We missed this one when it was originally posted on the National Public Radio site, but the story offers such interesting info and links, we wanted to get it into the IAJ archive. The NPR links at the top are of value, but be sure to scroll down to see other fascinating mashups from around the world.
Jan 12, 2006
Tailor-Made Cartography with Google Maps
NPR's Top 10 Markets
See Google Maps “mashups” of public radio stations and their coverage areas in the top 10 markets:
Public radio stations in the San Francisco market. NPR
All Things Considered, January 12, 2006 ยท
Google's popular mapping service has inspired people to add their own
information to maps. The resulting “mashups” are maps overlaid with
clickable icons that provide a unique look at fast-food restaurant
locations, crime statistics and other data sets.
Robert Siegel talks to Mike Pegg, whose Google Maps Mania Web log tracks the latest mashups, by category.
Topics include transit (Boston subway stations), current events (BBC world news), and weather and Earth (meteor impact sites).
Some are clearly designed to be useful for everyday life: New York pizza places, Washington, D.C., home prices, and Chicago crime locations. Others are more for fun: find the nearest pub or brewery, peek in on Webcams, or look for a convenient jogging route.
“One of my favorites is a mashup in Dublin, Ireland, which takes the real-time locations of a commuter train and plots it onto the map, and it actually shows that train moving,” Pegg says.
Another popular mashup lets users see where they would end up if they drilled through the Earth to the other side. For example, click on Wichita, Kan., and you come out in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
“I
think we're destined to see big things from this, both as the maps
improve and as people's imaginations just continue to go wild with
this,” Pegg says.
