Traveling the World ... One Data Source at a Time

Every Saturday night at 6:30pm, there was a show on our NBC affiliate called "The Eyes of Texas". The show featured a couple of 10-minute visits to usually obscure places in Texas. Some were big, most were small, some were in the city, most were nature. Most weekends I didn't watch the show that closely, but they never seemed to run out of stories (at the time, I just wasn't their target demographic).

If the State of Texas never ran out of stories in 30 years of broadcasts, I can barely fathom what kind of show "The Eyes of the World" could be. As great as that may seem, two thoughts come to mind. There are already a lot of shows that explore the world. Many do so with a keen eye on entertainment value. Travel shows instantly come to mind.

I have been exploring a business idea for the last 5 years, and this is where my second thought comes to life. I have a slight fascination with data (structured data, specifically), and the web has only served to increase my curiosity for data of the world in much the same way that a library enhances the experience of the curious reader.

When most people think of traveling the world, contemporary transportation is usually involved: Planes, Cruise Ships, etc. However, if your worldly experience is limited to airports and ports of call, you probably are missing out on so much that the world has to offer. A golfer who only plays from the fairway similarly "misses out" by not exploring the whole course ;-).

Over time, I will explore the world and its data ... one data source at a time ... except when brining in multiple sources of data would be more interesting. Just like the Eyes of Texas, I will tell stories with the data that I come across. In doing so, I will "travel the world".