Final Project (Part 1. MLB Teams Map)

For the second part of my final project I made a very similar map to that of the previous maps. I still used the ArcScene program for most of my project, however for this map I was able to manufacture a working map somewhat quicker. The speed of the program was another hinderance, but I was able to bypass many of the more frustrating steps.
I have provided another reference map of the city names of each team(s). However, one major difference between this part and the last is that I was able to make an animated video of my map. I was unable to put a legend on the video unfortunately, so I am only able to say that the perimeters for this map are the same as that of the NFL Teams 3D maps.

Final Project (Part 1. NFL Teams Map)

For the first part of my final project I choose to map the NFL teams by state. I chose this because I needed to use data that I could easily acquire. My reasoning for this is that I used the program ArcScene to make most of my maps. The ArcScene program was very difficult to work with because I had to learn how to use everything from scratch. I quickly learn that the program also runs slow at times, which made it particularly frustrating to work with. However, in the end I am fairly happy with the resulting maps that I was able to create.
The first map is just for a reference of the names of the cities that each team(s) is located. The second map is a representation of how many teams are in each state. The taller the mapped state, the more teams that are located within it. There is also a legend to show different label points that also represent the number of teams per state or the number of teams per city. The third and fourth maps are just for viewing purposes. They have no labeling, but I feel give a better 3D perspective of the maps that I created.

East to West View

West to East View

Week 10 Lab

Olympics Maps

Lab #6 Topo Map

Topo Map

Week 5 Lab

Haiti Maps

2x3


3x5

5x7

Week 4 Lab

Week 3 Lab

http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=94686db4-23ee-4504-8774-05294b899849

The explosion in popularity of the internet over the past decade has lead to an equally large increase in geographic information within the general population. With so many different tools available on the internet, such as Google and Wikipedia, the ability to create and change geographic information. The website that we used for our lab, Photosynth.net, was a particularly interesting tool to use to visually make a 3 dimensional image from many 2 dimensional images. However, with all of this freedom, there are many concerns with how all of this new information is used or viewed.

For this assignment, I chose to take about 100 underwater photos of one of the pools on campus. My reasoning for this was mostly based on the idea that most people will never see an underwater view of places on our planet. On a broader scale, I thought that being able to visually map the coastlines of tropical oceans and reefs would make for some amazing photosynths and images. I definitely consider this use of the technology as a beneficial and positive system that can improve our geographic knowledge of the world. However, I fully realize and understand that the increase in technologies has both good and bad consequences.

In the article "Citizens as censors", Michael Goodchild brings of the idea of the double edged sword that is geographic information and technologies. He writes that the new technologies have created a lot of excitement because people are given so much more freedom to create their own geographic information using visual tools, while at the same time they are not really seeing some of the downsides to this freedom. One of the most controversial topics surrounding the geographic freedom created by the internet is that of personal privacy. Using photosynth as an example, someone who puts something on the website may not realize that they are putting up an image of their own private space or someone else’s. If someone takes pictures of a room in their home, they are potentially showing everyone with an internet connection a visual representation of a private space. Clearly this can be expanded to other places around the world with places that may be considered holy or spiritual to some, but only a place to take pictures to others.

In conclusion, the increase in technologies surrounding geographic information has great potential to create both positive and negative consequences. I personally think that there are far more advantages or positive effects of using and continuing to use these technologies than there are disadvantages. I definitely foresee some amazing technologies developing in the future that are going to help people understand and expand their own geographic information.