One of those great stories on NPR that brings something to light that, while mostly a novelty in its current incarnation, is fascinating and has a limitless horizon of uses. NPR Story
There is a phenomenon called Mashup, which according to Wikipedia, is a website or web application that combines information from multiple sources. It is in fact a very 'rudimentary' form of GIS. Rudimentary may not be a fair term as I am new to this phenomenon. I haven't looked at this enough to even understand how it works, but it is very cool.
There is a blog devoted to this phenomenon called Google Maps Mania.
One of the sites they highlighted on NPR was one called Beer Mapping. This site has started to catalogue all breweries and brewpubs across the US, and in certain metropolitan areas, has charted stores that sell beer too. As a result of this tool I learned there is an actually brewery in Lowell, MA, just a short drive away. The next time I drive by I plan to stop in to pick up a six pack or two.
Beer and maps - two great tastes that taste great together.
This one is really amazing. This one is funny, and informative.
2 comments:
Interesting stuff. GIS for sure, though there are certainly different levels of users (e.g. general users, specialists).
Technically, anyone that uses Yahoo! maps is using GIS. And anyone that clicks a few buttons to have it add pinpoints for all the Mexican restaurants (adding a layer) is taking it to the next level.
But beer & maps-how can you go wrong?
I've had a desire for a few years to make an interactive map of my camping locales. Some sort of icon to represent all the places I've been; then, clicking on an individual one would bring up a picture of the trip along with a brief synopsis.
Ah, yes. Yet another personal endeavor that would consume an insane amount of time relative to the interest/enjoyment it would bring to the rest of the world.
Yup.
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