Today’s xkcd is a flowchart for figuring out the age of an undated world map. Look carefully.
xkcd’s Map Age Guide
Category: Uncategorised
Burial Records Move from Window-Blind Maps to Digital Database
Nick Malawskey of Pennlive.com has the story of how the Newport Cemetery digitized its burial records, which had previously been recorded as hand-drawn maps on the back of window blinds.
It was, to say the least, an imperfect system. Caretakers essentially acted as the cemetery’s librarians, but without a Dewey Decimal system to guide them. Numbers were not necessarily sequential, or the system shifted over the years, making the maps essential to finding the older graves. And as time rolled on, the maps began to deteriorate, fraying at the edges or cracking apart.
[WMS]
3D Printed Maps for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Rutgers University: “Using a high-tech 3-D printer, a Rutgers undergraduate and his professor created sophisticated braille maps to help blind and visually impaired people navigate a local training center.” [via]
Here’s a short video about the project from Rutgers:
Atlas of Canada
I only just now found out about the new edition of Canadian Geographic‘s Atlas of Canada—via an item broadcast on CTV yesterday—or I would have included it in this year’s gift guide. It’s apparently the first new edition in a decade. (Incidentally this should not be confused with the Canadian government’s online Atlas of Canada, an entirely distinct beast.)
Earth from Space
Aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, author of Earth from Above and related books of photography, ups the altitude somewhat with his new book, Earth from Space, in which he presents and interprets more than 150 satellite photos. Via io9’s holiday gift guide.
Previously: Earth from Above: Yann Arthus-Bertrand Comes to New York.
On the Map: A New Book from Simon Garfield
Via a post by Mark Ovenden on Facebook, I learn about a new book by Simon Garfield, On the Map, which from the description sounds like a book in the vein of Mike Parker’s Map Addict and Ken Jennings’s Maphead.
From the British publisher’s description: “From the early sketches of philosophers and explorers through to Google Maps and beyond, Simon Garfield examines how maps both relate and realign our history. His compelling narratives range from the quest to create the perfect globe to the challenges of mapping Africa and Antarctica, from spellbinding treasure maps to the naming of America, from Ordnance Survey to the mapping of Monopoly and Skyrim, and from rare map dealers to cartographic frauds. En route, there are ‘pocket map’ tales on dragons and undergrounds, a nineteenth century murder map, the research conducted on the different ways that men and women approach a map, and an explanation of the curious long-term cartographic role played by animals.”
It’s out next month in Britain; the U.S. edition will be out at the end of December.
Buy at Amazon | author’s page | publisher (UK) | publisher (USA)