MAPPING NEVADA

I may say I absolutely love California, or that I am willing to move anywhere in the country once I graduate college but the truth is, I am a desert rat at heart! I love Nevada (unfortunately) that I decided to throw some maps up of Nevada's mountain ranges (elevation) since I love the outdoors (hiking, camping, swimming in Lake Tahoe, etc.)

Below shows an elevation map of Nevada we have some high peaks:

Below you will find pictures of some of the tallest mountain ranges:

The above picture shows Wheeler Peak in Snake Range in eastern-central Nevada (White Pine County), it is 13,063 ft tall, which I believe is one of the tallest peaks in Nevada.

This is Mt. Charleston the tallest peak in Southern Nevada

If you care to check out the rest of the mountain ranges in Nevada Wikipedia has a list of them along with some great pictures (where the above pics came from):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_ranges

GO NUTS!!!

GAMES TO HELP YOU BEEF UP YOUR GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE

It is quite amazing and sad that not many people are able to point out on a map where Mississippi or even Louisiana are at, so there is a cool website that links to many different geography games for all age groups to help you gain more knowledge about the world.

Here is the website:

http://unrgeog.wikispaces.com/Standards,+Lessons,+and+Games



This one is my favorite, it definitely is a challenge:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/geographyzone/



This is another one I really like:

http://www.maps.com/FunFacts.aspx?nav=FF#



Now that you have access to all kinds of different geography games there should be no more excuses for your geographic ignorance. :)

POLITICAL CARTOGRAPHY

Everyone is very aware politics is a touchy subject to chat about so instead of chatting about politics which could lead to a heated argument, why not create a political map to get your point across without throwing out insults or chairs for that matter. Here are a few examples from a website I used in a previous blog of politics mapped, http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/:


This map represents the percentage of voters for Republican and Democrat using red, blue, and purple to show the variation.

















The map below shows the colors red and blue to indicate Republican and Democratic majorities on the county level.

















And here is a fun political map I got off the website http://www.aavc.vassar.edu/vq/spring2004/politics.html of the Republican elephant and the Democrat jackass.....I mean donkey going head to head. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!!!

3D Cartography

Technology has changed dramatically over the years especially when it comes to making maps. Map making has come such a long way that it is almost impossible to keep up with all the different types of software used to make them. One genius way to create a modern day map that jumps out and speaks to your viewers is to explore 3D software. To give you an idea of what I am babbling about, below are some examples of 3D maps of Kentucky's forest and park areas used from the website http://www.outragegis.com/3d/3d-right.html#:
































Here are some more 3D mapping examples which are of the Cherokee State Resort Park also located in Kentucky:

































And lastly a 3D map of Xterra, Hawaii's trails for biking, hiking, and running, and an area for swimmers:

















It is pretty amazing what you can do with 3D software, it can turn any ordinary map into an extraordinary piece of art.

XTREME CARTOGRAPHY

So what the hell does Xtreme Cartography mean anyway? Well let me explain to you my idea of Xtreme Cartography by using this website as my reference:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/ this website has perfect examples of how far you can go with cartography. For instance, the cartogram below represents red state blue state from the last presidential election and is rescaled according to each state's population to show how misleading the 2004 election was. The red states have a smaller population while the blue states have a larger population, so are there really that many republicans or people who prefer George W. Bush? I think not!

Go to the website above to check out more cartograms.

Old Maps and New maps, Which do you prefer?

I have come to find that there are many websites out there dedicated to selling and displaying old maps a.k.a antique maps and new maps. So what constitutes and old map? A map printed on antique paper showing boundaries of owned territory from the 1800s? A map actually from the 1800s or any era that was discovered and stored in a museum? Well whatever the answer is, in my opinion an old map is all of the above. Here are a couple of old maps I consider interesting and fit both questions.















This is a map from the website http://www.rootsweb.com/~mecoakla/old-maps/MapsOld.html of West Waterville in Oakland back in 1856. This is what the website said about this particular map: "This map shows most of the major buildings in town at the time that Water Street was built. The map is not dated, but OAHS members have determined that it was made in 1856 because of the buildings shown, some of which were not built until that year."


Here is another old map I find interesting:






















This is a regional map found on the website http://fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/Genealogy/Old%20Maps/Britain%20Gaul%20Spain.htm of Gaul which was the name given to Western Europe in ancient times (around 390BC).



Last but not least here is, in my opinion, an example of a decent new map:

















This map was found on the website http://208.145.80.1/pacific/png/show_maps.asp?map=N , I like the color scheme, the picture, and the paragraph explaining the different languages in the New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea.

Mapping the News

We all know a newspaper would not complete without a map or two. For instance a map could spice up the weather section showing cloud coverage for the rest of the week, or even a gruesome story about 10 murders in the Reno/Sparks area showing all the locations where they took place. Below are some examples of maps in the news:

Temperature Map on the weather forecast website http://weather.msn.com/region.aspx?wealocations=North+America

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/maps/index.html , this website is really cool, it shows a political, terrain, population, oil fields, regional and palaces map of Iraq since the war started in 2003.

Animated Cartography

Animation is a great way to express a cartographic point, for instance, rather than showing one still map to display data, you can get your point across more expressively by using animation. I personally have not used animation to pump up the look of my maps I have done in the past (well maybe one assignment animation was involved) but I know people who have and it definitely does add a little umph. Check out this website to see some more stuff on animated cartography: http://www.geovista.psu.edu/research/animation/
Browse around, download some animations to see for yourself.

American Identity? Do we still have one?

It has been known for decades that the American Identity was derived from Western Culture. Western Culture may still be alive today in this melting pot of a country but it also has strayed off the beaten path into some other interesting turns.

The american identity today may be starbucks coffee, bulimic models, or all you can eat buffets but I believe there are more interestingly random enjoyments in america for a certain type of american that definitely beats starbucks facts.

For instance, take this map I found on http://www.epodunk.com/top10/gay/index.html as an example of random enjoyments certain americans tend to fine important.

What would gays and lesbians at the age of 50 do if they did not have a map of where the best places to live are at? (Note the sarcasm)

Oh good ol America, can't live with it but you sure as heck can't live without it!

Map Fact/Map Fiction

This is my interpretation of Map Fact and Map Fiction:

I found this map on http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/ and I believe wordpress found it on this website: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm101.html, which is the website of American Treasures of the Library of Congress. The person who created this map was Johannes Vingboons in 1639. It is a perfect example of describing map fiction. Here is a quote from wordpress about the map:
“One of the most famous misconceptions in cartographic history is of California as an island. The origin of this error is Las Sergas de Esplandian, a romantic novel written in 1510 by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, stating
“that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is peopled by black women, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of the Amazons.”
I couldn't have said it better myself. It just shows how little people knew back in those days.


















Here is an example of a map that is in fact true:






















It is not a very exciting map, it is only a reference map of the San Diego region in California, but it gets its point across. It shows the main highways and alternate routes to get to the center of San Diego, and the Old Town Transit center. OOOOOOOO AAAAAAAAAH

Good/Bad Maps

Here is my example of a bad map. There is no title, scale bar, north arrow, or a legend explaining what the red line, blue lines, and the yellow dots represent
If I was not from Las Vegas or even Nevada for that matter I would not have a clue what the heck this map was for or where it was in the world.


















On the other hand,





I think that this is a well designed map. It is balanced, organized, and has most of the elements needed to complete a good map, like a title (of course), legends explaining what's going on in the map, scale bars, the source, and of course the base map itself. There are some changes that could be made to make it a bit better, but overall it's easy to follow and pleasing to the eye.