Birdsong Information Services

July, 2006

When I was younger one of my chores was to mash the potatoes at dinner time (the grapes were off limits at that age). Now there are a whole lot of people mashing things up and I am not talking potatoes and grapes here. A mashup in the tech world is when a website or Web 2.0 application uses content from multiple sources to create a completely new website or service. For example, a programmer might mashup data from the US National Weather Service and Google Maps (http://itsweather.com/) to track storms or they might do a mashup with searchable US Golf Courses, weather data and detailed golf course information (http://www.caddymap.com/.) After all, we do need to know what the weather will be like when we are outside doing business or just honing our golf skills. There is one for cycling and hiking that is user contributed content. (http://www.activetrails.com/.)

Although the word mashup may be new to many people we have been experiencing these websites and services for a bit of time now. They are websites that are often (although not always) interactive with live or close to real time data. I have listed just a few sites that are “mashed up” and have some business implications as well as some utilitarian functions to maintain some sanity in our often very busy lives.

1. Salesforce for Google AdWords, allows companies to create, manage, and measure search engine marketing campaigns. This mashup enables companies of all sizes to manage online campaigns seamlessly from keyword selection to closing of the deal. http://kieden.com/
   
   
2. Samuel Foucher has a hurricane mashup that tracks the latest hurricane on a Google Map: forecasts, observes tracks, refinery and oil rig positions. Based upon the experience with 2005 in our Southern states, this could be very useful information. http://samuel.foucher.googlepages.com/Hurricane.html
   
   
3. 411 Sync allows you to receive “information anywhere anytime.” The link I have provided takes you to the site where you look over how to receive current information on your customers on your phone. As of this writing they show examples on IBM and Oracle. This is a site that also does stock quotes, mortgage rates and other real time financial data.
   http://www.411sync.com/cgi-bin/finance_login.cgi#anchor15

These are just a few of the examples that have useful business applications as well as some that are just interesting. I have to go now as I am old enough and heading for the grapes to do some of my own mashing.

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