Date archive for October, 2007
October 14, 2007Babel spoken hereGeographyDid you ever play the “operator game” as a child with a large group of friends? The one where you whisper a phrase to the person sitting next to you, who then repeats to the next person sitting next to them and so on down the line until the last person who hears the phrase ... read more How much detail is too much in online mapping?Issues in GISAdena Schutzberg and Joe Francica from Directions Magazine discuss the issue of mapping out critical infrastructure in this 12 minute podcast. With an increasing number of local governments providing highly detailed geographic information about schools, roads and other infrastructure through online mapping, this podcast looks at the question, “What features should be hidden in the ... read more October 13, 2007Paper maps falling by the roadsideMapsThe San Francisco Chronicle has published a short article on the decline of paper road maps usage among American motorists. The increasingly popularity of online mapping for driving directions has resulted in a steady reduction of requests for paper maps from AAA. The article quotes Damon Wood, a sales manager from Viriginia: “Maps are kind ... read more Study GeographyGeographyWhile mainly aimed as a guide for students considering studying geography in the United Kingdom, the Study Geography web site was created by the Royal Geographical Society provides valuable information for any potential geography majors. The site provides arguments on the benefits of studying geography, how to decide which aspects of geography to study and more specific ... read more October 8, 2007International Cleanup WeekendGeographyThe weekend of October 13th and 14th has been announced as “International Cleanup Weekend” by Google who is inviting participants to submit maps of planned cleanups of “local parks, beaches, trails and other places close to home.” Visit the “International Cleanup Weekend” site to sign up for this outreach event. On this page you can ... read more October 7, 2007Key Indicator Data System (KIDS)Free GISKIDS (Key Indicator Database Systems) is an open source, thematic mapping and GIS application developed by the World Agriculture Information Centre (WAICENT) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. According to the website, KIDS was “developed originally for the purpose of collecting, mapping and disseminating food insecurity and vulnerability indicators” and is “a ... read more GPS Guide for BeginnersGPSIf you’re interested in understanding GPS, Garmin has a 23-page “GPS Guide for Beginners” booklet (in PDF format). The publication provides a pretty easy to follow overview covering how GPS works, factors that cause errors in collecting data and mapping GPS points. If you’re short on time, Garmin also has a quick page on their web site covering “What ... read more October 5, 2007Philly to goGeographyPhillyHistory.org, an online repository of more than 43,000 historic photos covering the history of the city of Philadelphia has now gone mobile. PhillyHistory Mobile is the portable companion site which offers a geographic-based search interface where users can query by address, intersection, keyword, or historic date to find nearby historic or cultural sites. A list of results ... read more October 4, 2007Google Maps Video TourWeb MappingThe Google Maps blog has announced the availability of Google Map related YouTube videos consolidated onto one page. The page currently provides access to five videos that provide a series of tutorials including an introduction to Google Maps, an overview of Street View imagery, and using Google Maps to create driving directions. The videos are all short ... read more  Creating Simple Maps with Microsoft ExcelFeaturesGot MS Excel? Need a simple map? A little known tool in older versions of Microsoft’s Excel is the ability to create simple maps from tabular data. You can create simple chloropeth, chart and dot density maps using data organized by country, state or region. read more... |
