There's a map.
map size tweak
finally hooked up to google location services...the key was getting a reference to the GoogleMap fragment from within it's containing fragment, then passing that up to the main activity from there. I had been trying to access the Map Fragment directly from MainActivity but I kept getting null pointer exceptions because the map was being generated dynamically and had not yet been created.

the map now zooms to the user's current location (max zoom, 18) on startup. Location updates are being sent every second.

Next, maybe use the record button to place markers on the map.