Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Item 6: Photos & Images - More Flickr

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on their site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups that use Flickr images.

Mashups?

Mashups are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a mapping program). With this combination, for example, you get Mappr.

Wikipedia offers a slightly more detailed explanation.

New mashups come out, literally, every day. Here are some fun ones that work with Flickr:

- Spell with Flickr lets you spell anything from Flickr photos.
- Montagr creates photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr - all you have to do is change the tag in the top right corner.
- Flickr Color Pickr lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
- Retrievr lets you find photos based on your sketching abilities.
- Trading Card Maker lets you create your own trading cards (many library staff already have...).
- There's even Flickr Sudoku.

And tons more - discover more on the Flickr services page, Flickr Bits (this is not officially part of Flickr) web apps, and this incredible list of Flickr tools from Quick Online Tips.

Activities:

1. Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and third party tools that are out there.
2. Create a blog post about one that intrigues you. Tell us which one you explored and what you liked about it.

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