Thank you

Thanks to all who attended the event. I had a lot of fun giving the talk and it’s always nice when there’s a good crowd attending it. Also many thanks to my good friends Chris Jangelöv, Danne Nordell and Simon Winter who was also doing talks and helped organize the event.

Watch the whole event

The whole event was filmed and will be available shortly. I will update this article with a link to it as soon as I get it.

If you want to know a little bit more about what’s going to happen during the event, you can check out my previous post named World Usability Day 2011.

Note: Sorry all you non Swedes, but the event is in Swedish.

Watch the live event

If you’re interested in watching the live event online here’s the details how:

1. Go to https://visma.webex.com/visma-sv/j.php?ED=1145602&UID=3701652&PW=NNzQ2ZTg3OTFh&RT=MTUjMTMw
2. Enter your name and email
3. If a password is required, enter cj
4. Click “Delta”
5. Follow the on-screen instructions

Note: I will update this post with information about how to watch the event afterwards as soon as I have the info.

Here’s how it will go down: We will get together at Visma Spcs at 12.00. There will be a lunch-sandwich and a few short talks by me and my buddies Dan Nordell and Chris Jangelöv. The whole thing will last about an hour and will end with a short discussion.

Come join us

If you’re in the area you’re more than welcome to join us. It’s a free event, but you’ll have to sign up for it so that we know how much food to supply. Please note, that the event will be in Swedish.

If you’re unable to be physically present at the event, it will be broadcasted so you can attend remotely. Be aware though that you’ll have to bring you own sandwiches. I don’t know the details about the broadcast yet but will post about it as soon as possible.

Design for influence

The talk I’m doing is titled: Design for influence. I will show examples on how to affect the way people behave through different design techniques. I’ve actually been fascinated by that since the last time I spoke at World Usability Day, that time on Design for Sustainability. So it will be interesting to take that talk one step further.

These events tend to be very casual and are a great opportunity to network with other people in the area. So don’t hesitate, in this case there actually is such a thing as a free lunch.

You can also check out our event at worldusabilityday.org.

There’s probably a few bugs and there are still things that I’m going to add, but it will all happen during the next few weeks.

I hope that you’ll like the new design and I would love to hear your feedback in the comments.

Reasons behind the redesign

There’s several reasons for the redesign but the most important one is that I’m now an independent designer/developer. The role of this site is therefor switching from being just a blog to being the platform where I market myself and my services.

Another important reason is that the current design feels dated and frankly needs a radical makeover.

Responsive design

Responsive Design is the big thing in web design right now and I’ve used that approach in the new design. What it means is that the design will adapt to the context where it’s displayed. So you get a slightly different design depending on if you’re watching it on a big screen, on a tablet or on a mobile device.

The concept of Responsive Design was popularized by Ethan Marcotte who’s written an excellent book called, Responsive Web Design, about it.

Using it on a desktop browser

Using the site on a big screen, it has generous margins and have a main content area as well as a sidebar.

The site when viewed on a desktop browser

Tablets and mobile devices

On Tablets the design is mostly the same. The only difference is that the outer margins are a bit tighter and that the main content area is less wide.

On mobile devices there’s even less margins, the navigation is moved below the site logo and the content area fill up the whole width. Also the sidebar is moved to below the main content area.

The site viewed on iPad and iPhone

When does it launch?

I expect to launch the new design during next week, so keep an eye open for that. I also plan to write an article on the principles of responsive design.

So what are your thoughts on the redesign? Don’t hesitate to share them in the comments.

A new title

The title of the book has changed slightly, from Beginning Google Maps Applications to Beginning Google Maps API 3. I think the new title better reflects the content of the book. It’s after all about version 3 of the API.

The chapters

The book finally weighed in at 279 pages and consists of 10 chapters and an Appendix. I think that the chapters cover pretty much everything you need to know to develop your own map solutions. Here’s a complete list of them all:

• Chapter 1: Introducing the Google Maps API
• Chapter 2: Transferring from Version 2 to 3
• Chapter 3: Creating Your First Map
• Chapter 4: Taking the Map Further with MapOptions
• Chapter 5: X Marks the Spot
• Chapter 6: Marker Icons
• Chapter 7: InfoWindow Tips and Tricks
• Chapter 8: Creating Polylines and Polygons
• Chapter 9: Dealing with Massive Numbers of Markers
• Chapter 10: Location, Location, Location
• Appendix: API Reference

Buying the book

I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am that my book is finally finished! It’s taken me over a year to complete it but oh how good it feels right now! If you’re interested in buying it, it’s available for pre-order at Amazon.com and a week from now, it will be available for purchase.

I hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

Signing with Apress has made all the pieces fall into place. The writing of the book is now progressing steadily and if everything works out as planned, the book is going to be published in August.

For you that hasn’t been following me, the book is about how to use the new Google Maps API v3. It will be primarily for web designers/web developers with a basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. What might be extra interesting for you that are already using v2 of the API is that there will be a chapter on how to transfer from the old API to the new.

If you’d like to pre-order the book, you can do so from either Amazon or from Apress directly.

Also let me know if you’re interested in writing a review of the book. In that case I’ll make sure that you’ll receive a free review copy. Contact me through the contact page if you’re interested.

Update: The book is finished and was published by Apress with the name Beginning Google Maps API 3. You can check it out on Amazon.com.

There are two reasons why I am doing this:

1. The main reason is that I think the book will be a better one from it.
2. The second reason is that I think it can act as a motivation booster for myself to actually finish the book.

About the book

In short the book is about how to use Google Maps API v3. It will teach the basics but also provide tips and tricks about more advanced stuff. It will be very hands on with lots of examples that can be used right away. You can read more about it in the article I’m writing a book about Google Maps.

Download the chapter

I am not going to release the chapters in chronological order so the first chapter to be released in public beta is not the first but rather one in the middle. It is about Markers and is called X Marks the Spot.

Download the chapter, read it, and tell me what you think. Either by posting a comment below or by contacting me directly through the contact page.

X_marks_the_spot-public_beta_1.pdf (791 Kb)

Update: There’s an error in the code examples at page 15 and 19. The method set_content() that’s being used has changed name to setContent() since I wrote this chapter. So make sure to make this correction if you try out the examples and everything will work fine.

I haven’t written a book before so this is new territory for me. What I’ve noticed so far is that it progresses far slower than I predicted, but at least it progresses steadily even if slower than anticipated. I’ve taken a few weeks off of my regular work to devote to writing this book but this time won’t suffice, so there will probably be quite a few late nights and weekends of writing as well.

About the book

The book will mainly be about how to use the recently released Google Maps API V3. This new API introduces a whole lot of changes compared to the old one (V2) and this book is meant to explain the differences and to guide you into this new way of using it. Of course if you never used the API this book is for you as well. It will provide you with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop great maps.

The main target audience of the book are:

• Webdesigners that have some basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
• Developers that quickly wants to transfer from the the old API to the new.
• Other people interested in incorporating Google Map in their web pages.

The book will deal with the basics of creating maps as well as some advanced topics such as how to deal with large amounts of markers. It will also promote best practices for both HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The book will be filled with code examples that will teach you how things work and that you can start using right away in your own web applications.

As of now I don’t know in which form this book will be published, but I’ll keep you informed as things progress.

If you have a request for something that you want me to include in the book, or any thoughts or questions about it, please contact me in the comments or through the Contact page.

Update: If you want a sneak peek of the book, I have published a beta chapter about Markers called X Marks the spot.

Stay posted

If you want to stay updated with the progress of the book, sign up below.

[notify_me label_text="Email" button_text="Send" context="Google Maps Book"]

And just for the record, your email address is safe with me. I will use it for this purpose only. I hate spam as much as you do!

You should also follow me on twitter.

It’s interesting to note that the book was written through collaboration between 15 people on the forum and then released to the public, for free. This is how they describe them selfs:

Founded in 2006, Natural User Interface Group (~ NUI Group) is an interactive media community researching and creating open source machine sensing techniques to benefit artistic, commercial and educational applications. It’s the largest online (~5000+) open source community related to the open study of Natural User Interfaces.

Visit the forum and download the book at www.nuigroup.com/forums

Source: InUseful.se