Novels on Location lets you search for places or books using the search bar. You can zoom through the map so that you can easily picture the setting of the book that you are reading. This is also helpful as a teaching tool so that students can easily understand the nature of a place and how relevant it is to the book’s story. For example knowing where Cupertino is on a map could help me be more engaged as I read Steve Jobs’ biography. Each plot shows the book title, description, and the specific place setting.

As a user-contributed website, you only need a Facebook account to add your own entries. You can also click to show only your entries. Novels on Location is also a great alternative for discovering new books that finds and explains meaning to a place.

Features:

• Google Maps for book settings.
• Find related book about a specific place.
• User-contributed websites allows you to add your own entries.
• Zoom in to view the place where the story takes place.
• Find a place and connect the book to it.

Check out Novels on Location @ http://novelsonlocation.com

There are several user cases for Another Earth – especially for educators. For example, you can compare before and after shots of a disaster such as the Japanese Earthquake of 2011. You can also take two different locations and view them at the same time. Toggle layers like borders and towns, buildings, grid, roads, sun, and terrain.

Another Earth is a cool way to apply the Google Earth plugin for the browser. As this plugin gets more use, we will see more creative ways on how Google Earth is viewed and presented with different tools and services.

Features:

• Compare a 3D Earth by time.
• Movement of the map is synchronized.
• Toggle by different layers such as buildings, sun, and terrain.
• Copy coordinates for synced viewing.
• Save view by generating a URL.
• Similar Tools: MoveOutlines and CoverageMap

Check out Another Earth @ http://anotherearth.org

It’s a nice tool to check out location-based video content on YouTube.

The tool has a simple and easy to use interface. You only need to search for your query and it’ll show the list of YouTube videos on the left and a map on the right with markers that pop up the corresponding geo-tagged videos.

Features

• Watch YouTube videos on Google Maps.
• Shows geo-tagged videos.

Check out Mapstube @ mapstube.dreamleaves.org (via Google Maps Mania By Abhijeet from GT Cool Stuff)

ArtSpotter is an online website that allows people to interact with galleries, museums and street art right from the website. Just click on the “Discover” button, and you will see a map open up down below with markers placed on it pointing out all the art activities, events and happenings around the world. If you happen to find one you like, just click on it to know where the event is happening and even find discount tickets.

You can even follow events to know when they start, end, and even get discount tickets with ArtSpotter. If you are the ‘travelling’ type of a person, you can contribute to ArtSpotter and add locations to the map where there are museums, art galleries, street art, graffiti, etc.

The Artspotter app is available on the iPhone as well which helps you find exhibitions on the go.

Features

• Never miss local/international exhibitions and art shows.
• Follow event to get discount tickets, and much more.
• iPhone app available – makes it possible to keep in touch everywhere.

Check out ArtSpotter @ http://artspotter.com/venues?keyword=&location=co3+9bb (via TNW)

Google Maps Realistic Look is a free to use web app created by Iacopo Boccalari who is an Italian architect and a photographer. He created the Realist Look web app to have Google Maps emulate the look of a real map page. The site does not let you browse Google Maps the normal way; you start from Milan, Italy on the map and can reach other places only by zooming in/out or dragging the map with your mouse. Currently this is only a demo of the Realistic Look app with further improvements possibly to come.

Features:

• A user-friendly web service.
• Lets you browse Google Maps like a real map.
• Emulates real paper.

Check out Google Maps Realistic Look @ http://www.iacopoboccalari.com/demo/mappa (By Umar from AllthatIsApple)

The service is something like Foursquare combined with Facebook or some other social networking website. The website allows you to mark a point on the map where you met someone special, or where you used to live. It allows you to share the places where you met someone and engage in a discussion with anyone who might have been nearby.

All you have to do is sign up for a free account on Uencounter.me and start placing pins on encounter points. You can either drop a pin on any point on the map or enter the location details (City, State, etc.) to find the address.  Once the pin has been placed, you will be required to fill in information for the event that occurred, and it helps people discover you – and for you to discover other people.

Uencounter also offer premium plans with many exciting features for $25 per year.

Features

• Free and easy to use.
• Socialize with people who were near you.
• Make new friends, yet at the very same time leave a mark which holds great importance in your life.
• Offers premium membership for at $25/year.

Check out Uencouncter @ http://www.uencounter.me (via Google Maps Mania)

There is no more need to install a third-party screenshot taking utility to take screenshots as Map2Pic allows for that. It allows you to take screenshots from Google Maps and save it in either “png” or “jpg” format.

Just start by clicking the Start Map2Pic button. You will then have the option to find the location, specify the dimensions, and save it. You can even change the view of the map, to different ones such as Physical View, Satellite View, and Hybrid View.

Features

• Free and easy to use.
• Ability to put marker, change view of map, etc, all from one window.
• Saving image in “jpg” or “png” format according to requirements.
• Similar tools: Google Maps Colorizr, MapTo, FollowYourWorld and Tixik.
• Also read related articles: The Five Best Things About Google Maps.

Check out Map2Pic @ www.map2pic.com (via Google Maps Mania)

Currently the site is only limited to the US, and works well except that the number of options it gives vary from route to route. Enter the origin and destination, select one of the routes it presents as options and you are good to go. It shows the map on the right and the list on the left.

Features

• Find what’s on the way in your road trip.
• Easy to use and navigate.
• Similar tools: MyScenicDrives, Rome2rio, RouteFriend, Route4Me, Route Planner, POIs Along A Route, UMapper and The Route Planner.

Check out OnTheWay @ www.onthewayapp.com (By Abhijeet from GT Mobiles)

Flood Map is a free to use web app that helps determine which areas will be underwater once a flood strikes. The app works in a very simple manner. It lets you specify the elevation of the flood water levels and then it matches it with the elevation of terrains in various areas. A map of your location, judged by your IP address, is loaded up automatically but you can change the map to another location if you want.

Then simply enter a water height level in meters and watch the map change its colors; regions covered in blue will have a land elevation level less than the water level you specified. A direct link for your map will also be generated which simplifies sharing the results.

Features:

• A user-friendly web app.
• Helps find out which areas will be affected by floods.
• Factors in elevation of flood waters.
• Factors in elevation of land.
• Similar tools: GlobalFloodMap and AlertMap.

Check out Flood Map @ www.floodmap.net (by MOin from Thumb Press)

Clicking on the restaurant will display the latest deals along with the location of the restaurant. You can track daily deals, offers, happy hour deals, discounts and more everyday. The search engine even shows you “specials” on menus of different restaurants, so you might find something you just love to eat.

Even if you can’t find the deal you are looking for on the map, you can search for any cuisine you like, for example: Cuban, Chinese, and Japanese, etc. along with the location in which you are looking for. It will show you all the deals and offers available in the selected area.

The service has an application for iPhone users as well so that they can search for deals on the go.

Features

• Real-time updates about daily deals, discounts.
• Free to use with no registration required
• Available on iPhone
• Available in US only.
• Similar tools: Snoopf, RestaurantCoupons, KidsMealDeals, UEatCheap and KidsEatFor.

Check out Bitehunter @ www.bitehunter.com (via Lifehacker) (By Hammad from TechnicallyDigital)