Hi all,

We've released a new API method called flickr.places.getShapeHistory
that will let you return all the shapefiles/polylines that have been
rendered for a WOE ID over time.

http://www.flickr.com/services/api/flickr.places.getShapeHistory.html

If you have no idea what that means, you should start by reading this:

http://code.flickr.com/blog/2008/10/30/the-shape-of-alpha/

As of this writing, we're just finishing the few remaining places in
the second round of renderings so it may not be all that interesting
but as we do more hopefully there will be something in all that data
to spark people's imagination.

For a somewhat vague and hand-wavey perspective on it all, you may
want to read the following (it has pretty pictures at least):

http://code.flickr.com/blog/2009/01/12/living-in-the-donut-hole/

Cheers,