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The monster mash

Five things you can do with mash-ups. By JONATHAN DREW.

Tuesday, 8 November, 2005, 18:46 EST, US

Google maps + public records = mash-up fun. (AP Photo Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

Spare-time Web developers have combined bits of disparate Web sites to let you find taco trucks in Seattle or cheap gas in Columbus, Ohio.

With hundreds already out there and dozens popping up each week, it's hard to keep track. To make things easy on you, dear reader, asap has checked out dozens of sites and rounded up some of the coolest and most useful ways to use these sites.

AVOID SEX OFFENDERS
More than a dozen sites use public databases to create maps of crime locations or homes of convicted sex offenders. On http://www.mapsexoffenders.com , you can enter your home address to produce a map showing red virtual pushpins marking the address of a convicted sex offender, as listed in public databases in 38 states.

Among the first mash-ups created using Google Maps, http://www.chicagocrime.org , lets users browse crimes in a number of ways, including by crime type, date and location. Apartment hunters have referenced this site in deciding where to live, while community activists have used it to illustrate the plight of their neighborhoods.

A more recently created site, http://www.seattle911.com plots 911 calls on a map of Seattle within a few minutes of them being placed, using data from a government Web site.

FIND A PLACE TO LIVE
The creator of http://www.housingmaps.com thought there had to be an easier way to search for apartments. The last time he moved, he had to print out dozens of pages of maps, driving directions and classified ads. Afterward, he created combined data from online classified ads with Google Maps to plot locations of rental properties. Zoom in on your location, pick your price range and wait for the site to generate the red and yellow markers.

Since then, many other real estate Web sites have incorporated maps. http://www.homepricemaps.com shows you how much your neighbor paid for the place next door place by mashing up Google Maps with public real estate records available through Yahoo.

USE TWO SEARCH ENGINES AT ONCE
If you've ever had trouble finding that obscure bit of information on the Web, http://www.doubletrust.net might be the site for you. It combines search results from Google and Yahoo, displaying them on the same page. If you favor both search engines equally, DoubleTrust will present a list of results that both sites rank highly, followed by lists of "orphans" favored by one engine or the other. You can also tweak the site to display rankings differently, depending on which of the search engines you prefer.

PLOT A RUN
We all wonder how long our runs really are, but we're easily thwarted by inexact methods of calculating distance (a mile is how many city blocks?). A better way to do this is http://www.gmap-pedometer.com , which allows you to plot a run anywhere street maps are available. You just plunk down markers along the route, usually at any intersection where you make a turn or at the apex of a curve.

COMPARISON SHOP
Before you buy that book or CD at your local big-box retailer, you might want to check if there's a better price online. Now you can do it without leaving the store. Simply dial ringfo.com's toll free number and enter the isbn or upc number on the dial pad. The site will tell you how much the item sells for on http://www.amazon.com .

The voice is tinny and robotic, and it won't always locate prices for obscure works. But if you want to price-check that best-seller, you're probably in luck. The site even records your recent searches in a list you can access from your home computer.