Contributor Blog

Google Labs has released another fascinating tool for researchers. Readers may already be familiar with  Google Trends which can chart and reveal trends in search patterns for the last decade. The new tool allows similar analysis of Google's impressive library of digitized books spanning centuries.

 

Musician David Byrne, formerly the leader of theband Talking Heads and now an advocate of bike-friendly urban planning, remarked in a recent interview :

"…if somebody could write a song about [city planning] I'd have to stand up and cheer for them. No. There are some things you just can't write songs about."

While there may not be popular songs specifically mentioning urban planning, there are many songs about cities and the impact of planning decisions. Here are my 10 of favorites.

(Update Dec 10: I added 5 more songs suggested by readers.) 

Is it possible to condense two weeks of soaring rhetoric by politicians into a single graphic? Let's find out.

In my last post I covered free online tools for creating information graphics.  Here is a look at another free online tool that can be used to easily create sophisticated visualizations and information graphics.

An introduction to free tools for creating interactive information graphics.

As professionals shaping the built and natural environment, we have to process and communicate complicated concepts and data to peers and the public. We often use visuals such as maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams to illustrate a concept or explore data.  Such visual representations are called information graphics or infographics.

The Strange Maps blog is an eclectic collection of maps, diagrams, and cartoons. Some graphics featured on this blog are informative, some are creative, and others are completely bizarre.The website is maintained by an anonymous blogger. The posted graphic is often accompanied by informative notes. Here is a list of 21 maps that I found interesting:

Metrolink is Southern California's regional rail system linking several counties. The 15-year old system with 7 lines, 54 stations, and 388 route miles serves over 40,000 passengers in the Southland. Metrolink says its mission is "to provide the people of Southern California safe, reliable and environmentally friendly commute option." Sure, but can it also serve as an interesting venue to host a 4-year old's birthday party?

One birthday boy in particular loves trains and is a fan of a popular TV series featuring trains. His mother told me that their family trips were often planned around using rail transit to get to destinations in Central and Southern California. So what better way to celebrate his birthday than to invite his friends -- accompanied by parents of course -- for a trip on a commuter train? Children that age are probably more used to birthday parties where they are entertained by clowns or magicians. Would these children, growing up in Southern California's car-centric culture be entertained at a party where the view through a train window was the main attraction?

What is wrong with this map?

I

The popularity of blogs and podcasting is partly driven by the simple concept of web content syndication and aggregation using RSS and ATOM feeds. Yet, a study by Yahoo suggests that RSS is still not widely adopted. The study reports:

"...27% of users actually consume RSS on personalized start pages without realizing that it's the underlying technology enabling what they read. Sites such as MyYahoo, MyMSN, and the Firefox browser with its active bookmarks provide easy access to regularly updated RSS feeds with little or no effort from users."

Open source is not just about lowering costs. It's about staying in control of your own data. For governments, it is important to specify open file formats for storing public data. Eric Kriss, Massachussets' secretary of administration and finance asks an important question about long-term archiving of public documents created with Microsoft Office. "Will those documents still be legible 10 years from now, or in 50?" The state of Massachusetts has given some thought to that question and is taking action.

A Los Angeles Times article titled "Web Proves Its Capacity to Help in Time of Need" documents the importance of the Web as a communications medium.

It reunited families and connected them with shelter. It turned amateur photographers into chroniclers of history and ordinary people into pundits. It allowed television stations to keep broadcasting and newspapers to keep publishing. It relayed heartbreaking tales of loss and intimate moments of triumph...

The Internet has played a larger and larger role in every major news event of the last 10 years...In the aftermath of Katrina, use of the Internet is more vital and varied than ever.

Mapping enthusiasts are using Google Maps and Google Earth and other data to compile maps of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

One Web site, www.scipionus.com, is combating the confusion by encouraging users to annotate a Google Map of New Orleans with information about specific locations. Collectively, the community is creating a collaborative map Wikipedia. Anyone with something to add can enter a street address and leave a marker on the map at that location, providing a few lines of text about conditions at that spot.

URISA GISCorps got a good response to their call for GIS volunteers. All volunteer positions are now filled. Volunteers will be going to Jackson, Mississippi.

"Seven of the volunteers are map production experts. There is a lab in Jackson where they can start
their work with hardware and software ready to use. They have some data and more is coming. The
second group of volunteers will be in the field with GPS equipment. The group in Jackson will be
mapping the field data as soon as they can and hand it over to the emergency personnel."

Urban and Regional Information Systems Association's (URISA) GISCorps coordinates volunteer GIS services to underprivileged communities. GISCorps is looking for GIS professionals to volunteer for emergency and relief efforts in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina.

"The immediate need is for 5-10 volunteers at this point. These volunteers must have enough GIS experience to work effectively in an emergency situation. Volunteers must have expertise in map production, performing analysis, data management, and etc. Expertise in disaster management and working with GPS equipment is highly desirable."

In his 1992 novel, Snow Crash, writer Neal Stephenson imagined the ultimate user interface to access geographic information:

"There is something new: a globe about the size of grapefruit, a perfectly detailed rendition of Planet Earth, hanging in space at arm's length in front of his eyes... It's a piece of CIC software called, simply, Earth. It is the user interface that the CIC uses to keep track of every bit of spatial information that it owns -- all the maps, weather data, architectural plans, and satellite surveillance stuff." [More excerpts ]

BBC reports that government agencies and state-run enterprises in Brazil are switching from Microsoft Windows to open source alternatives. According to a source cited in the story, the primary motivation is economics. The Brazilian government estimates it could save $120m a year by switching and is considering making the use of open source software compulsory for government.

An article by Shane Petersen in the publication Government Technology
provides an update on how government agencies are using Open Source Software (OSS).

OSS has finally achieved an aura of legitimacy, paving the way for government agencies to pursue higher levels of OSS integration...OSS has moved from fringe applications to core business functions because more enterprises now trust its stability.

David Sucher argues that France's spectacular new bridge is not just a feat of engineering -- it's architecture.

"...I'd suggest that it qualifies as architecture, maybe even top-notch architecture..."

Brian Micklethwait wonders about the reason for building the bridge:

"Economically it looks crazy to me. A few more curves on the road and they could surely have saved themselves billions."

According to Urban Legends References Pages, the widely circulated 1954 photograph of what a home computer in 2004 would look like is an Internet hoax. The website provides details:

Although the photograph displayed could represent what some people in the early 1950s contemplated a "home computer" might look like (based on the technology of the day), it isn't, as the accompanying text claims, a RAND Corporation illustration from 1954 of a prototype "home computer." The picture is actually an entry submitted to an image modification competition, taken from an original photo of a submarine maneuvering room console found on U.S. Navy web site, converted to grayscale, and modified to replace a modern display panel and TV screen with pictures of a decades-old teletype/printer and television (as well as to add the gray-suited man to the left-hand side of the photo).

Merriam-Webster Inc. announced that the word "blog" was the "most looked-up word" [CNN] this year. The word will be a new entry in the next edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.

A four-letter term that came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year's presidential campaign tops U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's list of the 10 words of the year.