This is yet another cross post of an item from the LSNC main site, but it is a doozie, given what is happening in Southern California. And of likely interest to the GIS crowd out there:

Want a timely illustration of the effective use of GIS mapping? Take a look at the simple but effective wild fire maps created by the Los Angeles Times using the custom Google map features. They illustrate dramatically the areas affected. The first map was posted yesterday. A second, updated map illustrates conditions today. With either map click on the “flames” icon and you will get a (distressing) description of the area affected and the damage done.

You know GIS mapping has gone totally mainstream, out of the hands of desktop geeks into the keystrokes of the web savvy hoi polloi, when the New York Times gives front-page prominence to the story: With Tools on Web, Amateurs Reshape Mapmaking. Mapping hipsters apparently now call it the GeoWeb. We’re all part of it now. Actually, the advocacy community has long already been a part of the web-based mapping revolution, courtesy of leading innovators like California’s Neighborhood Knowledge California (NKCA) and even more prominent national players like DataPlace. Map on, people!