Map it, Find it, Get it, Share it - Search Local With Loki 2.0
Written by Glenn Letham
21 May 2007
Loki - a powerful application that uses your location to harness even more power from the Internet. Download the Loki toolbar, take it for a drive and you'll say WOW... I did! I'm trying to figure out why I didn't grab it sooner! Simply put, Loki 2.0 enables you to locate information about where you are when you don't know where you are! For those of us that travel, you'll know what I mean.
Imagine this... you get back to the hotel room and fire up the laptop... you know you're at a motel near an airport or maybe at a hotel near a convention center, but do you really know where you are and what's near you? The Loki toolbar responds to this. To start, download the toolbar - see http://loki.com/download/ Downloading is quick and painless.. installation is even easier
Once installed you should have a nice, new toolbar on your web browser with a number of options:
Find Me - hit the "Find Me" button and you'll see your location plotted on a map. A nifty Google map shows up with your approximate location. Now you can start panning and browsing around to locate businesses or whatever you need. USe the search functionality to search your locale for anything you want or need. Imagine... your at the hotel in downtown San diego and craving Indian food. Simply bang in the appropriate search string and you'll find relevant hits nearby.
FindMe uses Google Maps to show you where you are!
Tune your Location This option is really cool and helps you make the service even better. If the Find Me seems to be off slightly then you can update your location and help refine the results so everyone can enjoy a better experience.
SMS For mobile device users, simply power up your laptop when on the road, click the Loki SMS option on the toolbar, enetr your mobile number and you'll get a message sent via sms providing information about your location. The Email option on the toolbar is similar but send via email instead.
Loki SMS - send details to your mobile
GeoTag Clicking the Geotag option on the toolbar will determine your location and enable you to simply paste in the coordinates when filling in a form that requires geotaging location-relevant information. Loki says this is valuable for users of flickr and other sharing apps (unfortunately I couldn't actually get it to work but I'll keep trying!)
Channels Now this is the fun stuff... Loki Channels are quick, one-click navigation buttons that give you immediate access to the most popular 'location-relevant' content on the web. We've organized them into logical categories – like Restaurants, Movies, Weather, News, Entertainment – and then partnered with some of the most popular sites on the Internet to add pre-packaged links. Zagat, Fandango, AccuWeather, Match.com - more channels are also available from Loki. My favorite is the GasBuddy application.. I now have one-click access to the most recent gas prices in my area. This is cool.. all the channles pull up useful applications but more important, provides your location to the service so you receive only relevant results from the app... SWEET!
Some Recent additions in Loki 2.0 (released in April, 2007) include:
Javascript API - Website developers can now implement Loki’s positioning system with only a few lines of Javascript. Enhancing applications and websites with location awareness is now easier than ever.Head over to the Developers Section to learn more and sign up as a developer. See http://loki.com/developers
Updated UI - The user interface has been cleaned up, beautified and reskinned with new icons. Tasks are now grouped together for easy navigation. And now you can minimize the toolbar when you’re not using it.
I've only touched on the possibilities and options available from the Loki toolbar. This clever service is fun, useful, and innovative... anyone interested in having access to local information and services will appreciate the power of location-enabling your web experience with the help of Loki.
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Nokia Booklet 3G, unboxing video and image gallery... Those of you in the USA who pop in to BestBuy occasionally, you may have seen a stand showing off the Nokia Booklet 3G. A sleek, 3G enabled, SIM slot (AT&T) sporting netbook.
Interesting Tweeple - 10 Geo Technology & Geo-Social Women of Twitter - given the growing love for geospatial and location-aware technologies, I’ve decided to hype 10 women that I feel make a significant contribution to the Geo-Twittersphere. If you’d like to add 10 knowledgeable and useful Twitter contacts to your Geo following list I highly suggest the following: (in no particular order)
10 Geo Social Location-Aware Apps Making Waves... With Twitter's opening of their location API to developers there's going to be a ton of third party apps that will enable Twitter users to share location-aware information via their Twitter accounts.
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Real-time GPS Mapping and GIS Solution Aids Efficient Disaster Management - Saturday, February 7, 2009 will forever be known as Black Saturday in the State of Victoria, Australia. In the midst of a 10-year drought, a record breaking heat wave descended upon the state, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees C (110-120 deg F), breaking all-time record highs in some cities - Victoria Police Use Trimble Juno SC Handhelds to Speed Assessment of Damage Caused by Bush Fires.
2010 ESRI Federal User Conference February 17-19, 2010, Washington D.C. Walter E. Washington Convention Center - The FedUC is the largest geospatial conference for federal agencies. Connect with other leaders, decision makers, and GIS professionals.
The International LiDAR Mapping Forum 2010 - Tenth Anniversary Event! ILMF 2010 will be held from March 3 - 5, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
The NAVTEQ 2010 Global LBS Challenge Awards Ceremony will be held during Ignite at O'Reilly Where 2.0. Be among the first to hear as NAVTEQ announces the winners for the North America region. Participants will be competing for a global prize pool of $10 million and growing by showcasing pre-commercial location-enabled apps using NAVTEQ map data & products. March 30, 2010, during Ignite Where, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, at the Marriott San Jose, CA
WHERE2.0 2010 - Now in its sixth year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. For 15% use Discount Code: whr10lbs
Loki - a powerful application that uses your location to harness even more power from the Internet. Download the Loki toolbar, take it for a drive and you'll say WOW... I did! I'm trying to figure out why I didn't grab it sooner! Simply put, Loki 2.0 enables you to locate information about where you are when you don't know where you are! For those of us that travel, you'll know what I mean.
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