After a whole day of testing, the Middle East conflict tracking page has gotten yet another overall. The 'page' is now an entire section, consisting of:

The Blogs View : the original page aggregating blog posts
The Map View: the map view showing local blogs and recent news events
The News View: a summary page showing all recent news events with the option for readers to rate them

The main enhancements today have been around the 'News' capability. The system is now open wide so that anyone can submit a news item they have found on the conflict. The item will then be placed on the unapproved items page, where other readers can rate it. Those items that achive a sufficiently positive response will then automatically migrate onto the main news page and the map page.

I'm currently working out additional methods of categorizing and presenting news items -- particularly in visual form on the map -- but for now, you'll see that there are several categories from which to select when submitting an item.

My hope is that with this system, and a sufficiently interested community of bloggers and blog readers focusing on it, we can create a single location which sums up the very best reporting, analysis, and breaking news from both the traditional media and the bloggers on the ground. I invite everyone to join me in this effort, and as always, suggestions are welcome.

After a rather hurried afternoon and evening of a) learning Microsoft's Virtual Earth API, and b) Figuring out how to twist and bend it into the shapes I wanted, I've managed to integrate TTLB's Middle East blog tracking with Virtual Earth's rather impressive mapping capabilities.

The new map-based tracking page is here.

I've made a first pass through the regional blogs that TTLB has been tracking thus far, and have done my best to assign them locations appropriately. I didn't get through every single last one, however, and for some blogs, it is a bit difficult to determine exactly where their authors are located.

So: if you are a blogger actually blogging from the conflict zone, by all means, please e-mail me and let me know your location. Ultimately, I need to plug your location in as a latitude and longitude (i.e., 31.7800 35.2300 for Tel Aviv), but if you live in a major city that is shown on the maps, just tell me that and I can look up the lat/long.

Even if you are not a blogger in the Middle East, however, I need help!. There are many things I could do with the existing map integration and blog tracking to vastly improve their usefulness in tracking the conflict --- but there are only so many hours in a day, and I've only got these ten fingers pounding on the keys.

I am looking, therefore, for volunteers who would be willing to help me with online research and general gofering. Tasks would include things such as hunting down the latitude and logitude for bloggers in the region and other 'net searches. Requirements are that you be a blogger with an established weblog and be willing to put up with me --- other than that, anyone may apply! In exchange for such assistance, I'll list you & your blog on the tracking page as an Editorial Lackey, or somesuch. If you're interested --- you guessed it: e-mail me.

That's enough for one day. Goodnight to all, and to those in the conflict zone: may you and yours find safety, peace, and freedom....