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category archive listing Category Archives: geography

Best Ignite presentation ever: How to be a refugee

By Tara Horn of the Burma Action Committee, from a Portland, OR Ignite event. Despite her nervousness speaking in front of a large crowd, I think this is the most effective Ignite presentation I’ve ever seen.

Singles dead zone revealed!

Apparently there are NO SINGLE PEOPLE in the states of MT, WY, ND, and SD.*

*Livestock statistics not included
Seriously, this interactive singles map is fun. I just wish there was a poly version!
Thanks to Allan Jenkins for the pointer.

Everyblock’s New Geocoding Fixes

Adrian Holovaty. (Image by Additive Theory via Flickr)

Recently I wrote about how a Los Angeles Police Dept. geocoding data glitch yielded inaccurate crime maps at LAPDcrimemaps.org and the database-powered network of hyperlocal sites, Everyblock.
On Apr. 8, Everyblock founder Adrian Holovaty blogged about the two ways his company is addressing the problem of inaccurate geodata.

Latitude/longitude crosschecking. [...]

Los Angeles Police Geocoding Error Skews Crime Maps

Crime maps are one of the most popular and (in urban areas) ubiquitous types of geo-enabled local news — and they’re a staple of the Knight News Challenge-funded project Everyblock. This data comes from local police departments — but how reliable is it?
On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported a problem with the Los Angeles [...]

Google Earth and News: Make Your Own Street Views (and More)

The Flatirons of Boulder, CO, as rendered by Google Earth. (Image via Wikipedia)

Recently Frank Taylor blogged about a cool Google Earth trick that could be an intriguing visual online news tool: homemade street views.
The example he cites is from Taiwan, where developer Steven Ho lives. Taylor wrote:
“[Ho] has been waiting for signs Google would bring [...]