Where in the World User Manual

The Where in the World Random Geographic Location App is a mobile-optimized website. It should work on most devices and browsers.

By accessing this application you hereby agree to the terms of our Software Disclaimer and of our Privacy Policy.*Google Maps is a trademark of Google Inc. By using this software, you agree to the terms and conditions of Google Maps.

You obviously have to enable and allow your browser to access your location information. Browsers do this in a number of different ways, a GPS may not be required. However, a GPS is needed to provide good accuracy and near real-time location information.

The user interface is very straightforward for anyone familiar with mobile applications.

The default view shows a Google Map of the world.

The menu on top of the screen has four options:

Random Location
Random Location in Current View
Zoom Out
About

Random Location

By pressing the "Random Location" button, the application will select a random location anywhere in the world. The random location will be marked by a red pin:

If available, a popup window will display additional details about the location, such as the region and Country name, Latitude, Longitude and Elevation.

This information may not be available if the location is too remote, in which case the message "Get ready for some Adventure" will be displayed.

Since about 70.8% of the Earth's surface is covered by water; this application will adjust the randomness of the selection to the remaining 29.2% of the planet that is covered by land! If the algorithm repeatedly selects locations that are deemed to be in the water, the message "You are staying where you are" will be displayed. You can then attempt to select another random location.

This popup window can be closed by clicking on the "X", and it can be re-opened by clicking on the red pin marking the location..

Additional options are also available for each location.

Clicking on will zoom the view closer to that location to allow users to view it in more details..

Clicking on will generate an email containing the details displayed on the screen, as well as a link to the selected location in Google Maps.

Clicking onwill open a new browser window and display the selected location in Google Maps.

Random Location in Current View

Pressing the "Random Location in Current View" will also select a random location, but it will also limit the position of the location to the portion of the map currently being displayed.

Zoom Out

As you may have guessed, this option will reset the map view to display the entire world, or as much as can possibly be displayed depending on the size of your screen.

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