Baidu 3D Maps

I recently discovered that Bǎidù 百度 have 3D maps. I think these maps are very impressive and visually stunning. I much prefer these 3D maps to satellite images and find them easier to navigate.

I assume that they are using a design/3D modelling App where each building is an object. Each building object then being fitted to an underlying street map. One day I will find out exactly how they do construct these 3D maps.

It is still very much a work in progress. Few cities, as yet, have 3D maps. Below I have given links to city 3D maps. As the Bǎidù 3D map coverage encompasses other cities I will add further links.

1. Běijīng 北京 j.map.baidu.com/Hw5e
2. Guǎngzhōu 广州 j.map.baidu.com/2aEL
3. Shànghǎi 上海 j.map.baidu.com/q7YL
4. Shēnzhèn 深圳 j.map.baidu.com/w8YL

I gather from Offbeat China that these maps are a collaborative venture between Bǎidù and O.cn. It looks to me like the 3D map technology is attributable to O.cn and the joint venture is the integration with the Bǎidù map service.

Below, I list direct links to the O.cn 3D maps. As I compiled the list, much to my surprise and delight, I noticed that some of the maps have traffic in the form of animated vehicles. I have marked these with ✰. Look out also for an Airship, a Flying Saucer and animated Billboards. All very impressive stuff ☺

1. Běijīng 北京 bj.o.cn
2. Bèngbù 蚌埠, Ānhuī Province 安徽省 bb.o.cn ✰
3. Chángzhōu 常州, Jiāngsū Province 江苏省 cz.o.cn
4. Dōngguǎn 东莞, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 dongguan.o.cn
5. Dōngyíng 东营, Shāndōng Province 山东省 dy.o.cn
6. Fúzhōu 福州, Fújiàn Province 福建省 fz.o.cn
7. Guǎngzhōu 广州, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 gz.o.cn
8. Guìyáng 贵阳, Guìzhōu Province 贵州省 gy.o.cn
9. Huángshān 黄山, Ānhuī Province 安徽省 hs.o.cn
10. Jiāngmén 江门, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 jm.o.cn
11. Jìnchéng 晋城, Shānxī Province 山西省 www.jc08.com
12. Kù'ěrlè 库尔勒 kel.o.cn
13. Kūnmíng 昆明, Yúnnán Province 云南省 km.o.cn
14. Liáoyáng 辽阳, Liáoníng Province 辽宁省 liaoyang.o.cn
15. Lóngyán 龙岩, Fújiàn Province 福建省 ly.o.cn
16. Lóudǐ 娄底, Húnán Province 湖南省 loudi.o.cn ✰
17. Luòyáng 洛阳, Hénán Province 河南省 www.3dluoyang.com ✰
18. Macau Àomén 澳门 macau.o.cn
19. Quánzhōu 泉州, Fújiàn Province 福建省 qz.o.cn
20. Shànghǎi 上海, #China 中国 sh.o.cn
21. Shēnzhèn 深圳, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 sz.o.cn
22. Shíyàn 十堰, Húběi Province 湖北省 www.3dsy.cn
23. Sūzhōu 苏州, Jiāngsū Province 江苏省 www.meedoo.cn
24. Tàiyuán 太原, Shānxī Province 山西省 taiyuan.o.cn ✰
25. Wǔhàn 武汉, Húběi Province 湖北省 wuhan.o.cn
26. Wúhú 芜湖, Ānhuī Province 安徽省 wuhu.o.cn
27. Wújiāng 吴江, Jiāngsū Province 江苏省 wujiang.o.cn
28. Yánchéng 盐城, Jiāngsū Province 江苏省 yancheng.o.cn
29. Yìwū 义乌, Zhèjiāng Province 浙江省 yiwu.o.cn
30. Zhūhǎi 珠海, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 zhuhai.o.cn ✰
31. Zhūzhōu 株洲, Húnán Province 湖南省 zhuzhou.o.cn ✰

edushi.com E都市 also provide a 3D Map service. edushi.com has 3D maps for some of the same cities as provided by O.cn. Below, I have listed only those cities that are not included in the O.cn list above.

1. Ānkāng 安康, Shǎnxī Province 陕西省 ankang.edushi.com
2. Chángchūn 长春, Jílín Province 吉林省 changchun.edushi.com
3. Chéngdū 成都, Sìchuān Province 四川省 chengdu.edushi.com
4. Dàlián 大连, Liáoníng Province 辽宁省 dalian.edushi.com
5. Dūjiāngyàn 都江堰, Sìchuān Province 四川省 dujiangyan.edushi.com
6. Dūnhuà 敦化, Yánbiān Korean Autonomous Prefecture 延边朝鲜族自治州, Jílín Province 吉林省 dunhua.edushi.com
7. Fǔshùn 抚顺, Liáoníng Province 辽宁省 fushun.edushi.com
8. Hā'ěrbīn 哈尔滨, Hēilóngjiāng Province 黑龙江省 haerbin.edushi.com
9. Hángzhōu 杭州, Zhèjiāng Province 浙江省 hangzhou.edushi.com
10. Hànzhōng 汉中, Shǎnxī Province 陕西省 hanzhong.edushi.com
11. Hong Kong 香港, Simplified Chinese 简体 hongkong.edushi.com
12. Hong Kong 香港, Traditional Chinese 繁体 hongkong.edushi.com/?l=zh-cht
13. Húnchūn 珲春, Yánbiān Korean Autonomous Prefecture 延边朝鲜族自治州, Jílín Province 吉林省 hunchun.edushi.com
14. Jǐnzhōu 锦州, Liáoníng Province 辽宁省 jinzhou.edushi.com
15. Lángfāng 廊坊, Héběi Province 河北省 langfang.edushi.com
16. Lúzhōu 泸州, Sìchuān Province 四川省 luzhou.edushi.com
17. Nánchōng 南充, Sìchuān Province 四川省 nanchong.edushi.com
18. Níngbō 宁波, Zhèjiāng Province 浙江省 ningbo.edushi.com
19. Qínhuángdǎo 秦皇岛, Héběi Province 河北省 qinhuangdao.edushi.com
20. Sháoguān 韶关, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 shaoguan.edushi.com
21. Shíjiāzhuāng 石家庄, Héběi Province 河北省 shijiazhuang.edushi.com
22. Suìníng 遂宁, Sìchuān Province 四川省 suining.edushi.com
23. Tiānjīn 天津 tianjin.edushi.com
24. Wēnjiāng 温江, Sìchuān Province 四川省 wenjiang.edushi.com
25. Wūlǔmùqí／Ürümqi 乌鲁木齐, Xīnjiāng Uyghur Autonomous Region 新疆维吾尔自治区 wulumuqi.edushi.com
26. Xi'an 西安, Shǎnxī Province 陕西省 xian.edushi.com
27. Yánjí 延吉, Yánbiān Korean Autonomous Prefecture 延边朝鲜族自治州, Jílín Province 吉林省 yanji.edushi.com
28. Yíngkǒu 营口, Liáoníng Province 辽宁省 yingkou.edushi.com
29. Yúnfú 云浮, Guǎngdōng Province 广东省 yunfu.edushi.com

HK

Hong Kong's idn ccTLD 香港 is now live!

1. Activities HK 香港情報網 情報.香港 & 刊物.香港
2. Allan Dyer's Blog 狂放.戴.公司.香港
3. Brand Hong Kong 亞洲國際都會.香港 & 亚洲国际都会.香港
4. Brand Marketing 长沙米拓信息技术有限公司 品牌營銷.香港
5. Charles Design Studio 確定.香港
6. Cilla Kung Fansite 樂瞳.香港 & 乐瞳.香港
7. Day Dream TV 幻想電視 幻想電視.屈機.香港
8. Diving Adventure 潜水历险会.香港
9. Easybuy 購物易.公司.香港
10. Find Home 搵屋.香港 & 揾屋.香港
11. FlexSystem 人力資源管理系統.香港
12. Foresoon Computer Accessories Forum 廣場 - 科訊電腦配件小而科討論區 電腦節.香港
13. Hong Kong Art School 香港藝術學院.教育.香港 & 香港藝術學院.香港 & 藝術學院.香港 & 香港艺术学院.教育.香港 & 香港艺术学院.香港 & 艺术学院.香港
14. Hong Kong Companies Registry Services 注册.公司.香港
15. Hong Kong Post 香港郵政.香港
16. iGen6 New Media Company 越世代創新媒體有限公司 新媒體.公司.香港
17. Joel Li 祺.香港
18. Joey Yung 容祖兒.香港
19. Just Climb 香港攀石訓練學會 攀石場.香港
20. MaD - Make a Difference 創不同.香港
21. Miru 組播數據傳輸 見.香港
22. My Hosting 网存.公司.香港 & 網存.公司.香港
23. OK Forum 討論區 確定.香港
24. Online Shopping 网购.香港
25. Soweb Hosting 禾盈數位網絡有限公司 中文域名.香港
26. Tong Li Publishing Group 東立出版集團有限公司 東立.香港
27. UNICEF 相信零可以成真.組織.香港
28. United-Trans 聯營貨運.公司.香港
29. University of Hong Kong 香港大學.教育.香港 & 香港大學.香港 & 港大.香港 & 港大.教育.香港
30. Vampires (Hong Kong) 網.僵屍.公司.香港
31. xenForo 火火.香港

iFruit

Danny 大霓 and Elaine 爱兰 Round have adopted the name iFruit for their Loughborough 拉夫堡 Market Fruit and Veg stall. I have produced a poster for them that reflects their name. There is much more to the poster than first meets the eye. But first a visual of my poster:-

A second version of the poster with business contact details.

The name transforms in steps from the English iFruit to the Chinese 爱水果. The Chinese character 爱, in this context, means Loves or Likes. 爱 is pronounced the same as the English letter i. Thus 爱Fruit is pronounced the same as iFruit. 水果 is the Chinese for Fruit. The three forms of the name now take on the meanings Love Fruit or Like Fruit.

The Emoticons and the Fruits on the poster are characters in new Unicode blocks introduced in Unicode version 6.0.0. The Unicode blocks they belong to are:

• Miscellaneous Symbols & Pictographs U+1F300⇒1F5FF
• Emoticons U+1F600⇒1F64F

The specific characters I used are:

• U+1F347 GRAPES
• U+1F349 WATERMELON
• U+1F352 CHERRIES
• U+1F353 STRAWBERRY
• U+1F603 SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH
• U+1F604 SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND SMILING EYES
• U+1F60B FACE SAVOURING DELICIOUS FOOD
• U+1F60C RELIEVED FACE

If you want to use characters in these new Unicode blocks then you will need a font with the glyphs. I highly recommend the excellent and free Symbola font.

I produced these posters on a Mac using Pages which is one of the Apps in Apple's 爱Work bundle.

Chinese Tones

Recently, in one of my International Computing lectures, I was demonstrating the use of the Unicode Combining Diacritical Marks. I was using Latin letters as my base character and combining various combinations of diacritcs. As was expected they worked fine.

Then an idea occurred to me. I wondered if the diacritics would combine appropriately with Chinese characters. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that with TextEdit on Mac OSX they combined rather well. Later I tried with various Word Processors and the results of combining were either poor or non-existant.

The next step was to try it with web pages. Combining did not work at all with the browsers I tried. I then used html5 Ruby Annotation and that works quite well, as below.

北 ̬京 ̱欢 ̱迎 ̗你 ̬

The Combining Diacritical Marks I have used for the annotation are:-

• U+0316 COMBINING GRAVE ACCENT BELOW
• U+0317 COMBINING ACUTE ACCENT BELOW
• U+032C COMBINING CARON BELOW
• U+0331 COMBINING MACRON BELOW

jShortener

There is an excellent Japanese URL shortening service at 縮.jp This service uses Japanese Kanji characters instead of ASCII characters to form the shortened address. There are far more Kanji characters than ASCII characters and so one can produce shorter addresses.

The site refers to the 1981 Jouyou Kanji 常用漢字 which contains 1945 characters. Thus with just two Kanji characters there are 3783025 unique combinations. With three Kanji characters there are 7357983625 unique combinations.

The 2010 Jouyou Kanji has 2136 characters and so would generate many more shortened addresses for a given number of characters used in the shortened form. I am, though, assuming that this service is using the 1981 Jouyou Kanji character set.

The shortened addresses are ideal for use with Twitter because of current Twitter system deficiencies. ㊀ 地図.縮.jp and ㊁ ta.gd/ラフバラー both resolve to a Google Japanese map of Loughborough. ㊀ works with Twitter but ㊁ does not because the pathname part of the address contains non ASCII characters.

Here are some of my shortened URLs where I have let this service choose the Kanji characters. My observations lead me to deduce that the Kanji are being allocated in Dictionary order ie by radical and then by number of strokes.

1. 丁迅.縮.jp
2. 丁郭.縮.jp
3. 丁酌.縮.jp

Here are some customised shortened URLs where I chose the Kanji characters.

1. 小山.縮.jp
2. 地図.縮.jp