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Virtual Earth Api

ViaVirtualEarth - "Here you will find everything you need to get started creating applications that use Microsoft's Virtual Earth."

Virtual Earth

Wow! Check out Microsoft's answer to Google Maps, Virtual Earth.

Immediate likes:

• Zoom extremely close to objects


• Recognition of some buildings (it doesn't only label roads)


• Zoom works with the wheel on my mouse


• Scratchpad saves old searches

Immediate dislikes:

• Doesn't find my address (10 year old house)


• Georgetown, KY isn't photographed as closely as our neighbor Lexington, Ky

Here's a pic of my parents house via Virtual Earth:

Property Explorer with Google Maps API

My Sister-in-Law is a real estate agent. She works more with buyers than sellers (her father does the reverse), however occasionally she lists houses for sellers.

She wanted to list the houses she is an agent for on her yet-to-be-developed website.

I've created a Google Map that plots real estate properties on a Google map, reading the info from an XML file.

View the Property Explorer.

Currently there are two properties listed, and I have many additional updates and ideas to implement, however it is a successful "proof of concept" for the time being.

I also plan to make a nice admin area so she can intuitively update the listings from a webpage, instead of manually manipulating an XML file.

Open Source GeoCoding

I've been experimenting with the google maps API the past few days. In order to map a location using the api, you must know the Longitude and Latitude of the location, usually I only know the address.

Someday I'll own a GPS system, until then I've been using Geocoder.us to geocode the address into Lat and Lon.

Note: You can also enter the address in google maps then zoom in and out a few times, next click the permalink for the map. Look in the URL and you'll see the lat and lon.