• On BNET: 3 worst things about the iPhone 3G S
March 24, 2008 5:00 AM PDT

MetaCarta: Mapping the news

by Elinor Mills

A Cambridge, Mass.-based company is launching a free Web site that maps news articles to their location on a map.

MetaCarta indexes more than 1,400 sources, including stories from the Associated Press, Reuters, and other news sites and blogs.

You can search for a place name or zoom into the map to a specific location, and articles related to that spot will be displayed. Repositioning the map refines the search. You can also browse by category, such as health, politics, sports, and world news.

The AP and Reuters stories are displayed in a window on the site, while clicking on other items sends you to the source site.

There are no ads right now, but eventually there may be classified listings and ads associated with businesses, says Rick Hutton, vice president of content at MetaCarta.

MetaCarta lets you search for news using a map.

(Credit: MetaCarta)
Originally posted at News Blog
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor.
Recent posts from Webware
Firefox 3.5 and the potential of Web typography
Sites that help you lodge complaints
Google App Engine misfires
Microsoft: Bing needs to improve when news breaks
Google finally sued by makers of Finally Fast
Google Toolbar for IE speaks your language
Bing brings out the tweets
Google Search optimized for a mess of phones
Add a Comment (Log in or register) (3 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
One effective way to teach geograpy
by CharlesRovira March 24, 2008 7:30 AM PDT
I like the fact that it can extract place names from an article, look for them in Google earth and show you where this is.

I don't claim to be in the least impressed about its search capabilities though.
Reply to this comment
Nintendo Wii already links news stories to geographic location
by mdwychoff March 24, 2008 8:10 AM PDT
If you have a live internet connection, the Nintendo Wii game
console already has this function. Wii News automatically links
Associated Press news stories to a world globe. Among other
options, you can view stories by general category such as Sports,
Technology, Medicine, and view the globe, and zoom in or out to
view stories by location.
Reply to this comment
by PeterBarnes June 5, 2008 4:55 AM PDT
The cool thing about Metacarta is that their technology will differentiate between the many Paris' on the planet by looking at the context of the reference - that's a hugely important capability when you're talking geoparsing! Otherwise I'll find my news article associated with Paris Hilton when I wanted the location of the Eiffel Tower.
Reply to this comment
(3 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
advertisement

About Webware

Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Webware topics

Making sense of Windows 7 upgrades

faq The basics and the fine print on Microsoft's options for those eyeing the next operating system from Redmond.
• Full Windows 7 coverage

Road Trip 2009: Big Sky Country

CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman takes his car full of gadgets to the Rockies and the Great Plains in search of tech, science, nature, and more.
• America's Fortress: Cheyenne Mountain

advertisement

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right