http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/ A weblog about maps. Copyright 2009 Jonathan Crowe. Some rights reserved. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:47:34 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.21 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-CA rss@mcwetboy.com (Jonathan Crowe) rss@mcwetboy.com (Jonathan Crowe) 45.60073876.494434 Clive Thompson's piece on location services makes a point I was planning on making in a future piece, damn him, as he looks at how location services may transform the Web: The whole reason the Web revolutionized the world was that it rendered geography irrelevant. People connected worldwide based not... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/07/the_web_goes_lo.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/07/the_web_goes_lo.php Geolocation Services http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/07/the_web_goes_lo.php#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:47:34 -0500 Jonathan Crowe A new digital terrain map for the planet is now available. Based on imagery from the Japanese ASTER instrument on NASA's Terra satellite, the new global digital elevation model covers 99 percent of the Earth's landmass to a resolution of 30 metres; the previous digital elevation model, the Shuttle... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/07/new_digital_ele.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/07/new_digital_ele.php Satellite & Aerial http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/07/new_digital_ele.php#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:43:28 -0500 Jonathan Crowe A couple of articles by Derrick Story about geotagging went up on Macworld's website back in April: one that looks at four automatic methods of geotagging, and one on using the geotagging features of iPhoto ’09, taking manual geotagging as a starting point. Via Richard.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/derrick_story_o.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/derrick_story_o.php Geotagging, Macintosh http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/derrick_story_o.php#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:09:10 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Divine Sky: The Artistry of Astronomical Maps is a small online exhibition featuring a selection of celestial maps from the library holdings of the University of Michigan. Divine Sky focuses on the fertile period between 1600 and 1900 that produced some of astronomy’s greatest treasures. This astronomical Golden Age... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/divine_sky_the.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/divine_sky_the.php Antique Maps, Astronomy http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/divine_sky_the.php#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:47:01 -0500 Jonathan Crowe All Points Blog points to a forthcoming iPhone/iPod touch application called Old Map App, which, the developers say, "displays layers of geo-referenced historical maps projected onto a modern coordinate system, so that the same location can be compared over time. Layers can be faded, adjusted, and explored freely. If the... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/georeferenced_o.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/georeferenced_o.php Antique Maps, Mobile Devices http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/georeferenced_o.php#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:09:07 -0500 Jonathan Crowe The caption for this photo from the White House's Flickr photostream: "President Barack Obama looks at a map donated to the White House by the National Geographic Society, in the Oval Office, June 10, 2009." Official photo by Pete Souza. The map in question is probably this one (affiliate... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/obamas_map.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/obamas_map.php Miscellany http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/obamas_map.php#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:36:28 -0500 Jonathan Crowe A post on the Geographicus blog about using antique maps (and reproductions thereof) as decoration: "[T]he decorative qualities of fine maps are widely recognized by interior designers who appreciate their beauty and design flexibility. Depending on the individual map, presentation, and context, a rare or antique map can be modern,... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/decorating_with.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/decorating_with.php Collecting http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/decorating_with.php#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:04:41 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Cambridge Mobile Urban Sensing equips volunteer pedestrians and cyclists with pollution sensors linked via Bluetooth to mobile phones; the result is a real-time map of Cambridge's air quality -- or at least the air quality along the routes the volunteers travelled. The Guardian has more on the project and... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/realtime_pollut.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/realtime_pollut.php Environment http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/realtime_pollut.php#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:30:25 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Every year, Steve Chilton writes to remind us of the summer school put on by the Society of Cartographers; this year's summer school takes place at the University of Southampton from September 7 to 9, 2009. This year's themes include emergency mapping, crowdsourcing data and collecting and using crowdsourced data,... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/society_of_cart_3.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/society_of_cart_3.php Conferences http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/society_of_cart_3.php#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:08:04 -0500 Jonathan Crowe "I love Bucky, but Cahill's map is a lot better." That's how Gene Keyes opens his latest project, which he describes as "an interlinked set of 17 profusely illustrated web pages detailing the evolution and defects of Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion map. I contrast it with the octahedral projection of... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/cahills_butterf_1.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/cahills_butterf_1.php Map Projections http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/cahills_butterf_1.php#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:29:47 -0500 Jonathan Crowe After last week's launch, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has now settled into orbit around the Moon. A USGS press release points out the cartographic aspects of the LRO's mission: "Among the instruments carried on LRO, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) will acquire high-resolution stereo images that will allow the... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/the_lunar_recon.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/the_lunar_recon.php Astronomy http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/the_lunar_recon.php#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:59:00 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Ball State University's GIS Research and Map Collection has a blog, which has already been running for three years.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/ball_states_gis.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/ball_states_gis.php Blogs, Libraries http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/ball_states_gis.php#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:05:14 -0500 Jonathan Crowe "Childhood is a branch of cartography," writes Michael Chabon in The New York Review of Books: Most great stories of adventure, from The Hobbit to Seven Pillars of Wisdom, come furnished with a map. That's because every story of adventure is in part the story of a landscape, of the... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/michael_chabon.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/michael_chabon.php Miscellany http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/michael_chabon.php#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:33:32 -0500 Jonathan Crowe John Tauranac writes, "Last November I came out with a new map [of the New York subway], which combines a Beck-like map on one side with a truly geographic map on the other." He writes about on Gotham City Blotter, where he places it in the context of the... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/tauranacs_new_y.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/tauranacs_new_y.php Mass Transit, New York http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/tauranacs_new_y.php#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:47:06 -0500 Jonathan Crowe The Collins Map Blog mentions the British Cartographic Society Awards, in no small part because Collins Geo picked up a couple of them. To view current and past winners, select each award from the BCS's page; there does not appear to be a page showing all winners and citations for... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/brtiish_cartogr.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/brtiish_cartogr.php Books, Cartography http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/brtiish_cartogr.php#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:31:44 -0500 Jonathan Crowe The July issue of Wired has a few tips for improving the performance of your GPS receiver; they include adding an external antenna, giving your unit enough time to acquire a fix, and keeping the software up to date.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/wireds_gps_tips.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/wireds_gps_tips.php GPS http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/wireds_gps_tips.php#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:04:34 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Catholicgauze explains how to figure out a map's age by checking for known changes, like the reunification of Germany, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or the independence of East Timor. I've done this too, actually, but it's just as much of a challenge for maps and globes produced in... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/determining_a_m.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/determining_a_m.php Miscellany http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/determining_a_m.php#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:59:42 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Google has made available recent satellite imagery of Tehran from the IKONOS satellite via a Google Earth layer. How recent? Last Thursday. It would have been higher resolution if it had come from the GeoEye-1 satellite, but weather apparently played a factor there. Brady Forrest compares the maps of Tehran... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/mapping_tehran.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/mapping_tehran.php Current Events, Google Earth, Online Maps, Satellite & Aerial http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/mapping_tehran.php#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:44:47 -0500 Jonathan Crowe The iPhone's version of Safari supports geolocation with the 3.0 software update, and it's apparently trivial to write the code to access a user's location; I wonder if it's this easy with Firefox 3.5.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/geolocation_and.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/geolocation_and.php Geolocation Services, Mobile Devices http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/geolocation_and.php#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:36:41 -0500 Jonathan Crowe BusinessWeek's Stephen Wildstrom explains why iPhone navigation applications are so expensive: [Y]ou need a source of maps and a data base of directions, driving instructions, and points of interest. There are two main sources of maps, Navteq (owned by Nokia) and Tele Atlas (a TomTom unit) and they aren't cheap.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/expensive_iphon.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/expensive_iphon.php Driving Directions, Mobile Devices http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/expensive_iphon.php#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:24:33 -0500 Jonathan Crowe More reviews of books previously mentioned here: Directions reviews GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design (see previous entry). The New York Times reviews The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, a copy of which I now have and expect to read shortly (previously: The Selected Works of T.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/more_book_revie.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/more_book_revie.php Astronomy, Books, GIS http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/more_book_revie.php#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:06:29 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Surprisingly, Ross Racine's artwork is drawn freehand on a computer; "my works do not contain photographs or scanned material," he says, but you'd be hard pressed to tell. "The subjects of my recent work may be interpreted as models for planned communities as much as aerial views of fictional... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/ross_racine.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/ross_racine.php Art http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/ross_racine.php#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:13:36 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Yesterday's Astronomy Picture of the Day featured a portion of the Dunhuang Star Chart, "one of the most impressive documents in the history of astronomy." A four-metre scroll dating from the seventh century Tang Dynasty, it's apparently the first representation of Chinese astronomy. More on the chart from Nature,... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/dunhuang_star_c.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/dunhuang_star_c.php Antique Maps, Astronomy http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/dunhuang_star_c.php#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:59:13 -0500 Jonathan Crowe James reviews Gretchen N. Peterson's GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design, which, he notes, is written independent of any particular software package. "Gretchen's book is something that you can use almost anywhere with any medium and won’t get out of date. That is a great value that... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/gis_cartography.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/gis_cartography.php Books, GIS http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/gis_cartography.php#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:46:32 -0500 Jonathan Crowe As a child I drew on road maps, adding streets, freeways, even whole cities where none would ever exist. Dieter Janssen's map of an imagined Toronto subway network in 2030 has a more serious purpose: he hopes his map, which dramatically extends the existing lines and adds another four,... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/fantasy_map_of.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/fantasy_map_of.php Mass Transit, Toronto http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/fantasy_map_of.php#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:26:52 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Google's Canadian managing director was summoned before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics yesterday, where he was grilled by Ottawa MP Pierre Poilievre (whom we've heard about before) about the privacy implications of Street View, the National Post reports. Note that Street View... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/google_goes_to.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/google_goes_to.php Censorship, Security & Privacy, Online Maps http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/google_goes_to.php#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:18:41 -0500 Jonathan Crowe It looks like GIS Web Maps will be a blog that critiques GIS web mapping: "I usually don't have that much to say. But I know good when I see it. I know bad when I see it. I usually can pick up on something good and bad to say... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/gis_web_maps_to.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/gis_web_maps_to.php Blogs, GIS http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/gis_web_maps_to.php#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:55:59 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Firefox 3.5 (Release Candidate 1) adds geolocation as a new feature: it calculates a user's location based the user's IP address and nearby wireless access points; location-aware sites can then access that location if the user grants permission. Details here. Via Mapperz.... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/firefox_35_adds.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/firefox_35_adds.php Geolocation Services, Software http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/firefox_35_adds.php#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:41:13 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Four Courts Press announces the publication of J. H. Andrews's Maps in Those Days: Cartographic Methods Before 1850, which addresses the question of "what early cartographers actually did. ... It deals with non-thematic maps of all kinds and of all parts of the world from earliest times to the... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/maps_in_those_d.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/maps_in_those_d.php Books, History of Cartography http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/maps_in_those_d.php#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:43:14 -0500 Jonathan Crowe Tony Flanders continues his critique of light-pollution maps; this time, he notes that the brightnesses of the respective colours are misleading: "the orange zone appears distinctly darker than the green zone, belying the fact that skies are in fact 9× brighter in the orange than in the green." He... http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/testing_lightpo_1.php http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/testing_lightpo_1.php Astronomy http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/06/testing_lightpo_1.php#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:22:26 -0500 Jonathan Crowe