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by Teresa Martin

When people and technology come together, the results can move you in unexpected ways, ways that make you say 'ah, this is the potential, this is what it can be."

I had one of those 'ah' moments this weekend.

But before I tell you about that, let's talk about Web 2.0 for a moment. The term "Web 2.0" is dreadfully overused. It is a phase that means nothing specific. Honest - it's just a buzzword that way too many people get worked up over and worry about, fretting that they or their company "should have it." I've stopped counting the times I've heard "where do I buy this Web 2.0?"

Basically, Web 2.0 is just a fancy catchall phrase for a way of thinking that encourages people to proactively combine pieces to create, present, and add their own voices with those of others on the web. It also describes a whole bunch of different tools that let people do this by extending and combining applications, and adding their own information.

Google Earth is one of those tools. It is an application that lets you see core map data by 'flying' through it in various ways. Like most mapping software -- but unlike first generation web applications -- it also offers the ability to create layers atop that core data, thereby giving individuals and groups the means to add and share layers of information and interactivity atop the base map. Like other Web 2.0 applications -- but unlike platform-based mapping applications -- this ability to open to any and all.

The layers can be graphics, or pointers with commentary, or even something called a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file which is a way of describing geographic annotation and visualization; these were developed for Google Earth and usually appear as a zipped .kmz file. OK, that's more info that you probably want to know, but all of this brings us to Memorial Day. And to a KML file layer that is drawing on Google Earth and several military communities to show the story of the Iraq conflict in very powerful way.

It is called Map the Fallen and, through time and space, it connects the hometowns and place of death of the 5700-plus service members to date who have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But, as they say in infomercial land, that's not all! In time sequencing, it shows the casualty rate with thickening global bands. Turn to the US and it is blanketed with markers from the hometown of each man or woman. Click on a marker and a box that contains a photo (if available) and brief bio of the fallen soldier, along with links (if available) to the hometown newspaper's obituary of the person or other online memorials.

These are real people. These are real lives. These are the faces of the real meaning of Memorial Day.

Sean Askay created Map the Fallen. Today he works for Google; in his words, he develops "geospatial content for the Google Earth Outreach team." But before he joined Google, he was already fascinated with Google Earth and its potential and that's where this story really begins.

As a graduate student, he came across a website called icasualties.org, in which fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan are tracked. Inspired by this and by other sites where dedicated volunteers track the human progress of war, he began a personal project using Google Earth. He shared this project publicly over Memorial Day weekend.

And what a memorial.

It is a memorial on a global scale, showing in all the power of the interactive form the global interconnections of Mashpee MA, Fallujah, and Milllstadt, IL. Showing the flesh and blood reality of a 19-year-old Cape Codder and a 26-year-old from the Midwest, and how one place intersected both lives.

Much as the yellow-logo bodybag count on television's evening news helped make Vietnam's price real to a generation past, Map of the Fallen and other online presentations make our current conflicts and their costs real today.

Unlike those telecasts of the 60s, however, Map the Fallen is an interactive group work in progress. Sean is in the process of setting up a mechanism for others to update or correct the entries, and the communities that gather and collect the information use various sets of (Web 2.0) tools to create and managed their spaces. From the minds of many, connected together, amazing things arise.

Here on the Cape we tend to see at Memorial Day as the weekend seasonal visitors descend, but if you take few minutes to download Google Earth and the Map the Fallen overlay you'll quickly be snapped back to the reality of what the day is all about: remembering with respect.

That is, without question, a real 'ah' moment.

A few notes on this week's column (if you haven't used Google Earth before, that is):

1. To see this, you'll need to have Google Earth 5.0 installed It is available for all platforms at: http://earth.google.com/
2. Then, you need to get the specific map. It is available at: http://www.mapthefallen.org/
3. Launch Google Earth and select Coalition Military Causalities or click on the .kmz file (map layer) that you downloaded.
4. Click on the play button or drag the slider bar at the top of the screen to see happenings over time. Click on the circular buttons to move the globe. Click on the zoom buttons to zoom in and see details. And click on the person icons to learn more about each individual. Don't be afraid to explore...