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Adventures In...
Detect and measure wildfires with Sentinel-1 Explorer Our human visual systems collect light from a pretty narrow slice of the electromagnetic spectrum....
4 months ago
52
4 months ago
Our human visual systems collect light from a pretty narrow slice of the electromagnetic spectrum. But there is so much more light to see. Radar systems use photons with much longer wavelengths that can break through clouds and smoke, and because the energy is sent from the...
somethingaboutmaps
Thoughts on Practical Cartographic Education While I have not conducted a formal survey, I think I have the right impression when I say that most...
over a year ago
50
over a year ago
While I have not conducted a formal survey, I think I have the right impression when I say that most university cartography courses, at least in the United States, are taught by people whose primary job (when they are not teaching) is not the regular production of maps. These...
Maps Mania
Playing Placename Detective
8 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 3 (Let the Races Begin) The main reason we went to the Inland Northwest was to run some races. It also became an excuse to...
2 months ago
30
2 months ago
The main reason we went to the Inland Northwest was to run some races. It also became an excuse to experience a part of the country I hadn’t explored much. Either way, the first of the races was finally about to begin. The Oregon Race We walked through the dark to a park along...
James Cheshire
If Data Could Talk Podcast We sat down with Andy Cotgreave for the If Data Could Talk podcast to give some behind the scenes...
over a year ago
49
over a year ago
We sat down with Andy Cotgreave for the If Data Could Talk podcast to give some behind the scenes insights about our collaborative process and some of the work that went into Atlas of the Invisible.
Maps Mania
A Year of Wildfire in Europe
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Islamic State Attack Map
8 months ago
Maps Mania
15 Minutes Cities by Sony CSL
3 months ago
Map of the Week
Middle Earth Transit Map Hard to believe that those dumb hobbits risked their lives walking all the way to Mordor when they...
7 months ago
87
7 months ago
Hard to believe that those dumb hobbits risked their lives walking all the way to Mordor when they could have just taken the Orange Line.  Oh wait, the tunnel under the mountain is closed  so they would have had to switch to the Red Line at Bree and then made another...
Maps Mania
Who is Your Closest Team?
6 months ago
Adventures In...
Stories Here are some StoryMap stories that I’ve written over the years… Piracy & Time Travel How Deep is...
a year ago
44
a year ago
Here are some StoryMap stories that I’ve written over the years… Piracy & Time Travel How Deep is Challenger Deep? Julie’s Improbable Flight How to Write a Story, starring sharks and hurricanes Gap, Pass, Notch, & Saddle College Football Air Mile Index Rivers of Plastic Smoking,...
Maps Mania
Climate Resilient Crops
9 months ago
Maps Mania
America's Drunkest Counties
8 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 2 (Oahu: Beyond Waikiki) I didn’t spend all of my limited time strictly within the confines of Waikiki Beach and downtown...
a year ago
44
a year ago
I didn’t spend all of my limited time strictly within the confines of Waikiki Beach and downtown Honolulu. Whether work-related or during precious spare time I did explore more of southeastern Oahu than I had on my previous trip. Unfortunately I couldn’t linger much and truly...
Maps Mania
Mapping the Growth of America
a year ago
Maps Mania
Documenting Russian Crimes in Ukraine
a year ago
GeoCurrents
Wikipedia’s Visually Striking but Inaccurate Cartograms of U.S. Presidential Elections When preparing the illustrations for my current lecture course on the historical geography of U.S....
a month ago
5
a month ago
When preparing the illustrations for my current lecture course on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections, I was thrilled to discover that Wikipedia’s articles on most of these elections are illustrated with visually striking cartograms of the results, mapped at...
GeoCurrents
The 1912 Presidential Election: The High Tide of Socialism in the U.S. – and in Oklahoma The 1912 U.S. general election was one of the most complicated contests in American presidential...
2 months ago
5
2 months ago
The 1912 U.S. general election was one of the most complicated contests in American presidential history. Former president Theodore Roosevelt challenged his handpicked successor, incumbent William Howard Taft, and outpolled him smartly, taking 27.4% of the popular vote and 88...
Maps Mania
200 Years of Irish Map
4 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 7 (South Korea: The DMZ) The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27,...
a year ago
38
a year ago
The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27, 1953. So there’s a multi-decade ceasefire, a truce, but no agreed-upon resolution of hostilities. A four kilometre wide Demilitarized Zone acts as a buffer between North and South...
Map of the Week
Seoul Maps I found this nice collection of maps of Seoul, South Korea's largest city and capital from...
a year ago
17
a year ago
I found this nice collection of maps of Seoul, South Korea's largest city and capital from theSEOULlive. This is a website/magazine of Korean culture that "focuses on unraveling the hidden jewels of Seoul that can only be found with rumination."  Unfortunately these maps are...
Maps Mania
The Loss of the Great American Grasslands
6 months ago
Map of the Week
The Film Industry's Nine Dash Line Problem This summer's hit movie Barbie has been banned in Vietnam for its portrayal of the Nine Dash Line on...
a year ago
8
a year ago
This summer's hit movie Barbie has been banned in Vietnam for its portrayal of the Nine Dash Line on a world map. Note: I have not (yet) seen any of the movies or shows listed below. This line represents China's claims in the South China Sea. These claims have been rejected by...
Maps Mania
Using the Overpass API with Leaflet
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Car Free Cities Atlas
5 months ago
Map of the Week
America's Garden Capital I have more way more items to post for Philadelphia month than there are weeks left so in the next...
a year ago
15
a year ago
I have more way more items to post for Philadelphia month than there are weeks left so in the next few weeks I will be doing some extra postings, and a few minor notes thrown in like this one. Did you know that Philadelphia is America’s Garden Capital? A bit of local boosterism...
Maps Mania
Where Students Travel to Study Abroad
a year ago
Maps Mania
How the World Powers Itself
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Power Outages in Kiev
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The Meteor Shower Map
a year ago
Maps Mania
Drowning in Plastic
3 weeks ago
Maps Mania
The Future for Trees
9 months ago
Maps Mania
The Classic Map Arcade
10 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Cards I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and map-related that you could collect and exchange at conferences. I poked around at some design ideas for a while, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far. This is the front side of the...
James Cheshire
The Scarred Landscape of the Climate Crisis I’ve been obsessively checking satellite imagery to witness the UK turn from green to yellow, thanks...
over a year ago
57
over a year ago
I’ve been obsessively checking satellite imagery to witness the UK turn from green to yellow, thanks to the period of extreme heat and lack of rain Europe has been enduring. The parched landscape is unlike anything I’ve seen before and a cloud free day today (10th August) has...
Maps Mania
The World's Most Impressive Mountain
a year ago
Map of the Week
Below the Ice This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the...
11 months ago
29
11 months ago
This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the Antarctic Ice Shelf. Here is a nice graphic from phys.org. The topography was determined by a combination of radio wave echoes and satellite images. This landscape, more than 2...
Maps Mania
No Local News
a month ago
Maps Mania
540 Million Years of Planet Earth
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Land doesn't vote, people do!
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Scrambled Maps for Mobile
2 months ago
Maps Mania
The Distressed Communities of America
9 months ago
Adventures In...
Make these ornaments please It’s that time of year when geographers the world over gather together in, let’s be honest, just...
2 weeks ago
14
2 weeks ago
It’s that time of year when geographers the world over gather together in, let’s be honest, just slightly awkward office holiday parties. We dedicate 82-86% of our mental capacities to socializing with our colleagues over deserts and drinks, while the remaining 14-16% remain...
Maps Mania
Scrolling the Appalachian Trail
a year ago
Maps Mania
How the Blitz Changed London
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Butterfly Superhighway
a month ago
Adventures In...
Boost the Human Footprint in Imagery The World Imagery Basemap is a lovely resource spanning the Earth in all directions at all scales....
3 months ago
42
3 months ago
The World Imagery Basemap is a lovely resource spanning the Earth in all directions at all scales. If you want to add a level of context you can always add a reference overlay. But what about baking a reference overlay into the imagery in a way that makes it look, like, sort of...
Maps Mania
When is the Coldest Day of the Year?
11 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 1 (Road Trip) It feels like I just got back from Costa Rica and then I’m right back on the road again. True...
a year ago
34
a year ago
It feels like I just got back from Costa Rica and then I’m right back on the road again. True enough, we made it home for only a couple of weeks before we began an extended drive through the southeastern United States. However, those were the only dates that worked with...
Maps Mania
Real-Time 3D Mapping
11 months ago
Transit Maps
Historical Maps: Private Railways and Extra-urban Tramways of Italy, 1936 I stumbled across this atlas of maps the other day and had to share. A few sample pages are below –...
a year ago
61
a year ago
I stumbled across this atlas of maps the other day and had to share. A few sample pages are below – head to the originating website to view all 20 of them. Enjoy! Source: Stagniweb.it
Maps Mania
Th Bird Migration Atlas
2 weeks ago
Maps Mania
America's Pink Migration Banana
a year ago
Maps Mania
The 2024 GeoGuessr World Cup
3 months ago
Maps Mania
2½ Half Weeks with Mrs Rauer
11 months ago
Maps Mania
The AI Music Map
8 months ago
Maps Mania
Standing on Top of the World
a year ago
Maps Mania
AI Geo Guessing
a year ago
somethingaboutmaps
The Dream Lives I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you...
a month ago
25
a month ago
I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you can support by giving me money. And I promise I’ll get back to less commercial musings as time goes on. But for now, I also want to alert you to a way you can give other people...
Adventures In...
Blend Mode Helper Blend modes can be a complex thing to wrap one’s head around. Experimentation is the best teacher,...
a year ago
45
a year ago
Blend modes can be a complex thing to wrap one’s head around. Experimentation is the best teacher, but even then there are lots of variabilities involved, depending on the layer you use to experiment. The Blend Mode Helper Map (and its constituent Blend Mode Helper layer) reduces...
somethingaboutmaps
2024 Freelance Rate Survey Results Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer...
2 months ago
38
2 months ago
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer rates and business practices! Our apologies for the delay in posting the results; life has been busy for both Aly and myself. Before we get to the survey results, here are some handy...
Maps Mania
The AI Satlas
a year ago
Musings on Maps
Security Walls: “This is Just the Beginning” Attending New Year’s service in an Oxford Orthodox synagogue, I paused when the ritual prayer book I...
a year ago
69
a year ago
Attending New Year’s service in an Oxford Orthodox synagogue, I paused when the ritual prayer book I held–a Machzor-moved smoothly from prayers to George VI (it was an old one) to prayers for the Israel Defense Forces. The rabbi, who … Continue reading →
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 6 (Bournemouth) We didn’t go far but it seemed like a world apart, traveling from an isolated corner of Dorset into...
5 months ago
54
5 months ago
We didn’t go far but it seemed like a world apart, traveling from an isolated corner of Dorset into its most populous area. That led us to Bournemouth (map), a coastal town along the English Channel. There are so many ancient places in the United Kingdom but this is not one of...
Map of the Week
Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade In response to last week's Black Atlantic post, a reader directed me to the Atlas of the...
10 months ago
44
10 months ago
In response to last week's Black Atlantic post, a reader directed me to the Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The Atlas has a companion site,  Echoes: the SlaveVoyages Blog where you can browse through an impressive array of maps produced for the Atlas. Here are the major...
Maps Mania
Mapping the Drift-backing of Refugees
11 months ago
Maps Mania
AI Map Search
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Death of Japantown
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The Olympic Medals Map
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Mid 1900's Urban Planning in Philadelphia Here are a few urban planning items to close out Philadelphia month. Hope you have enjoyed the...
a year ago
47
a year ago
Here are a few urban planning items to close out Philadelphia month. Hope you have enjoyed the journey. Cathedral Road: There are many discontinued highways and roads to nowhere throughout the United States, including Woodhaven Road, a dead end expressway in Northeast...
Adventures In...
How to make tapered rivers in ArcGIS Pro Cartographers will often exaggerate the natural scale of a mapped feature to help it communicate...
a year ago
50
a year ago
Cartographers will often exaggerate the natural scale of a mapped feature to help it communicate something of its nature. Some examples are vertical exaggeration of terrain or the very existence of point symbols (cities aren’t actually that big). We embellish for effect. Making a...
Maps Mania
The 2024 World Press Freedom Rankings
7 months ago
Map of the Week
Maps of Julian Hoffman Anton I'm always excited to find new cartographic artists. Here are some maps from Julian Hoffman Anton....
a year ago
45
a year ago
I'm always excited to find new cartographic artists. Here are some maps from Julian Hoffman Anton. The first one is his Tokyo Eat Map. I've cropped the map a bit to fit the format of this page. To see it all click here. This is really a heat map showing restaurant density. Egg...
Maps Mania
VersaTiles Free Map Tiles
2 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 4 (Bug Loop) Sure, the southern United States has more than its fair share of pesky bugs that most people...
a year ago
27
a year ago
Sure, the southern United States has more than its fair share of pesky bugs that most people actively avoid. Mosquitos, horseflies, and palmetto bugs probably top that list. So it probably sounds strange that we devoted an entire day to insects, particularly to the appreciation...
Maps Mania
Making Animated Map GIFs
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Scariest Place Names in the World
a month ago
GeoCurrents
U.S. Presidential Election Lecture Series Completed The GeoCurrents lecture series on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections has been...
a week ago
12
a week ago
The GeoCurrents lecture series on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections has been completed. The series itself can be found here. The final lecture, which covers only the election of 2024, can be found here. The next GeoCurrents lecture series will be on global...
Maps Mania
AI Street View
a year ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the Barassi Line
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Interactive Anime Atlas
10 months ago
Maps Mania
Backdrop - the Ultimate Challenge
8 months ago
Maps Mania
The Sea Trade Monitor
9 months ago
Adventures In...
Women in GIS Workshop If you aren’t doing anything else on the allotted 2.5 hours of January 24, 2025, then consider...
3 days ago
6
3 days ago
If you aren’t doing anything else on the allotted 2.5 hours of January 24, 2025, then consider tuning in to this Women in GIS workshop where I’ll share the process (and all the data and documents) for making this migration map. The cost is free, unless you count the 2.5 hours of...
Maps Mania
Subway Specs - Part III
12 months ago
Maps Mania
The Retro Gamer's Map
5 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Cumberland Parkway Time Zone Crossing Time Zone crossings in the United States generally happen at state borders which of course are...
12 months ago
70
12 months ago
Time Zone crossings in the United States generally happen at state borders which of course are easily recognizable landmarks. So you simply cross the state line and you change your watch. No big deal. Unfortunately Time Zones cut right through the middle of some states, like...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 6 (Houston) The heat really cranked up as we entered Texas, never dropping below a daily high of 100° Fahrenheit...
a year ago
44
a year ago
The heat really cranked up as we entered Texas, never dropping below a daily high of 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius). Here my hybrid working vacation transitioned completely to pure work for a day. That’s where I needed to attend meetings at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston...
Maps Mania
Historical Sanborn Maps of America
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 4 (Lewis & Clark Country) We were now officially between races. A day earlier I ran a half-marathon in Pendleton, Oregon and I...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
We were now officially between races. A day earlier I ran a half-marathon in Pendleton, Oregon and I had to do it again in Clarkston, Washington the following day. So this was the rest day, or at least it was for me. Most participants in the Mainly Marathons Northwest series...
Maps Mania
The History of Latin America
a year ago
Maps Mania
Where Mountains Rise From Oceans
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The 2024 UK General Election Map
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Four Seasons in One Map
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Presidential Medal of Cartography
4 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Cicada Chase, Day 2 The first day of cicada chasing exceeded expectations and we hoped for similar results on the...
6 months ago
85
6 months ago
The first day of cicada chasing exceeded expectations and we hoped for similar results on the second. However the weather began to change overnight with downpours possible during daylight hours. Local meteorologists predicted a line of thunderstorms rolling through the Midwest,...
Adventures In...
How to make a “peeled edge” area of interest effect Sure, everyone loves a good raised area-of-interest effect. But what about a peeled edge area of...
4 months ago
63
4 months ago
Sure, everyone loves a good raised area-of-interest effect. But what about a peeled edge area of interest? It’s a snazzy trick and maybe just the sort of flair that your map needs! And it’s simpler than maybe you’d guess. To give your area of interest a peeled edge effect, you...
Maps Mania
Four Free Alternatives to GeoGuessr
8 months ago
Transit Maps
Book Review: “Iconic Transit Maps” by Mark Ovenden, 2024 After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is...
6 days ago
14
6 days ago
After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is Mark Ovenden’s third offering on the subject of global transit maps and diagrams. The question to be asked, then, is simply – is a new book on the same subject worth it? In a...
Maps Mania
The New Medieval Map of London
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The D-Day Map Room
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Text Recognition Map Search
a year ago
Maps Mania
Explore the World in 3D
a year ago
Maps Mania
The 3rd Hour of the 1 Hour AI Map Challenge
11 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Conflicts Around the World
11 months ago
Map of the Week
The Possible Collapse of Oceanic Circulation This map, via Down to Earth shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The AMOC...
8 months ago
39
8 months ago
This map, via Down to Earth shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The AMOC is like a "heat conveyor belt". It moderates temperatures on the planet by moving warmer air to northern latitudes while returning cooler air to the tropics. It has already slowed...
somethingaboutmaps
Kickstarter 3: The Return For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a...
a month ago
26
a month ago
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a number of projects based on this technique (including my favorite item I’ve ever made). Now, I’ve decided to take my recent work in developing terrain sketches, and turn it into a new...
Maps Mania
Quiz Around the World
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Royal Parks of London
a year ago
somethingaboutmaps
My Decade with Blender It occurs to me that I have been Blendering for a long time. In fact, it’s been almost exactly a...
7 months ago
86
7 months ago
It occurs to me that I have been Blendering for a long time. In fact, it’s been almost exactly a decade since I gave my first public presentation on the technique of generating shaded relief using Blender. And in that time, the method has been adopted far more widely than I could...
Map of the Week
Tyne River Shipbuilders While researching something unrelated, I came across this series of maps showing ship builders and...
a year ago
14
a year ago
While researching something unrelated, I came across this series of maps showing ship builders and related industries on the River Tyne in and near Newcastle, UK.  The maps, from 1972, stretch from the mouth of the river (above) to the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, and westward...
Maps Mania
Mapping Damage in Gaza
a year ago
Adventures In...
Three Maps & the Truth You may have heard that “all maps lie” and that’s right (also, here’s some required reading). Each...
a week ago
20
a week ago
You may have heard that “all maps lie” and that’s right (also, here’s some required reading). Each map is a collection of compromises, whether they’re geomatic (your projection and scale choices), editorial (your choice of subject and what you’ve chosen to show and not show), and...
Maps Mania
AI Amazon Mining Watch
11 months ago
Maps Mania
Tracking Satellites in 3D
2 months ago
Map of the Week
Parking Lot Map The Parking Lot Map is a project of the Parking Reform Project, an organization dedicated to climate...
a year ago
35
a year ago
The Parking Lot Map is a project of the Parking Reform Project, an organization dedicated to climate action, safer streets and housing affordability. The map explores how much land in the central area of the major cities of the United States is dedicated to parking. On average...
Maps Mania
The Bellingcat Open Source Challenge
2 weeks ago
Maps Mania
The 2nd 1 Hour AI Map Challenge
11 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Silver Line Extension The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on...
a year ago
30
a year ago
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on November 15, 2022. I couldn’t be there on opening day but I still wanted to check out the new stations while they were relatively “new.” So I checked in with my frequent travel...
Maps Mania
Mapping Train Connections
4 months ago
Map of the Week
The Alphabet Railway Radio personality Bill Barry was fascinated with the place names of his native Saskatchewan. So much...
a year ago
31
a year ago
Radio personality Bill Barry was fascinated with the place names of his native Saskatchewan. So much so that he wrote a Dictionary of Saskatchewan Place Names, I'm sure you've probably read it already but an interesting item about this toponymy is how many of the towns were...
Maps Mania
US Car Fatality Hotspots
a year ago
Adventures In...
Analysis in the Browser Here is a two-pack with some small adventures with data in ArcGIS Online. The first is a smashing of...
a year ago
25
a year ago
Here is a two-pack with some small adventures with data in ArcGIS Online. The first is a smashing of two fields into a new frankenfield ready for mapping, and the second shows how to create entirely new map layers and cram them with meaningful attributes. … Sometimes you have all...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 8 (Postscript: Interesting Signs) I know that some of the articles in this series veered into heavy topics. So let’s take things in a...
a year ago
54
a year ago
I know that some of the articles in this series veered into heavy topics. So let’s take things in a less serious direction for a moment now that I’ve completed the travelogue portion. It’s no secret that I enjoy signage, the more unusual the better. Sometimes I even collect them...
Maps Mania
Mapping the History of the Railway
9 months ago
Map of the Week
Buffalo in 50 Maps New from Belt Publishing - the third book of their "50 Maps" series, Buffalo in 50 Maps is now out....
a year ago
34
a year ago
New from Belt Publishing - the third book of their "50 Maps" series, Buffalo in 50 Maps is now out. Previous books on Cleveland and Detroit have been briefly covered on previous blog posts. The author, cartographer Victoria Johnson-Dahl was kind enough to send me an advance copy...
Maps Mania
The Spanish Wealth Divide
a year ago
Map of the Week
This One This one map (via New York Times) tells you quite a bit about what happened in the U.S. Election on...
a month ago
24
a month ago
This one map (via New York Times) tells you quite a bit about what happened in the U.S. Election on Tuesday. Aside from a few strange outliers (western Oklahoma, suburban Atlanta, northwest Michigan) The "red shift" happened across all regions and demographics. Hard to look at...
somethingaboutmaps
The Projection Collection Returns About a year ago, I released The Projection Collection, a set of 77 trading cards based on map...
a year ago
36
a year ago
About a year ago, I released The Projection Collection, a set of 77 trading cards based on map projections. Each card features a unique map produced by one of 65 different cartographers. While my colleagues and I did our best to let everyone know about these cards, some people...
Map of the Week
Everglades Restoration The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has invested over a billion dollars to restore Florida's Everglades...
3 months ago
41
3 months ago
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has invested over a billion dollars to restore Florida's Everglades as part of the Infrastructure Bill of 2021. The goal is to restore the natural flow that has been cut off by agriculture and urban development. The original flow was from the...
Maps Mania
The Same Size As
a year ago
GeoCurrents
Hope and Peril in Somaliland As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post, the incoming Trump administration is considering the...
4 hours ago
2
4 hours ago
As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post, the incoming Trump administration is considering the recognition of the hitherto unrecognized state of Somaliland, which seceded from Somalia in 1991. On the diplomatic front, Somaliland’s position is looking increasingly promising. Its...
Maps Mania
Google Updates Satellite Imagery of Ukraine
a year ago
Maps Mania
AI Map Markers
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 8 (Onward to London) Finally we reached the end of our time in Dorset. I enjoyed that quiet corner of England and I felt...
4 months ago
56
4 months ago
Finally we reached the end of our time in Dorset. I enjoyed that quiet corner of England and I felt we covered it pretty thoroughly. Now we needed to drive back to London where a whole new set of adventures awaited. Stonehenge However, we couldn’t go straight back because of...
Maps Mania
Exploring Mars in 3D
a year ago
Maps Mania
Visit Barcelona Without Going Abroad
a year ago
Maps Mania
How Long Will You Live?
a year ago
Maps Mania
Who Owns Your Town?
11 months ago
Maps Mania
US Military Bases Around the World
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 5 (University Loop) This was another early morning start although not as early as some of the others. We wouldn’t need...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
This was another early morning start although not as early as some of the others. We wouldn’t need to drive very far anymore now that we’d settled into our temporary home in Lewiston, Idaho for four nights in a row. The Washington Race Sunrise came quickly and we soon found...
Map of the Week
Guided Across Switzerland by Hand Drawn Maps The New York Times has a piece where the author ditched his phone and walked across Switzerland...
4 months ago
55
4 months ago
The New York Times has a piece where the author ditched his phone and walked across Switzerland guided only by hand drawn maps from the people he met along the way. I love a nice hand drawn map and this article provides lots of good examples. These maps illustrate the things...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 3 (Museums) Sure, I visited the various Wright Brothers museums, historical sites, and memorials but they...
8 months ago
74
8 months ago
Sure, I visited the various Wright Brothers museums, historical sites, and memorials but they weren’t the totality of Dayton’s remarkable legacy. It wasn’t even the reason why we visited. I mentioned the younger kid’s interest in all things aeronautical earlier and it traced back...
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Rail and Bus Map of Southeast Queensland, Australia, 2024 Submitted by Lachlan, who says: Brisbane dropped a new transit map and it is EXTREMELY pretty. I’m a...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
Submitted by Lachlan, who says: Brisbane dropped a new transit map and it is EXTREMELY pretty. I’m a big fan. Definitely the best-designed official transit map in Australia in my opinion. It even acknowledges the rapid bus routes and the G-Link light rail! I wish it could have...
Maps Mania
The Newest Maps of Mars - in 3D
6 months ago
Maps Mania
GeoClash
a year ago
Maps Mania
AI-Powered Satellite Search
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The Drug Map of Europe
8 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Every US Election Since 1840
2 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Mythical Islands & Imaginary Lands
a month ago
GeoCurrents
Will the United States Recognize Somaliland as Somalia Continued to Devolve? Recent reports claim that the incoming Trump administration is considering giving diplomatic...
2 days ago
16
2 days ago
Recent reports claim that the incoming Trump administration is considering giving diplomatic recognition to Somaliland, a de facto independent state that broke away from the wreckage of Somalia in 1991. Republican representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania has already introduced...
Adventures In...
How to make this map of a melting glacier I’ve been to Columbia Glacier, just west of Valdez, Alaska, three times. The first was as a...
a year ago
63
a year ago
I’ve been to Columbia Glacier, just west of Valdez, Alaska, three times. The first was as a youngster in 1984, the second in 1987, and the final time in 2000. Each time, the ride by boat to the terminal edge of the ice where it calves into Prince William Sound, took a bit longer....
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Diagram of Passenger Stations in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, 1928 There’s a lot to like about this simple little track diagram of Sydney’s rail system from 1928....
4 months ago
49
4 months ago
There’s a lot to like about this simple little track diagram of Sydney’s rail system from 1928. There’s a lot of different angles – both with route lines and station labels – but it still manages to hang together as a coherent whole. A big part of that is the dead straight...
Maps Mania
Can you Draw Europe?
9 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 2 (Take a Walk) Dayton is decently sized place with about 130,000 residents in the city proper and about 800,000 in...
8 months ago
78
8 months ago
Dayton is decently sized place with about 130,000 residents in the city proper and about 800,000 in the larger metropolitan area. So that makes it large enough for some attractions and urban amenities, but nobody would mistake it for a city that never sleeps. I figured I might...
Maps Mania
Inside the Maya Temples of Copan
2 months ago
Map of the Week
Make Your Own Ferraris Map While researching the Ferraris Atlas of Belgium from my last post, I came across a Github page that...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
While researching the Ferraris Atlas of Belgium from my last post, I came across a Github page that lets you create your own Ferraris style map using QGIS. The author, Manuel Claeys Bouuaert did an excellent job creating a hand drawn looking style using modern technology....
Map of the Week
Stolen Native American Remains In 1990 the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed by the U.S. Congress...
a year ago
48
a year ago
In 1990 the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed by the U.S. Congress to gave indigenous peoples a way to reclaim their dead. 33 years later about half of the remains have yet to be returned. Pro Publica produced a piece with excellent interactive...
Maps Mania
How Families Live Around the World.
a year ago
Map of the Week
The Salt Front The salt front is the point where a river becomes too salty to be safe for drinking water. The front...
3 weeks ago
19
3 weeks ago
The salt front is the point where a river becomes too salty to be safe for drinking water. The front moves upstream from the river’s mouth as less freshwater flows downstream to dilute it. I’d never heard of a salt front until I read about it in a recent article in...
Maps Mania
The Sad State of Local News 2023
10 months ago
Maps Mania
Not Everyone Commutes by Car
9 months ago
Maps Mania
Destroying People's Homes in Gaza
a year ago
Maps Mania
Unlocking America’s Visual Time Machine
a year ago
Maps Mania
Crowdsourcing Neighborhood Borders
3 months ago
Transit Maps
Official Map: Newark International Airport Regional Rail Connections, 2023 Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is...
a year ago
82
a year ago
Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is scratch my head and ponder, “Just why?” This is one of those maps. Produced by (or on behalf of) Newark International Airport, it purports to show regional rail services that you...
Map of the Week
Indigenous Languages-Part 3 Here is part 3 in what was meant to be a two part series. In between my last two posts, Vivid Maps...
10 months ago
33
10 months ago
Here is part 3 in what was meant to be a two part series. In between my last two posts, Vivid Maps posted a map of indigenous languages. I think this was just a coincidence. I only saw their post yesterday and I don't think they saw or were reacting to what I posted. Anyway this...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 7 (On To Monteverde) Next we began our trek to Monteverde, into Costa Rica’s famed Cloud Forest. This is one of the...
a year ago
11
a year ago
Next we began our trek to Monteverde, into Costa Rica’s famed Cloud Forest. This is one of the nation’s smallest microclimates and one of its most intriguing. High in the mountains, a thick blanket of fog frequently envelopes the landscape and creates a gentile moisture. A steady...
Map of the Week
Summer of Extremes It's been a summer of extremes around the world. Here is the United States we have dangerous...
a year ago
10
a year ago
It's been a summer of extremes around the world. Here is the United States we have dangerous heat, via Washington Post  droughts and floods, existing in close proximity in places, US Drought Monitor and wildfire smoke covering much of the country. via...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
St. Mary’s (and Calvert), Maryland County counting becomes increasingly difficult as I continue my glacially slow progress. Now it...
a year ago
68
a year ago
County counting becomes increasingly difficult as I continue my glacially slow progress. Now it takes more than five hours to reach the closest unvisited county from my home. Fortunately I found a workaround by shifting my focus to overnight county visits. There are plenty of...
Map of the Week
The Atlas of Design, Volume 7 Note to readers on this platform: I also publish this blog on Substack. You may find that the...
2 months ago
35
2 months ago
Note to readers on this platform: I also publish this blog on Substack. You may find that the pictures below show up a little better than here. The Atlas of Design is a biannual production of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS). It highlights some of the...
Adventures In...
Thoughts on the Cartographer’s Role in an AI Future A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10...
10 months ago
59
10 months ago
A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10 years.” Here’s my somewhat off-the-cuff response, though my thoughts have been steeping in this for the past year or so. In the next 10 years artificial intelligence, and probably...
Maps Mania
Your Global Local Radio Map
a month ago
Maps Mania
Who are Your Neighbors Donating to?
a month ago
Maps Mania
Earth Nose Game Champion 2024
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Using AI to Geolocate Photos
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Broomfield and Denver Weekend I’ve been traveling a lot lately. It feels like I just got back from the Pacific Northwest, and...
a month ago
27
a month ago
I’ve been traveling a lot lately. It feels like I just got back from the Pacific Northwest, and before that England, and then I’m heading right back out the door again. This should do it for awhile though; I need some rest. But this trip was a little different because I was there...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 2 (Walla Walla to Pendleton) We awoke in Walla Walla at the beginning of our first full day. We couldn’t check-in at our...
2 months ago
26
2 months ago
We awoke in Walla Walla at the beginning of our first full day. We couldn’t check-in at our accommodations in Pendleton, Oregon until mid-afternoon and the drive would only take about an hour. So we needed to find something we could do locally and we got another chance to explore...
Adventures In...
Vintage Retro Old-School 1890s Basemap for ArcGIS Pro Here’s how to stack up some tile layers and blend them up to concoct a basemap that wouldn’t look...
4 months ago
49
4 months ago
Here’s how to stack up some tile layers and blend them up to concoct a basemap that wouldn’t look out of place in 1890. Except that you wouldn’t have anywhere to plug in your monitor so it would be hard to show it to people back then. Ok bring a small generator. Wait, all these …
Maps Mania
Global Climate Change Impacts
9 months ago
Map of the Week
The Auschwitz Exhibition This past weekend I saw a traveling exhibition in Boston about the Auschwitz concentration camp. It...
3 months ago
42
3 months ago
This past weekend I saw a traveling exhibition in Boston about the Auschwitz concentration camp. It contains over 700 objects from shoes to gas masks to implements of torture and experimentation. The exhibit was co-produced by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and has been in...
Maps Mania
America's Disappearing Birds
11 months ago
James Cheshire
Newspapers and the 1976 Drought With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase:...
over a year ago
35
over a year ago
With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase: ‘it was this hot in 1976’. Of course it wasn’t, and crucially the planet overall was not as hot then as it is now. Parts of the UK media have had their part to play in fueling...
Maps Mania
The Coldest Day of the Year
3 days ago
Map of the Week
The Spread of Slavery in the United States In September, 1861 the U.S. Coast Survey published this large map showing the enslaved population by...
a year ago
22
a year ago
In September, 1861 the U.S. Coast Survey published this large map showing the enslaved population by county. It was "sold for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers of the U.S. Army." The image above is from an article in Smithsonian. Here is a detailed view showing part...
Adventures In...
How to Make Features Illuminate an Underlying Basemap Sure, we can make features look like they are glowing. But how can we make them look like they are...
a year ago
14
a year ago
Sure, we can make features look like they are glowing. But how can we make them look like they are casting light on the basemap below? Here’s a silly little trick using crafty symbology and blend modes in ArcGIS Pro. In this case we’ll use glorious stork migration paths,...
somethingaboutmaps
Take the 2024 Freelance Mapper Survey Friends and colleagues, it’s time once again for the survey that Aly Ollivierre and I conduct every...
9 months ago
97
9 months ago
Friends and colleagues, it’s time once again for the survey that Aly Ollivierre and I conduct every two years. We ask people who do freelance mapping work about their fees and other business practices, in order to help bring more transparency to our little niche of the world, and...
Maps Mania
The Interactive Pathfinding Map
a year ago
Maps Mania
The AI Diplomacy Map
a year ago
Maps Mania
Mythical Creatures of the World
a year ago
Maps Mania
How Near do You Live to a Mass Shooting?
a year ago
Adventures In...
How to Make a Hexagonal Cartogram in ArcGIS Pro Of course maps are just the most fascinating and information dense graphical information products...
9 months ago
75
9 months ago
Of course maps are just the most fascinating and information dense graphical information products around…in my unbiased opinion. I can, and do, go on and on about the deep and pervasive benefits of spatial representations. But…well…sometimes a map, strictly speaking, can have...
Maps Mania
The June Deportations
a year ago
Musings on Maps
Floating Sargasso Sea Mapped from the Canaries to the West Indies, against a blank background, the Sargassum Belt seems...
a year ago
48
a year ago
Mapped from the Canaries to the West Indies, against a blank background, the Sargassum Belt seems removed from the levels of phosphorous of our coastal oceans leaving the high density of its thirteen million tons on a blank screen as the latest whacky disturbance of the...
Maps Mania
North America's Shrinking Railways
2 weeks ago
Map of the Week
Ice Flows in Greenland The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s...
a week ago
14
a week ago
The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s climate and demographics that are largely hidden to the naked eye. I never got a chance to review it but was recently struck by this visualization. A detailed description of the...
Maps Mania
Mappy Races
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Noisiest Cities in America
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 1 (The Wright Stuff) When people have asked, I’ve told them with a straight face that we didn’t go to Daytona for Spring...
8 months ago
75
8 months ago
When people have asked, I’ve told them with a straight face that we didn’t go to Daytona for Spring Break, no, we went to Dayton. As in Ohio. As in probably the least likely Spring Break destination in the United States. We managed to avoid warm weather, sandy beaches, and...
Maps Mania
Your Future Climate Twin
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Plasticine Earth
11 months ago
Maps Mania
The Geotastic Daily Challenge
2 months ago
Adventures In...
Tolkien Style Maps in a GIS: part 4, Assembly “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” In this 4-part series...
10 months ago
54
10 months ago
“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” In this 4-part series we’ll walk through the reckoning of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy map, right in ArcGIS Pro. We map-makers get to breathe honest to goodness geographic life into the seminal...
Map of the Week
Snickelways of York Note: In May, I spent some time traveling through England. This is the first of maybe several posts...
5 months ago
78
5 months ago
Note: In May, I spent some time traveling through England. This is the first of maybe several posts from that trip. In York, England a snickelway is a narrow passageway variously referred to as a"snicket", "gimmel" or "alleyway", the word being a combination of all of these. Mark...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 3 (Apalachicola) Next we began the actual “road” portion of the road trip as Atlanta receded into the distance behind...
a year ago
17
a year ago
Next we began the actual “road” portion of the road trip as Atlanta receded into the distance behind us. We spaced our drives into four segments of 5-6 hours each to make them manageable. I figured that would cover a decent distance without consuming the entire day. The first leg...
Maps Mania
Which Airports are also Filetypes?
2 months ago
Maps Mania
How to Make Your Own Map Jigsaw Puzzle
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The World is Getting Hotter
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Manhole Card Collectors Map
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Countries with Women Leaders Here is a map from the Washington Post, via Reddit showing countries past & present with women as...
a month ago
28
a month ago
Here is a map from the Washington Post, via Reddit showing countries past & present with women as heads of state. Click it (and then again) for higher resolution. We in the United States like to think we are the most advanced country in the world but by this metric we are well...
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Connections: A Very Nerdy Poster Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something...
over a year ago
60
over a year ago
Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something map-related. A 16 × 24-inch tangled web showing how 100+ different map projections are all related to each other: Projections are a niche topic even among cartographers, so I don’t...
Maps Mania
One Million Screenshots. One Map!
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The National Stereotypes Maps - Part Two
a year ago
Map of the Week
Thirty Day Map Challenge 2023-Days 17-23 Another week of 30 Day Map Challenge Maps… Day 17 - Flow Probably the intention here was to have...
a year ago
25
a year ago
Another week of 30 Day Map Challenge Maps… Day 17 - Flow Probably the intention here was to have people make maps of the flow of surface water or air or traffic but I decided to make a flow chart instead. A vaguely interesting look at the trip home I had to make many times as...
Maps Mania
WorldGuessr on Street View
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Where Do Refugees Go?
a year ago
Maps Mania
The London Underground Map Quiz
a year ago
Map of the Week
Soprano Land The Sopranos is having a bit of a moment with the recent HBO documentary about David Chase....
3 months ago
43
3 months ago
The Sopranos is having a bit of a moment with the recent HBO documentary about David Chase. Illustrator Robert Sikoryak made a nice map to orient fans to the New Jersey landscape of the show. You can click above to see a larger version. I've only watched bits of the show so I...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Osage Orange It seemed strange to fixate on a single tree for more than a decade but that’s exactly what...
3 weeks ago
21
3 weeks ago
It seemed strange to fixate on a single tree for more than a decade but that’s exactly what happened. I notice it a few weeks every autumn and then quickly forget about it for another year. That all started sometime around 2013 when I began to ride a stretch of the Capital...
Maps Mania
The 10 Day Fall Color Forecast
a year ago
Maps Mania
The World Air Quality Report 2023
9 months ago
Maps Mania
25 Cities
11 months ago
Maps Mania
The Best Real-Time Subway Maps
a year ago
Maps Mania
Visit a Virtual Medieval Farm
9 months ago
Maps Mania
The Folk Music of the World
a year ago
Map of the Week
More Maps and Views at the British Library Here is another installment of maps on display at the British Library - part 1 can be found...
4 months ago
52
4 months ago
Here is another installment of maps on display at the British Library - part 1 can be found here. Estate Map by Margaret Bowles, 1659 Apologies for the dark and shadowy picture, the display hall is not brightly lit. Margaret Bowles was an English cartographer whose surviving...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 9 (Atypical London) Before we left on our trip to England I promised everyone in the family that we would visit at least...
4 months ago
49
4 months ago
Before we left on our trip to England I promised everyone in the family that we would visit at least one thing they absolutely wanted to see. We completed that for the younger kid at Tankfest. Two more bucket list destinations happened during our first full day in London. We’re...
Map of the Week
Huge Lego Model of the Lake District Artist Jon Tordoff has made a 100 square foot, 200,000 piece (so far) Lego model of England's Lake...
a year ago
19
a year ago
Artist Jon Tordoff has made a 100 square foot, 200,000 piece (so far) Lego model of England's Lake District. via Getty Images  The model began as a pandemic recreation map of Buttermere, his favorite spot.  "Now I've come over the Honister Pass, up Borrowdale and I've got...
Map of the Week
Where Your Christmas Tree Comes From A recent map on maps.com (an Esri run map site) by Joshua Stevens shows where Christmas trees are...
a year ago
37
a year ago
A recent map on maps.com (an Esri run map site) by Joshua Stevens shows where Christmas trees are grown. The data is from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Each tree shaped spike represents a county. The most significant areas are in Oregon and North Carolina. If you click on...
Maps Mania
Racial Covenants in Santa Clara Properties
2 months ago
Maps Mania
Global Sunlight Chart
a year ago
Maps Mania
30 Days of Crashes in New York City
5 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – New Official Map: UTA Rail and BRT Map, 2023 Submitted by Browne, who says: UTA, the primary transit provider for northern Utah, has officially...
a year ago
53
a year ago
Submitted by Browne, who says: UTA, the primary transit provider for northern Utah, has officially launched its newest BRT service, and with it, a new transit map. The OGX is a new BRT route from Ogden Central Station, downtown, Weber State University, and down to McKay-Dee...
Maps Mania
Using AI to Beat TimeGuessr
11 months ago
Musings on Maps
The Dystopia of Diagolon: Irrational Cartographies of Secession The quandary of our own abundant if not inexhaustible repertoire of mapping abilities and skills of...
over a year ago
48
over a year ago
The quandary of our own abundant if not inexhaustible repertoire of mapping abilities and skills of visualization are tried by the spread of COVID-19. As dashboards, news agencies, and media offered new maps and staked new skills of mapping, maps … Continue reading →
Map of the Week
A Few Nice Eclipse Maps-Part 1 In a month a total eclipse will make its way across North America. On April 8th the path will travel...
9 months ago
38
9 months ago
In a month a total eclipse will make its way across North America. On April 8th the path will travel quickly, (under two hours) from Mazatlán on Mexico's Pacific coast to Newfoundland, Canada and then into the Atlantic Ocean. There are some really nice visualizations of the...
Maps Mania
The First Images from EUMETSAT MTG-I1
a year ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Brussels S-Train by Elliot H Submitted by Elliot, who says: I’ve come across this blog a couple of months ago, and have been...
a year ago
37
a year ago
Submitted by Elliot, who says: I’ve come across this blog a couple of months ago, and have been lurking ever since. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at designing a trasit diagram, and having gotten some free time, I decided to redesign the S-Train diagram for Brussels. So here...
Maps Mania
Geotripper - the Traveling Salesman Game
2 weeks ago
Maps Mania
Where Your Food Comes
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Cicada Chase, Day 1 What would be a good present for someone who just graduated from college with a degree in...
6 months ago
72
6 months ago
What would be a good present for someone who just graduated from college with a degree in entomology? Well, how about a quick trip to the Midwest to hunt for bugs? May 2024 marked a special occasion that was well-reported (maybe over-reported) by the mainstream media: the...
Maps Mania
Tranquil Walking Directions
a month ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Historical Map: Duluth Transit Authority, 1982 Submitted by Darryl, who says: Going through old boxes in my basement, I came across this 1982 opus...
a month ago
28
a month ago
Submitted by Darryl, who says: Going through old boxes in my basement, I came across this 1982 opus from the Duluth Transit Authority. I may be biased because it’s the first transit map I ever saw, but I think it’s amazing, capturing the way the city nestles into the topography,...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 1 (Do-Over) This was the trip we wanted to take last summer before our plans abruptly changed. Instead we went...
5 months ago
67
5 months ago
This was the trip we wanted to take last summer before our plans abruptly changed. Instead we went to Costa Rica for reasons I talked about before, and all of us had a wonderful time. Even so, I still felt bad that the younger kid lost out on the original destination. He wanted...
Musings on Maps
Along Narnia’s Enchanted Shores As we face an age when the norms of legal conduct in the United States stand to be shredded, we have...
3 weeks ago
24
3 weeks ago
As we face an age when the norms of legal conduct in the United States stand to be shredded, we have been suggested to benefit from looking, both for perspective and solace, if only for relief, to fantasy literature as … Continue reading →
Maps Mania
Find Your Nearest Hurricane
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The X-Files of Paranormal Activity
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Detour to Ashtabula About two and a half years ago I planned to capture three unvisited counties at the far northeastern...
6 months ago
75
6 months ago
About two and a half years ago I planned to capture three unvisited counties at the far northeastern corner of Ohio. Unfortunately it didn’t happen due to a snowstorm that dumped about a foot of snow on the target area. So instead I changed my plans and focused on Michigan’s...
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Metrovalencia by Tom Göpel Submitted by Tom, who says: Hi Cameron, first I would like to mention that I greatly appreciate your...
a year ago
51
a year ago
Submitted by Tom, who says: Hi Cameron, first I would like to mention that I greatly appreciate your work and have learned lots about transit maps from your blog alone. It was also this blog that inspired me to try to design my own maps. It’s a great joy to me now. Here, I would...
Maps Mania
The Nicknames of America
2 months ago
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Union Pacific Annual Report Map, 1980 Here’s an absolutely cracking diagrammatic map that appeared as a fold-out sheet in Union Pacific...
4 months ago
61
4 months ago
Here’s an absolutely cracking diagrammatic map that appeared as a fold-out sheet in Union Pacific annual reports from about 1978 through 1981, maybe slightly longer. I first saw this as a photograph of a partial part of the map, but it didn’t take me too long to find the whole...
Maps Mania
Cinematic 3D Space Simulations
a year ago
Maps Mania
Alternatives to Google Maps Street View
a year ago
Maps Mania
Tracking Russia's 'Dark' Shadow Ships
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Is Europe Ready to Burn?
7 months ago
Maps Mania
The Unknown Pleasures of Population Density
a year ago
Transit Maps
Fantasy Map: Washington Commanders 2023 “Season Map” Posted yesterday on the Commanders’ Twitter account, here’s a Washington Metro-themed map of the...
a year ago
53
a year ago
Posted yesterday on the Commanders’ Twitter account, here’s a Washington Metro-themed map of the team’s 2023 season. It basically just places the team’s opponents for the year on a vaguely US-shaped map using some Metro iconography and colours and calls it a day. It’s...
Maps Mania
Piecing the World Back Together
4 months ago
Map of the Week
The New Acadian Heritage Room On my recent trip to Nova Scotia, I stumbled upon the grand opening of the New Acadian Heritage Room...
a year ago
16
a year ago
On my recent trip to Nova Scotia, I stumbled upon the grand opening of the New Acadian Heritage Room at the O’Dell House Museum in Annapolis Royal. I had not known anything about it, but was in the right place on the right day. The room is primarily a collection of maps from the...
Maps Mania
The World Map of Podcasts
a year ago
Map of the Week
Map of Endangered Languages - Part 2 Last week's post showed a huge number of indigenous languages throughout the world. Here is a...
11 months ago
33
11 months ago
Last week's post showed a huge number of indigenous languages throughout the world. Here is a summary (via the Living Tongues Institute) showing hotspots of endangered languages. The above site has a companion living dictionaries site where you can find a language by...
Maps Mania
Dressing Miku
a month ago
Maps Mania
Lifetime Net Elevation Scores
3 weeks ago
Maps Mania
Map of the Best Restaurants
a year ago
Map of the Week
Mauna Loa Lava Maps Sure, there are cool livestreams of the Mauna Loa volcano you can watch, but even better, you can...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
Sure, there are cool livestreams of the Mauna Loa volcano you can watch, but even better, you can see live maps of the lava flow. Here is yesterday's status map from the U.S. Geological Survey The dark red in these maps shows the new lava flow from the last 24 hours. It is...
Map of the Week
Philadelphia Bookstore Map Note: As September comes to a close so does Philadelphia month. There will be a couple more posts...
a year ago
18
a year ago
Note: As September comes to a close so does Philadelphia month. There will be a couple more posts today and tomorrow before I return to my normal weekly schedule. This one is personal. Several years ago I was working with a Philly-based computer programmer and an artist to create...
Maps Mania
Terraforming the Metaverse
a year ago
Maps Mania
Why the Spanish Like Vertical Living
a year ago
Adventures In...
Add Multiple Maps to One Layout Of course Alaska and Hawaii are glorious places, beloved by all for their lovely inhabitants and...
3 months ago
54
3 months ago
Of course Alaska and Hawaii are glorious places, beloved by all for their lovely inhabitants and majestic natural environs. It would be an error of omission should they not appear in a map of the United States, but it would also be a shame to shoe-horn them in looking sad with an...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 4 (Bristol) In retrospect we probably should have done this as an overnight trip. As we soon learned, there’s no...
5 months ago
57
5 months ago
In retrospect we probably should have done this as an overnight trip. As we soon learned, there’s no fast, direct way to drive from Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck to Bristol (map). Google says it should take a couple of hours in optimal conditions which sounds doable, if a bit slow....
Maps Mania
Guess Thy Neighbor
a year ago
Maps Mania
Virtual Reality OpenStreetMap
5 months ago
Adventures In...
Tolkien Style Maps in a GIS: part 2, Mountains “I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains. And then find somewhere where I can rest.” In...
10 months ago
76
10 months ago
“I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains. And then find somewhere where I can rest.” In this 4-part series we’ll walk through the reckoning of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy map, right in ArcGIS Pro. We map-makers get to breathe honest to goodness geographic life...
Maps Mania
Ephemeral Tweets
a year ago
Map of the Week
New Orleans Slave Revolt Despite what some officials in Florida want to teach, not all enslaved people appreciated the job...
10 months ago
45
10 months ago
Despite what some officials in Florida want to teach, not all enslaved people appreciated the job training they were getting from their benevolent overseers. In fact there were numerous rebellions. The largest one was in 1811 outside of New Orleans.  The map above is from a...
Musings on Maps
“He Could Easily Destroy Us” Tucker Carlson's move to Twitter led him to celebrate it as the last preserve of free speech. But...
a year ago
99
a year ago
Tucker Carlson's move to Twitter led him to celebrate it as the last preserve of free speech. But his relation to speech was long slippery, best reflected on the heuristic display of the 2016 electoral map that was the logo of the pundit's nightly show's and its guiding...
Maps Mania
The Working Class History Map
a year ago
Map of the Week
Tacografical Maps International Taco Day is coming up on Sunday, March 31st - not to be confused with National Taco...
9 months ago
50
9 months ago
International Taco Day is coming up on Sunday, March 31st - not to be confused with National Taco Day in October. Here are a few maps to enjoy your tacos by. This one I've seen in several taquerias. It took a long time to find a version that is readable online (you may need to...
Maps Mania
Intelligent Directions
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 7 (Abrupt End) What should have been a ten day trip ended unexpectedly on the seventh day. The previous evening our...
2 months ago
31
2 months ago
What should have been a ten day trip ended unexpectedly on the seventh day. The previous evening our kid who was watching the house called to tell us about our soaking wet basement carpet. Our ancient boiler was leaking. So we immediately contacted our insurance provider, a water...
Maps Mania
Travel Cat's Aerial Adventures
3 weeks ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 9 (Postscript: Brew It) This is it, the final stop on the Asia-Pacific series, and this one is especially for me. I always...
a year ago
64
a year ago
This is it, the final stop on the Asia-Pacific series, and this one is especially for me. I always have mixed feelings about the brewery articles because they’re rather self-indulgent. So viewers should feel free to skip past this one and wait until the next series begins because...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Lines of the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway, 1927 Here’s a fascinating map of streetcar lines in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927, beautifully hand drawn on...
a year ago
60
a year ago
Here’s a fascinating map of streetcar lines in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927, beautifully hand drawn on top of a pre-printed single colour map of the area produced by the City’s engineering department. Not only does the map show the extent of all the streetcar lines (with 64.6 miles of...
Map of the Week
The Inequalities of Climate Change There was much talk, if not much action, at the recent COP27 conference about wealthier countries...
a year ago
18
a year ago
There was much talk, if not much action, at the recent COP27 conference about wealthier countries compensating poorer ones for the impacts of climate change. The poorer countries see the largest impacts, while contributing the least to the problem. This map illustrates the...
Maps Mania
Can You Draw America?
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Guess Where You Are
2 months ago
Adventures In...
5 Minutes to Make a Map! We’ve all been there. A request comes in and you don’t have a lot of time. Like 5 or 10 minutes....
10 months ago
70
10 months ago
We’ve all been there. A request comes in and you don’t have a lot of time. Like 5 or 10 minutes. What! Ok, ok, be cool, this is going to be ok. Just breathe…and think. Think. Yes, we’ve got this. We’ve got the tools and the resources to crank out a serviceable map in the amount …
Maps Mania
OpenStreetMap Edits in Real Time
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Right-Wing Terrorism Map
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The World's Population in 3D
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Supply Chain of Deforestation
9 months ago
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Sydney Railway Layout, c. 1940 Unearthed on Twitter (It’ll always be Twitter to me, no matter what Elon says) by @crossing_lights,...
a year ago
16
a year ago
Unearthed on Twitter (It’ll always be Twitter to me, no matter what Elon says) by @crossing_lights, this is quite an extraordinary find. Long-time readers may have seen the 1939 version of this diagram (and the digital recreation that I made). Here’s the thing: the general...
Maps Mania
GeoGuessr for Art
8 months ago
Maps Mania
245 Russian Military Targets at Risk
3 months ago
Maps Mania
John Snow's
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Write Your Name in Landsat
3 months ago
Maps Mania
The National Stereotypes Map
a year ago
Maps Mania
How Not to Stare at the Sun
a year ago
Map of the Week
The Coaquannock Map I will begin Philadelphia month at an early stage, just before European settlement. via...
a year ago
16
a year ago
I will begin Philadelphia month at an early stage, just before European settlement. via Historical Society of Pennsylvania This 1934 map showing the homeland of the Lenape people when the first white settlers arrived in Philadelphia, was funded by the Works Progress...
Adventures In...
Vignettes for the Win! A vignette is a darkening (or lightening) of the edges of a composition, to subtly frame it and draw...
a month ago
28
a month ago
A vignette is a darkening (or lightening) of the edges of a composition, to subtly frame it and draw the eye in to the middle. It’s an old photographer’s darkroom trick. Lucky for us, I’ve spent many hours in the darkroom and have grown to appreciate the charm and effectiveness...