Web maps and Skype

Brisbane floods in eastern Australia affect areas I grew up in, and where friends still live. There are many map resources online through news media, for example Ushahidi community flood reporting map on ABC News, showing maps becoming mainstream.

I myself found two simple yet effective postings of affected streets and skeleton of Brisbane infrastructure on arcgis.com. In ten minutes flat, I pinpointed here my two childhood neighbourhoods Indooroopilly and Kenmore, and Lutwyche where old friends live.

Note that I did all this in an internet cafe on my netbook, no GIS installed

Not only did I share that via traditional social media, I also skyped my parents and shared the screenshot with them directly. If getting Dad on skype is already an achievement by Mum, then pointing them to a web map would have been a bridge too far... No worries matey they say in Oz, I simply shared my web screen with them on skype, showed them around and told them how I did it without them lifting a finger!

Oh did I tell you I'm currently in Kuwait, and they're tucked away in SW France? And if you wondered what took me to Brizzie, I posted my travels here (original) and here (update)...