#6 Mashups

On a cold wintery day I decided Trip Planner seemed to be a good way of "expanding horizons." After veiwing several, I was both disappointed and encouranged. Some were just a list of places visited, amounting to nothing more than free advertising for the hotel or attractions.

If the writer intended to create an iterary and then fill it in with personal information, there sure were a lot of trips waiting for comments.

I was disappointed there weren't many comments. Makes me wonder how many start with the intention, then never quite follow through. Without any personal input, the trip just gives the reader an idea of what one person found in a particular area. Even if the person didn't add a discussion or description, it would be somwhat useful if the person could add just a simple comment or even a photo for the places that do not have promotional photos of their own.

Actually, it occurs to me that travel companies or hotels could pay people to post "great trips" that just happen to be to the company's several properties or affilliates. In other words, a form of self promotion through guerilla advertising. Hmmm. Have I discovered a part time job? :-)

Of much more value are the entries that contain advice about the particular place, such as a specific restaurant or attraction. There was also one about the culture of the place (Aruba) and helped to remind the reader that the locals appreciate it when you're not just a "tourist" but actually interested in the culture and language. When you find this type of entry, it's possible to get the feel of the trip in more than a traveloge way. It is also possible to really learn something, but learning something worthwhile can be a needle in a haystack experience.

I did discover that the Library of Congress plans to put over 3,000 historic photos in "The Commons" site of Flickr. This will accomplish making the photos more available to the public, but also allow the public to create captions for photos that are of unknown subjects or origins. Flickr tags will also help the photos be found and used and be of benefit to everyone. You can read the entire article at: Computerworld.