Exploring Media in Transformation | Transforming in Media Exploration
/ˌtrænsfərˈmeɪʃən/ n. 1: a process of change from one form to another.
Here are a couple of neat maps folks have sent me recently.
One is from a friend in Tampa, business journalist Rich Mullins: a Google map of notorious crimes, which he says is getting tons of traffic.
And then there’s a map chronicling tornado destruction in one town that Des Moines did that editor Michael Landauer found. I think they’re using Arc GIS on that but I'm no mapping expert.
Great job!
We've talked a lot about databasing crime. Now a startup is doing it. TechCrunch reports that SpotCrime has launched with a mashup that plots crime activity onto Google Maps. This isn't hard stuff, but I wish a newspaper company were doing this instead of a startup. It's our bread and butter.
NYT is pursuing its 'get our content anywhere' strategy in a new way --Cyberjournalist.net reports, New York Times to create open API.
Not to soundall I-told-you-so about it, but last week I was discussing how we need to leverage a taxonomy to make this easy to do. Then, we give developers a key that allows them to mash up our articles to create whatever they want. Maybe someone wants to display articles on a timeline or rank articles by emotional score (that they calculate, not us) or, heck, set our headlines to music (maybe headlines that match the top 40 song that was popular when the article published) who knows?
Here's a cool mashup, for instance. The Times Machine. Just announced, it's the Times' historical photographic archives. (The Times did this mashup on their own.)
Of great importance, monetizing this becomes interesting. We could collect a little fee for every API call.
Danny Sanchez reports on something that our Web map expert Layne Smith will crow about: A dream come true: Flash + Google Maps.
I know that sounds dry as dust to some of you, but it is a major development. This way we can creating map-based graphics with the same utility as Google Maps, but in a look and feel that is much more dynamic and artful.
Thank you, Google. Go get 'em Layne!