MetaFilter posts tagged with Maps

Military maps of The War on Christmas

Joe Beese — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:53:04 -0800

In celebration of Festivus: military maps of the War on Christmas.

Mapping Manchester (UK)

beagle — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:19:21 -0800

Chris Perkins and Martin Dodge of the Department of Geography, University of Manchester, UK have been scouring archives for maps of Manchester, and have assembled the results in an "intellectually driven" exhibition, Mapping Manchester, at the Rylands Library, Deansgate. -- Lots of background information, sample maps and links at the project page. -- Check out oddities like The Drink Map (JPG). -- Online exhibition pages at the Rylands Library site. -- Exhibition e-catalogue (PDF) -- Maps and plans from the History of the Manchester Ship Canal. And, I learned that denizens of Manchester are called Mancunians. And that the word for a term like Mancunian is "demonym". AKA "gentilic."

OASIS

ocherdraco — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:02:21 -0800

The New York City Open Accessible Space Information System Cooperative (OASIS) is an online, interactive mapping and data analysis application that gives an incredibly detailed view of New York City's open spaces and how they are used. The map enables overlays of information like: transit; parks, playgrounds and open space; zoning and landmarks; current and historical land use; social services; demographics; and environmental characteristics.(via The Ministry of Type, who like OASIS mainly for its pretty map possibilities.) From the project's "About" page:

How: A community-based undertaking, local organizations design and test the first city wide, web-based, open space mapping resource for NYC. OASIS facilitates and focuses the delivery of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) resources to provide timely and accurate information about the green infrastructure of NYC. What OASIS Will Do: OASIS will enable NYC community residents, for the first time, to:
create maps of open space by zip code, borough, tax block and lot, and/or neighborhood;
identify key open space resources within or near a user- defined area;
locate these resources by name, type, and other attributes in addition to geographic-based searches;
identify other natural resources and landmarks near or adjacent to open spaces in the city;
calculate statistics based on open space patterns by zip code, borough, tax block and lot, and/or neighborhood;
undertake “what if” scenarios, such as, what would my neighborhood look like if these vacant lots remained community gardens, or how would new bike lanes or bus routes improve my access to a park in the Bronx?; and
use other mapping and data analysis tools.
Why: OASIS is based on the belief that a common, free, open space inventory – really a web-based GIS mapping resource – is invaluable to NYC’s greening and planning communities. In NYC and across the Nation, GIS and other GeoData Systems are critical planning tools for enhanced spatial visualization and data analysis. They integrate socioeconomic profiles and demographic analysis with data set creation, strategic mapping and comprehensive community and regional planning services. GIS is an invaluable resource for environmental, design, health, safety, economic and planning decision making.

Maps of Zombie-infested Alternative Histories

cowbellemoo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:34:52 -0800

Mapmaking + Alternative History + Zombies: The Scourge of 1866. The Great Golem Uprising of 1848. Essex County Cricket (& Zombie Eradication) Club. A popular alternative history forum has a fortnightly map-making contest, and these are a few of the standouts from the zombie/undead/supernatural contest they ran a few months back. The board posts all of their maps in vast, many-hundreds-of-pages threads. Contest entries start here, if you want to see what the forum is like.

The Milky Way at different wavelengths

Korou — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:13:05 -0800

Zoom around the Milky Way at different wavelengths with Chromoscope: X-Ray, Visible, Hydrogen α, Far-IR, Microwave, Radio. (You can also download it.)

Streets of Pompeii

sio42 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:44:12 -0800

Ancient Pompeii Ruins now on Google Street View Today on Morning Edition I head this story. The Italian government has allowed the ruins of Pompeii to be photographed for Google Street View. It's very cool. (SLGM)

"Here be Dragons"

adamvasco — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:04:18 -0800

Hadji Muhiddin Piri Ibn Hadji Mehmed, ( 1465–1554/5) was an Ottoman-Turkish Admiral, Privateer, Geographer and Cartographer more commonly known as Piri Reis. In 1521 he finished his Kitab-I Bahriye or Book of Navigation This is an exquisite C17th - C18th revised and expanded version.
( scroll down and click the icons which can then be magnified. ) Marvel at the gold leaf and coloring of the map of the Bay of Salonica or the wonderful map of Rhodes. ( click addittional information button below map to get further information.)
However Piri Reis is more famously known for this map dated 1513 which is one of the oldest surviving maps to show the Americas. In the marginalia are the accounts of the pioneer seamen who have taken part in the discovery of the places shown on the map.
Piri Reis at The Map Room and wiki and related.

WY couldn't get any more square here.

NikitaNikita — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:25:38 -0800

Senators' STATEments: As part of Geography Awareness Week, National Geographic asked United States Senators to draw and label their home states with at least three important places.

Unclaimed land

echo target — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:45:21 -0800

Looking to found your own Independent Republic of Metastan? Land is hard to come by, and barring sudden volcanic activity, they're not making any more of it. The Law of the Sea (1982) says that the ocean can't be claimed, and Outer Space Treaty of 1967 puts the moon off-limits. But your fledgling nation still has a couple of choices of unclaimed land parcels: Bir Tawil between Egypt and Sudan, and Marie Byrd Land (lower left) in Antarctica. Bir Tawil, meaning 'Deep Well,' sits on the Sudanese side of the border that Egypt claims, and the Egyptian side of the border that Sudan claims. Both countries would rather have the Halaid Triangle to the east, which is much larger and borders on the Red Sea. Apparently a tribe from the Eqyptian side uses it as grazing lands, but there's not much to fight over, so maybe you can work something out. If 770 sqare miles of desert isn't enough, perhaps your fledgling nation would be more interested in Marie Byrd Land, a mountainous part of Antarctica not claimed by any nation. Okay, there's not much there, either. But you'd better get while the getting's good: the US is planning to reopen a base there (basically a gas station, but still.)

Theme Park Maps

Wild_Eep — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:43:35 -0800

Theme Park Maps showcases those hand-drawn brochures that showed where the roller coasters and bumper cars were at your favorite theme park.

Maps, maps, maps!

kmz — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:14:15 -0800

Do you like maps? How about historical maps? Oodles of links to even more maps? Then the PCL Map Collection hosted by the University of Texas might be for you. And if you're ever in Austin, you can go to the PCL and browse the 250,000+ maps that the online collection is culled from. The PCL Maps Collection was posted on the blue eight years ago. Hopefully the length of time since then and the depth of the collection means it's ok to repost.

Watching the ships roll in, 2.0 style

madamjujujive — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:27:50 -0800

MarineTraffic is a live map recording ship traffic based on AIS data. The site mainly covers European and North American coasts and includes info on vessels and ports, plus a gallery with some cool ship photos. Similar: see ShipAIS for live vessel movements from around the UK.

Walking the territory redraws the map.

gleuschk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:58:28 -0800

Destination: Argleton! Visiting an imaginary place. A fake town in Google Maps.

Safe Bike Routes Made Easy

netbros — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:19:05 -0800

Ride the City maps the best or safest urban bicycle route from point A to B. Presently featuring multi-lingual maps from New York, Chicago, Austin, Louisville, San Diego, and Seattle. Their blog posts updates about new cities added to the grid, or other topics relating to urban bicycling.

Ghost Walk

emjaybee — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:21:01 -0800

The Infamous Witch. El Protector. Opryland. The Strange Case of Scenic Drive. Blogger Aunt B. of TinyCatPants uses Google Maps to link to the "locations" of her original Nashville-area ghost stories, one for every day of October. Link takes you to the map; start with "The Infamous Witch."

It's a small world after all

jefficator — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:51:54 -0800

"Less than 10% of the world's land is more than 48 hours of ground-based travel from the nearest city." In August, archeologists discovered what may be the oldest map in the world. Years ago, MetaFilter introduced us to the concept of the "upside-down map". But a new map released Friday attempts to illustrate how our improved transportation network has managed to consolidate distances on earth.

Maybe not getting out of jail for free, but certainly a big help.

NoraCharles — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:47:21 -0800

The history of Monopoly has been a long one, but the game also helped change history through its participation in providing hidden maps and tools to help British POWs during WWII.

High quality antique maps of London & British Isles

slimepuppy — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:05:08 -0800

MAPCO's aim is to provide genealogists, students and historians with free access to high quality scans of rare and beautiful antique maps and views. The site displays a variety of highly collectable 18th and 19th century maps and plans of London and the British Isles... See also Old London Maps for more maps and articles about old London and its sights. (in part via warrenellis.com)

Monopoly and Google maps mashup

pompomtom — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:01:58 -0800

Tomorrow, Monopoly City Streets begins, introducing a world-wide game combining google maps and the classic family fight-starter. Buy any street in the world, build houses, hotels and more. Remember, property always goes up, and your siblings always cheat.

Attention Map Nerds

marxchivist — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:26:45 -0800

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library has an online atlas of U.S. States and how their county boundaries have changed over time. Once you have your state on the screen, type in a date and you will see the historical county borders over the current borders. In the future they promise to have shapefiles available for downloading.

Musicartography

yiftach — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:01:38 -0800

A piano has 88 keys; Ohio has 88 counties. Cartographer Andy Woodruff noticed this fact while driving through Ohio to complete his Counties Visited Map, and decided, despite knowing nothing about music, to make a map based on this coincidence.

underground designs

nickyskye — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:21:50 -0800

The World's Best Alternative Subway Maps, including Eddie Jabbour's NYC Kick Map.

internet mapping

nickyskye — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:55:12 -0800

Internet Mapping Project l slide-showl more about it here. Please draw a map of the internet, as you see it. Indicate your "home". You can download a blank PDF here and email it to [Kevin Kelly] when done. In posting the images on Flickr I suggested that they would make great fodder for a creative scholar. Much to my surprise two days later, a professor in Argentina wrote the first paper with a first attempt to classify this initial set of maps. Other innovative mapping of the internet: The xkcd internet and online communities map. Data-Visualization maps. The Dmoz tree map of the whole internet. The DIMES map and related site. Mapping movements/feelings within the internet.

3D Mapping

netbros — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:44:55 -0800

Durango Bill's Home Page. With topics that include: 3D end-to-end tour of the Grand Canyon, the origin and formation of the Colorado River, and examples of river systems that cut through mountain ranges instead of taking easier routes around them in Ancestral Rivers of the World. But if geology and 3D mapping isn't your thing, Bill also entertains and informs with his evaluations of creationism and religious cultists, an energy/oil analysis, gaming probability analysis, graph and number theories and applied mathematics. Durango Bill is a busy dude.

California breaks off into the Pacific Ocean! Well, circa 1650.

desjardins — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:20:38 -0800

It would take over 50 years after the creation of this map before it was confirmed that California is indeed attached to the mainland of America. 20 Fascinating Ancient Maps (via). More zoomable historical maps at the World Digital Library. (previously)