An Example of Dynamic Map/Data Visualization

The Flowing Data blog posted a nifty time-series map of the spread of the Walmart franchise: Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America. (Via Planetizen)

This map visualization of change over time draws on data from Freebase (an open source database of databases, I think) and uses the flash-based map-tile tool Modest Maps.

Is it GIS? It is certainly a good example of using map data to make a simple point.

And, if we're being honest with ourselves, it's fun to watch the little green lights flashing across the map.