How to simplify GIS shapefile geometry
Shapefiles are a commonly used format for storing GIS data. But often you have a shapefile that is too large for a particular application - for example, loading into a webpage. In these cases, you may want to simplify the geometry of the data and deal with a reduced filesize at the cost of geometrical complexity.
Mapshaper.org is an online Flash tool for exactly this scenario. You can upload a shapefile, select the mode and extent of simplification, preview the result and then export the modified shapefile. Only caveat - I could not get it to work in the Flash player plugin for Safari.
