The mobile site is at http://dmreg.com/potholes.

You can see the desktop browser version at DesMoinesRegister.com/potholes, and there’s more info on that project in a previous post.

This is our first extensively location-aware site, and it’s our first really extensive specialty mobile site, so there’s a lot of figuring out still left on this one. But we’re pretty happy with the result.

We used quite a few methods that were different or modified from our other mapping projects.

1. For geolocation, we’re using the W3C geolocation API built in to many phones’ browsers. Safari for iPhone and most Google phones have it, but BlackBerries don’t. Theoretically we’re also supporting Google Gears geolocation, but we haven’t really tested it on mobile devices.

2. We used the Google Static Maps API instead of the more-familiar Javascript API. The Javascript API actually works fairly well, technically speaking, on iPhones and Google phones, but the user experience can quickly become confusing. Dragging things on the map is hard on a mobile device, and zooming in and out on the map often messes with the browser zoom. The static maps API is a lot lighter load for a mobile connection to bear. Almost as a bonus, because I was about ready to write off the BlackBerry browser, using the static API also enables BlackBerry users to use the site (the lack of browser GPS still limits BlackBerry users, but they can at least submit a pothole using an address).

3. We’re using Prototype’s Ajax and JSON to load points and send new pothole data. We’ve done this a few times now, and it’s becoming our standard. JSON is lighter than XML on the server, and you can send data back and forth as Javascript objects, which makes sending complex data much easier (and much easier to modify later).

4. We did this as a website instead of an app in order to work with more platforms at once, and because we’re much better at Web design than objective C (which is to say I know not a bit, and learning will take a while). I’m curious to hear others’ thoughts on this, because I think most journalism shops are going to have a hard time making the economics of iPhone, BlackBerry and Google apps a pretty tough thing to make work. As long as mobile browsers keep developing quickly, I think this is probably the way to go for now, unless you can afford to build your own apps, have a lot more time to devote to one project than we do, or can afford to pay someone else to build them for you.

Check it out, let me know what works and what doesn’t.

Yes, websites and not apps. I’d love to be building phone apps as well, but for now in the interest of speed we’re going with Web pages before apps. (Not that we’re not working on apps either, that’s just a separate topic.)

The good news for most Web designers is that building basic mobile websites is easy: Just write really simple HTML. You can use all the PHP you want since it’s server-side (insert also ASP, Django, your server-side secret weapon of choice). Ems are your friend in mobile Web design: Yes, you finally have to actually use them.

So far this year we’ve knocked out really simple mobile pages for state high school wrestling tournament results and for state high school basketball tournament scores.

As you can see, nothing fancy, but they look pretty, and they work on pretty much every mobile browser we tried them on, smartphone or no.

These were also a bit of R and D for the one I really want to build, which is in progress now: a mobile, location-aware version of our potholes map.

This one is a lot more technically complex, as you might imagine. And as soon as I started researching and testing, I hit a big snag: BlackBerries.

We want to use basic Google Maps API features, so we have to use Javascript and Ajax. Right there is a big problem: Even the newest BlackBerry browsers don’t work with the Google Maps Javascript API.

We also want to include Facebook Connect integration, but the Javascript method won’t work for that on BlackBerries either (to be fair, it’s pretty buggy on iPhones and Android as well, but the FBML all renders, and you can log in with Javascript).

Location awareness in the browser? No problem on iPhones and Android, as long as the phone has GPS. Not so on most BlackBerries.

So that makes three dead-ends today. I figured I could at least download the BlackBerry simulator and figure out what type of site I COULD make work on a BlackBerry with the Google Static Maps API. (This would certainly work, but no moving the point once it’s geocoded, which would be an issue for our purposes)

Oops, the simulator is for Windows only. Does RIM really think there’s only a few Web developers using Macs? Is it even a majority using Windows?

So I’ll just download the simulator on my Virtual Box and run it from there, right? Only if I want to spend 5 minutes waiting for the simulator to actually run, only to give me a connection error and not show any sites when I DO get the browser running.

I. Give. Up.

So can Web developers afford to ignore BlackBerry? Well, not probably not completely, but luckily the number of BlackBerry browser users is heading the in the right direction.

Comscore reported in December that from September 2009 to Dec. 2009 RIM browser market share fell by one percentage point, while mobile Safari was up 1.2 percentage points. Google mobile browser share was up 2.7 percentage points. Yes, RIM still had 41.6% of the smartphone marketshare, but that’s not so much more than iPhones and Google phones combined: 30.5% in December, and certainly still going up.

And my (admittedly unscientific) research with BlackBerry users in our newsroom seemed to indicate that people with BlackBerries aren’t as interested in Web usage as their Google- and iPhone-toting colleagues. They don’t seem to expect the same degree of neato interface/experience.

In any case, our options for mobile potholes:

1) Build two mobile sites, one for iPhones and Google, and another for BlackBerries. Do you want to build 2 sites for everything? Me neither.

2) Build for the browsers that work (OK, not fair, but it’s not like the Google Maps Javascrip API is new), on the theory that you’re offering the people who DO care the best experience you can, and that the number of people with access to the best features is rising all the time. And maybe BlackBerry will get its act together.

Neither are great, but for now I think I have to opt for 2. Sorry, BlackBerry friends! But I’d love to hear your thoughts. Am I way off base on the “BlackBerry users aren’t after great Web experiences” theory?

Am I missing the magical secret to BlackBerry Javascript development?

HTML/Javascript/Facebook Connect Development: Michael Corey
Database backend/Local government admin: James E. Wilkerson

UPDATE: Mobile, location-aware potholes beta map now launched!

In case you haven’t noticed, potholes are everywhere. We hate ‘em, and we’re out to kill them.

We did a similar map two years ago, but there’s a few big twists that make us pretty proud of this one.

Working with local governments: We consulted extensively with Des Moines Public Works to see how we could build a system for reporting potholes that worked for our users AND for the city. We sent them data last time as well, but it didn’t work well for them. We didn’t have reverse-geocoding figured out two years ago, and someone had to re-enter our data into the city’s system to make anything happen.

Neither side wanted a repeat of that, but we really wanted to build a system Des Moines would actually use. The result: We send them daily e-mails with Excel attachments showing new potholes with exact locations. They’ve told use they’re going to hand those spreadsheets directly to their road crews and use that as a manifest for the day alongside their existing system. We’ve gotten word from several suburbs that they’ll participate as well.

As far as I know this is the first time we’ve ever pushed data TO a government agency. Usually we’re trying our best to pry it loose from them. And we think this is a pretty big win-win. We have a larger megaphone than the city Web site, and they have the power to make the evil potholes go away.

Facebook Connect support: This is our first Facebook Connect app. We’re giving users the option of logging in with their Facebook ID or their DesMoinesRegister.com account. We wanted to add registration of some kind this time around to cut down on spam and to see how willing people will be to use their real ID on our site.

We’re only scratching the surface of what we can do with Facebook Connect, but hey, we launched this thing today. Give us a bit. Lots more to come.

Geo-awareness: We’ve enabled browser-geolocation if the user chooses, so she can mark a pothole near her current location. This isn’t incredibly useful for desktop users, but we’re adding a mobile version soon, and we all know that’s where the real geolocation action is.

The early buzz on Twitter in response to the launch has really been good. And this is the first time I’ve been happy about the worst winter in my recent memory: there won’t be a shortage of potholes to fill this spring.

Highlights include Koldinghus:

Tivoli at Jul, with København city hall in the background:

Smørrebrød in Amagerbro:

So an early thank you to everyone who made me feel so welcome here. I miss home, but it’s very hard to leave. Hopefully we’ll all meet again soon.

I’ll be talking about the use of Google Maps in journalism, and it should be a fun talk. In any case it has been fun for me to go back over the last few years of work and see how far we’ve come.

And of course I’m extremely excited to be visiting Denmark. Many thanks in advance to GeoForum Danmark and especially to Jesper Ishøj, Hans Ravnkjær Larsen, Lars Brodersen and more for helping to bring me across the Atlantic. I’m excited to learn more about Danish history and culture, and I’m especially looking forward to meeting some of the innovators in Danish neocartography and journalism.

Those who know me well also know how excited I am to have the opportunity to see a European football match while I’m there between Bronby and OB, two of Denmark’s top teams. Someone be sure to tell me what colors not to wear before we go!

Register reporter Tony Leys and Register photographer Arturo Fernandez traveled to Guatemala in October 2008 to gain another perspective on a large immigration raid at a Postville, Iowa meatpacking plant in May 2008. The raid was unusual, in part, because federal officials pressed identity theft charges that landed longer prison sentences than many of the workers likely would have expected.

Tony and Arturo went to Guatemala to get a glimpse of the life that many of the workers had left and were now returning to in Guatemala after serving their prison terms.

I love working with Tony and Arturo: Both of them always turn in top-notch work that challenges me to do a presentation that’s up to the task of showcasing the beautiful and moving photography and words they produce.

The story they brought back was desperation: the Guatemalans who traveled to Iowa knew they were gambling with their families’ wellbeing in coming illegally to the United States. When they landed in prison, rather than being simply deported as is often the case, their families were suddenly cut off from a major source of income and put into an even more dire financial situation. But people from the same rural communities are still leaving for the United States, because things are so bad at home it’s worth the risk.

I’m really glad to see the project get the attention it deserves – congratulations to Art, Tony, and to everyone else involved!

Buddy Holly: 50 Years After the Crash That Changed Rock ‘n’ Roll won in the Advanced Media Documentary: Historical-Cultural category. More details on the project here.

The Falcons Rise Again won in the Advanced Media Sports category. More details on the project here.

I know what you’re thinking: REGIONAL, right? It’s the same Emmy program, we really did get two of those cool statues, and were up against some serious competition. No other Iowa media outlet had two Emmy awards this year, and we won two as a newspaper site against mostly television stations.

It’s great to work with the quality of people who make awards like this possible. The Falcons Rise Again video was very much the work of Todd Bailey, who unfortunately left the Register earlier this year. I definitely miss the luxury of knowing that when Todd is working on a project I’m going to get a pitch-perfect piece with a great understanding of the tone we need.

The Buddy Holly project was a collaborative effort among a lot of great people that was more than a year in the making. We’re really excited and a bit surprised that we got to be honored for it.

I just checked in on his site, and his latest post is great. He noticed that Ohio has 88 counties, and there are 88 keys on a piano. So why not map county data musically?

Users can define what data to use to sort the counties into notes. So if you sort by population, for example, Franklin County (Columbus) and Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) are very high notes. You can then use your new state/keyboard to play you a song (Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is an option).

Not the most practically useful map (as Andy would readily admit, I’m sure), but pretty brilliant.

Thanks, Internet!

See also:

http://highearthorbit.com/sxsw-interactive-panel-neocartography/

http://neocartography.com

http://indiemaps.com/