I just came across this excellent mind map of the “all things open and free” from Michel Bauwens of the P2P Foundation. Truly amazing.
Maps
9
Oct 09
Outsourcing
Tracing Wolfang Sach’s idea of the ecological rucksack (the ecological impact carried by any product) could be pretty hard, except now it’s being crowdsourced. Sourcemap.org is a place where users can create maps that show where are stuff comes from.
25
Sep 09
SMOG: simulating mutation of Gaia
For a shorter version of this video, click here.
I’m still working out whether or not I agree with Al Gore’s politics in response to global climate catastrophe (see Vandana Shiva’s Soil Not Oil for a critique of “global” (i.e. corporate as opposed to local) solutions being proposed). I question, for example, Gore’s uncritical use of the word “development” in this video. Still, I think this Google climate change simulator is an awesome project. I’m a huge fan of mapping as a tool for pattern recognition, so for a real scare, check out the IPCC’s high emissions scenario (note the smoggy filter!).
Here’s a good overview of the project: Google Earth launches climate simulator | Leo Hickman | Environment | guardian.co.uk
19
Mar 09
Watershed mapping
There is a strong bias against technology and media tools among many ecologists, but this Nature Conservancy’s interactive map shows that mapping is a great systems tool for getting the big picture about complex ideas. I highly encourage you to check out this map to get a feel for how freshwater resources are impacted by human activity.
17
Feb 09
Reality interfacing 2.0
The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives – NYTimes.com:
Indeed, a new generation of smartphones like the G1, with Android software developed by Google, and a range of Japanese phones now “augment” reality by painting a map over a phone-screen image of the user’s surroundings produced by the phone’s camera.
With this sort of map it is possible to see a three-dimensional view of one’s surroundings, including the annotated distance to objects that may be obscured by buildings in the foreground. For starters, map-based cellphones simply translate paper maps into a digital medium, but future systems will probably begin to blur the boundaries between the display and the real world.
“I always said the next interface would be Quake,” said Steve Capps, one of the designers of the original Macintosh interface, referring to the popular video game. “How long will it be before you come out of the subway and you hold up your screen to get a better view of what you’re looking at in the physical world?”
And will mobile mapping handicap brain development?
“Humans evolved with amazing navigational abilities in our brains from an evolutionary perspective,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive. He argues that the correlation between the map on the phone and the internal map in your head is a natural way to navigate all kinds of information.
For example, neuroscientists have discovered that people who have occupations that require them to maintain complex mental maps of the world, like London taxi drivers, have an enlarged hippocampus. What happens when our hand-held computers become extensions of the way we think?
“I have wondered about the fact that we might as a culture lose the skill of mapping our environment, relying on the Web to tell us how to navigate,” said Hugo Spiers, a neurobiologist at University College London. “Thus, it might reduce the growth of cells in the hippocampus, which we think stores our internal maps.”
31
Dec 08
Mapping: two different views
Some people don’t see the connection between media and environment, often media is seen as the enemy (as it should be), but not part of the solution. Even the most anti-technology ecologists use maps to articulate their ideas. Maps are one of the earliest and most pervasive kinds of media. Let’s give it up for maps.
Consequently, GoogleEarth is providing some interesting a creative ways to visualize what is happening in the world. Here are two different recent examples:
1) Sprol’s Worse Places in the World is a depressing but necessary look at the various ecological disasters in the world via Google Earth. Look at your own peril.
2) Dreaming New Mexico has one of the most interesting applications I’ve seen yet. It uses Google Earth to visualize the state’s current carbon energy grid, then offers several alternative scenarios by overlaying satellite images with alternative energy grids. Seeing things like this always gives me hope that there are indeed smart, educated people thinking and planning for a better future.
28
May 08
iEarth
Earthscape is an interesting application for the iPhone that will allow you to “geobrowse” by zooming in and out of Earth images that change perspective according to how you tilt the phone. I’m a bit fascinated by our ability to view earth via images. McLuhan observed that once we saw Earth from satellites, the planet became a work of art. Others have argued that we are simultaneously leaving our bodies and looking at ourselves from the outside, creating a curious dynamic of being and observed at the same time. Does the reduction of Earth to a 3-D photo map mean we are interacting with it more, and seeing more “truth,” or is it simply another way to conquer the territory by thingifying it as an image? It’s probably all these things are true at once, so it’s difficult to know what the consequences of these kinds of apps will be. One thing is for sure, you gotta love the new euphamisms coming out of tech, such as Earthscape’s promise that with its software you can “experience social geobrowsing.”
Via Daily Galaxy
6
Apr 08
Absolute delerium: Mexico reconquers California
La Plaza : Los Angeles Times : Mexico reconquers California? Absolut drinks to that!
It’s rare that ads and maps actually converge so blatantly, but such is the case of a recent Absolute Vodka campaign running in Mexico. In an “absolute world” Mexico would still have the land that was ceded in the Mexican-American war. Though the political borders of today are obviously different, the demographic one is pretty on the mark. Ultimately I hate the idea of an alcohol company exploiting the deep feelings people have regarding nationalism and colonialism– an alcohol company being its own kind of mental colonialism– but I still find this ad rather funny. I don’t mind that they stir the pot a little.
Technorati Tags: Absolute Vodka
3
Apr 08
Mapping media
Media Map – Visualizing Ownership in the Media and Telecom Industries:
The landscape of the media industry is rapidly changing, with increasing consolidation and convergence between companies. Researchers and journalists have a need to track these changes, yet no interactive visualization tool is freely accessible online to enable this.
Check out this very cool tool to visualization corporate media interrelations.
5
Mar 08
The map is the territory
Enrique Chagoya, “Road Map”
As regular readers know, I’m a strong advocate of mapping as a form of media education because it is the clearest example of how visuals can represent perceptions about reality and space. Thus, I was very pleased by the article below, because it links to a variety of interesting resources now available to DIY global information mappers.
In These Times: We Can Now Map Everything — from Illness to Endangered Species:
Google Earth is the crown prince of the search engine’s mapping realm. The downloadable, interactive globe combines the thrill of a first-time flyer — Look, Mom, the people look like ants! — with a near-superhuman sense of control and mobility. With a click you can stand the Earth on its head and shake change out of its pockets. Selecting Google Earth icons can lead you to offbeat video clips to the all-important location of the nearest Starbucks. As the Google Sightseeing blog puts it: “Why Bother Seeing the World for Real?”
The program comes with its own built-in “layers” that pinpoint the locations of parks, landmarks and boundaries. Through its Google Earth Outreach initiative, the company has supported efforts by nonprofits to use the program for advocacy and activism. Early adopters have included the Global Heritage Fund (mapping endangered historical sites), the Jane Goodall Institute (mapping endangered primates) and Fair Trade Certified (mapping sites that protect endangered coffee growers).
26
Feb 08
Mapping (the fear of) impermanence
Maps can serve all kinds of purposes, some for peace, others for commerce, but all function by communicating ideas about land. In this case, I find the Global Incident Map quite disturbing, mainly because of how it filters and defines incidents of “suspicious” activity. It is a very fearful portrait of the world, through the lens of “security” professionals. And why not? Those who prosper by peddling fear need to keep us informed of how dangerous the world is so we’ll buy more security devices and weapons, like the security camera companies in cahoots with insurers to make people think surveillance makes them safer (as opposed to simpler things like street lights).
Wouldn’t it be nice to see a map that displayed every act of kindness? Maybe I’m naive, but I think the world is actually an incredibly safe place. It’s just that our perception of the future is one that’s filled with danger because we are unable to accept the fact that the universe is impermanent.
16
Oct 07
Post-colonial mapping
Image credit: John Nelson / Tropical Forest Trust via Reuter
This post is part of Blog Action Day for the environment.
Pygmies are using GPS to map their land in order to save sacred sites and ecologically sensitive areas. I find it an interesting and novel approach, but I’m a little apprehensive about one thing. Traditionally mapping has been the precursor to colonialism. Marking the territory precludes ownership. But given the arrogance of the Northern colonial powers to take whatever they think is theirs by right of power, then it’s nice to see the roles change. It remains to be seen if this will truly benefit the Pygmies, but anything to support their cause I’m all for. They have a right to their land, so perhaps for once the map can be the territory.
Congo pygmies use GPS to protect forest – World Environment – MSNBC.com:
“The sets have icons on them, so they don’t have to be able to read and write. They basically go out and say, ‘OK, click, here is a sacred site,’ and a GPS point is taken and links up to the satellite,” Poynton said.
“They can wander through the forest and map all of the areas — the tombs of their ancestors, hunting grounds, sacred areas, water holes, areas of medicinal plants — these are all captured on GPS points, all downloaded on the computer,” he added.
“And suddenly, you’ve got a map.”
Technorati Tags: ecology, blog action day
12
Oct 07
Satellite maps human rights abuses in Burma
Photo caption: Before-and-after satellite images show the site of an apparent military encampment in Burma on 11 November 2000, (top), and again on 13 December 2006 (bottom), when new bamboo fencing can be seen. The human rights group, Free Burma Rangers, reported a major expansion of this camp in 2006, corroborated by the AAAS analysis of images. (Lat: 18.42 N Long: 97.23 E.) Credit: Top image: © GeoEye, Inc. Bottom image: © 2007 DigitalGlobe.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science have done an amazing analysis of satellite images to show forced relocations in Burma. For once technology works in our favor!
Click the link below to see more before and after shots.
Consequently, Bromley noted: “Physical evidence of reported attacks on civilians sometimes can be subtle compared to the slash-and-burn types of destruction that we saw in Darfur or Zimbabwe. It’s also a lush ecosystem where plants can quickly grow to cover burn marks, and clouds and terrain often block satellite observation.” In addition, he said, maps of the area are largely decades old, with “foreign” village name spellings that are not used by reporting organizations or local people.
Despite such challenges, AAAS precisely mapped the locations of 31 of some 70 reported human rights violations by comparing field notes with information provided by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Satellite image analysis then revealed physical evidence to corroborate reported instances of human rights violations at 25 of the 31 accurately mapped sites. Wherever possible, Bromley compared archival satellite images with newly acquired shots to examine sites before as well as after the reported military activity. In other cases, recent images revealed clear signs of destruction.
24
Jun 07
The emperor’s new parking lot or good intentions are paved
Before / after satellite photos of Saddam’s palace in Baghdad, Iraq. Note the new parking lots, modular housing, restoration of the waterworks, and other interesting markings of new tenants in the emperor’s crib.
Give the Americans credit. They can destroy a country, but sure know how to build parking lots. But as the image map in the link above demonstrates, when America intends to bring democracy, it is no doubt couched in the aesthetic of the car. If you live or spent any time in the United States, you know what I mean. After all, Wal-Mart, the most successful creature of the American system, is a byproduct of the parking lot mentality: make an island with a big box inside it, and create the births for the cars to dock.
Incidentally, Maps of War, the site that created the contrasting images, has a number of interesting flash maps of world history.
