I Am Blogie

Ever since the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit in October 2007, I’ve seen various bloggers’ groups sprout in different parts of Mindanao. Back then, there were groups in Davao and in Cagayan de Oro. Then General Santos, inspired by the Summit and by the activities of MindanaoBloggers.com, also got themselves and organized and were successful in their hosting of the 2nd Summit.

Now, Zamboanga City is seeing her bloggers become more cohesive, through the leadership of Yolynne Medina, Ryann Elumba and Jerome Locson (who went to GenSan to attend the MBS2). They’ve had a few meet-ups already, and hopefully I’ll be able to join in one of their future get-togethers.

Cagayan de Oro City, as well, is back on track. Two years ago, they had an informal group already, but it fell by the wayside after the prominent members left for Manila and Cebu for work. But now, under the care of ChiQ Montes, they’re starting to form a stronger community. They even have their own Ning.com site: CDO Bloggers.

So, MBS3 will be a toss-up between Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro. I shall announce the decision before the year ends.

I hope that more cities and/or provinces in Mindanao will have their own active bloggers’ groups. This will not only help us achieve our goal of projecting the real images of Mindanao onto the world stage, but also create an atmosphere of harmony and cooperation among Mindanaoans.

Google, ever attuned to the meanderings of the Web, has improved upon their already awesome Google Earth and Google Maps products. Last 7 October 2008, the Internet’s most influential organization launched MapMaker for the Philippines. As Jason Chuck, Google’s APAC Product Marketing Manager, put it during the product demo in Shangri-la Makati, MapMaker is a rich platform for user-generated content.

Hurray! At last, there’s now a way for Filipinos to create maps for their localities. I remember there was one time when I had to publish a locator map for an event, I had to take a snapshot of the area on Google Earth, then draw in the roads and landmarks using a 3rd-party graphics software. Now, by way of MapMaker, anyone with a Gmail account can freely attach various geographical data onto Google’s maps — and share this information with the world!

What can Gmail account holders do on MapMaker? The most exciting for me is the ability to draw roads and other public — as well as private — infrastructure on Google’s maps. And label them, of course. While there’s no way yet to plug in GPS coordinates, the fact that we can now graphically illustrate the roads, bridges and other geographical features is already one huge step forward.

When Jason Chuck said MapMaker was a rich platform, he wasn’t just mouthing off hype. Users of the service can also place landmarks as well as the locations of establishments. What’s more, the metadata that can be submitted is quite detailed. For example, for a road, you can indicate whether it’s a one-way street, if it’s concrete or asphalt, its driving conditions, and plenty of other useful and organized information.

For business establishments, submitters can input not only company names, but also exact addresses, website URLs, and even telephone numbers. Imagine how useful this service can be for many business applications. Plus, all the submitted information is searchable!

If anyone with a Gmail account can use MapMaker, won’t this result in a lot of junk information? Well, yes, this is a distinct possibility. That’s why MapMaker operates like a socialized publishing system. In other words, users have the ability to edit previous submissions, or report erroneous ones. Additionally, users can vote on map entries that they’d like to affirm or verify.

There are no moderators or editors in MapMaker, as you might expect in Wikipedia. According to Google, map entries will be accepted based on users’ votes, as well as on the frequency of similar submissions. The inner workings of the system was not explained thoroughly nor technically, however. From what I understand, Google deploys an intelligent algorithm to determine data acceptability based on users’ input.

Incidentally, there will be an internal system through which "trusted users" will be identified. Presumably, those who have a certain number of accepted or approved submissions to MapMaker will become trusted users.

Finalized map information (i.e., user-submitted data that have been approved) are pushed into Google Maps for all the world to search, see and use. I believe this means that map data submitted to MapMaker that have not yet been approved will only be visible (and editable) within the MapMaker Web application.

Google Maps is a separate service — even distinct from Google Earth. Extensive road maps are already available for most developed countries, but is still rather rudimentary for the Philippines. But with MapMaker, we are now empowered to participate in, and contribute to, the Philippine GeoWeb.

With the rise of Wifi- and GPS-enabled mobile phones in the country, and with the availability of Google Maps for Mobile, it will not be long before some enterprising IT firms deploy high-value mobile applications that will employ Google’s tremendous mapping services.