googlemaps api

As i was thinking the other day why shouldn't somebody try to use the googlemaps engine, or sort of it for fantasy worlds, it just happen to be me one week later ;-)

My first approach was to try to understand the engine just by examing their code and the dominspector... but after a while of searching i found something great. You can use the googlemaps api from google themselves. Just create your onw code and voila everything is working..

http://www.google.com/apis/maps/

Also there are a mass of tutorials and helps how to work with the api and how to add custom maps, although they only think of adding just parts of the map and not a completely new map.

http://www.mapki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.econym.demon.co.uk/googlemaps/index.htm

I would also recommend looking into the Google Group for the Api for help. There is always something you can work with.

Happy mapping!

Honeymoon

Now something intechnical.. since i wrote most times something about php, css or mysql ;-)

I just got back this week from my honeymoon at Buenos Aires and i have to say, it was really lovely there. Living in the City, talking to people and dancing was really helping shutting down the normally technical problems ..

I should add i did not speak spanish, so i had to learn some words to make my way through, although they all speak english and there is always a way to comunicate, even without words...

Finally i managed to ask how much something costs in spanish, but the problem was, i did not understand what they were answering.. *lol*.. so i had to learn some new techniques to find it out without using english and without looking like someone who is not able to speak spanish...

But i managed and now i am going to take some lessons so i may do more than just ask a few questions.. I think this is one reason to travel to a foreign country, to learn about their culture, their language, their life... it's not always different then ours, but it's definetly fun!

Of course i also had some Troubles to realize that i am married now.. i mean nothing changed except now i have a wife... i mean a real Wife... well, let's take one step after another.. tomorrow i will realize that we will have to get some childrens some day.. ;-))

get rid of the white flashes when loading a flash

Everyone knows it... the little white flash when loading a flash into your website... and it get really on our nerves....

Well finally i managed to find a very little trick.. it is so easy i feel ashamed i did not come up with it further..

just add the wmode="transparent" to the object (and of course the same to the embed part) and you have no more flashes. Of course you should check if the background is working accordingly and does not add aditional problems..