Map of the Week #98 - The Vermont Foliage Cookie

My wife bought a Vermont shaped cookie cutter and as we were making Halloween cookies last night I tried to color mine along the lines of the foliage maps that we had seen in the newspapers up there a few weeks ago. While it did not match the state's tourism web site animation very well, it did come somewhat close to the September 25th foliage map on the bottom right. In fact it was close enough that Amy was able to guess what the map was showing on the first try.

Map of the Week #97 - California Burning

The US Forest Service has a web site that monitors major fires. Usually they are spread throughout the country but this week it's all happening in southern California. You can click on the dots on the map and get a status report for any fire. You can also link from this site to Google Earth and get a close up view of all the fire activity going on throughout North America. The image to the right from Google Earth shows the current fire activity in southern California.

Map of the Week #96 - Business Week's "Map of Misery"

Feeling glum about the shorter days? So is Business Week. They put out this "Map of Misery". It took some digging to figure out exactly what they're showing here but it's basically the percentage of people who are getting new or refinanced loans that allow the option to make lower payments in return for getting hammered with future interest debt. This phenomenon seems to be prevalent in the expensive and desirable communities such as Santa Barbara, Boca Raton and of course, Jersey City.

Map of the Week #95 - The Inglehart Values Map

The Inglehart Values Map visualizes the strong correlation of values in different cultures. Countries are described using two dimensions; secular-rational vs. traditional values and self-expression vs survival values. Countries that are geographically or culturally close cluster in different areas on the chart. A more detailed description is available by clicking below.

Map of the Week #94 - Wikimapia

I love Wikipedia. Not everyone likes the fact that anyone can post entries and information is not always verified. However, there is a process for removing bad entries and I've found most if the information to be pretty useful. What I don't like about it is the lack of good maps. One day while being frustrated by that I discovered Wikimapia. While this does not directly link to Wikipedia and solve the map problem it is still a pretty cool idea. You can create your own login but actually anyone can add a place. Sure there's abuse but users can flag bad entires, make comments and give a "thumbs down" to inaccurate or dopey comments or entries. Also, it is worldwide so you can add any place on earth! So go ahead and add your favorite places. The more feedback they get the better (and more accurate) the site will be.

Map of the Week #93 - City Plates

The Rios Celementi Hale Studios have designed map dinner plates for eight cities - Los Angeles, Shanghai, Cairo, Berlin, Las Vegas, Dubai, New Orleans, Washington DC - and the list is growing. In their own words these cities were "chosen by our notNeutral design team for their reputations as gateways, and for the way each is dealing with the effects of agglomeration as its population begins to reach critical mass. These porcelain plates measure 12” across, with each city’s downtown core printed on a black background. Key buildings are represented with orange icons, while rivers and public spaces are shown in blue and green."

MOTW #92 - The Australian Word Map

This web page gives you lists of regional words spoken in Australia. If you click on "Map Search" on the left you can pick a region and see the local words. The "Words A-Z" gives you the full list of words. You kill your whole day right up to beer o'clock on this page. So don't be a nong-linger, rattle your dags and get on your treddly so we can go rally jacking arseways foremost. I could yaffle on all day but I've gotta go map some stobie poles and talk to the turd mechanic.