This is the perfect example of the little man vs. the big man, small business vs. mega corporations, little pharma vs. big pharma, and the analogies can continue, but I'll end it there as this blog is about a map. Yep, a map. And it's the greatest paper map of the United States you will ever see.
Before the power of smartphones people would buy paper maps at their local gas stations or supermarkets; Maps to cities, vacation spots, or their favorite destinations. Hell, I remember buying city maps to Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Corpus Christi.
Well, in American mapmaking, the "Best of Show" award is the biggest honor one can achieve at the annual competition of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society. Usually the big map makers like National Geographic, Rand McNally, C.I.A. Cartography Center and the U.S. Census Bureau wind up being the winner of this prestigious award. But not this time, the big award emerged from a little farmhouse outside of Eugene, Oregon. It's creator? David Imus.
Imus worked on this map over a two-year period, and did it all on his own with no help. He worked 7 days a week and nearly 6,000 hours before it was completed. And he did it all by hand.
So what makes this map different from the Rand McNally version you can buy at a bookstore? Or from the dusty National Geographic pull-down mounted in your child’s elementary school classroom? Can one paper wall map really outshine all others—so definitively that it becomes award-worthy? [
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Feel free to purchase this map directly from David Imus himself, visit his website at
imusgeographics.com
It's not so cool that so many road fatalities happen every year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 369,629 people have died on America's roads between 2001 and 2009.
Mapping experts at ITO World have taken this information, and produced this powerful map using OpenStreetMap. You can zoom in to any particular part of the country or you can simply search for your town. Each dot represents a life.
I used this interactive map earlier to see how many people died in proximity to where I lived, and it's mind-boggling to me how I didn't know these people died just feet from our home, or a nearby store. Click on the pic, to see how many people have lost their lives in your neighborhood, you'd be surprised. Just looking at that huge mass of dots in Houston, Texas is crazy.
So the only thing I can think of is that New York and Houston are so big, that crimes in these areas can't be mapped just yet. But when you look at cities, like Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, I'm thinking maybe I don't want to know. Geez.
Trulia maps is the newest, most innovative way to visualize the most dangerous blocks in your city. Literally. To the very street you live on. And I'm sure you'll feel absolutely wonderful once you realize your block is the most dangerous one in the city.
The information Trulia uses to power these sortable—by location, crime, and time of perpetration—displays isn't anything new; sites like EveryBlock.com and SpotCrime.com, among others, have been making local crime statistics publicly available for years. But when it's all laid bare for you, and you start seeing some yellow/orange seeping into your cul de sac, well, you may just take that neighborhood watch a little more seriously.[source]
Let's take a look at Austin, Texas, for example. Look at all that sea of yellow and red, doesn't it make you shiver? Well, it should. Click on the image and check out Trulia Maps to see how your city fares in this country full of crime.
I think this chart is close to accurate. Especially when you talk about gambling addiction, mormons, the devil, and the lobster people. LOL.
To all my New York friends,
I mean no disrespect. :-) Truly, I don't. Hell, we have a governor who wants to secede from the rest of the country. LOL. Love ya!
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I guess Gizmodo has it somewhat right. LMAO. Especially the states where it's categorized, "If someone wanted to pour a cup of gunpowder into a tin can and explode it, it's probably okay." Only in Texas, baby! LOL
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According to the Global Peace Index, the south is the least peaceful place to be.
I'm going to disagree with that - true, we have more conservative, bible thumping, liberal hating people in our state than all the other states combined, but we're a huge state. And you can't discount the fact, that we have a gay mayor controlling the fourth largest city (Houston) in the country. And don't forget Austin, which is considered one of the gay friendliest cities in the U.S.. Also, San Antonio and Dallas don't fall too far behind.
Although we live in the south, I would say that Ryan and I are at peace with ourselves. We live in a peaceful community, and aside from the Obama-Biden poster thieves, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I have organized my blogs with 3 days worth of postings, so if you wish to continue reading the days before that, and so forth and so forth, you can click the "Older Posts" button /\ /\ /\ right /\ up there.
There are 3 other ways you can find interesting topics to read as well.
*Clicking on any of the links under my "Favorite Categories" section on the left hand side of your screen
*Using the Google Search bar under the scrolling text.
*By choosing a date from the drop down list on the right hand side of your screen.
Hope you enjoy my daily posts, and hope to hear from you soon.
- Blade 7184 aka Peter
This is the perfect example of the little man vs. the big man, small business vs. mega corporations, little pharma vs. big pharma, and the analogies can continue, but I'll end it there as this blog is about a map. Yep, a map. And it's the greatest paper map of the United States you will ever see.
