The Idea Factory

Mapping the News

Looks like we won't have to wait until we hire our own code monkey to build our own, custom Google Maps. Google has just added a "My Maps" function that lets you build your own maps complete with push pins that open up info boxes and routes that you can draw on it and shapes that you can use to delineate areas.
Here's a very quick example I threw together this morning that contains photos, links to blogs, theSpec.com, and news stories. I've tried adding a video as well (the link at McMaster), but it seems a little buggy and doesn't seem to be saving with the link. Ditto my attempts to get a flashplayer with an audio file inside one of the info popups. But I'm sure those are just a matter of time.
Take a look; I only created five quick links to demonstrate some of the capabilities, but this tech offers us incredible opportunities.
(The map may not display if you're using an old operating system and browser, i.e. most of the newsroom, sorry about that. I'll be happy to show it to any who would like to look at it.)
There's no reason we can't use this for our police blotter, for breaking news (imagine NewsNow with a daily map showing the LOCATION of all our local stories and the pop up containing the actual story or photo or video or links back to the Spec.com for the same), for any stories we're working on that involve location information.
Think of how much utility info we create every day that could be permanently stored, accessed and searched in map form - restaurant reviews, election profiles and results, traffic and pedestrian fatalities, murders, census data etc.
OK. I'll shut up now.
Bill

What are YOU doing?

In case you wanted to know, here's what the cool kids are up to on the net:

Twitter.
http://twitter.com/
A web site whose sole purpose (seemingly) is described this way:

A global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing?

(Your answer is limited to 142 characters)
You sign up to Twitter, publicize your Twitter name and anyone can subscribe to your "twitters" you ongoing answers to the What are you doing? question. And of course, you can sign up for the feed from other people's Twitters.
It's the latest little trick in the "Look at Me!" end of the web. A stalker's wet dream, perhaps? Insane? Likely.
But maybe that's just because you're not cool. (OK, neither am I) — it is one of the fastest growing web services around.
And then there's Twittervision
http://twittervision.com/
Someone is scraping Twitter posts and placing them on Google maps in a never-ending (and mildly interesting in a non-sexual voyeuristic way) parade of people announing what they're doing right now...
Who cares?
Well we should - because it's an example of the way people are creating and maintaining communities (which historically has been one of our key jobs) using web tools. And the Twittervision tool itself is interesting. Plus it's part of the growing evolution of something we are MILES behind - mobile computing/information retrieval. Twitter is usually accessed via cell phone or  Blackberry.
And while I'd be damned if I want people to know what I'm doing all day every day, or where I am, people are already finding other uses for this free service.
Including one person who's posted BBC news alerts - including links to the stories.
I wonder how long it will be before someone delivers a soap opera or novel  in Twitter posts?
Bill Dunphy

Twitter.
http://twitter.com/
A web site whose sole purpose (seemingly) is described this way:

A global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing?

(Your answer is limited to 142 characters)
You sign up to Twitter, publicize your Twitter name and anyone can subscribe to your "twitters" you ongoing answers to the What are you doing? question. And of course, you can sign up for the feed from other people's Twitters.
It's the latest little trick in the "Look at Me!" end of the web. A stalker's wet dream, perhaps? Insane? Likely.
But maybe that's just because you're not cool. (OK, neither am I) — it is one of the fastest growing web services around.
And then there's Twittervision
http://twittervision.com/
Someone is scraping Twitter posts and placing them on Google maps in a never-ending (and mildly interesting in a non-sexual voyeuristic way) parade of people announing what they're doing right now...
Who cares?
Well we should - because it's an example of the way people are creating and maintaining communities (which historically has been one of our key jobs) using web tools. And the Twittervision tool itself is interesting. Plus it's part of the growing evolution of something we are MILES behind - mobile computing/information retrieval. Twitter is usually accessed via cell phone or  Blackberry.
And while I'd be damned if I want people to know what I'm doing all day every day, or where I am, people are already finding other uses for this free service.
Including one person who's posted BBC news alerts - including links to the stories.
I wonder how long it will be before someone delivers a soap opera or novel  in Twitter posts?
Bill Dunphy