Category Archives: Maps/Apps/Charts/Data

Atlas of US Historical Geography

Posted on by
Reply

Over eighty years after it was originally published, Charles O. Paullin’s Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States remains one of the most impressive and most useful atlases of American history. Containing nearly 700 individual maps spread across 166 plates, it addresses a broad range of issues. Beginning with a chapter consisting of 33 maps on the natural environment and a second containing 47 maps documenting the evolution of European and later American cartographic knowledge about North America, the atlas mapped an exhaustive number of historical topics: exploration and settlement of the continent, the location of colleges and churches, disputes over international and state boundaries, voting in presidential elections and in Congress, reforms from women’s suffrage to workmen’s compensation, transportation, industries, agriculture, commerce, the distribution of wealth, and military history.  Continue reading →

Geographic Masking

Posted on by
Reply

Geographic masking is a technique used to basically move your data around so not to give away the exact geographic coordinates of individual level data.  This is done when locations of individuals (like in health data, crime data, or endangered species data) need to be “anonymized” so they cannot be re-identified through reverse geocoding.

One tool that does this is MaskMy.XYZ.  MaskMy.XYZ helps users perform a time-tested geographic mask from the scientific literature, known as donut masking. Instead of being a toolbox for a specific (potentially expensive) GIS software suite, MaskMy.XYZ uses popular open source JavaScript libraries to mask data without ever requiring users to install or download any software. So whether you’re a GIS expert who can’t be bothered to script this method yourself, or a GIS newbie who knows you need to mask your data but aren’t quite sure how, MaskMy.XYZ makes your life easier and brings previously cumbersome methods into reach.

Everything runs client-side in your browser, meaning there’s nothing to install, data never leaves your computer, and as a result nobody except you ever sees your confidential files. It is a safe and secure way to anonymize spatial data.  Finally, you can map your secret fishing spots and share them with others without giving away the exact locations!  Check it out!

instructions

You Are Being Tracked!

Posted on by
1

Here is a scary report from New York Times on how our personal locations are being tracked, and mostly from unregulated location data companies that cross reference your location with other databases to figure out who you are, where you live, and where you have been.

“In one case, we observed a change in the regular movements of a Microsoft engineer. He made a visit one Tuesday afternoon to the main Seattle campus of a Microsoft competitor, Amazon. The following month, he started a new job at Amazon. It took minutes to identify him as Ben Broili, a manager now for Amazon Prime Air, a drone delivery service.”

Click below to read the report, and parts 2 to 7!

tracked

The Living Atlas of the World

Posted on by
Reply

ESRI’s ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World can be described as an evolving collection of authoritative, curated, read-to-use global geographic information curated by ESRI and the GIS user community.  It includes imagery, basemaps, demographics and lifestyle, landscape, boundaries and places, transportation, earth observations, urban systems, oceans, and historical maps, all of which can be combined with your own data.

Most can be used without signing in, but you will need an ArcGIS Online account for the more interesting ones.  Here are a few I found that were interesting.  Continue reading →

Mapping Indigenous LA

Posted on by
Reply

The Mapping Indigenous Los Angeles project from the University of California Los Angeles is creating a series of story maps that bring together a variety of stakeholders to help highlight “multiple layers” of diversity and identity.  At the heart of the site are the story maps themselves, which unfold to reveal the complex history of place and the Indigenous peoples who have helped shape and been shaped by them.  The story maps vary in length and depth, but all feature a variety of text, photos, podcasts, and other materials that help viewers immerse themselves in the subject matter and deepen their understanding.  Check it out!

mapindigenousla