Firstly, I can’t decide if this H1N1 Swine Flu map on Google Maps is useful, ingenious, or just macabre. Secondly, I have to wonder if it isn’t just a little bit dangerous?

The creator, niman, claims to work in “Biomedical Research from Pittsburgh, PA USA” and certainly has a blog to back that up. I have no reason to doubt him/her. Equally, I have no reason to believe him/her either. I can validate some of the information on this map, but not all, and we all know tha the best lies have a crunchy truth centre. I assume the map is right, accurate, and up to date. But this is the internet, which means it doesn’t have to be, and probably isn’t.

I can’t help but wonder what other kinds of map you could create with Google Maps if you wanted to whip up a bit of mass panic? The now infamous “BNP Membership Map” being a case in point, I just wonder how long it will be before we have the “zombie infestation map” online. And how long after that until some lazy journalist turns it into news …