Who is smarter about geography – Google Earth or Wikipedia?

My BF and I have been putting together this spherical puzzle of the earth (it’s awesome – snort!) http://www.megabrands.com/esphera/index.html

Truth be told, I’m not really a puzzle person. Those kitties and waterscapes that are usually the subjects of puzzle prints are (yawn!) not quite engaging enough. This was different because I wanted to learn more geography (I think I was absent that day), so we started in.

At first, it was pretty easy. We pieced together the big continental blocks with telltale coloring. Africa was first, naturally. We had a setback when the curved pieces wouldn’t stay in place, but quickly resolved it by binding them together with clear nail polish. South America and Australia followed, then North America, Europe/Asia, and finally Antarctica.

Then, we started learning. We pulled up Google Earth and had a lot of fun watching the globe spin around in realistic satellite imagery, pointing us to our next jigsaw need. The Caspian Sea, Bulgaria, and Suriname all found their spots in the world.

Shortly, we were left with many, many (many many many) blue pieces and huge gaps in the globe. It’s true – the earth is mostly water. Luckily, there are multitudes of tiny islands dotting the seas, which helped guide us.

Not so lucky, Google Earth stopped being so useful. It didn’t have a clue about where we should snap in the piece that said Nuku Hiva. It didn’t even know the very western-sounding Johnston Islands!

Where to next? Wikipedia! Sure enough, listed by some caring soul was the location of Nuku Hiva, along with history, demographic information, and geography. How could Google forget this very important island? Herman Melville wrote a book based on his experiences there! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuku_Hiva

Does this mean Google is really just a stuffed shirt company, focused on the masses and totally unconcerned about our island neighbors? Probably not. What it really means is that the understanding of all of us individually really is so much more powerful than even the greatest goliath company filled with the smartest people. We really matter.

Nuku Hivaites, thanks for helping us finish this puzzle.I’m totally getting the fishbowl next.

My Hometown - 2.0

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me to find blog sites focused on my new hometown of Laurel, Maryland. One of them is a blog by the City of Laurel, and another is set up as a local online newspaper, but interested citizens set up the other three. This surprised me – why do people care so much about reiterating the local news?

I liked it, though! It made me feel some kind of community spirit that I haven’t had since I was a kid. We used to have block parties, where somebody would set up some fold-out tables in the middle of the sidewalk, and all of the neighbors would bring a pot-luck dish. The kids would play hide-and-seek endlessly, and the adults would sip beers and chat late into the evening. We knew every family in the neighborhood, and people would really go over to their neighbor’s houses to borrow a cup of sugar (ok, it was in Hawaii, so it was normally a cup of mayonnaise).

These blogs are filled with hope in addition to information. The blog Laurel 2020 is focused on plans for future development, and hot-button issues, like the future of slots. The author set up a google map to show future locations planned apartment communities, the planned Konterra Town Center, and the Laurel Commons (which will replace the Laurel Mall). Other blogs are Laurel Connections and South Laurel News.

Do these blogs just replace a local newspaper? I have to admit, I much prefer a quick update in my RSS reader to picking up the weekly (usually soggy) papers thrown on my driveway. I usually deposit them directly in the recycle bin. However, it offers more than those papers, because the opinions are better rounded. Not only do the authors read several local papers, they personally attend council meetings and experience life in this city. The commenters also add flavor, sometimes with insight and other times with sheer frustration.

This feeling was resurrected in me by those bloggers. I have felt more “at home” in Laurel than any of the other places I’ve lived as an adult, and now my sense of community spirit has been solidified by the obvious care that these bloggers have for our home town.
Pot luck anyone?

Café Press: User Generated Commerce

Ever have a great idea for a t-shirt? My boyfriend claims he came up with “save the boobies” as a breast cancer awareness slogan long before he saw the now- famous bumper sticker “save the ta tas.”

The problem is, it costs a lot in overhead and then marketing in order to sell your witty ideas, right? Café Press is all about turning your t-shirt, bumper sticker, poster, calendar, CD, book making skills into quick cash. Just like everything else in the Web 2.0 world, it is free free free!

Check out their “Start Selling” blurb:

“You can sell
Merchandise you design including t-shirts, posters, mugs, bumper stickers and much more.
Books printed on-demand. Learn more
Audio and Data CDs. Learn more


What CafePress.com does
Gives you a FREE online shop to promote your products
Produces each item when ordered using our unique print-on-demand technology
Handles all payment transactions including major credit cards
Ships your products worldwide
Manages all returns/exchanges
Offers customer service via toll-free phone and email
Sends you a monthly check for your earnings on sales!”

How can this possibly work? When a customer orders a book, greeting card, or other printable object, Café Press grabs the item and ink, prints it up, and sends it off. The customer pays for the item, and Café Press splits that loot up – you get paid for your creativity, they get paid for stuff and shipping.

Next time that funny phrase comes to mind, don’t “Tweet” it – instead, head over to Café Press, and let your quick wits make you cash!

I perused their product line, and was pretty impressed with the variety of wall calendars with lovely photos and drawings.

My favorite product is the CD of “favorite campfire songs” for sale for $6.00. Wait – did my grandma put that up here?
My favorite story was about the woman who uses her proceeds from Café Press to walk in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer walk every year.