Smashing Mashups

I'm really intrigued by the idea of "mashup" applications that combine information from different sources. I think that the flexibility of APIs has really allowed people to come up with fun and useful programs. After exploring some of the Flickr related mashups, I think my favorite mashups are Mappr and Montagr.

With Mappr, I decided to test where in the nation photos of cherry blossoms appear. I anticipated a lot from Washington, D.C. but I was pleasantly surprised to see pictures with that tag appear in Washington state and Texas. To me this ability is a powerful way to see the not only the things we expect but also the unusual things we share across the country.

Like Mappr, Montagr allows one to see multiple images with the same tag at once. Rather than mapped out by location, however, the images are randomly sorted into a mosaic template. Running the cursor over images allows one to view the image in a slightly larger view and see the original image's title. I enjoy the aesthetic appeal of this application and I believe one could create some fantastic mosaic images of photo albums as gifts.