I was a DJ at two college radio stations, WCWM-FM and WPRK-FM, and I’m still interested in music that isn’t in the mainstream. More and more songs on my iPod are mashups – combinations of two or more recordings that sometimes sound completely different when they are mixed together. bootiesf.com is one site where I’ve found some good music machups.
We’re seeing more web mashups, or combinations of Web data into new and interesting formats. Google has provided API support for these applications for a couple of years, and now Yahoo is trying to play catch-up.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/web-apis-web-mashups-and-accessibility.html
I found several sites when I searched for “google maps pedometer”. These sites let users draw a path on a map, and the app provides an estimate of the distance. This could be handy for bikers and walkers, although I like to use the Nike+ iPod accessory.
FireTree combines Google Maps’ data and interface with NASA climate data to forecasts the effects of global warming. For example, this map shows areas of downtown Honolulu that might flood if the ocean level rises one meter. It’s not the most dramatic demonstration. Try adjusting the flood level and zooming out to get a better view, or scroll over to your own neighborhood.
The maps of Europe and North America are interesting, and the results are easier to see on a continental basis. The creator of this map admits that the NASA data he’s using isn’t that accurate. He can always rewrite his app to use better data sets when they’re available. Because these apps are hosted on web sites, it’s easy to deploy an update on a web server.
One app that doesn’t use maps is RoboCal, a Web service that speaks Google Calendar appointments to the user through Skype or a telephone.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6157508.html
Yahoo Pipes can be used to combine RSS feeds into new applications. For example, the RSS feed from my blog, which is available in several formats including e-mail at http://rss.billso.com/billsocom/, could be compared against several RSS news feeds to suggest related stories.
Security and privacy are two areas where web mashups have problems, as discussed in this New Scientist article. Users can’t be sure where their personal data is used or saved in a mashup app. Most mashup apps don’t use encryption or certificates, so users might be sure they are using a “real” Google Maps site, for example.
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