September 2006
- The Sovereign Map
- MapHist is abuzz with excitement over the news that an English translation of Christian Jacob’s apparently significant 1992 work on the history of cartography, The Sovereign Map: Theoretical Approaches in Cartography throughout History, is now available. Is there any…
- Bedrock Geologic Map of Ohio
- The Ohio Geological Survey has announced a 1:500,000-scale map of the state’s bedrock geology: “The map shows the distribution of 46 bedrock formations or combinations of formations occurring at the surface or immediately beneath the surficial deposits (mostly glacial)…
- Getting Out from Behind the Wheel
- If you’ve been following this blog’s entries about how digital mapping data providers compile their data (see the Surveying category archives), you’ll know that since time immemorial — or at least the 1940s — mapmakers have compiled their road data…
- Library of Congress Digitizes 10,000th Map
- The Library of Congress’s Geography and Map Division is a huge resource of digital images of old maps. On Wednesday they reached a symbolic but impressive milestone: they posted their 10,000 digitized map to their web site: Samuel de…
- Google Transit Adds Five Cities
- Google Transit, the trip planner that includes public transportation data, started last December (see previous entry) with Portland, Oregon as its single city, presumably as a proof of concept. Today they’ve added five more cities: Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tampa, and…
- Maps for Canadians: Lobbying for Paper Topo Maps
- Maps for Canadians is an online campaign to get the Canadian government to reverse its decision to stop printing paper topographical maps. They encourage people to write the Minister of Natural Resources and their local member of parliament; note that…
- Breaking News: Smiley Sentenced to 3½ Years
- The Associated Press: A renowned dealer who admitted stealing nearly 100 rare antique maps was sentenced Wednesday to 3½ years in prison after one librarian described him as a “thief who assaulted history.” E. Forbes Smiley III, a 50-year-old resident…
- Conservation GeoPortal
- The Conservation GeoPortal is an index of conservation maps and GIS datasets. No maps or data is available on the site itself, just searchable metadata; it points to stuff elsewhere online. More here. Via Maps-L….
- Another Texas Bird’s-Eye-View Maps Exhibition
- A collection of late-19th-century bird’s-eye-view maps of Texas cities will be on display at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas (near Amarillo), from March 17 to June 10 next year. This is presumably the same exhibition that was…
- Phyllis Pearsall
- The 100th anniversary of Phyllis Pearsall’s birth was celebrated in the UK on Monday. She founded the A-Z Map Company in 1936 to publish a (now-legendary) map of London — which she compiled by walking 3,000 miles’ worth of…
- Choropleth Map of Flickr Photos
- A choropleth map of Flickr photos as a KMZ file for Google Earth; it shows how many photos from each lat/long grid have been uploaded to Flickr. I was intrigued to see that unexpected places like St. Helena and…
- New York City Subway Smell Map
- Gawker’s New York City Subway Smell Map, a Google Maps mashup with attitude: “Created from reports sent in by Gawker readers, the map displays particular smells — horrific and sublime — encountered throughout New York’s subway stations.” And you thought…
- Temple University’s Flood Map Is Too Good
- In 2002, Temple University began working on a flood map of the Pennypack Creek watershed, an area on the north side of Philadelphia that historically has been particularly prone to flooding. The resulting maps, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a…
- GPS: Leave Maps Behind?
- This is a strange article; it talks about viewing fall colours and segues into using or buying a GPS receiver for that purpose. It also repeats the canard that a GPS renders paper maps unnecessary: “A foldable map is cheaper…
- Google Maps Updates for Brazil and Japan
- Google Maps has added road data for Brazil — no address search yet, though — and updated the map tiles for Japan, allowing (apparently) hybrid mode. See also Google Maps Mania, Google Karten….
- Upcoming Conferences: Garrett Lectures; Map Designers
- The theme for the fifth biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography is “Mapping the Sacred: Belief and Religion in the History of Cartography.” They take place on October 7 (lecture program) at the University of Texas at…
- Free GIS Data GeoBlog
- Free GIS Data GeoBlog points to GIS data available for free online; it’s another project by Glenn Letham, whom we’ve heard of before: he’s also behind Anything Geospatial and GISUser.com, among other things. Via Cartography and GPS Tracklog….
- OpenStreetMap at Where 2.0
- Steve Coast’s Where 2.0 talk on OpenStreetMap is now available in MP3 format from ITConversations. Via OpenGeoData. See previous entries on OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap Animations; Ed Parsons on OpenStreetMap; OpenStreetMap: Manchester’s Next; OpenStreetMap to Map Isle of Wight; OpenStreetMap London Poster…
- GeoPress, a WordPress Plugin
- GeoPress “is a WordPress plugin that allows users to quickly and easily embed location information in blog posts.” Via O’Reilly Radar, which covers it in some detail. See previous entry: Google Maps WordPress Plugins….
- Yahoo! Updates Mapping API
- Yahoo! has updated its AJAX mapping API to version 3.4; among other things, it now includes polylines and a traffic data layer….
- Learning at the British Library
- Learning at the British Library has a section on maps — not a comprehensive archive, but a selection that illustrates key themes for educative purposes using examples from the Library’s collection. Four sections: ideas, lies and deception, war, and wealth…
- Prosecutors File Brief, Explain Smiley’s Motives
- Attorneys for the British Library and Forbes Smiley have made their submissions regarding Smiley’s upcoming sentencing; now it’s the prosecution’s turn. In their sentencing brief today, prosecutors explained Smiley’s motives for stealing nearly 100 maps, the Associated Press’s John Christoffersen…
- Scale Models of Cities
- Tinselman, aka Myst co-creator Robyn Miller, has compiled an archive of photos of scale models of cities on his blog. Most of the photos are from Flickr, such as this one, at right, of the Shanghai model by Andrew…
- MapQuest Abandons Printed Maps
- Last year it was announced that MapQuest was moving into print maps. Wise commenters on that entry noted that it was not the first time that MapQuest had moved into paper, and in fact they had earlier laid off their…
- Map Collecting in Australia
- Via Map the Universe, an introductory article about map collecting from today’s edition — I guess by now it’d be yesterday’s edition — of the Sydney Morning Herald, using the local Antique Print Room as its backdrop and the earliest…
- UN Atlas Presented via Google Maps
- The UN Environment Programme’s atlas, One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, was announced in June 2005 and has been available as a free download since at least last February. (You can always buy the book, of course.)…
- Forbes Smiley’s Sentencing Memorandum
- The 39-page sentencing memorandum written by Forbes Smiley’s defence attorney, Richard Reeve, is available online (PDF) from the Hartford Courant (see also the attached exhibits). The document responds to the memorandum submitted last week by the British Library, partially on…
- Sentencing Delayed
- Forbes Smiley’s sentencing has been postponed until October 13. No reasons as yet for the delay; the hearing had already been pushed back to accomodate libraries’ sentencing memoranda. Update, Sept. 27: This applies only to Smiley’s sentencing in state court…
- Forbes Smiley Asks for Leniency
- In the wake of the British Library’s submission calling for a stiffer sentence than called for by the guidelines, Forbes Smiley’s attorney is asking for leniency, the Associated Press reports. Specifically, he’s asking for three years, rather than the five…
- British Library/Forbes Smiley Update
- News coverage of the British Library’s submission regarding Forbes Smiley’s upcoming sentencing continues to trickle in: here are stories from the Library Journal, the Vineyard Gazette and the Yale Daily News — the last covering libraries’ stepped-up security following Smiley’s…
- Broer Map Library
- The Broer Map Library is a digital archive of scanned maps with heady ambitions — “to provide its collection of maps and atlases online in order to allow libraries and researchers who would not otherwise have access to such…
- OpenStreetMap Animations
- Brady Forrest, covering FOSS4G2006 for O’Reilly Radar, links to some fascinating animations from the OpenStreetMap project. This one tracks two days’ worth of courier activity in London: There are also videos that track the growth in GPS traces for OpenStreetMap…
- Forbes Smiley Case: More on the British Library’s Brief
- The Guardian adds to the coverage of the British Library’s brief asking for a harsher penalty for Forbes Smiley (see previous entry). I must confess to some misgivings about the ferociousness of the libraries’ response to Mr. Smiley. He’s already…
- Le Dessous des cartes
- Le petit blog cartographique points to an archive of maps from Le Dessous des cartes, a shortly weekly program broadcast on the German-French arts and education network, Arte. The maps are from episodes from 1998 to 2001….
- Lawrence Journal-World on Orienteering
- Today’s edition of the Lawrence Journal-World has a feature on orienteering, with a look at local clubs. For you young whippersnappers with your fancy GPS doohickeys, that’s like geocaching, but with only a compass and topo map….
- Cartography Blog Seeks Bloggers
- An upcoming employment change is forcing Paul to scale back from blogging at Cartography, the Canadian Cartographic Association’s blog, so he’s looking for one or more people to share in the blogging duties. Bloggers should be CCA members — this…
- Maps.com’s Print-on-Demand Map Marketplace
- Maps.com has launched a print-on-demand map marketplace called, naturally enough, Map Marketplace, which allows independent cartographers to submit and list their maps for sale on Maps.com’s site. The press release describes the venture as “a Cafepress.com for the mapping industry”…
- Google Maps API Update
- On the Google Maps API Blog, an explanation of recent performance and imagery upgrades to the API. The improved imagery was noticed on Google Maps proper last week; this post includes a list of the areas that got those imagery…
- Sony GPS-CS1 Reviewed
- Richard has managed to lay hands on a new Sony GPS-CS1, the small gadget that records time and location data and comes with software that allows you to add that location data to the photos you took at that…
- Map Error Blamed for Israeli Strike on UN Observers
- CBC News: “An incorrect map and communications failure led to an Israeli air strike on a UN observer post that killed four peacekeepers. … According to [the IDF’s] confidential report, Israeli artillery were using a hand-drawn map that identified the…
- Leventhal Map Center Web Site Launches
- The Boston Public Library’s Norman B. Leventhal Map Center launched its web site this week, map curator Ronald E. Grim announced on MapHist: This initial version of the website includes digital images of approximately 200 maps from the Library’s…
- The Guardian on GPS, Divulging Location and Privacy
- The Guardian looks at the privacy implications of location-based and GPS tracking services. “‘People are very willing to give up their privacy,’ [Tim Hibbard, who has a site pinpointing his current location,] says. ‘You just have to give them a…
- New Google Earth Beta
- Concomitant with yesterday’s update of Google Earth’s layers, a new beta of Google Earth 4 has been released. New features include Japanese-language and timestamp support, but what caught my eye was a new UTM grid overlay (I’m big on UTM)….
- British Library Demands Harsher Sentence for Smiley
- The British Library has unleashed its hired gun (see previous entry). In a court filing yesterday, the Library’s attorney, Robert Goldman, asks that Smiley be sentenced to up to eight years, rather than the five to six years agreed to…
- Onions Have Layers, Google Earth Has Layers
- Following on last week’s imagery update, Google Earth today saw a major update to its layers, including new “featured content” layers such as, I was delighted to learn, trail data for U.S. national parks. Also, 3D buildings for Japanese cities….
- Earth Wallpapers
- Earth Wallpapers is a collection of desktop backgrounds created from Google Maps satellite images. Each image comes in several sizes; the back end is powered by Flickr (the images are available through Flickr here). Copyright issues notwithstanding, these are…
- Map of Dubai
- The Dubai tourism department has launched an online map of the emirate, AME Info reports. The map is available in a not-very-interactive Java-based interactive map and a copy-protected PDF. Nevertheless an interesting map of an, um, interesting place — the…
- MapCruncher Update
- MapCruncher, the Virtual Earth tool that allows you to integrate your map or image into their mapping system, is now natively supported by the API, the developers report. See previous entries: Live Local/Virtual Earth Update; MapCruncher….
- Breathing Earth
- Breathing Earth is a Flash-based simulation that “displays the carbon dioxide emission levels of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates — all in real time.” Hover over each country for specific data. Via…
- National Park Service Map Symbols
- Symbols and map patterns from National Park Service maps are available for download, in PDF and Adobe Illustrator formats. Potentially useful for anyone making maps. Via Kottke….
- The Blue Planet Globe
- The Blue Planet Globe, encased in a smoked acrylic box, simulates the earth’s rotation and seasonal changes in sunlight — for a mere $850. But on the Science Source catalogue page, there is a less-glamourous manual version for only…
- Live Local/Virtual Earth Update
- More features have been added to Windows Live Local, the eponymous blog reports, including people search, the ability to send address details to your mobile phone, and enhanced drawing tools that include the ability to draw shapes — i.e., enclosed…
- Map Fakes and Forgeries Page
- Last month, Tony Campbell wrote on MapHist, “I do hope somebody will be tempted … to take on the task of compiling a listing of map forgeries/fakes and the references to them.” John Woram has now answered Tony’s challenge and…
- NOAA Nautical Chart Downloads
- NOAA’s nautical charts are available for free download as raster images in BSB format, GPS Tracklog reports. Rich mentions that the files can be used in OziExplorer; NOAA has a list of software and an online viewer….
- History of Cartography Bibliography
- Map historian Peter van der Krogt has compiled a database of articles on the history of cartography from scholarly journals. “Originally that was intended for private use as an list of the articles in my own library. Later I started…
- Outage, Access Issues and Router Upgrades
- Ongoing core router issues at DreamHost have made this site inaccessible for much of the last 12 hours. They promise that a major upgrade Monday evening will (hopefully) solve this problem (my sites will be offline again for 30 to…
- Google Imagery Update
- There are reports here and there that Google has updated its satellite imagery. The images are certainly loading differently for me: lower-resolution photos are being used at wider zoom levels, and they seem to be cached differently. More as more…
- NAIP
- The National Agricultural Imagery Program collects aerial photographs of farmers’ fields during the growing season. According to an NPR story, one of NAIP’s purposes is to check on what farmers are planting — to make sure that they qualify…
- East German Maps and State Security
- Jeff Thurston got his hands on what sounds like an interesting book: State Security and Mapping in the German Democratic Republic is a collection of papers on East Germany’s deliberate distortion of its topographical maps. From the publisher’s catalogue…
- The Book Thief
- Travis McDade writes, “I have a book coming out in October about a man who stole books and maps from Columbia University some years ago. The book deals a little with his theft and capture but largely with the…
- Ordnance Survey: Free Maps for 11 Year Olds
- Cartography points to the Ordnance Survey’s Free Maps for 11 Year Olds program, which, according to a recent news release, has doubled the number of students who feel confident using maps and tripled the number who enjoy using them. The…
- 10 Ways to Get Lost with a GPS
- GPS Tracklog: 10 Ways to Get Lost with a GPS. Number 10: “Think that you can’t get lost because you have a GPS.”…
- Another Word for Map Is Faith
- The August issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction had a damn fine short story by Christopher Rowe where mapping plays a central role. In “Another Word for Map Is Faith,” an alternate America is ruled by…
- Australia, New Zealand Geocoding in Google Maps
- Geocoding has arrived for two more countries in Google Maps: Google Maps Mania reports that it’s now possible to search for addresses in Australia and New Zealand. See previous entry: Google Maps Adds Streets for Australia and New Zealand. Update:…
- Hudson Canyon Mapped
- A four-year study of Hudson Canyon, a feature of the continental shelf off the coast of New York, “has produced maps that will allow scientists to study many things, including whether methane gas trapped in frozen sediment below the…
- New York Subway Maps
- Despite the success of Beck’s London Underground diagram, New Yorkers have historically resisted diagrammatic subway maps, preferring instead maps that are a bit more geographically accurate and take into account surface features like parks, bodies of water and neighbourhoods….
- Mapping Medieval Towns
- Mapping the Medieval Urban Landscape was a two-year project to study the design and planning of towns in the Middle Ages for which historical records no longer exist. The project, which focused on a dozen of Edward I’s “new…
- British Overreaction to European Regional Maps
- The Daily Mail and British Conservatives have their knickers in a twist over maps from Interreg III, an EU initiative designed to foster “cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation.” The Interreg maps — available here as PDF files — overlap one…
- Mapping Regions in Google Maps
- One drawback to Google Maps — and presumably to the other mapping services — is that while it’s easy to map points and lines (“polylines”), mapping regions (“polygons”) is something altogether different. And that makes it rather difficult to do…
- The Middle East Redrawn
- An article by Ralph Peters in the June 2006 issue of the Armed Forces Journal imagines a redrawn map of the Middle East, where borders are shifted and new states are created to address local — and, thanks to…
- Google Karten
- Google Karten is a German-language blog about Google Maps and its ecosystem. Via Kartentisch….
- New Design
- Every so often, I get fidgety about my current site design and start thinking about a change. That happened again recently, and, as a result, a new site design went up last night. I wanted a lighter, three-column design that…
- Tolkien Maps at Upcoming Field Museum Exhibit
- Between November 2 and January 27, there will be a maps exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago. Not many details yet, except that it’s called “Maps! The History of Cartography” and it’s co-sponsored by the Newberry Library — and…
- More on the Atlas of Canada Stamp
- The story of Canada Post’s stamp honouring geographer James White, creator of the Atlas of Canada, issued at the end of June to commemorate the atlas’s centennial, has been picked up by the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel’s stamp columnist. (Contemplate…
- Third-Party Geotaggers Adopting Flickr API
- Third-party geotagging services are adopting the new Flickr API geo extensions, the Flickr blog reports, so they’re not in danger of extinction quite yet. See previous entries: Flickr Geotagging Roundup; Flickr Adds Geotagging….
