Kyle Mulka's Blog

So, after several weeks of waiting, Merit was finally able to upload the webcast of the Google Maps presentation I gave at the Merit Joint Technical Staff Meeting on October 11th, 2005.

Just as a warning, the video is 45 minutes long and my not be the most simulating thing you’ve ever seen before. It is basically, an introduction to the Google Maps API on a very high level. I didn’t go into any code. It lays out what you can and can’t do with the Google Maps API, ho

I thought this was interesting. It’s a list of sites related to Wolverine Access according to Google. See what I mean?

“The space, the social network, thinking tools and the network interface in the same field of view. The boundaries between what is interior and what is exterior intersecting tangibly in front of your eyes.”

If you have interest in continuous computing, location aware devices, social computing, or similar stuff check this out. At least start reading it. I just started, and it is amazing me. It has a lot of good ideas about where we can take the location sensing technology. The PDF is linked to on the left of the main page.

The Headmap Manifesto

I’m excited that we got funding next semester for a project called Blue Puddle thanks to GROCS. Here’s the vision:

“The Blue Puddle software takes advantage of the Internet’s distributed authorship capabilities to create maps that draw on users’ collective memory and subjective experience of a city. These maps foster the emergence of stories about the city that are richer than any single author could create. The virtual digital environment created by Blue Puddle will serve as a catalyst for engaging the real built environment.”

We have a team of four consisting of students from the schools of Art, Architecture, Information, and Engineering. This should be both interesting and exciting considering we are from a variety of backgounds and I am the only undergrad.

Some of the technologies we are considering using include PHP, MySQL, GIS, and the Google Maps API. Fortunately, I am pretty familiar with them and am excited to be able to use them.

UPDATE: (3/29/06) Mschedule.com and the auto schedule generator have been fused together into one site.

http://www.mschedule.com/

More info

MISchedule, the University of Michigan automatic schedule generator, is ready for Winter 2006 scheduling. (and now Fall too)

I just loaded up the database the other day and it appears to be working. Let me know if you have any problems.

Along the same lines, I’ve switched Mshedule‘s (without the I) default term to Winter 2006, so it is ready too. I haven’t taken the time yet to merge these two websites yet, but you can save your MIschedule to Mschedule.

Paul Graham rocks! If you are at all interested in software startups, check this out. It’s dated 2001, and I think still applies for the most part.

The Other Road Ahead

Here’s a little story about PHP and Java… my two favorite languages…

Andreessen: PHP succeeding where Java isn’t | CNET News.com

I just got and email from Evan Cooke who I know through MESH at the University of Michigan.

He had asked for some help with the Google Maps API. After a little bit of work, he ended up with some nifty data visualization apps. Basically, he has huge 2D representations of network traffic and needed an easy way to map them. Google Maps to the rescue!

Any other ideas of data that needs 2D visualization?

For those interested in some of the things you can do with the Google Maps API, here’s a demo of one of the things I did this summer. It requires flash. Sorry for the bad audio. I need a better microphone.

Google Maps API Video Demo #1

This morning I was playing with the trial version of Camtasia Studios which is a really nice multmedia capturing tool for computer presentations and software demos. I’m considering buying it, but its pretty expensive. That’s what I produced this video with.