http://simonwillison.net/2013-12-03T12:59:00+00:00Simon Willison2013-12-03T12:59:00+00:002013-12-03T12:59:00+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2013/Dec/3/is-there-an-open/#atom-tag

<p><em>My answer to <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-there-an-open-source-or-freely-accessible-database-of-geofence-coordinates-for-common-places-such-as-cities-or-national-parks/answer/Simon-Willison">Is there an open source (or freely accessible) database of geofence coordinates for common places, such as cities or national parks?</a> on Quora</em></p> <p>Take a look at Flickr's openly licensed shapefiles:</p> <span><a href="http://code.flickr.net/2011/01/08/flickr-shapefiles-public-dataset-2-0/">http://code.flickr.net/2011/01/0...</a></span> <p>They are derived from the collective opinion of Flickr's community as to what name should apply to different areas around the world.</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/databases">databases</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/geolocation">geolocation</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/google-maps">google-maps</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/maps">maps</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/open-source">open-source</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/quora">quora</a></p>

2012-02-15T09:45:00+00:002012-02-15T09:45:00+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2012/Feb/15/what-are-the-best/#atom-tag

<p><em>My answer to <a href="https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-sites-to-find-events-by-location/answer/Simon-Willison">What are the best sites to find events by location?</a> on Quora</em></p> <p>It depends on what kind of event you are looking for.</p> <p>For general events, Eventful and Plancast are worth a look. If you're looking for gigs and music, Songkick have what I believe is the most comprehensive database. For interest-based meetup groups, try Meetup. Our site <span><a href="http://lanyrd.com/">http://lanyrd.com/</a></span> lists conferences and professional events, with a bias towards tech but with more and more other categories showing up all the time.</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/events">events</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/quora">quora</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/meetups">meetups</a></p>

2010-10-25T10:57:00+00:002010-10-25T10:57:00+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2010/Oct/25/what-are-the-best/#atom-tag

<p><em>My answer to <a href="https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-APIs-for-creating-location-based-Wikipedia-mashups/answer/Simon-Willison">What are the best APIs for creating location-based Wikipedia mashups?</a> on Quora</em></p> <p>GeoNames has a fantastic API for finding Wikipedia articles near a specific latitude/longitude pair:</p> <span><a href="http://www.geonames.org/export/wikipedia-webservice.html#findNearbyWikipedia">http://www.geonames.org/export/w...</a></span> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/wikipedia">wikipedia</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/quora">quora</a></p>

2009-05-24T13:14:04+00:002009-05-24T13:14:04+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2009/May/24/schneier/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/05/on_the_anonymit.html">On the Anonymity of Home/Work Location Pairs</a></strong></p> Most people can be uniquely identified by the rough location of their home combined with the rough location of their work. US Census data shows that 5% of people can be uniquely identified by this combination even at just census tract level (1,500 people). <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/bruce-schneier">bruce-schneier</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/census">census</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/privacy">privacy</a></p>

2008-10-06T21:16:57+00:002008-10-06T21:16:57+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Oct/6/gps/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://csensedesign.co.uk/blog/?p=183">Tracking your Cat with GPS</a></strong></p> Alex Lee strapped a GPS to his cat. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/alex-lee">alex-lee</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/cats">cats</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/gps">gps</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a></p>

2008-08-22T10:16:44+00:002008-08-22T10:16:44+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Aug/22/getlatlon/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://www.getlatlon.com/">Get Lat Lon now has a &quot;Get my location (by IP)&quot; button</a></strong></p> It took all of five minutes to add using the new google.loader.ClientLocation API. The button is only visible if your location can be resolved. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/clientlocation">clientlocation</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/getlatlon">getlatlon</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/javascript">javascript</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/projects">projects</a></p>

2008-08-22T10:12:48+00:002008-08-22T10:12:48+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Aug/22/google/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2008/08/two-new-ways-to-location-enable-your.html">Google Code Blog: Two new ways to location-enable your web apps</a></strong></p> The Gears Geolocation API isn’t very exciting just yet as it only really works on windows mobile devices, but the new google.loader.ClientLocation Ajax API is great—it gives you the user’s location based on looking up their IP address, saving you from needing to install a IP-to-geo lookup database. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/apis">apis</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/clientlocation">clientlocation</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/gears">gears</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/geolocation">geolocation</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/javascript">javascript</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a></p>

2008-08-12T21:33:24+00:002008-08-12T21:33:24+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Aug/12/fireeagle/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/">Fire Eagle has launched!</a></strong></p> No need for an invite any more, hooray! <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/fireeagle">fireeagle</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/yahoo">yahoo</a></p>

2008-05-12T21:02:16+00:002008-05-12T21:02:16+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/May/12/yahoo/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://developer.yahoo.com/geo/">Yahoo! Internet Location Platform</a></strong></p> As an ex-Yahoo! this is really exciting—WhereOnEarth (a London company acquired by Yahoo! in 2005) provide the incredibly detailed geographical data used by Flickr, Upcoming and FireEagle—and now it’s available as an external API. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/apis">apis</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/fireeagle">fireeagle</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/flickr">flickr</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/geocoding">geocoding</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/upcoming">upcoming</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/whereonearth">whereonearth</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/yahoo">yahoo</a></p>

2008-04-22T01:02:38+00:002008-04-22T01:02:38+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Apr/22/plazes/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://blog.plazes.com/?p=220">Plazes adds Fire Eagle Support</a></strong></p> The Plazer software can now automatically update your location in FireEagle based on fingerprinting your laptop’s local network. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/fireeagle">fireeagle</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/plazes">plazes</a></p>

2008-03-31T20:34:22+00:002008-03-31T20:34:22+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Mar/31/sharing/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/03/sharing-my-location-just-the-w.html">Sharing My Location Just the Way I Like It</a></strong></p> Fire Eagle gets a great write-up from Brady Forrest over on the O’Reilly Radar. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/brady-forrest">brady-forrest</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/fireeagle">fireeagle</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/oreilly">oreilly</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/oreillyradar">oreillyradar</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/wikinear">wikinear</a></p>

2008-03-05T19:05:47+00:002008-03-05T19:05:47+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Mar/5/welcome/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/">Welcome to Fire Eagle!</a></strong></p> It’s launched! A service and accompanying API for saving your physical location and selectively sharing it with applications that you trust. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/api">api</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/fireeagle">fireeagle</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/yahoo">yahoo</a></p>

2007-08-06T23:26:28+00:002007-08-06T23:26:28+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2007/Aug/6/nokia/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/007/07/assisted_gps_service.htm">New A-GPS service for Nokia phones</a></strong></p> Appears to look up your cell ID against a global database to find nearby satellites, dramatically reducing the time needed to get a GPS fix. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/agps">agps</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/cellid">cellid</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/gps">gps</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/mobile">mobile</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/nokia">nokia</a></p>

2007-06-02T00:53:01+00:002007-06-02T00:53:01+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2007/Jun/2/geohackers/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://developer.yahoo.net/blog/archives/2007/06/geohackers_the.html">The Zonetag API Goes Public</a></strong></p> Awesome new API from YRB—given a cell tower ID can provide both a location and a list of suggested tags, based on data collected by ZoneTag. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/api">api</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/cellid">cellid</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/location">location</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/tagging">tagging</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/yahoo">yahoo</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ydn">ydn</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/yrb">yrb</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/zonetag">zonetag</a></p>