Mi casa es su casa

Posted on June 30, 2005 by Richard K Miller

You may have already heard of Google Maps — Google’s mapping site, which came out this year. I liked MapQuest before, but Google Maps is so much easier to use. What’s more, Google Maps is “hackable”, which means several innovative people have combined Google Maps with other web sites to show useful information. For example, at Craigslist.org, you can browse homes that are for sale. Combine that with Google Maps and you get “HousingMaps.com”. HousingMaps.com is one of the easiest ways to look for houses for sale, but all it does is combine the two sites, and without even asking for permission. You can read more in this CNN article.

Knowing that Google Maps are “combinable”, I’ve been trying to learn how to do it. Then yesterday, Google announced an “API” for the maps, which means it’s now easier (and you are allowed) to combine Google Maps with other things.

So, I’ve put together a Google Map of my own — it shows all the places I have lived (that I was old enough to remember) since I was 4. You can see it at http://www.richardkmiller.com/gmaps/.

*Update: I realized that this page didn’t work in Internet Explorer at first, but it’s fixed now. Sorry if you tried to view it with Internet Explorer. Can I suggest a new browser? browsehappy.com.

Welcome R-J readers!

Posted on June 27, 2005 by Richard K Miller

Al Gibes is the technology columnist for Las Vegas’s largest newspaper, a Mac user, and an all around nice guy. His column today was about blogs, so a couple of weeks ago he requested comments publicly and I sent some in. He included a snippet of my comments in his column today, “Let’s get the blog party started”, and included a link here. Thanks, Al!

Al also just started a blog called Al’s Outpost, so I’ve added it to my blog roll on the right and plan to be a regular reader.

U.S. Constitution not for everybody

Posted on June 27, 2005 by Richard K Miller

Today I heard some quotes from the Founding Fathers on the U.S. Constitution. When pornography and flag-burning are legal, but prayer in schools is not, you start to wonder if something is wrong with the Constitution until you get insight into the mindset of the Founders:

Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. — John Adams, 2nd President of the United States

More quotes.

Scams, chain letters, and urban legends

Posted on June 27, 2005 by Richard K Miller

To all of my friends, I do not usually forward messages, But this is from my good friend and she really is an attorney. … For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00. … My brother’s girlfriend got in on this a few months ago. … She showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44…. Like i said before, I know the law, and this is for real.

Sound too good to be true? Of course.

Like everyone, I’ve received my fair share of emails like this one. Often it’s from well meaning friends who forward a chain letter just in case (“Juuuuuuuuust in case”) it might be true. Forwarding an email doesn’t cost anything and only takes a second, so why not play it safe?

While there’s no harm done in forwarding an entertaining email, here are a few websites where you can find the truth behind scams, chain letters, urban legends, etc. These are good places to check when you hear a story that seems too good to be true.

Here’s the infamous Microsoft chain letter. It’s just comical to read.

My open letter to Google

Posted on June 23, 2005 by Richard K Miller

Dear Larry Page, Sergey Brin & Co.,

I am a huge Google/Gmail/GoogleMaps/GoogleSMS fan and a web developer. If rumors are true about your developing a merchant system to compete with PayPal Pro services, I will be excited to use it.

However, after seeing an open letter from pornographer Sam Sugar to Google. I must express my concerns with a Google payment system supporting the adult industry. Contrary to Mr. Sugar’s rhetoric, support the adult/porn industry is the wrong thing to do. It goes against Google’s mantra of doing no evil. Pornography is a filthy tar in our society; common maybe, but definitely the stuff of back alleys and less-reputable companies. Don’t let pornography tarnish the Google name. I personally would avoid and discredit a Google payment system if it were to support the porn industry. PayPal, who has chosen to avoid the financially and morally risky adult industry, is the baseline. If Google does at least this much, I have no doubts that the Google payment system will be the best in the world.

Richard K Miller

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