailed, high-definition maps for self-driving cars, this time from\u00a0Bloomberg\u2019s Mark Bergen, who views it through the prism of Google's efforts in that space, and whether its competitors will be able to stop Google from dominating the high-definition mapping space the way it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1786361,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/10\/a-google-maps-roundup-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788920,"position":1},"title":"A Google Maps Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 October 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"The Verge\u2019s Dan Seifert tries out Google Maps and Waze on CarPlay, and concludes that \"neither Google Maps or Waze are particularly compelling compared to their Android Auto counterparts or even Apple\u2019s own Maps app.\" The unkindest cut: \"If I\u2019m traveling somewhere unfamiliar, Apple Maps is just more reliable to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/google-maps-ios-icon-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787832,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/09\/google-maps-and-privacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788920,"position":2},"title":"Google Maps and Privacy","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"27 September 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Incognito mode for Google Maps, announced last May, is currently in testing. With the mode enabled, user activity isn\u2019t saved to the user\u2019s Google account. It was made available last week to beta testers using the preview version of the Google Maps Android app. Meanwhile, Strange Maps looks at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/google-maps-ios-icon-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1785048,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/02\/apple-google-and-waze-which-is-most-accurate\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788920,"position":3},"title":"Apple, Google and Waze: Which Is Most Accurate?","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 February 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Artur Grabowski spent most of 2017 testing three mapping apps\u2014Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze\u2014to see which app was the most accurate in terms of travel time to destination. His questions: which app estimated the shortest travel times, which app actually got him to his destination in the least amount\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1813701,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/04\/how-google-deals-with-fake-content-on-google-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788920,"position":4},"title":"How Google Deals with Fake Content on Google Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 April 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"In a blog post last Friday, Google offers some detail on how it combats fraudulent user-submitted content on Google Maps. These include fake business profiles, fake reviews, contributed photos with fake phone numbers\u2014it\u2019s basically about business listings. (There was a time, of course, when fake user-submitted content was to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1789293,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/09\/an-apple-and-google-maps-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788920,"position":5},"title":"An Apple and Google Maps Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 September 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Google Maps is now available on the Apple Watch as of version 5.52 of the iPhone app. Meanwhile, more is emerging about the behind-the-scenes mapping efforts of both Google and Apple. Google is using machine learning to predict traffic flows and improve ETA estimates (Engadget, The Verge). More prosaically, 9to5\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Google Maps on the Apple Watch (screenshot)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1788920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788921,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788920\/revisions\/1788921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1788920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1788920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1788920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}