The term coined initially by the musical industry, refers to a song or composition created from the combination or remix of two or more songs to produce a new one. In the Web 2.0 world, it refers to an application that combines data from more than one source into entirely new services. An example is the use of mapping data from Google Maps to add location information to real-estate data from Craigslist, thereby creating a new and distinct web service that was not originally provided by either source.

Mashups often use the data without asking first, and then present it in unintended ways. Not surprisingly, some Web site operators have bark back. But none of that has slowed the momentum. For one thing, Amazon and others are now embracing this grassroots' movement by offering developers easier access to their data and services and programming their services so that more computing tasks can be done on the users' PCs rather than on their servers.

What's it all about?

This new breed of Web-based data integration applications is sprouting up all across the Internet. Their popularity stems from interactive user participation and the manner in which they stitch together third-party data, drawing upon content and functionality retrieved from data sources that lay outside of organizational boundaries.

So, what does a mashup looks like? The ChicagoCrime.org Web site is a great example. One of the first mashups to gain widespread popularity, the Web site aggregates crime data from the Chicago Police Department's database with cartography from Google Maps. Users interact with the site with actions such as instructing it to display a map containing pushpins that reveal the details of all recent burglary crimes in South Chicago. The concept and the presentation are simple, and the composition is visually powerful. The site attracted 1.2 million page views in just the first two weeks after it began.

Mashups are part of an ongoing shift towards more a more interactive and participatory Internet and considered a hallmark of the Web 2.0 era; the online community as a major source of innovation and leading edge behavior that subsequently moves into our workplaces.

Check it Out

People are seizing far more control of what they do online. The long-delayed promise of software and services that can be tapped on demand is at last here. Hundreds of mashups are now available mixing and matching all kind of services with hordes of volunteer programmers taking it upon themselves to combine and remix the data and services of unrelated, even competing sites. Developers are getting very creative, writing innovative applications and pundits say they are the fastest growing ecosystem on the Web with about 10 new mashups per day. Check these links if you're interested:

• WebMashup.com Open Directory for Mashups, Web 2.0 APIs and Applications.
• ProgrammableWeb Most diverse and structured collection available.
• Mashup Awards Best mashups on the web.