For some reason there isn’t a reasonable URL shorteners specific to Google Maps, so I decided to write one up.  I thought of using bit.ly for shortening map URL’s, but I wanted a TinyURL domain that let users know they were going to get a map.  So I decided to register myloc.info and build a simple TinyURL map engine.

UberTwitter uses a very similar domain, myloc.me.  Their results send you to a Uber advertising page with a map in the middle.  Not very mobile friendly, but free is free I guess.  My version works great with the iPhone. It automatically pulls open the Map application. Normal browsers are redirected to Google Maps.

As an add on, I created a basic GET JSON API, so myself and others could easily incorporate this service into projects.

Last year I was generally lost in the crowd and didn’t have any good idea of what was going on at Bele Chere. On Wednesday of this week, I decided to write up a small mobile app for the Bele Chere festival. I wanted something basic to show my current location and the events going on around me.

What I came up with was belechere.mobi.  It’s basically a google map with all the Bele Chere events and points of interest plugged in.  I geared the app for the iPhone so I could use the built in GPS with Safari to center the map automatically.  Also, I incorporated Twitter results with the #belechere tag, that way I could easily see what people thought was intresting or a must see at the festival.  I also included list of music acts for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  It’s only a three page app, but I am sure it will be useful compared to what I had last year.

The app took me an evening and a morning to build, but I did have a legup with some Twitter feed code from my Twaper experiment.  After some field testing  yesterday downtown Asheville, I found that the GPS seems accurate to about 50 feet of your location and the point of interest icons are generally in the right spot.  Sometimes though, the app forgets you allowed for GPS services and a website refresh is needed to get it back.  There also seems to be a dead zone on College street between Lexington and Haywood.