Data With a Warming Trend - Winter Isn’t Everywhere

We are at the beginning of February and in many places it is cold and will stay that way for a while. To offset that, this month’s Directions on Data includes an example of a data application offering a warmer perspective – a Virgin Inlands Web site. Data about beaches, hotels and restaurants, and even a routing capability to get you between adventure spots…

The site includes basic maps of St. Thomas, St, Croix and St John.

Basic maps. (Click for larger image)

Notice the right hand column with weather, links to businesses, airfares, and the Dragonfly Villa. I clicked the weather and this is what I found.

The current weather.

Click on any of the islands and you will be taken to a more detailed map and photos of points of interest.

More detailed map. (Click for larger image)

Click on one of the points of interest and you will see a full screen image of it.

Full screen image. (Click for larger image)

The red flag on the map is the Mahogany Run Golf Course. Here’s a picture of it.

Mahogany Run Golf Course.

I found this image of the Waves Restaurant at Cane Bay.

The Waves Restaurant. (Click for larger image)

If you want to get to the Waves from your hotel (I picked the Ritz), just click on the Driving Directions. As you would expect, you see the route on the map and the driving directions are below it.

(Click for larger image)

Driving directions.

Just in case you are not planning to take your laptop to the beach (!) you can download the directions and map to your Palm device.

More than just making you dream of warmer places, the data behind this Web site is highly targeted to make you want to book a flight – and that’s the point. Data can do a lot more than create tables, or even collect imagery. It can move you off to someplace warm, with gentle breezes and a glass in your hand that has a tiny umbrella in it.

Technical notes: The Web site uses ESRI’s RouteMAP IMS and data from USGS Topos, aerial photos and local points of interest and was built by PinPoint Tools.

PinPoint Tools can be found at:
3262 N. Hall St. suite 905
Dallas, TX 75219
214-652-8246