Apr

23rd 2008

Five percent of the population, twenty-five percent of the prisoners

Filed Under Current Events, United States | Leave a Comment

The NY Times takes a look at the substantially higher number of inmates in America versus any other country.  With 2.3 million criminals behind bars, the United States incarcerates people for certain crimes that rarely receive prison sentences in other countries.  For example, China, which has a population four times that of the United States, has only 1.6 million people imprisoned.  The rate of incarceration in America means that roughly 1 in 100 adults are behind bars.  The NY Times points to a variety of reasons provide by experts to explain the higher rate of incarceration: “higher levels of violent crime, harsher sentencing laws, a legacy of racial turmoil, a special fervor in combating illegal drugs, the American temperament, and the lack of a social safety net.”

Apr

20th 2008

Historic Aerials

Filed Under Data | Leave a Comment

Despite having to peer around the plethora of watermarking, the HistoricalAerials.com site provide some interesting aerials across the United States spanning back to the 1930s.  Locations are searchable by Lat/Long or by address.  What’s interesting is the comparision slider which allows the user to compare two different aerials side by side to see how the landscape has changed over the years.  Viewing online is free with an option to purchase the image for downloading. 

Apr

08th 2008

Foreclosures Mapping

Filed Under Current Events, Map Servers | Leave a Comment

Hotpads.com has mapped out foreclosures based on property data from RealtyTrac. House icons mark the locations of foreclosures with an underlying “heat map” layer showing the intensity of foreclosures over a given area. The Heat Map layer can be shown for a range of density types including population density, median income and median rent.

Apr

07th 2008

Absolut “Oops!”

Filed Under Current Events | Leave a Comment

Swedish Vodka distiller Absolut has managed to upset both sides of the geographic divide with their map depicting Mexico and the United States in the 1830s when what is now California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona were still part of the Mexican territory.  The map is just one of the advertisements that make up a series as part of an ad campaign started in April of 2007 with the slogan “In an Absolut World” and is meant to show ideal situations.  The map upset Mexicans who weren’t happy to be reminded up the loss of territories during the 1848 Mexican-American War and offended American conservatives who felt the ad aggravates the border tensions between the two countries.  While the ad was not created for the American market, nonetheless, various news media outlets aired the story during newscasts in the United States.  Under pressure from American consumers, Absolut has agreed to stop running the ad but stated on their website; “In no way was it meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues.”

Absolute Map of Mexico and the US

Apr

07th 2008

Olympic Torch Relay Map

Filed Under Current Events, World | Leave a Comment

UPDATE:  The Parisian portion of the relay was cancelled due to chaos along the route with protesters forcing the police to extinguish the flame at least five times (CNN, 4/7/08). 

The Olympic Torch Relay kicked off on March 24th with its lighting in front of the Temple of Hera on the historic grounds of Olympia. As it makes it journey, the torch will travel to 21 cities within five continents before reaching China.

Olympic Torch Relay Map

http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/journeymap/

Torch Relay Web Site

Currently, the torch is travelling through London where it has met with protests over China’s human rights records, causing the torch relay to travel part of the way in a bus to avoid protestors.

Olympic London Relay Map

BBC News: Clashes Along Olympic Route

Apr

06th 2008

Garbage Patch Islands in the Oceans

Filed Under Environment, World | Leave a Comment

An enormous collection of garbage weighing more than 3 tons and a size of twice the state of Texas is floating out in an isolated section of the Pacific Ocean.  The garbage patch, dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is held together by a rotating system of currents known as the North Pacific Gyre.  The swirling currents bring the collected debris into the relatively calm center of the North Pacific Gyre.   In the past this collection of garbage biodegraded over time but with the modern addition of plastics the broken pieces. instead of biodegrading, clump together into a large mass of waster.

Image courtesy of Greenpeace

More Resources:

Apr

06th 2008

Living on a Dead-End Equals Being More Green

Filed Under Urban Geography | Leave a Comment

Wanter to live a more eco-friendly life?  Livee on a cul-de-sac.  According to Peter Shaw from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, living on a dead-end means you’re more likely to be influenced by the actions of your neighbors.  In looking at the distribution of households that do recycle, Shaw found a pattern of higher participation by a greater number of neighbors living on dead-end streets.  He found that the shorter the street, the more the neighbors acted similarly in their recycling habits.  The influence was most pronounced on cul-de-sacs.

Next Page →