It’s finally time for me to write something about generative AI. While I’ve made occasional comments on social media, I haven’t spoken in any detail. I touched on some colleagues’ genAI work in a recent blog post, but my focus wasn’t really on genAI itself — it was how and where its products were shared. … Continue reading GenAI for the Static Cartographer →

As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post on the “deserts” of Colombia, Colombia is usually considered to be the world’s rainiest country, receiving some 127 inches (3249 mm) of precipitation annually, averaged over the entire country. Learning this fact inspired me to make a map of average annual precipitation by country, which is posted below. […] The post Average Annual Precipitation by Country Mapped appeared first on GeoCurrents.

Described as a “an absurd guide to the regular wish-it-wasn’t-so paranoia of running as a woman in the city“, the Guide to Running While Female in Central Phoenix shows what to look out for along running routes in central Phoenix. This map is produced by Steady Hand Maps. Jen Urso is an accidental cartographer, more of an artist who was asked to make a map. She has since made many very attractive hand drawn maps including the one above. The legend is simple, three symbols for where you can safely run in a sports bra (it gets extremely hot there), where you will get cat calls and places you should only run in the daytime. Here is a zoomed in area. It gives some detail for those of us who don’t have to think about this stuff when going out in public. Urso in her blog post begins with this quote; “I thought it was a funny and obvious map of my experience as a woman runner. The thing that shocked me the most was how shocking it ended up being…to men.“ She concludes with “My map, in its absurdity, points out that this is not and should not be normal or acceptable. We want to go outside, alone, and feel strong and capable. We just want to run.“ If you want to dig deeper, you can listen to her interview on the Phoenix NPR station or watch one on FOX-10. For more maps by Jen Urso, you can browse through her map showcase here. Here is an example she did for a dance studio in St. Louis.

Aside from maps, I would say my next biggest obsession is coffee. For the last couple of months, my favourite bean, Finca La Bolsa, has been out of season and unavailable from my local roasters. I've therefore been using the opportunity to experiment with beans from different regions, different taste profiles and different processing methods. For some reason, it has only just dawned on me that there might be some coffee maps I can use to help me discover new beans to add to my coffee repertoire. Map of Coffee Origins & Flavors Lightyear Coffee has produced a number of data visualizations based on data collected from coffee roasters. These include a Map of Coffee Origins & Flavors, which shows the dominant flavour notes associated with beans from different countries. Using the map, you can select an individual country to explore the dominant tasting notes found in its coffee beans, or choose a particular flavour note to discover which countries produce coffees associated with that taste. Multiple Origin Multiple Origin is a personal project by Ahmad Merii that maps the information found on coffee bean packaging. The result is a world map of 318 specialty coffees from Merii's own collection, purchased and consumed between 2018 and 2026. The coffees are categorized by country and region of origin, variety, processing method, altitude, roast date, tasting notes and weight. Using the map, you can search for and filter coffees by roaster, processing method, variety and altitude. You can also explore a gallery of scanned coffee bags, with additional details available for each coffee. BeanMap BeanMap is a free, open-source atlas of specialty coffee that starts with an interactive 3D globe. It currently maps 55 coffee origins across 41 countries, with each origin accompanied by information about its altitude, processing method, harvest season and flavour profile. You can filter the map by region or flavour, or approach the data from the other direction using an interactive SCA flavour wheel. Click on a flavour such as jasmine or blackcurrant and the map filters down to coffees associated with that taste.

A recent GeoCurrents post suggested that the electoral geography of the United States has strikingly deviated from that of Latin America during the 21st century. In the U.S., population density has become one of the main influences on voting patterns, with cities favoring candidates on the left and the countryside preferring those on the right. […] The post Does Colombia Have an Urban/Rural Electoral Divide? Despite Bogotá, Not Really appeared first on GeoCurrents.