Coordinate of the Year

Places and Spaces is happy to announce that this year's winner of the Coordinate of the Year is...

(drum roll)

Latitude!

After a few years of dominance by Longitude, it is exciting to see the return to prominence by Latitude. Its emphasis on the vertical is inspiring to us all. And, of course, we wouldn't have the horse latitudes without it. Another past winner, the Cartesian coordinate X, congratulated the winner noting Latitude's important work in navigation.

Congratulations Latitude! 2016 is going to be a special one.

Google Maps already up for April Fools

The map has gone 8-bit.(h/ t NH)  Even StreetView is altered, which makes it fun to look at landmarks.  But hurry, this effect will be gone after Sunday night. As you prepare for the holiday, check out our posts from past years.

Late update: Google has added a great video describing this upgrade

April 1st edition of PlaNetizen

PlaNetizen was a fun April fools Day news roundup.

Project Virgle

Google and Virgin Airlines have teamed up on a new effort, called Project Virgle, to develop the first human settlement on Mars. They have a video made by the project team leaders that helps capture the excitement of the project. As the ultimate start-up project, you know it is going to fill quickly, so hurry up and complete the survey for potential participants.

It is pretty amazing when you compare it with their more mundane efforts like wireless broadband in every home and the Google Calender Wake-up Kit.

Free Wireless Broadband!

I know some people never trust Google that much. But this seems like a worthy exception. They are helping turn the existing household infrastructure into a broadband delivery system that can work free in nearly every home! This could revolutionize the way that people blend the most mundane of daily functions with the constantly streaming flow of, um, data and information. And the FAQ clearly answers those questions about privacy that TiSP raises.

What a great way to start off the month of April.