COLLAGE INJECTION

oooh, its an eerie all-knowing American-Indian staring back at you through the medium of a map. What does it mean?! Its definitely something deep and meaningful... maybe the spirit guide is reminding the white man that the land of the map once had a different 'face'. Hmmm, perhaps you could ponder this (and the other excellent collages created by Matthew Cusick) and let me know what you think?!

YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD NAZIS

I don't usually consider myself a fan of dictatorships or worldwide domination plans per se, but when you see such ambitious maps as this one (printed in a 1942 edition of Life magazine), you start to wonder how any group that is so optimistic can be bad for society?!  "Let 'em come" I say!  Fortunately for the free world, my reaction is the reverse of what this series of maps ended up achieving i.e. whipping up national hysteria into a fervent anti-Nazi war-effort.

DIORAMA...RAMA

One sultry summer night (possibly after a few too many alcoholic beverages) Aerial Photography and Street View Images got 'jiggy with it' and created a wondrous but fairly ugly love-child. That creation would neither be black or white, and would never find true acceptance amongst his map friends. Eventually poor little Diorama Map would only find solace amongst the other outcasts of his kind

LIVEABLE STREETS

I ride my bike a lot, so its with a smug look on my face that i judge you for driving a car. How can I afford to be so smarmy? Well, according to the styley 5min video you're about to watch; the higher the level of vehicle traffic is in a neighbourhood - the poorer relationships within the community will be. Perhaps you're not so concerned about being a bad person, but you should still watch this video - even if its just to stimulate your own desire for some sweet maps that have a (ironically) homey graphic design aesthetic.  Watch the video (but shame on you!)

STREET VIEW SCENES

Conceptually, a gallery of random photos doesn't seem like it should really be justified as an entry into a blog all about mapping. Sure we use aerial & satellite photography extensively enough, but what I'm talking about is obscure oddball obliques. Photos such as these, capture cultural 'colour' and visual valuablenesses that would otherwise be lost to traditional mapping techniques. So with all that being said (and with the photos' source being
google maps) I am hear by 'legit' in bringing you this selection of Street View scenes

NOT IN MY BACKYARD

There is some pretty interesting stuff out there in the big wide world, but if I'm honest; I struggle to fully appreciate it all. I think it's because all that 'stuff' is in a different place to where I live. For example, it's hard for me to fathom just how epic the Great Wall of China actually is because I live in New Zealand and not China. It just doesn't seem relevant enough to me in my life. Well, the BBC's awesome Dimensions website is making shizz real, real like you ain't never seen, fool!

MAPS FOR AFRICA

I laughed heartily at my clever title for this week's blog entry... and now I've written about myself laughing at my own humour (Yes, times are tough at Choice Map Tuesday, but what'cha gonna to do? - It's Christmas, get a life people!)
Click on the link to see a larger version of this Africa map if you've got nothing better to do, or if you're still not satisfied - this history of Africa in map form is really informative.

RETRO, GET IT YO!

Forget trying to impress people with your flash 64bit computer - where its at is 8bit baby!  I'm telling ya, if you want to be the envy of all your cool friends; you'll rush out and represent your so-called

'cartographically precise' modern spatial data sets with the lo-fi styles of 1980s role-playing and adventure games.
Do it - be popular!

YOU DISRESPECT A MAP, YOU DISRESPECT ME

On any other day, if I'd spotted you folding a map all messy you'd have to face the very real and very unfortunate possibility of being taken out hitman styles. No warnings. No jury.  Blam! Straight to execution! 
Today is your lucky day though.  Today I'm going to assume that what you've just screwed up in your clumsy hands is a legitimate crumple map.
Im not happy about it but I'll let you live... for now

PROJECTION MAPPING

Imagine, if you will, your average mapping canvas - most of the time its probably an A1 sized piece of paper.  Sometimes though average doesn't cut it, sometimes you need a dynamic canvas the size of a building - sometimes you need yourself projection mapping.  Unlike the rickety old projectors your parents used to show their lame holiday slides on, modern projectors can display slick computer animations (and of course maps) at such larger-than-life scales that when seen live is simply astounding.  I know if I was a town planner I'd want people to see my ideas this way.  Heck, if i was a town planner I'd want to see any ideas this way.