Mashup Madness

I've been playing with mashups. No, I haven't gone mad with the potoato masher - a mashup is a web application that uses content (think images, video, music, etc) from more than one source to create a more interesting display/ outcome.

I've been tinkering with Google maps. I must admit that this took me a while to feel comfortable with, but when I finally got the hang of it I had a lot of fun playing around with it. The instructional video made it look very easy and gave me lots of hope that I would be able to create my own map, which I did and I'm quite happy with it.

The mashup concept is something I was familar with from watching The Gruen Transfer on TV. The show ran a competition where viewers could go to the website and use the tools provided to create their own ad. The results were always interesting and very entertaining and
no.2 mupp-ette and I were very keen to create our own ad, but we just didn't get around to it. So this little exercise might just be the impetus I need to play with more mashups applications.

Hopefully in my next posting I will include my map mashup because at the moment I can't for the life of me remember how to do this. BRAIN FADE or as my sister used to say "LOST IN SPACE". How rude! Anyway, the image I've chosen to include with this posting was taken earlier this year at Burleigh Heads, Queensland. I took the photo while the mupp-ettes very grudgingly accompanied me on a walk around the Burleigh Heads National Park (which incidentally is the map I've been working on).

Video killed the.........?

This time I've been exploring videos online. It's been FUN! I've been looking at YouTube, Google video, Dailymotion and Vimeo. I've discovered lots of wonderful videos and great ways for libraries and organisations to utilise online videos as ways to promote themselves or their services.

The mupp-ettes are always telling me about videos they've either seen or their friends have seen on YouTube, so I was very aware of it as a video sharing site. I wasn't aware of how easy it is to upload and share your own video clips. This isn't something that I've personally attempted yet, but the instructions on how to actually do it look very easy. Maybe one day, but until then I've found a great video clip to share. Wait for it.....it's the Muppets singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". There was a comment posted that thought that this clip was "blasphemy", but I think Freddie Mercury would approve. So I'm going to share it with you and trust you'll enjoy it!

Web Browsers wanderings and wonderings

I have a confession to make....

Before this little excursion into the world of web browsers I had primarily used Internet Explorer. I was aware of other browsers of course, but hadn't really felt any great need to use any of them. Well, the times they a-changing!

I've looked at Opera, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and this muppet is impressed with what they saw. My own preference is probably for Firefox. True, it did take a little getting used to (as I said old muppet, new tricks) but I quite like it. It has different features and a lot of similar features packaged in a different way to trusty old Internet Explorer. As I used to say to the mupp-ettes, "How do you know that you don't like it if you haven't even tried it". Great words of wisdom, hey?

Anyway the upshot is that I find myself using Firefox more and more, not that I'm giving Explorer the old heave-ho. There is an option to "Fashion Your Firefox" which recommends add-ons that you might find useful. I particularly liked the Executive assistant features and Cooliris, which allows you see images as a "wall". You can also decorate your browser to suit your personality. Hmm green and furry - that would be a nice look. Maybe I should suggest it to Mozilla.