Ever heard of "Bar Code, MN" before? Neither have I, but it exists in geographical databases for some reason, and it's right in St. Paul. The Flickr website has added "geotagging" to their list of features in the last few months, allowing users to give latitude and longitude coordinates to their photos (it's actually as simple as clicking and dragging putting an icon into the right spot on a map—no GPS required). Anyway, some photos taken in St. Paul have ended up being labeled as "Taken in Bar Code, Minnesota".
Flickr uses Yahoo! Maps for their engine. Bar Code is also a recognized place according to Google Maps. I'm curious how that exists in whatever database they use when places like Hader and Salem Corners can't be found by typing their names into the search bar (though they do exist when you zoom in on the map, interestingly enough..).
Anyway, doing a normal Google web search, I found some other things that must be using the same database of place names that Google and Yahoo! use, but nothing that really explains what's happening. For instance, you can get help moving to Bar Code, although I guess the links for looking up foreclosures and finding female roommates in the city have gone 404. There you go—an imaginary town to go with your imaginary girlfriend.
Hmm, as an experiment, I think I'm going to write a letter to "Postmaster, Bar Code, MN 55172".
Posted by mike at October 23, 2006 10:53 AM | News