what makes the news?

http://maps.dallascityhall.com/index.asp?mo=CrimesOnMap

When you watch the local news channel what types of stories do you usually find? Celebrities behaving badly, lost dog finds its way home, Johny Do-good saves the day. These are all common news stories but the backbone of the news is crime. Nothing gets peoples attention like murder, robberies, and high speed chases. If you happen to be someone who is deeply interested in the safety of your community. How would you find all the related data. Thankfully the news folks know what you want, and provide easy ways to interact with the data in the form of maps. Take for example the city of Dallas website http://www.dallascityhall.com/index.html at this site you can query an interactive map to show you locations of robberies, assaults, and many other crimes.

Good Map/ Bad Map

www.excelgeophysics.com/services/topo.html

Good Map/Bad Map: What makes a good map good, what makes a bad map bad. My topic for today is color, and how color can enhance the effectiveness and usefulness of a map. The map above was found at excelgeophysics.com a Canadian company that specializes in gravity and magnetic surveys. The map is an excellent example of good color usage. The hues used for the color gradient make the map easy to interpret and easy on the eyes. The orientation of the map lets the user get a real feel for the land. Also the 3D effect gives the map texture making it easier to read. The placements of the legend, compass, and scale are in good proportion to the map. They can be seen but don't interfere with the map. All in all excel geophysics did a wonderful job creating this map.

JayOgraphy

first blog ever

This is my first blog ever. My blogs will revolve around geographic ideas and questions that I deal with in my GEOG406-GIS1 and GEOG416-computer mapping classes at the University of Reno Nevada. My next blog entry will deal with good and bad maps, focusing on the use of color.