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Twitter Election Buzz and More Maps from Google’s Election 08 Gallery

Thursday September 04th 2008
Filed Under Current Events, Google Maps | Leave a Comment

Google has a plethora of 2008 Presidential Election related maps in their Election 08 Gallery. There are many interesting maps showing electoral votes, locations of super delegates and the locations of Obama and McCain videos. More maps are sure to be added as we near the November election. The Fundrace map is interesting as it shows the the geographic spread of campaign contributions to McCain, Obama and Clinton. Click on the tabs at the top to see the distribution by party or candidate.

If you’re interested in real time buzz, check out the Twitter map (below) showing tweets relating to the election race from around the United States and around the world.

GIS Used to Help Find Lost Hiker

Thursday September 04th 2008
Filed Under Features, GIS News | Leave a Comment

Government Technology has an story about how GIS was used in the effort to find Dean Christy, a retired educator, who became disoriented due to fog while hiking in the San Bernardino Mountains, California. The search and rescue effort benefited from San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s (SBSD) Mobile Mapping Unit which helped prepare maps pinpointing areas to search for the lost hiker. The effort used a combination of GPS to capture location of clues, viewshed analysis to narrow down the location of the 911 calls, and other mapping to help focus the searching. The article delves into the wide range of spatial techniques used to try and rescue Dean Christy. Sadly, the rescuers weren’t not able to located him in time and his body was found only 1.5 miles from his home.

Read more: GIS Aids in Search for Lost Hiker - Government Technology

ArcGIS 9.3 Service Pack 1

Wednesday September 03rd 2008
Filed Under ESRI | Leave a Comment

An early heads up from ESRI which announced the future availability of Service Pack 1 for the recently released ArcGIS 9.3. The release date is anticipated for November. Read the PDF of the announcement for four pages of detail on issues that will be addressed by this release. Stay tuned to ESRI’s RSS feed for more information on service packs and patches. (Seen via Mapperz).

Open Source GIS Applications

Tuesday September 02nd 2008
Filed Under Link Library, Open Source | 2 Comments

Open Source programs are applications of which you can access the source code. Listed here are available open source GIS-based applications you can download written for a variety of platforms and in various languages. Read more

Quick Link - Gustav Maps and Models

Tuesday September 02nd 2008
Filed Under Climatology, Current Events | Leave a Comment

The Washington Post has compiled a list of links relating to hurricane Gustav. The top link is the an interactive tropical tracking map showing the hurricane’s current location, wind speed and projected path. Additional resources listed are for NHC and NOAA models and other related maps.

Read more: Hurricane Gustav Maps and Models - Washington Post

Free Map Servers

Monday September 01st 2008
Filed Under Free Software, Internet Mapping | 1 Comment

Want to launch maps over the internet but can’t afford commercial software? Check here for links to free map servers. Read more

Online Mapping is Not the Death Knell for Maps

Saturday August 30th 2008
Filed Under Cartography, Current Events, Features | 2 Comments

Mary Spence, the President of the British Cartographic Society, recently sent the geoblog world atwitter with her pronouncement that Internet mapping is responsible for removing broad strokes of history and local geography through the practice of what she referred to as ‘corporate blankwash‘:

“Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history – not to mention Britain’s remarkable geography – at a stroke by not including them on maps which millions of us now use every day. We’re in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique; giving us a feel for a place even if we’ve never been there.”

This type of hyperbole is reminiscent of the handwringing and grand predictions that accompanied the arrival of the eBook which some pundits proclaimed would doom the printed book. Read more

TypeBrewer - Font Tool for Cartography

Thursday August 28th 2008
Filed Under Cartography | Leave a Comment

TypeBrewer is a Flash application that “offers a quick and easy way to explore typographic alternatives and see the impact that various elements of type have on the overall look and feel of a map.“ The application allows your to play around with different fonts, sizes, label densities and font tracking to get a better understanding of how different fonts will look on a map. Users can select between classic, formal, informal and contemporary style labeling. Click on the “learn more” link to see a brief outline of typography on maps. Once you’ve played around with TypeBrewer take the survey and provide your input. (Seen via The Map Room)

Geographic data for Africa Lags

Wednesday August 27th 2008
Filed Under Data Collection | Leave a Comment

A lack of comprehensive geographic data is an obstacle for effective land management for many countries in Africa according to the latest Map Africa conference. Derek Clarke, the chief director of the surveying and mapping unit at South Africa’s ministry of land affairs, states that only 45 percent of the populated areas of Africa are mapped. The paucity of soil, water, infrastructure and other critical geographic data prevents the analysis needed to determine the best areas for agriculture, siting hospital and schools, and knowing where to promote anti-malaria campaigns.