Maps, Software

A mashup is a website or web application that seamlessly combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience. more...

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Content used in mashups is typically sourced from a third party via a public interface or API. Other methods of sourcing content for mashups include Web feeds (e.g. RSS or Atom) and JavaScript.

Much the way blogs revolutionised online publishing, mashups are revolutionizing web development by allowing anyone to combine existing data from sources like eBay, Amazon.com, Google, Windows Live and Yahoo! in innovative ways. The greater availability of simple and lightweight API's have made mashups relatively easy to design. They require minimal technical knowledge and thus custom mashups are sometimes created by unlikely innovators, combining available public data in new and creative ways. While there are many useful mashups, others are simple novelties or gimmicks, with minimal practical utility.

Advocates and Supporters of Web 2.0 applications claim that mashups exemplify this new movement with their active user participation and interaction.

History of term

The etymology of this term almost certainly derives from its similar use in pop music where DJ's take the vocal track from one song and combine it with the instrumental track of another song resulting in an entirely new composition.

Mapping mashups

Mashups, though they have been around since the first API was released, have begun to garner more media attention since the beginning of 2006 due to many web companies beginning to fully embrace Web 2.0 technologies that enable many people (and more specifically web developers) to easily interface with the primary company’s intellectual property. A good example of this would be Google creating the Google Maps API and letting the public interface with their Google Maps software and databases so that individuals can develop many new and creative uses for the mapping software. One of the more popular Google Maps mashups is the Chicago Crime map. There is an entire blog devoted to popular Google Mapping mashups. Mashups can take the form of many other projects from the ingenious HousingMaps (a combination of Craigslist and Google Maps) to the obscure, such as birth places of Oscar Winners. Other popular mashups include those that allow fans of popular TV series to see where many scenes from each episode were filmed. This data is compiled by devout fans, not the television network. Another mashup allows fans of American Idol to home in on each of the contestant's home towns.

Video mashups

Video mashups are mashups that use online video provided by video sharing services APIs together with other types of data. For example, a mapping application can display thumbnails of video clips next to different geographical location, allowing application users to play video clip about that location. Video mashups are similar to photo mashups made popular by the Flickr API but they use video data instead of photo. Currently, YouTube.com and Grouper Networks provide free video APIs for mashup developers.

Read more at Wikipedia.org