Databases and polls: When numbers are the news
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Many news organizations have for years culled news stories from analog databases such as police records or census information and most online news media have set up quick polls that are attached to their news stories. Because of the internet and the multimedia tools available to us, we can do more with the facts and figures we might otherwise overlook. The following sites and news sections have taken ordinary numbers and have turned them into extraordinary resources.
SickCity harnesses a simple, but impressive idea: use Twitter to gauge how sick people are in a particular area. Using Twitter to find out if the flu is spreading within 10 miles of New York City, for example, is as easy searching for "flu near:NYC within:10mi." Putting it all together is what SC has done well, compiling information on various diseases as they spread in cities around the world.
Does it feel like there are more traffic accidents than normal happening in your area? Find out for sure with this interactive map that uses colored dots to display the frequency of fatal accidents across the U.S. The genius of this project is that traffic fatality numbers are often readily available to news organizations, but it is when they are displayed in this sort of interactive environment that the gravity of the numbers sinks in.
ZipWho has taken readily available census information and converted it into a database, searchable by zip code or by demographic information. A zip code search of a particular Kansas City neighborhood reveals that of its more than 14,000 residents, the median age is about 30 and 6.5 percent have a college degree. The latter statistic is low compared to the national average, as evidenced in the percentile column on the right.
Police mugshots as a group can be an unintentionally humorous collection which leaves the criminals exposed, which is perhaps why some reacted negatively to the St. Petersburg Times' news project on its debut. The site culls what is already publicly available and brings to light common trends amongst area criminals, something a simple rehash of the police docket could not do. People may be tsk tsking now, but look for similar sites to pop up in the future.
More after the jump
Most mainstream media news sites have incorporated polls either on their front page or on individual stories. Usually they are built with the site's CMS and thus aren't visually interesting. OwnyourC flips the notion of what a poll can be by offering a stunning, Flash-based poll that incorporates animation but still makes the question the focal point. Lest you think the site is all razzle dazzle, the submitted answers can be broken down by age, gender and location.
GoodvBad isn't exactly breaking new ground with its collection of polls, but it is worth noting here. Site visitors are presented with a subject and are asked if something is either good or bad. What's remarkable is the collection of polls in one place and the simplistic manner of eliciting responses.
Knowing whether your neighborhood has a high rate a chlamydia is a little more alarming than knowing if the flu is going around, but if you need such information the Star has made it available. Neighborhoods are broken down into blocks and assigned a color on the heat map: the darker the color, the higher the chance your neighbor is harboring an unwelcome visitor. The map is even searchable by address. Disturbing? Yes. Useful? Absolutely.
Also on 10,000 Words
• Innovative multimedia centered on the ordinary and everyday
• News databases: Turning numbers into knowledge
• Visual and interactive guides to the economic crisis
• Tracking down criminals with crime maps
• 15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online
SickCity
SickCity harnesses a simple, but impressive idea: use Twitter to gauge how sick people are in a particular area. Using Twitter to find out if the flu is spreading within 10 miles of New York City, for example, is as easy searching for "flu near:NYC within:10mi." Putting it all together is what SC has done well, compiling information on various diseases as they spread in cities around the world.
Risky Roads Traffic Map
Does it feel like there are more traffic accidents than normal happening in your area? Find out for sure with this interactive map that uses colored dots to display the frequency of fatal accidents across the U.S. The genius of this project is that traffic fatality numbers are often readily available to news organizations, but it is when they are displayed in this sort of interactive environment that the gravity of the numbers sinks in.
ZipWho.com
ZipWho has taken readily available census information and converted it into a database, searchable by zip code or by demographic information. A zip code search of a particular Kansas City neighborhood reveals that of its more than 14,000 residents, the median age is about 30 and 6.5 percent have a college degree. The latter statistic is low compared to the national average, as evidenced in the percentile column on the right.
Tampa Bay Mug Shots
Police mugshots as a group can be an unintentionally humorous collection which leaves the criminals exposed, which is perhaps why some reacted negatively to the St. Petersburg Times' news project on its debut. The site culls what is already publicly available and brings to light common trends amongst area criminals, something a simple rehash of the police docket could not do. People may be tsk tsking now, but look for similar sites to pop up in the future.
More after the jump
ownyourC.com
Most mainstream media news sites have incorporated polls either on their front page or on individual stories. Usually they are built with the site's CMS and thus aren't visually interesting. OwnyourC flips the notion of what a poll can be by offering a stunning, Flash-based poll that incorporates animation but still makes the question the focal point. Lest you think the site is all razzle dazzle, the submitted answers can be broken down by age, gender and location.
GoodvBad
GoodvBad isn't exactly breaking new ground with its collection of polls, but it is worth noting here. Site visitors are presented with a subject and are asked if something is either good or bad. What's remarkable is the collection of polls in one place and the simplistic manner of eliciting responses.
Toronto Star's sexually transmitted disease maps
Knowing whether your neighborhood has a high rate a chlamydia is a little more alarming than knowing if the flu is going around, but if you need such information the Star has made it available. Neighborhoods are broken down into blocks and assigned a color on the heat map: the darker the color, the higher the chance your neighbor is harboring an unwelcome visitor. The map is even searchable by address. Disturbing? Yes. Useful? Absolutely.
Also on 10,000 Words
• Innovative multimedia centered on the ordinary and everyday
• News databases: Turning numbers into knowledge
• Visual and interactive guides to the economic crisis
• Tracking down criminals with crime maps
• 15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online
Visual and interactive guides to the economic crisis
Monday, March 02, 2009
As the economy continues to take a turn for the worse, many media organization and citizen journalists are finding creative and innovative ways to explain the complex factors that contribute to the slump.
USA Today uses a Flash-based map to compare homeowners who took on large amounts of debt to purchase a new home in 2000 versus 2007. Viewers of the interactive project can use a scrubber to toggle between the two years and make direct comparisons.
The New York Times also uses a scrubber to illustrate the ups and downs (but mostly downs) of the nation's stocks and commodities in 2008. Along with facts and figures, the interactive also provides a chilling narrative that explains the dwindling numbers.
Nothing's scarier than a sea of red, whether it's tons of edits scribbled in red ink or an indicator of a declining stock market. The S&P 500 Heatmap is a visual representation of the stock index that more cleverly illustrates just how bad things are.
MapLib takes the stock market/mapping idea in another direction with its Google Maps mashup of the world's financial centers. Bad news is it's red all over the world.
CNN has blended video of the everyday people who have been affected by the economic downturn with an interactive map of the unemployment rates, job losses and foreclosure rates in each of the 50 states. The project puts a face on what otherwise would be a series of sobering numbers.
The Crisis of Credit Visualised by Johnathan Jarvis is a unique video that explains one cause of economic woes through motion typography and animation. And because even a global financial meltdown sounds great when put to song, "Mortgage Crisis Blues" aural interpretation of why many homeowners found themselves in more debt than they could afford is depressing, yet catchy.
The New York Times asks "Has your portfolio plummeted? So has ours." It would be funny if it wasn't both serious and true. Nevertheless, the Times' "Calculate Your Financial Comeback" lets users input a set of variables, including current portfolio value, to determine how long it will take to recover from financial lows. The time span can be either heartbreaking or optimistic, depending on the answer returned.
Also on 10,000 Words
•Exploring the human body through multimedia
•8 Ways of visualizing the news
•Where to find the best in Flash journalism
USA Today uses a Flash-based map to compare homeowners who took on large amounts of debt to purchase a new home in 2000 versus 2007. Viewers of the interactive project can use a scrubber to toggle between the two years and make direct comparisons.
The New York Times also uses a scrubber to illustrate the ups and downs (but mostly downs) of the nation's stocks and commodities in 2008. Along with facts and figures, the interactive also provides a chilling narrative that explains the dwindling numbers.
Nothing's scarier than a sea of red, whether it's tons of edits scribbled in red ink or an indicator of a declining stock market. The S&P 500 Heatmap is a visual representation of the stock index that more cleverly illustrates just how bad things are.
MapLib takes the stock market/mapping idea in another direction with its Google Maps mashup of the world's financial centers. Bad news is it's red all over the world.
CNN has blended video of the everyday people who have been affected by the economic downturn with an interactive map of the unemployment rates, job losses and foreclosure rates in each of the 50 states. The project puts a face on what otherwise would be a series of sobering numbers.
The Crisis of Credit Visualised by Johnathan Jarvis is a unique video that explains one cause of economic woes through motion typography and animation. And because even a global financial meltdown sounds great when put to song, "Mortgage Crisis Blues" aural interpretation of why many homeowners found themselves in more debt than they could afford is depressing, yet catchy.
The New York Times asks "Has your portfolio plummeted? So has ours." It would be funny if it wasn't both serious and true. Nevertheless, the Times' "Calculate Your Financial Comeback" lets users input a set of variables, including current portfolio value, to determine how long it will take to recover from financial lows. The time span can be either heartbreaking or optimistic, depending on the answer returned.
Also on 10,000 Words
•Exploring the human body through multimedia
•8 Ways of visualizing the news
•Where to find the best in Flash journalism
Post-Inauguration Wrap Up: High-tech coverage of the tech president
Friday, January 23, 2009Photography
By now you've probably already seen CNN's mind-numbingly detailed photograph created from thousands of user-submitted photos and blended using Photosynth technology. But have you seen the following interactive image created by photographer David Bergman?
Bergman created the high-resolution image by combining over 200 images using Gigapan's stitching software (more on Gigapan here). The Associated Press also has an interactive, high-res image for users to play around with.
Leave it to the New York Times to take an already incredible technology one step further. In its interactive inauguration photo, users can click a name or hover over a person in the photo to identify who they are. The usual suspects, including senators and dignitaries, can be easily spotted.
The Washington Post takes a different approach by composing a mosaic created from thousands of photos shot by citizen journalists and staff photographers from both the Post and the Associated Press.
Sometimes a good photo is just a photo, no interactive whizbang required. The Big Picture has a great collection of inauguration day photos, including the now instantly recognizable satellite photo of crowds gathered to hear Barack Obama's inauguration speech (Click here for an explanation of how the estimated 1 million people in attendance were counted).
Speech/Word Analysis
After the inauguration, 50 million word clouds emerged, most created using Wordle, that analyzed Barack Obama's now historic speech. Once again, the New York Times took the word analysis concept to another level with "Inaugural Words: 1789 to the Present," a historical analysis of commonly recurring words used in presidential speeches, beginning with George Washington.
The real innovation, however, came from sites like ManyEyes, which visualized the speech as an interactive word tree, and Delve Networks which applied its audio search technology to extract not only the words that were spoken, but where they can be found in the address. Give the technology a spin by searching the video below for words like "America" or "hope."
Citizen Journalism
The Washington Post made use of its TimeSpace technology (previously covered here) to create a mapped record of inauguration photos and video. TimeSpace: Inauguration allows anyone to search through the geotagged coverage in a multi-layered interactive environment.
Twitter was a hotbed of exchanges about the excitement surrounding the inauguration and no one knows this better than FlowingData. To visualize the Twitter buzz surrounding the event, the site tracked positive responses to the inauguration all over the world in what, as it progresses, looks like fireworks. (Click image to view project)
To make sure now President Obama sticks to his more than 500 campaign promises, PolitiFact will be keeping tabs on his administration with the Obameter, a digital counter that lists each and every one and whether it has been fulfilled or not. So far Obama has kept seven and 14 more are still in the works.
And finally, proof that print ain't dead (yet). Click the image below to view the hundreds of newspapers around the world on which the inauguration of President Obama is front page news.
Also on 10,000 Words:
• 15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online
• Essential resources for panoramic photography
• 7 Eye-popping interactive timelines (and 3 ways to create one)
• Word cloud analysis of 2008 DNC Speeches
Labels: citizen journalism, database, maps, photos, social networking
8 Interactive online projects that educate and captivate
Monday, January 19, 2009Obama's Team
Sure you could read the in-depth reports or watch the tiresome press conferences to find out more about Barack Obama's cabinet team members. Or you can just use the interactive infographic from Spiegel Online that uses a carousel menu to illustrate the President-elect's political circle (learn how to create a similar effect here). The text is in German, but you don't have to speak the language to understand how engaging this project is.
Going to the End of the Line
Anyone who was ever lived or visited New York will recognize areas like Canarsie and Far Rockaway as a sort of a mythical no man's land, the end of the line where many subway riders rarely venture. The New York Times brought these and several other train stops to life through a compelling photo project that functions as an multi-level slideshow.
wordia
The dictionary has been around for centuries, but even its current digital form not much has changed since they were first being printed. Wordia is giving the lexicon a Web 2.0 makeover by providing a forum for anyone to upload what particular words mean to them. "Refuge" is commonly defined as "shelter or protection," but the user in the screenshot below describes refuge as "jumping into a hot shower after being trapped outside in the cold for hours." You won't find that in Webster's.
Breathing Earth
Because we can't physically see CO² emissions, it's hard to imagine the possible destruction the gas is causing the planet. The Breathing Earth simulation attempts to visualize the effects of greenhouse gases and blends an interactive infographic with changing statistics.
Obama's "Whistle Stop" Train Tour
CNN again makes use of its iReport feature to let citizen journalists be the ones to capture Obama's ride on the rails as he made his way to Washington, D.C. User-generated video is blended with CNN reports and mapped to give the user an interactive feel for the journey.
AfricaMap
There are likely hundreds of thousands of maps that document the African continent, but internet users can find all the map they'll need at this Harvard-created interactive project. The simple map can become more and more complex as various levels of data are layered on top of each other. Below, a 2007 index of Africa's power plants rests atop a 1770 historical map.
Perspectives
Imagine talking heads who don't talk at all. The video series from BaseMotion asks several people for their opinion on an issue and instead of showing their answers, shows only the pauses, breaks, ums and aahs. The stripped-down interview is a demonstration of human idiosyncrasies and reactions, rather than an attempt to gather opinions.
Whack-A-Bone
It's a human anatomy lesson cleverly disguised as a game! Players attempt to drag and drop bones in their correct locations while facing a timer. After playing the game, you'll not only know where the phalanges and humerus bones are, but you'll be able to identify them in record time.
Also on 10,000 Words:
• Exploring the human body through multimedia
• Create brilliant multimedia projects from the mundane
• Online news games are fun (and informative!)
Labels: citizen journalism, database, flash, photos, video
News databases: Turning numbers into knowledge
Monday, December 22, 2008
Posting large amounts of data on the web violates the very reason the internet exists. Creating a well-presented news database requires a lot of time and effort, but in the end provides an unmatched service. Here a few news sites that have taken advantage of new media technology to create exceptional databases:
The tales of murder recounted in Jill Leovy's Homicide Report blog were compiled into a database that visually illustrates the city's lethal trend. The figures are sortable by age, race, gender and a number of other factors.
The BBC tells the same story — the startling number of teenagers killed in the country — four different ways with narrative text, a tabled list, a map, and an infographic of the statistics. The entire project is founded on a database of information that otherwise would be a list of faceless names.
Two years of investigative reporting and hundreds of man hours went into creating an index of Florida teachers accused of misconduct. The more than 750 teachers in the database are searchable right down to the street level.
The Sun's interactive map shows the frequency of delayed flights to and from McCarran Airport over a 12-year period. Users can search either for a particular flight route or click a city to discover the number of delays for that airport.
The more than 4,000 U.S. service members who died in the Iraq war can seem like an overwhelming number. This interactive infographic lets users break down that number to determine when and where those deaths occurred.
The Register combined text, photo and video accounts into a chilling, yet awe-inspiring database of the devastation and aftermath of the May 2008 tornado.
Cincinnati.com has created what is sure to be the future of online journalism: multi-level, searchable databases in which users can view layers of information on top of an interactive map. It sounds like a lot because it is, but the service and others like it will be incredibly useful for years to come.
For more information on what makes a good news database, check out Rich Gordon's Data as journalism, journalism as data. Also, be sure to check out the work at EveryBlock and washingtonpost.com.
Previously on 10,000 Words:
• Tracking down criminals with crime maps
• 10 Mind-blowing maps (and 3 ways to create them)
Los Angeles Times Homicide Map
The tales of murder recounted in Jill Leovy's Homicide Report blog were compiled into a database that visually illustrates the city's lethal trend. The figures are sortable by age, race, gender and a number of other factors.
BBC News: Mapping UK's teen murder toll
The BBC tells the same story — the startling number of teenagers killed in the country — four different ways with narrative text, a tabled list, a map, and an infographic of the statistics. The entire project is founded on a database of information that otherwise would be a list of faceless names.
HeraldTribune.com: Broken Trust
Two years of investigative reporting and hundreds of man hours went into creating an index of Florida teachers accused of misconduct. The more than 750 teachers in the database are searchable right down to the street level.
Las Vegas Sun: Flight Delay Calculator
The Sun's interactive map shows the frequency of delayed flights to and from McCarran Airport over a 12-year period. Users can search either for a particular flight route or click a city to discover the number of delays for that airport.
The New York Times: Casualties of War
The more than 4,000 U.S. service members who died in the Iraq war can seem like an overwhelming number. This interactive infographic lets users break down that number to determine when and where those deaths occurred.
Des Moines Register: Parkersburg Tornado
The Register combined text, photo and video accounts into a chilling, yet awe-inspiring database of the devastation and aftermath of the May 2008 tornado.
Cincinnati.com: CinciNavigator
Cincinnati.com has created what is sure to be the future of online journalism: multi-level, searchable databases in which users can view layers of information on top of an interactive map. It sounds like a lot because it is, but the service and others like it will be incredibly useful for years to come.
For more information on what makes a good news database, check out Rich Gordon's Data as journalism, journalism as data. Also, be sure to check out the work at EveryBlock and washingtonpost.com.
Previously on 10,000 Words:
• Tracking down criminals with crime maps
• 10 Mind-blowing maps (and 3 ways to create them)
15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The power of the net to provide more innovative political coverage than what is possible in traditional forms of media has never been more evidenced than in this political season. Major news organizations and citizen journalists alike have harnessed the power of the web to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the US presidential election than has ever been possible. Here are some of the best ways to follow the political landscape online:
If there weren't 14 other sites on this list then perspctv would be the one stop for any election news seeker. The site culls the latest news, blog posts and tweets and provides insightful charts and maps as well as an embeddable widget for keeping track of it all.
We know the candidates are campaigning all over the country, but who are they campaigning in front of? The Christian Science Monitor has the answer. The site's analysis shows both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama spent a good chunk of their time in wealthy suburbs and big cities.
Everyone knows Twitter is abuzz with political views, skews and insights, including the observations of Twitter stars FakeSarahPalin and CNN's Rick Sanchez. Twitter Chatter is one way to wrangle these conversations as well as to see on a map where they are coming from.
FiveThirtyEight.com is the dream of any political statistics hound. The site has the latest polls, the latest news, the latest charts, graphs, statistics, hypotheticals...the latest everything. It's like a political rabbit hole...check it out only if you have time to spare.
"Show me the money!" Okay it's 2008, not 1996, but if you're curious to know where the campaign money is coming from, Political Base has you covered with a well-designed Google map as well as a list of big name contributors and a handy search form.
Tube the Vote strives to provide a balanced view of issues that are affecting this year's presidential election by scouring the web for video, blog posts, Flickr photos and more that celebrate or repudiate either side.
Get to know the presidential and vice presidential candidates a little better by following the milestones of their lives on a Google Map. Anyone can follow the journey of John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin or Joe Biden.
Voters tired of the spin and searching for the truth will appreciate PolitiFact's analysis of recent campaign assertions. Was Sen. Obama referring to Sarah Palin when he mentioned "lipstick on a pig?" No way, says PolitiFact. Does Sen. McCain support tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas? Not that simple, according to the site.
iPhone users will be glad to know that they don't have to be at a computer to track the latest on the 2008 presidential race. The iPhone application is a great source for tracking the latest polls as long as you don't check to often — Election 08 is sometimes behind in its updates.
To say these two wikis are unbiased would be a big misstatement — the former is run by the DNC, the other is populated by Obama fans. Still, using modern technology to encourage citizen participation is never a bad thing.
This genius bit of citizen participation encourages everyone to not only speak their mind to President Bush, but to presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama as well. Recent responses — which are themselves wholly interesting and telling — are displayed on each page.
This Google map knows where the candidates will be and when and makes that information at the click of a button. Campaign appearances for both candidates are listed in reverse chronological order as well as marked on a map.
Video of campaign speeches from both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are tracked and mapped on these map mashups that incorporate video from YouTube.
Everymoment Now uses a unique graph to chart the number of times a candidate was mentioned on any particular day since August of this year. Clicking on a bar in the chart reveals news stories that were published that day as well as more detailed charts and graphs.
If you plan on voting in the upcoming US election, but still don't know which candidate to vote for, the Match-o-Matic is sure to help. The humorous, interactive quiz gives the user two quotes — one from Sen. Obama and one from Sen. McCain — and the user selects which one they agree with most without knowing who said it. The final tally reveals which presidential candidate's platform the user is more likely to side with.
1. perspctv
If there weren't 14 other sites on this list then perspctv would be the one stop for any election news seeker. The site culls the latest news, blog posts and tweets and provides insightful charts and maps as well as an embeddable widget for keeping track of it all.
2. Patchwork Nation
We know the candidates are campaigning all over the country, but who are they campaigning in front of? The Christian Science Monitor has the answer. The site's analysis shows both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama spent a good chunk of their time in wealthy suburbs and big cities.
3. Election '08 Twitter Chatter
Everyone knows Twitter is abuzz with political views, skews and insights, including the observations of Twitter stars FakeSarahPalin and CNN's Rick Sanchez. Twitter Chatter is one way to wrangle these conversations as well as to see on a map where they are coming from.
4. FiveThirtyEight.com
FiveThirtyEight.com is the dream of any political statistics hound. The site has the latest polls, the latest news, the latest charts, graphs, statistics, hypotheticals...the latest everything. It's like a political rabbit hole...check it out only if you have time to spare.
5. Map of 2008 Presidential Contributions
"Show me the money!" Okay it's 2008, not 1996, but if you're curious to know where the campaign money is coming from, Political Base has you covered with a well-designed Google map as well as a list of big name contributors and a handy search form.
6. Tube the Vote!
Tube the Vote strives to provide a balanced view of issues that are affecting this year's presidential election by scouring the web for video, blog posts, Flickr photos and more that celebrate or repudiate either side.
7. Candidates' life journeys
Get to know the presidential and vice presidential candidates a little better by following the milestones of their lives on a Google Map. Anyone can follow the journey of John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin or Joe Biden.
8. PolitiFact's The Attack Files
Voters tired of the spin and searching for the truth will appreciate PolitiFact's analysis of recent campaign assertions. Was Sen. Obama referring to Sarah Palin when he mentioned "lipstick on a pig?" No way, says PolitiFact. Does Sen. McCain support tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas? Not that simple, according to the site.
9. Election 08
iPhone users will be glad to know that they don't have to be at a computer to track the latest on the 2008 presidential race. The iPhone application is a great source for tracking the latest polls as long as you don't check to often — Election 08 is sometimes behind in its updates.
10. McCainPedia/Obamapedia
To say these two wikis are unbiased would be a big misstatement — the former is run by the DNC, the other is populated by Obama fans. Still, using modern technology to encourage citizen participation is never a bad thing.
11. What Would You Say to the President?
This genius bit of citizen participation encourages everyone to not only speak their mind to President Bush, but to presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama as well. Recent responses — which are themselves wholly interesting and telling — are displayed on each page.
12. Google Maps (campaign trail)
This Google map knows where the candidates will be and when and makes that information at the click of a button. Campaign appearances for both candidates are listed in reverse chronological order as well as marked on a map.
13. Google Maps (video)
Video of campaign speeches from both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are tracked and mapped on these map mashups that incorporate video from YouTube.
14. Everymoment Now
Everymoment Now uses a unique graph to chart the number of times a candidate was mentioned on any particular day since August of this year. Clicking on a bar in the chart reveals news stories that were published that day as well as more detailed charts and graphs.
15. ABC News' Match-o-Matic
If you plan on voting in the upcoming US election, but still don't know which candidate to vote for, the Match-o-Matic is sure to help. The humorous, interactive quiz gives the user two quotes — one from Sen. Obama and one from Sen. McCain — and the user selects which one they agree with most without knowing who said it. The final tally reveals which presidential candidate's platform the user is more likely to side with.
Labels: citizen journalism, database, maps, mobile, photos, social networking, video, widgets, wiki
10 Mind-blowing maps (and 3 ways to create them)
Thursday, August 28, 20081. Panedia
Panedia has combined two great online technologies — panoramas and maps — to create an annotated virtual tour of some of Australia's most beautiful sites.
2. terraSound
TerraSound has found another great multimedia combination — this time maps and sound — to create the sense of a walking down a city's sidewalk while monitoring your position on a map.
3. Twitter Weather Map
The weather map parses tweets about climates in the United States and with a little bit of math displays the information on a simple map.
4. 2itch
2itch answers a simple question "What is open 24 hours a day in my neighborhood?" with an interactive Google maps mashup.
5. Ride the City
New Yorkers who prefer two wheels to taxis and trains can input their starting and stopping points and get the safest route for biking through the Big Apple.
6. World News Map
While there are several sites that display current news on a map, maplandia.com displays geotagged news going back to 2005, which is an impressive feat.
7. Olympic medalists map
If you're still in Olympics withdrawal, this comprehensive map of the hometowns of Olympic medalists around the world should do the trick.
8. OnionMap
Many maps may be mind-blowing, but at the same time are also mind-numbingly flat. OnionMap puts a new angle on things by showcasing a map that is both visually striking and, through its search features, incredibly useful.
9. Breaking News Map
Another news map, except this one has filters for viewing particular topics such as business, politics or entertainment.
10. 08 DNC Events
To all the journalists hanging around Denver this week for the Democratic National Convention, be sure to take a little time to enjoy yourself by attending any of the mapped events held this week in The Mile-High City.
And the 3 ways to create them:
1. UMapper
UMapper has a simple interface for creating map mashups and allows for importing data feeds as well as creating lines, labels and shapes. The finished map can be exported to Flash ActionScript 3.0 or KML.
2. Yahoo! MapMixer
Now that maps are all over the internet, it's time to bring some uniqueness to the party. MapMixer is a simple way to overlay an existing map on top of a Yahoo! Map, thus giving an image the functionality of a map mashup.
3. map a list
The latest in mashup technology lets users create a map from a Google Spreadsheet. And, like the best things in life, the service is free.
Also on 10,000 Words
• 5 Ways to create a Google Map in minutes
• 10 Mind-blowing maps (and 3 ways to create them)
• How to create a Google Map in about 30 minutes
• 8 Beautifully Designed Maps
Tracking down criminals with crime maps
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
There has been an explosion in crime maps since the creation of the venerated Chicago Crime some years ago, now a part of hyperlocal news site EveryBlock. Average Joes are also getting in the game with the creation of PostaCrime.com which solicits user-generated reports of crime around the country.
So far SpotCrime has done an even better of job aggregating crimes from around the nation in one convenient site, but there are a number of newspapers, TV stations, police agencies and community organizations that maintain far more detailed accounts of crime in their area. Here is a list of cities around the world whose criminal activity is currently tracked on a map.
The technology used to create the aforementioned crime maps varies from Google Maps mashups, some with databases attached, Flash animation, or proprietary software. Whichever avenue is chosen to document crime, it is destined to be better than the black and white police blotter hidden in the recesses of most newspapers.
Also on 10,000 Words:
• 5 Interactive maps that connect communities
• How the internet is changing how natural disasters are covered
• How to explore the Earth without leaving your computer
So far SpotCrime has done an even better of job aggregating crimes from around the nation in one convenient site, but there are a number of newspapers, TV stations, police agencies and community organizations that maintain far more detailed accounts of crime in their area. Here is a list of cities around the world whose criminal activity is currently tracked on a map.
- Anchorage
- Anniston, Alabama
- Arizona
- Atlanta
- Bakersfield, Ca.
- Baltimore
- Berkeley
- Boston
- Copenhagen
- Córdoba, Argentina
- Dallas
- Delaware
- Evanston, Ill.
- Fresno
- Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Houston
- Kansas City
- London
- Los Angeles
- Memphis
- Napa Valley, Ca.
- Nashville
- The Netherlands
- New Orleans
- New York City
- Newark, NJ
- Oakland
- Orlando
- Paso Robles, Ca.
- Philadelphia (here and here)
- Richmond, Va.
- Sacramento
- San Joaquin County, Ca.
- Seattle
- Spokane
- Tampa
- Toronto
- Washington D.C. (here and here)
- Wichita, Kansas
- Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Zurich
The technology used to create the aforementioned crime maps varies from Google Maps mashups, some with databases attached, Flash animation, or proprietary software. Whichever avenue is chosen to document crime, it is destined to be better than the black and white police blotter hidden in the recesses of most newspapers.
Also on 10,000 Words:
• 5 Interactive maps that connect communities
• How the internet is changing how natural disasters are covered
• How to explore the Earth without leaving your computer
Food 2.0: Interactive restaurant reviews and recipes
Monday, August 27, 2007
Every mainstream newspaper and food magazine has a treasure trove of restaurant reviews and/or recipes that are, at the most, archived or stashed in a shoe box by some homely octogenarian. Its time to dust off those clips and put them to good use.
Instead of forcing readers to recall a restaurant they read some time ago, create an online database of your restaurant reviews. Maps would come in handy here especially if they are searchable by location and categorized by food type, atmosphere, price, etc. Yelp does this quite well (better than most media outlets anyway) for restaurants across the country. Both include both editorial and user reviews as well as photos and maps.
While we're on the subject of food, the tons and tons of recipes that have been written over the years are often sitting in the news library somewhere. It's time to put them online, and because this a multimedia world, why not show your readers how to make those recipes? The L.A. Times building includes a test kitchen where all the recipes were cooked before they were printed. If you have such a space, or even a presentable kitchen, get a camera in there and show em how its done. Chow.com uses video to show its visitors how to butterfly a chicken, poach an egg and pimp a burger (?)
A great YouTube cooking lesson from Cooking with Kids in the video below:
Foodieview tackles both restaurant reviews and recipes in an elegant, well-organized way. The site also features a blog and makes use of widgets and Google Maps.
Instead of forcing readers to recall a restaurant they read some time ago, create an online database of your restaurant reviews. Maps would come in handy here especially if they are searchable by location and categorized by food type, atmosphere, price, etc. Yelp does this quite well (better than most media outlets anyway) for restaurants across the country. Both include both editorial and user reviews as well as photos and maps.
While we're on the subject of food, the tons and tons of recipes that have been written over the years are often sitting in the news library somewhere. It's time to put them online, and because this a multimedia world, why not show your readers how to make those recipes? The L.A. Times building includes a test kitchen where all the recipes were cooked before they were printed. If you have such a space, or even a presentable kitchen, get a camera in there and show em how its done. Chow.com uses video to show its visitors how to butterfly a chicken, poach an egg and pimp a burger (?)
A great YouTube cooking lesson from Cooking with Kids in the video below:
Foodieview tackles both restaurant reviews and recipes in an elegant, well-organized way. The site also features a blog and makes use of widgets and Google Maps.
