mapschool
February 4, 2014 2:56 PM   Subscribe

 
This looks great. Thanks.
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 3:13 PM on February 4, 2014


First day of Cartography 101 we learn: Without a North Arrow and scale, it's not a map, it's a cartoon.
posted by humboldt32 at 3:22 PM on February 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


Raster is an awesome word.

Choropleth is not.
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:27 PM on February 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


humboldt32: "First day of Cartography 101 we learn: Without a North Arrow and scale, it's not a map, it's a cartoon."

Did you learn that in class?! I'm honestly serious about that. I'm only an amateur who has learned all that he knows in the past 3 years but I think use of a North Arrow is often unnecessary. Of course, whether or not to use one depends on your map, but in ones that I've worked on: I'm aware that readers are at least somewhat aware of the area they're viewing (and can figure out what direction is north) and with web maps, there's an assumption that north is towards the top part of your viewing screen.

PS Tom, I have a total crush/admiration on you.
posted by fizzix at 3:43 PM on February 4, 2014


First day of Cartography 101 we learn: Without a North Arrow and scale, it's not a map, it's a cartoon.

In deep space, every direction is north...
posted by anonymisc at 4:22 PM on February 4, 2014


Did you learn that in class?!

My class (age 12) was much stricter than that. It wasn't a map until it had direction, scale, a key, and something else... I forget... a label?

But modern bird's-eye photographic maps make a lot of that redundant - that thing that looks just like a McDonald's on the street corner? It's a McDonalds on the street corner.
posted by anonymisc at 4:27 PM on February 4, 2014


First day of Cartography 101 we learn: Without a North Arrow and scale, it's not a map, it's a cartoon.

but but but projection-dependent
posted by avocet at 4:53 PM on February 4, 2014


A pretty good introduction for what it is.

I'd strongly suggest a much more in depth section on projections. Some of the common ones, their pros and cons and the differences between them.

Decimal degrees should also be further explained in the lat and long section rather than simply mentioned.
posted by graxe at 4:56 PM on February 4, 2014


A useful trick: if a map doesn't have a scale, but does have a latitude axis, remember that 1° of latitude corresponds to 111 km (or 60 nautical miles). Don't try this with longitude.
posted by irrelephant at 5:21 PM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Tom's been knocking it out the park recently. Sure, he's got some opinions based on his experience of web mapping, but he's just getting on and getting stuff done. Yes, I'll even use GeoJSON now because of Tom because it just works (even if JSON as a data format is a fugly, quarter-assed implementation of XML).
posted by scruss at 5:36 PM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


(even if JSON as a data format is a fugly, quarter-assed implementation of XML)

It must be the other three quarters of the ass that make doing anything with XML feel so much like performance art on the futility of intellect and the infinite magnitude of the possibility of being wrong about everything.

posted by brennen at 8:19 PM on February 4, 2014 [4 favorites]


Raster is an awesome word.

Choropleth is not.


I disagree. Choropleth is way more Lovecraftian than raster.
posted by jonp72 at 6:32 AM on February 5, 2014


Aw, this took me back to Cart 101 too. And choropleths are awesome! It still drives me batty to see maps in e.g., The Economist, where a variable is mapped along of "scale" of [light green > dark green > light brown > dark red]. How the hell is that intuitive?
posted by psoas at 8:32 AM on February 5, 2014


Without a North Arrow and scale, it's not a map, it's a cartoon.

Really? Well, I guess this is a cartoon then, as it doesn't let you do either of those things.
posted by eemeli at 3:32 PM on February 5, 2014


eemeli, that's not a map either; it's an enhanced photomosaic.
posted by psoas at 8:48 AM on February 7, 2014


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