Wednesday, April 23, 2008
This Lab was great! Unfortunately I have not really finished the map to my liking. I have mapped the terrorist attacks from 1968. The data comes from a website who decided to cease operations on 31 March 2008 before I had completed all the data collection! What is missing is a deeper resolution of the data such as all the American targets and the geographic locations of each attack. It is a large data set spanning from 1968 to 2007. For this map I have mapped all of the attacks for 1968, and I have noted the American targets.
There were many challenges in producing this map—particularly the legend. I decided to map all of the groups responsible for the attacks in 1968. To show the number of groups that thought terrorism was an ok answer that year.
There are a couple of things left undone and a quirk that I need to address. First the quirk: The American target check box is working, however the layer of American targets should not be visible when the map is first opened. They are. After the user clicks the check box off and on however this anomaly goes away. I will trouble shoot this some more later, at this point I am not sure what the problem is.
As for things left undone:
I am going to add pan and zoom to the map so that the user may scroll from side to side while viewing the map.
I am going to add the information about which of the attacks were carried out by Islamic groups.
I am going to change the size of the buttons as they tween up to Europe--they get bigger along with the zoom cam.
I am going to add the check boxes to the controls at the zoom level so that it is possible to see the other data at those levels.
A back button would be useful addition to the map to give the user more control.
A definition of terrorism added to the map would be a good feature to give the user more information about what is being mapped.
The US Department of Defense defines terrorism as follows:
“the unlawful use of -or threatened use of- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives” Inside Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman; Columbia Univesity Press, New York, 1998, p 38.
There were many challenges in producing this map—particularly the legend. I decided to map all of the groups responsible for the attacks in 1968. To show the number of groups that thought terrorism was an ok answer that year.
There are a couple of things left undone and a quirk that I need to address. First the quirk: The American target check box is working, however the layer of American targets should not be visible when the map is first opened. They are. After the user clicks the check box off and on however this anomaly goes away. I will trouble shoot this some more later, at this point I am not sure what the problem is.
As for things left undone:
I am going to add pan and zoom to the map so that the user may scroll from side to side while viewing the map.
I am going to add the information about which of the attacks were carried out by Islamic groups.
I am going to change the size of the buttons as they tween up to Europe--they get bigger along with the zoom cam.
I am going to add the check boxes to the controls at the zoom level so that it is possible to see the other data at those levels.
A back button would be useful addition to the map to give the user more control.
A definition of terrorism added to the map would be a good feature to give the user more information about what is being mapped.
The US Department of Defense defines terrorism as follows:
“the unlawful use of -or threatened use of- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives” Inside Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman; Columbia Univesity Press, New York, 1998, p 38.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Lab 9 was great to make. I really like the power of being able to link to separate movies. It opens up design ideas like crazy. I also think the preloader is a useful tool. I have given it a secure place in my tool box.
I have been looking out on the net for cartograms and I have found a cool website: Cartogram Central it is funded by the USGS so its pretty reputable. There is a really cool cartogram that is using some type of animation on the bottom of the page of cartogram examples. Here is the link . I think it would be cool to try and shape tween a map into a cartogram. At this stage it would have to be a pretty simple one, but I may give it a try.
I have enjoyed the Tufte articles. I agree very much with the idea that less is better. I like the idea of ink being for data and everything else should be at a minimum. People seem to like the deluge of the senses available in this very graphic age, but I still think that a well balanced display using minimal color is better. I really like Minard's maps in black and brown. The brown, of all colors, jumps off the page.
I do think that his Napoleon map would benefit from a Russian country outline in the background, although it might really overwhelm the density factor. I do not know Russian geography and so it would anchor it a little better for me. On the other hand I can always pull out an atlas and have a look. I wonder who the audience was for the map? If it was military historians they probably wouldn't need a map in the background.
My favorite quote "A table is nearly always better than a dumb pie chart: the only worse design than a pie chart is several of them..." Yeah! I am jumping up and down in agreement. The only pie chart that I have ever thought useful is the one on my computer which shows me how much disk space has been used on my memory disk/stick/whatever it's measuring. The reason I think it is effective is because it is only measuring one thing and it's a volume, kind of like a pie. Having several values represented in this way I think is useless. Population is not a volume. It just doesn't translate to me very well. Not that I have a better solution, but I have thought this for a long time. Any time I do see pie charts I ignore them and move on to whatever else is there to see, and if pie charts are obscuring things like areas on a map I move on to the text or just plain move on.
I have been looking out on the net for cartograms and I have found a cool website: Cartogram Central it is funded by the USGS so its pretty reputable. There is a really cool cartogram that is using some type of animation on the bottom of the page of cartogram examples. Here is the link . I think it would be cool to try and shape tween a map into a cartogram. At this stage it would have to be a pretty simple one, but I may give it a try.
I have enjoyed the Tufte articles. I agree very much with the idea that less is better. I like the idea of ink being for data and everything else should be at a minimum. People seem to like the deluge of the senses available in this very graphic age, but I still think that a well balanced display using minimal color is better. I really like Minard's maps in black and brown. The brown, of all colors, jumps off the page.
I do think that his Napoleon map would benefit from a Russian country outline in the background, although it might really overwhelm the density factor. I do not know Russian geography and so it would anchor it a little better for me. On the other hand I can always pull out an atlas and have a look. I wonder who the audience was for the map? If it was military historians they probably wouldn't need a map in the background.
My favorite quote "A table is nearly always better than a dumb pie chart: the only worse design than a pie chart is several of them..." Yeah! I am jumping up and down in agreement. The only pie chart that I have ever thought useful is the one on my computer which shows me how much disk space has been used on my memory disk/stick/whatever it's measuring. The reason I think it is effective is because it is only measuring one thing and it's a volume, kind of like a pie. Having several values represented in this way I think is useless. Population is not a volume. It just doesn't translate to me very well. Not that I have a better solution, but I have thought this for a long time. Any time I do see pie charts I ignore them and move on to whatever else is there to see, and if pie charts are obscuring things like areas on a map I move on to the text or just plain move on.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Lab 8 was so cool. I found this map at the Library of Congress website. Spending a lot of time in Military Geography this semester has my min d on battles and battle maps.
This map is cartography on the fly 1862 style. It is a copy of a map made for a Major-General of the march that the Federal forces took after they lost the Pennisula Campaign of 1862. I really like the colors, it is easy to see that it was drawn with a quill-style pen and bottled ink. The colors are still great and the contrast between them is wonderful, the choices are great.
I tried to add as little as possible that would intrude on the readers enjoyment of the map. I added the zoom/pan tools in the closest color of the march as possible. I "hand drew" the arrows in keeping with the style of the map. Initially I had them in a line on the right hand side of the map. I think this configuration is the most complementary to the map itself. But when you start to use the tools and the map gets bigger the vertical line of tools stands out as odd. So I went back to the Google Square style. I did not add the diagonal pans because the map is not that big and I found them distracting.
It really is amazing how important conventions are and where they come from. While I have not spend any time at all investigating this, I will wager that the reason those pan/zooms are always on the right is because most of the world are right handed mouse users. It's just wierd to have the tools on the left, I had to go all the way over to the other side to pan around. Even my left-handed husband is a right handed mouse user. So, while I tried it and thought that placing the tools on the left would be less intrusive on the map I had to go with the right hand side.
I added a splash screen for fun. I like the effect of bringing the colors in and I thought it would make it maybe a little easier to read the top scripts--assuming of course that I have interpreted them correctly!
This map is cartography on the fly 1862 style. It is a copy of a map made for a Major-General of the march that the Federal forces took after they lost the Pennisula Campaign of 1862. I really like the colors, it is easy to see that it was drawn with a quill-style pen and bottled ink. The colors are still great and the contrast between them is wonderful, the choices are great.
I tried to add as little as possible that would intrude on the readers enjoyment of the map. I added the zoom/pan tools in the closest color of the march as possible. I "hand drew" the arrows in keeping with the style of the map. Initially I had them in a line on the right hand side of the map. I think this configuration is the most complementary to the map itself. But when you start to use the tools and the map gets bigger the vertical line of tools stands out as odd. So I went back to the Google Square style. I did not add the diagonal pans because the map is not that big and I found them distracting.
It really is amazing how important conventions are and where they come from. While I have not spend any time at all investigating this, I will wager that the reason those pan/zooms are always on the right is because most of the world are right handed mouse users. It's just wierd to have the tools on the left, I had to go all the way over to the other side to pan around. Even my left-handed husband is a right handed mouse user. So, while I tried it and thought that placing the tools on the left would be less intrusive on the map I had to go with the right hand side.
I added a splash screen for fun. I like the effect of bringing the colors in and I thought it would make it maybe a little easier to read the top scripts--assuming of course that I have interpreted them correctly!
This is the image I chose from that long list. What I like here is the concept of networks passing through time. Displaying time progression is what Flash is especially good at, but grabbing an instant of a dynamic network is not possible even for Flash. The calculus of stopping mid progression is fascinating to me. This image is good at demonstrating a concept but it is not a map and it is not easy to read. Still it was my favorite.I will say that color choice is good here. Even at this sideways perspective I can distinguish the red dots from the gray connectors, the blue time progression is very clear. Over all I think it is a clean clear diagram showing the passage of time.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
I have now fixed almost everything in what should have been called the GMU GIS Labs Map I fixed the rollover issue so now the content appears when you roll over the button. I have changed the toolbar icons to copies of the World Ball. This repairs the potential problem of having one symbol representing more than one category on the map.
The buffers have been a problem from the beginning. I have probably spent more time on them than any other one part of the map. The color is hard. There needs to be contrast between the buffers and what lies below them at the same time not so overpowering as to mask what what lies underneath. Some of the lighter colors I tried actually had a reflective quality that made them useless. Per suggestion in class I have changed the color of the buffer outlines which I hoped would make them more defined and easier to see. Please tell me what you think. The other glaring problem with the buffers I will address below.
The cars are now slower than they were. There are two cars which have been slowed down to the max level allowed by Flash (-100 ease) but which still appear to be speeding along at break-neck speed. This is a function of the distance they are traveling and the time span in which they have to complete the journey. All are traveling within the same time span, hence the difference in speed. I do think that the variation in speeds is a plus because people can pick out patterns and rhythms quickly. If all the cars were stopping and starting together and traveling at the same speed it would be a boring feature. Variability keeps interest alive. I have kept down the number of cars in order to keep them from being too distracting.
I have toned down the symbol for Highway 267. It is now the same color white as the rest of the map.
I have left the military bases as green. Pretty much all of the bases that I have visited are green, with the exception of the Naval Base in Norfolk which is all concrete and gray buildings. I think the color is good representation of the bases so I left it alone.
I have not messed with finding a replacement for the Google image. I am still on dial-up out here in Booneyville and will take the time to find a new image this week.
This section perhaps should have been at the front but here it is. I was assigned this map as an exercise for this class and also as a project for the GIS Department. I did not produce the maps. I provided the display and animation. The biggest problem has been color selection and an issue with the buffers.
The maps came to me as finished GIS projects from another student and not as data sets. The colors and class divisions were not my choice and I couldn't really change them. That didn't bother me as much as the problem with the buffers. Buffers that are meant to be a 10 mile radius should be circles and not ovals. This problem has not been resolved at the time of this writing. I have requested new buffers, but if his schedule has been anything like mine I can understand the delay. If I get a new layer from him I will gladly process it, but the semester being where it is I don't know if this will happen.
I should say that the maps as they came to me were beautiful. I ran into trouble when I began trying to layer things which requires the ability to contrast things in the layers.
The buffers have been a problem from the beginning. I have probably spent more time on them than any other one part of the map. The color is hard. There needs to be contrast between the buffers and what lies below them at the same time not so overpowering as to mask what what lies underneath. Some of the lighter colors I tried actually had a reflective quality that made them useless. Per suggestion in class I have changed the color of the buffer outlines which I hoped would make them more defined and easier to see. Please tell me what you think. The other glaring problem with the buffers I will address below.
The cars are now slower than they were. There are two cars which have been slowed down to the max level allowed by Flash (-100 ease) but which still appear to be speeding along at break-neck speed. This is a function of the distance they are traveling and the time span in which they have to complete the journey. All are traveling within the same time span, hence the difference in speed. I do think that the variation in speeds is a plus because people can pick out patterns and rhythms quickly. If all the cars were stopping and starting together and traveling at the same speed it would be a boring feature. Variability keeps interest alive. I have kept down the number of cars in order to keep them from being too distracting.
I have toned down the symbol for Highway 267. It is now the same color white as the rest of the map.
I have left the military bases as green. Pretty much all of the bases that I have visited are green, with the exception of the Naval Base in Norfolk which is all concrete and gray buildings. I think the color is good representation of the bases so I left it alone.
I have not messed with finding a replacement for the Google image. I am still on dial-up out here in Booneyville and will take the time to find a new image this week.
This section perhaps should have been at the front but here it is. I was assigned this map as an exercise for this class and also as a project for the GIS Department. I did not produce the maps. I provided the display and animation. The biggest problem has been color selection and an issue with the buffers.
The maps came to me as finished GIS projects from another student and not as data sets. The colors and class divisions were not my choice and I couldn't really change them. That didn't bother me as much as the problem with the buffers. Buffers that are meant to be a 10 mile radius should be circles and not ovals. This problem has not been resolved at the time of this writing. I have requested new buffers, but if his schedule has been anything like mine I can understand the delay. If I get a new layer from him I will gladly process it, but the semester being where it is I don't know if this will happen.
I should say that the maps as they came to me were beautiful. I ran into trouble when I began trying to layer things which requires the ability to contrast things in the layers.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Here is the GMU Car Map
I feel like I need to say that I really appreciated the input from all of my classmates. I found your imput to be useful. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to slow down the cars or fix the buffers or anything else yet. I will tackle those jobs today. I will also add a splash screen and fix the rollover issue.
I feel like I need to say that I really appreciated the input from all of my classmates. I found your imput to be useful. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to slow down the cars or fix the buffers or anything else yet. I will tackle those jobs today. I will also add a splash screen and fix the rollover issue.
