December 2004

Tsunami Animation
I was hoping that some useful maps illustrating the effects of yesterday’s tsunami would turn up, and as usual the Internet did not disappoint. Via Boing Boing again, two separate animations illustrating the spread of the tidal waves: this one…
posted to Indian Ocean Tsunami |
19th-Century Surveying and Mapping Equipment
The Topographical Engineering Detachment — they’re sort of an SCA for 19th-century U.S. Army engineers — has this dead-interesting page of surveying and mapping equipment from the 1800s. Old photographs and descriptions. Via ba’s comment on MetaFilter….
posted to Surveying |
Theme Park Maps
Maps of theme parks, dating back as far as 1931. Quite an extensive collection. Via Boing Boing….
posted to Miscellany |
Seattle Public Library’s Map Room
As I’ve said before, this site’s name is derived from libraries’ practice of naming their map collections map rooms. Matt has a photo of the Seattle Public Library’s map room….
posted to Libraries |
The Best Map of Alaska?
The Anchorage Daily News profiles cartographer David Imus, whose new, highly detailed map of Alaska he modestly calls, as the article puts it, “the best overall map of the state ever made.” Based on the article, which goes into some…
posted to Cartography |
Garrett Library Exhibition
Ending January 15, a public exhibit by the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Library at the University of Texas at Arlington, Mapmaker’s Vision, Beholder’s Eyes: The Art of Maps. “The exhibit explores the elaborate artistry of cartography and seeks to answer…
posted to Education, Exhibitions, Libraries |
Amtrak Schematic
Amtrak’s system map (768 KB PDF), which looks like it’s been redone recently, shows routes and cities, but it doesn’t indicate which trains serve a given city and route. The schematic on Wikipedia, however, does just that. Via Railroad.net’s Amtrak…
posted to Railroads |
Yahoo! Maps Traffic Conditions
Yahoo! Maps now has traffic conditions, including construction sites and accidents (which it euphemistically calls “incidents”) for several U.S. cities. Via Matt….
posted to Traffic Conditions |
Urban Cartography
A new blog, Urban Cartography, “dedicated to covering cartography and related subjects: urban planning, land use, imaging, GIS technology, urban studies and anything else that fits under the umbrella,” is now up and running. It apparently went live today, so…
posted to Blogs |
Airport Traffic
A few airports use a Java-based web application to show (delayed) real-time air traffic patterns. The effect is extremely neat. Via Boing Boing….
posted to Maps Online |
Homemade New York Subway Map
A homemade New York subway map that includes other railroads and is based on the London diagram. Says the designer: My design goals were to present a simple, clear diagram of all the passenger railroads in the city and just…
posted to Mass Transit, New York, Railroads |
Another U.S. States Quiz
Another geography quiz — this one requires you to drag and drop each state onto a map of the U.S. Harder than it looks: if you’re off by even a bit, it’ll mark it as wrong. Via Travel Writers. (See…
posted to Games & Quizzes |
Dymaxion Map Projection
Mark writes to tell us about the Dymaxion Projection Animation site: “The site is dedicated to showcasing Buckminster Fuller’s ‘Dymaxion Projection’ map. The Dymaxion Projection is reputed to be the most accurate flatmap of the earth, but I love the…
posted to Map Projections |
Ukraine: Language and Voting
Mark (of Language Log) compares the Ukrainian electoral results with a linguistic map, to deal with the question of whether the electoral divide matches the linguistic (Ukrainian vs. Russian) one. Via Languagehat. (See previous entry: Ukrainian Presidential Election.)…
posted to Current Events |