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