Best use of Google cloud computing services, sponsored by Google

MashBlock by Cameron Prebble

Description and content sources

MashBlock (http://www.mashblock.co.nz)

MashBlock is a tool to visualise demographic data from the 2006 Census for 66 Territorial Authorities, 2000 Area Units, and over 48000 Meshblocks.

This site is built to provide fast location-based queries utilising the Google Maps Geocoder, HTML 5 Geolocation and the AddressFinder autocomplete library to allow the user to find the Meshblock, Area Unit and Territorial Authority their search falls in.

The backend site is built with Ruby on Rails and a PostgreSQL database with the PostGIS plugin. The frontend utilises the javascript libraries jQuery, Raphael and the Google Maps API to create the visualisations and user interaction.

All the data is sourced from Statistics New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand Meshblock Dataset http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2006CensusHomePage/MeshblockDataset.aspx?tab=Download

Statistics New Zealand Digital Boundaries http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/geographic-areas/download-digital-boundaries.aspx

Judges’ comments

MashBlock demonstrates an appreciation of the importance of geographic scale and folds it directly into the application design. The data describing each place is summarised and presented in a meaningful manner. The charts and large-format numbers require no specialist knowledge to interpret. The developer has deliberately sought to present only a small number of key indicator variables. In sacrificing comprehensiveness, the application gains clarity and focus. MashBlock uses Google Maps polygons to show the meshblock being inspected.

MashBlock (http://www.mashblock.co.nz)

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  Best use of Google cloud computing services

  Awarded to the mashup that best makes use of a Google cloud computing service. A $1000 cash prize will go to the winner of this category.