The Monster Mash
Today we launched a new yacht tracking service for the Le Tournoi Sailing Challenge . This series of sailing races is a fantastic team building event that also raises considerable funds for local charities.
Webreality has provided the software free of charge, and really as an opportunity to showcase our latest technology. This kind of application is called a mashup, not because its a bodge, but because it’s a web 2.0 application that uses content from more than one source to create a completely new service.
In this case, our client, Mourant, is hosting the application using Webreality’s reWrite content management system. We have then integrated reWrite with the Google Map API. A GPS tracking solution per boat would have been very costly (money that should go to charities). Instead, yacht crews will radio their positions to the committee boat, who will email (using laptop/GPRS) the boat positions to Mourant HQ. Mourant HQ will funnel the data into the web application, and bingo, you have near live race tracking. The first, we think, for the Channel Islands.
Mashups will usher in a new era of rapid web application development, and you’ll see more and more examples of new and exciting technology emerging as websites cross-fertilise ideas. We have plenty of mashups in the pipeline, including an exciting project for Google Adwords bidding management, but more on that soon. For now, enjoy the race at www.mourant.com/letournoi
[Special thanks to Tom Witherington and Liam Hennelly for very long hours worked to get this live!]
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And a big thank you to Webreality from Mourant for a great job on this project. You really do pull out stops that I didn’t know were there!
Matthew Robins
Director of Marketing
Mourant