Need A Vacation? Flickr Geotagging Takes You Away

Been reaching the end of your rope? It's been mighty cold for weeks on end and it's just about time for the ice and snow to melt. But if you can't get away from the office right now you can still take a virtual break from our winter weather by using Flickr's geotagging feature.

Flickr is a photo sharing site that allows people to upload photos online so other people can view and use them. I use photos from Flickr for my blog and that is that is where I got this picture of a manatee. (Thanks, Talking Tree, for the use of your photo.)

Geotagging is the practice of labeling photos with geographic information--such as GPS data. At Flickr, photographers place photo locations on a map, which allows the viewer to search the map for a location and then be able to view the photos from that site. It is becoming quite popular with professional photographers as discussed here. I had a great break from the grind by just playing with the map.

So here's the part about vacationing--I am going on a trip soon to Florida and thought I'd check out where we were going to swim with the manatees. And since none of you can come with me, I thought I'd offer you the virtual option. So don your wet suits and take a dip in the Crystal River, but unlike me, you can rush off to Sao Paulo, Brazil if the manatees don't show.