Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with maps and map

Creating a Map Based on Distances Between Cities

Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:03:51 -0800

Mapping question: I have a list of (imaginary) cities. I also know each city's as-the-crow-flies distance from every other city on the list. Based on this data alone, I would like to create a (hypothetical) map that shows all of these cities in their proper locations. I recognize that that the map's "rotation" would be arbitrary based on where & how you start plotting, but it seems that you should be able to plot out the relationships between cities properly. Is there software that can help me do this? To be a little more concrete, imagine that you have a mileage chart similar to this one. (That chart contains driving distances, but let's assume we have as-the-crow-flies distances instead.) If you pick an arbitrary starting point for one city, you can then plot out where every other city belongs, because you know how far each city is supposed to be from all the other cities.

I can envision at least one simple way to do this manually if you have just a handful of cities. But if you have a lot of cities, it becomes harder and harder. So I'd love to know if there is software that can calculate and draw such a map automatically. (Note: Using latitude/longitude is not an option - the scenario only involves knowing as-the-crow-flies distances between imaginary cities.) Thanks!

Help me help my boss not get lost.

chiababe — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:50:48 -0800

My boss wants me to research GPS units for him to use since he'll be traveling a lot more in the near future. Any recommendations? I really don't know what I should be looking for in a good GPS unit. He wants to spend less than $200. It also needs to be fairly simple to use and update. He's an awesome boss, but not so good with tricky technology. Most of his travel will be within North and South Carolina. We're looking to purchase this within the week, so I won't be able to wait for new models that might be around the corner. I've read a few of the previous questions on this, but I'm wondering if there's anything new and exciting I should be looking at.

Where in the world is.........

micklaw — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:47:52 -0800

Please pass on your favourite online mapping websites, with an emphasis on interactive applications. I really love maps. I spend a lot of time using a variety of (mainly educational) online maps such as the WWF Wildfinder, NationMaster, Reuters AlertNet, Globalis and the very excellent Geoscience Australia Sentinel Bushfire tool and so on. Maps of War is also an excellent resource in a similar vein, although not as interactive as those previously listed.

Anyway, the internet being what it is, I am sure there are many more fantastic resources online that I have not yet come across and I would love to tap the collective mind of Metafiler users to help me expand my mapping horizons.

Post your recommendations, particularly with an emphasis on non-US maps (global or other regions would be most useful) as these will be used in a non-US school.

Thanks in advance!

Or En Aye Ay? What does this song mean?

crazyray — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:40:01 -0800

You may very well recognize this song. It is from this movie. What does it mean? Does the first stanza and/or chorus spell something? Please help! One website lists the lyrics as this:

Oh Ry In Eye Ay - Oh Ry In Eye Ay
Oh Ry In Ah Key Ooh Lay
Ka Lay Ooh Lau Ee - Oh Ry In Eye Ay
Sal You Te Lee Ay Vee Show

Midnight sunshine silent thunder
Sky as black as day
Only a dream away

Chorus

Waking while you're still deep sleeping
Finding you're not here
Watching a dream appear

Tumbling through a thousand centuries
You don't know where you'll land
It's so dark in mythology
Treasures of history to be found
Near the legends of time
All the handiworks remain there
Only a dream away

Chorus

Greedy feeling wheeling dealing
Losing what you won
See the dream come undone

Stumble you may with the elementary
Lucky you got so far
All you owe is apologies
Measure the mystery and astound
Without taking up time
So the handiworks remain there
Only a dream away

Chorus

In out, hot cold, up down, young old
What a lot to do
Sharing a dream with you

Chorus

Map apps for the iPhone

pearl228 — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:16:48 -0800

I'd like to create a map on the iPhone that displays multiple locations of my choice at once. Ideally, I'd like to also be able to route a path through them in advance. In essence, I am looking for something like Community Walk or Wayfaring in app format. I live in NYC, and swear by Google Maps on the iPhone for navigation.

But there are times when one needs to map multiple destinations at once to plan an efficient path through them. As many would likely agree, it can be a complete PITA to look up all of them individually, when they're only organized by order added, and only display 1-2 at a time.

In addition, pulling up a wayfaring or CW page is far too slow to be practical in some parts of the city w/o a 3G.

I've tried searching the app store, but will keep an open mind if I've missed a gem.

Thanks!

Generating shaded maps of India with state-level data series.

matthewr — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:31:29 -0800

What's the easiest way of generating a map similar to this? I have several state-level data series I want to display on maps of India. I assume this blank map of India in SVG format is a good starting-point. Now, what program(s) do I use to link areas on the map to my data series and hence automatically shade states by a variable x?

My data looks like:
[state code] state x [jm] jam 1.93386 [hp] him 1.74945 [pj] pun 1.90247 [uc] utt 2.13038 ... 33 more states ...

I have Windows, Stata, Excel and zero budget.

Help me find prints/maps of each of the cities I've lived in!

melodykramer — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:11:32 -0800

I'd like to hang prints or drawings or funky maps of each city I've lived in on a wall. I'm wondering what your favorite Philadelphia, NYC, DC, Hartford CT, Rochester NY, and Chicago maps/prints are, or sources for finding eclectic drawings/photos/prints of each one. (The more varied, the better! Old, new, letterpressed...you name it!)

What about London should I map?

viewofdelft — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:23:05 -0800

What about London should I map? I'm in an Advanced GIS class for which I need to produce a final cartographic project. The project must begin in ArcGIS but from there I'm free to use anything else (Illustrator, Flash, Google Earth, etc). In the spirit of John Snow, I'd like to make my upcoming trip to London a force for academic good.

I have a GPS unit, a DSLR camera, a student's budget, and a winning personality. What should I map? I'm open to all suggestions as long as they meet the following criteria:

1) The map should present complex and interesting information. I'm not too worried about this one because questions soliciting suggestions on this site often generate very interesting answers.

2) The project/map should be focused. I'll be in London for only a week and I'd like to make the data collection effort into a sort of overarching theme for my visit. That means I should probably confine my map to one neighborhood or area (I'm staying in Soho, but don't let that restrict you).

3) The data can come from any (accessible) source. I'd like to have a little fun gathering the data, but if your suggestions for a map can just as easily be constructed with data from other sources, I'd be happy to hear them. I live in the United States, so any return trips are out of the question this semester.

Thanks in advance. If I choose to go with one of the suggestions, I'll keep you updated.

How to Sync GPS data

mrgreyisyelling — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:43:35 -0800

What is a simple straight forward way to gather gps data, and sync it with my digital camera/ Digital recorder? And possibly create a GIS database out of it? Before we go too far: I understand there are classes for this and I will be taking one before my degree is done.

In the mean time, I got a case of mappies. So I figured, despite having no knowledge of how to create the maps the best way - I could start collecting the data I want for the maps in anyway possible.

My desire is to map sections of my new home town, coordinating location with description, picture, or audio clip - and have it all end up in a database that will be appropriate for future GIS tom-foolery. I have attempted this in the past with my GPS tracker, and an attempt sync the time stamps of everything - but I've only had mixed results, it wasn't in any sort of usable database format.

So any software, hardware, technique that can be suggested that can suit my need before the class would be great.

Help me find and buy cool maps in Ohio

billysumday — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:49:01 -0800

Where can I browse and purchase antique maps in Ohio, specifically Columbus? I'd like to get some topographic, geologic, or land-owner maps of Ohio or Indiana for my new apartment (maps of other places might be cool, too). Though eBay is nice, I'd really like to be able to go to a store and see the color intensity, size, and condition of a map before I buy it. I live close to Columbus but wouldn't mind taking a road trip to Cleveland or Cincinnati (or Pittsburgh, for that matter). Does anyone know if a store like this exists in the uncultured Midwest? Should I just go to a flea market?

"The Map of a Single province covered the space of an entire City."

viewofdelft — Tue, 15 May 2007 08:50:20 -0800

I'm looking for maps "the same scale as the Empire." Both Jorge Luis Borges and Lewis Carroll describe fictional 1:1 scale maps in which the map is as vast as what it represents.

What other 1:1 maps can be found in literature (or the real world, for that matter)? I'd also be happy if you point me towards other outlandish maps on par with the 1:1 map. Thanks.

Where do they get all those wonderful data?

jxpx777 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:07:16 -0800

WhereTheHellDoTheyGetAllThatData Filter: When someone wants to start a site that requires huge amounts of data like IMDB or Pandora or Last.FM, where do they get the data? I can't really see that they take the time to find all the data sources and compile and link it all together into a database format. There has to be some place where they get the data. Another example is a mapping site like Mapquest or Google Maps. I know Google has more money than God or whatever, but where does such a huge amount of data come from?

Then, the side note, is how the hell do they go about processing it or relating it all together to produce a product like Pandora?

I am interested in this partly from a pure curiosity standpoint and partly from an IfIEverWantedToDoSomethingSimilar standpoint.

Driving from Alabama to Seattle.

bamassippi — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 19:17:55 -0800

I'm driving cross-country and I'm looking for an online guide as to what I need to see along the way. I'll be driving from Jasper, Alabama to Seattle, Washington within the next 2 weeks.

I'm looking for particular websites/sources that will show me what will be in my area as I drive 2,600 miles across America.

Anybody?