Permaculture Database

[Matthew Shultz <deepwinter@winterroot.net>]

Hey guys,

Our Wild Edibles foraging app for iphone, created in collaboration with Steve 
Brill of New York, has been released!  You can check out the free version at  
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wild-edibles-lite/id431504179?mt=8 or spring 
for the full (160 species) version here:  
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wild-edibles-full/id431504588?mt=8     We've 
also got a flashcards series for helping beginners to learn to identify 
edible plants  http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/winterroot-llc/id427385326   
 I've love to hear feedback from this list, as there is clearly some 
alignment of interests.

On the technical side, members of this list might be interested in how we 
implemented certain parts of the process.  We have an open source project 
that allows rapid 'evolution' of a database structure, so that in working 
with Steve we could easily create and modify the parameters of the database 
objects as he/we worked through the process of collecting, consolidating, 
editing, transforming and deploying the data.  Our system has an xml export 
feature, after which we applied xslt transforms to massage the information 
into xml files and sqlite3 database files to load into the iphone.  Our Ipad 
version of the app, coming along soon, will use this same process of 
automatically link all the plant names and glossary words throughout the app, 
for a more 'multimedia encyclopedia' like feel.    I'm open to discussing 
more about handheld platforms if there is interest.

This is a major triumph for foraging and permaculture.. We are getting a 
great response, so I wanted to share our efforts with this list, which while 
rather silent these days represents an idea that I'm still very much 
committed to.  What's new in your worlds?

Very Best,
Matt
- WinterRoot LLC