Through Matt McAlister and The Programmable Web I found the Potrero Hill Crime Map Mashup, and, looking around for more crime maps, found the Chicago Crime Map as well. (I can't get the Chicago Crime map thingy to load, it's hung on mt0.google.com -- maybe they should use Yahoo maps instead? ;-) And I was annoyed that there wasn't a Crime Map for my own neighborhood. As Matt notes, this kind of thing is important especially for people moving into a new neighborhood in an unknown town.

In other maps news, my friend Miles was here this weekend visiting from New York -- he is the founder of a company called Talking Street, which does cell phone tour guides for cities and other points of interest. With Talking Street, you can download a map from their web site, and then whenever you are in a location, you can call and get the recording from any cell phone. I'm picturing something like this happening on a device as well -- you are walking around a neighborhood, and you go to a web site, which can tell you interesting things such as what crimes have been committed at the spot where you are, where there's a Thai restaurant within 3 blocks, how many people got engaged on that street corner and recordings of their stories, where the nearest public bathroom is, etc.

Also, check out Platial, demo'd at FooCamp by my newest friend Di-Ann Eisnor. Location, location, location. Maps are coming alive! I am avidly watching all the pieces falling into place.

LINK | 5:21 PM | TB

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