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Another week and another edition of Pods and Blogs. I hope everyone had a fine Easter and that the return to work is not too jarring! Something to ease you into the week is our podcast which is packed full of the usual delights.

This week Chris Vallance orients himself with mapping. has released open data so that people involved in mobile and online apps for mapping can make good use of the information. Chris chatted with Christopher Osborne of who is one of the many people working on making our where abouts more interesting and useful.

Following our Time based edition, Lucy Inglis got in touch to let me know about her wonderful and award winning blog about . She took me back in time and described why this time and place is one of the most exciting places to explore.

Causing ripples across the web as usual, the novelist and podcaster has declared his intention to retire from podcasting. He was one of the early novelists to gain a publishing deal after releasing his thrillers in various forms, free to anyone who would listen. Four years later, with an enormous following and a publishing deal, he is stepping down from the free model of publishing. We chatted about the pros and cons of making it as a writer when your stories are free.

That's all for this week. As usual, I am taking your recommendations and finding out more about who is doing what on-line. If there is something you have seen that should be shared or maybe you want to know more about the creators behind a podcast or blog, then drop me a line. You can reach me at PodsandBlogs at bbc dot co dot uk or come and say hi on Twitter.

Until next week!
Jamillah