Filed under: Business, Design, Fun, Internet, Web services, Microsoft, Social Software
Keeping an eye on crime in Oakland with Crimespotting
Crime is an ugly thing, but the folks over at Stamen Design have turned the tables and made something beautiful to track it in the Oakland California area.
Microsoft Virtual Earth was the tool of choice when it came to skillfully building out this Oakland Crimespotting mapping creation. The interactive map tracks crimes that users can subscribe and receive updates about them via RSS and email, from aggravated assault, murder, robbery, arson, burglary, and disturbing the peace. The map pinpoints and highlights the area in which the crime occurred, time, date, and stamps it with an official crime case number. All data is pulled from the Oakland CrimeView Community map.
Stamen hopes that this tool with encourage local governments to use this visual data model and release more information to the public about tree planting, new schools, and other information that matters most to community members.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
