Google Maps

View West Portal in a larger map

Google Maps is a very straightforward site to use. I decided to use the neighborhood of West Portal, mainly just West Portal Ave, for my Map. I plotted my favorite restaurants and shops along the street, and many of them were already set. I then selected pictures and links for the assignment. It was very simple and I feel that most people would be able to use Google Maps to set up their own maps.

I think it would be a great site to make myself a map of my favorite restaurants all over the city. That way when I do not know what type of food I am in the mood for, or where I want to go, I can easily browse the best around. Maybe I would even assign a different color tack to each different type of food. (Yellow for Chinese food, Red for Pizza, Green for health food.)

The map is different from the timeline because location is a big factor instead of time. Both Dipity and Google Maps have their design set up similarly. Users are able to click once for more information and creators are able to easily add pictures and links. I think I prefer Google Maps to Dipity because I did not come across as many faults with Google Maps as I did when I tried Dipity.

Google maps are very helpful in today’s world. People use it daily to find where they are going or where they have been. I do not have GPS so I often print maps and coordinating directions to help me get wherever I am going.

Dipity

DIPITY Timeline for FORD MUSTANG

Ford Mustang on Dipity.

For my Dipity timeline I chose to use Ford Mustang history and events. Doing the entire timeline of Ford’s past would be near impossible so I used events and dates that I find interesting, and added my personal opinion to the topic.

I like that when using Dipity’s Timeline format, users are able to scale years so that there are not HUGE gaps between events depending on how far apart they occur.

Since Dipity is relatively new it still has some flaws, which can be very frustrating. One thing I noticed is that when I entered the date, it would sometimes change it, or add a time of day. It was annoying because I had to reset the time over and over until it stuck. Another defect was apparent when using links. Dipity darkens the background space and brightens the pop-up link page, which would be nice except there is no way to exit this mode without refreshing the entire page. The other problem with this feature is that the linked page opens in a small area of the main page and users are unable to scroll or enlarge it. For one of my links, the only part shown is the top of the page and the pictures are unavailable.

Also, in timeline view, sometimes my events disappear. When scrolling through the years, select events are not there. Even when I select the year and try to find where it is, it is unresponsive. This being said, please grade my Dipity timeline while viewing the List format.

Without these defects, Dipity has potential to be a great online tool. I think that the most valuable application of it will be for news related topics. I have noticed that there are timelines for political events, natural hazards, and economic measures. It is useful to keep track of articles, statements and viewpoints based on the point in time they were brought up. I have found it to be educational to visually and simply keep track of events in the news.