Mashups are all the rage amongst developers these days, giving people the ability to take data from multiple sources and smush (yes, that's an official programming term) it together to create something new. I'm not going to say "Web 2.0" (crap, I just said it)...I'll just say that mashups can be interesting and valuable although I think there's a lot of stuff out there that's there "just for the heck of it." The concept itself is interesting though, and as more software becomes available through APIs (or open source) it's putting a lot more power into the hands of creative developers. In mid-July I launched a side project: Where Is Basil? You can visit the site at http://www.whereisbasil.com. Ever since launching it I wanted to do a Google Maps mashup to track Basil's travels across the globe. Recently I found an incredible easy and amazing tool online for doing Google Maps mashups: Map Builder. Map Builder is easy to use and free. Within a couple of days I had a Google Maps mashup for Where Is Basil which is pretty darn slick, if I do say so myself. I haven't experimented with all of Map Builder's features, and I know you can really get into the code to muck around, but for my purposes it's perfect. Here's some more links of interest related to Google Maps and mashups: * Google Maps Mania * Programmable Web * HotOrNot + Google Maps * Essential Resources for Google Maps (Technorati Tags: google maps, web 2.0, mashups, programming, map builder)