Fabregas is related to Puss in Boots? Well, they're both Spanish.

In digital history last week, we learned about Mash-ups and APIs. Mash-ups work together with APIs to create wonderfully interesting web applications like a Google Maps map that displays the addresses of all the places in London, ON that sell Arsenal FC merchandise. Just, you know, for example.

The other day, I was looking around YouTube and came across YouTube's new application called "Warp". And, while I'm not sure if it's the same thing as a Mash-up, it's really kind of fun. In fact, it might be more of a visualization.

Warp visualizes the connections between videos. It can only be used in full screen mode and its icon is in the bottom left corner of the screen - it looks kind of like a web map. So, I searched for Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal's up-and-coming Spanish midfielder. I watched the video in full screen mode and then clicked on the icon. Immediately, a bunch of different bubbles splurted out all over the screen. From there I was connected to a number of other bubbles that were related to the first video. I found my way, somehow, to a Puss in Boots video clip from Shrek.

By clicking on a bubble, you can watch the clip. Once the clip is finished, a line appears and connects you back to the original video. It was really a lot of fun to see the wacky connections between videos.

This sort of visualization or application, or whatever it is, would be really cool if it could somehow be used on old, historical (ahhhh...the real connection) photos. If this visualization could somehow be applied to family photos you could roll your mouse over a person in a photo and all of a sudden bubbles would display his/her family and friends and even other photos of the same person. This tool would be great for genealogists.

I'm not sure that it's even feasible to use Warp in such a way that I described above but it's interesting to imagine the possibilities. So, go try it and think of some other neat ways to use Warp!

Public what?

Over the holidays I usually make appointments with my doctor, hair dresser, dentist, and optometrist. It's a time to get healthy, regenerate, and share conversation with the health professionals who have been seeing me since I was a kid.

This year, however, the conversation was not about family, holiday plans, and life in general; rather, appointments consisted of me explaining public history, my MA program, and my future career options. When I described public history to my dentist and the kinds of jobs that I could possibly have once I graduate, he responded, "I didn't even know those kinds of jobs existed." Similarly, while answering the same questions from my doctor, he said, "You're speaking Greek to me."

I recognized early on that most people didn't or wouldn't know much about public history but a simple explanation seemed to yield an understanding nod and smile. I was quite surprised, however, to hear the responses of so many supposedly well-educated, socially aware Canadians.

This got me thinking. What is the point of public history if the 'public', this kind of history's namesake, doesn't even realize its significance. There is, indeed, public interest in history - historical novels, movies, and television shows are more popular than ever before. Perhaps, as public historians, we need to be more concerned with the public rather than the history. My digital history course is obviously helping to foster this attitude.

How cool would it be if museums had temporary exhibitions for which the subjects were based entirely on public interest? Museum administrators could poll their communities to find out what topics would draw the most amount of visitors. This would probably lead to a type of history less interesting to most museum administrators and historians. A less 'academic' type of history. Does public support automatically tarnish historic validity?

I wonder if it is possible to bridge the gap between what the public wants and what historians want. I'm not entirely sure. I do know, however, that as I continue to find my way as a public historian, I am leaning more toward the attitude that supports and favours a public friendly history.