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.

Week 2 Lab Kevin Kuga

The ways that I thought of to improve this map consist of how to label certain states, label electoral votes per state, and finally to remove unneeded information. The main problem I have with the maps labels is the fact that some of the states are not labeled. Most of the small east coast states have no way to distinguish which ones are which. Granted that most people already know which states are where, I still feel that completely labeling this map would have map it much better. I suggest that this map should be further improved by actually putting the electoral votes that each state has available. I believe that a simple number below each state abbreviation in smaller text than the state's label would make it much clearer as to how the election played out. I finally want to point out that there is some unneeded information on this map. On the left side of the map are two categories for who is leading the state before the final results are in. However, seeing as how the election is already over, this information is irrelevant at this point. Overall I do think that this is a fairly good map that shows the election results clearly and with little confusion. Even though we did not make the map interactive, I definitely think that the map on the original website was greatly improved by making it interactive.

Week 1 Lab by Kevin Kuga

A good map of New Zealand

I consider this map to be a good map for several reasons. Firstly, even though there is no legend or North Arrow the map clearly shows the location and major roads that connect the large cities of the country. It also represents the major cities in bold lettering which helps to show the larger populated cities. Another reason this is a good map is that the map is very simple and does not have too much or too little information on it. It would be very easy for someone who has no familiarity with the country to understand the general layout of it.


A bad map of Australia

This map of Australia is not a representation of a good map because it is very difficult to comprehend and understand. For starters, there is just too much information on this map. Even though the names of the bodies of water, territories, and cities are labeled in different colors, the map is still difficult to read to fully comprehend where certain landmarks are located. I do find the coloring of the ocean being black as a helpful way to read the labels more clearly, however it does not make up for my inability to get a basic grasp of the region.



Population Density Maps
This map shows the population density of Asians by county across the continental United States. The Red counties have a population of less than .01 Asian individuals per square mile, while bright green colored counties have a population greater than 1000 individuals per square mile. The highest concentrations of Asians are located in the major city areas around the country. Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Chicago, and New York City are among the highest.
This population density map shows the distribution of Blacks across the nation. The lighter colors represent a smaller density of Blacks within the highlighted county. The darker colored counties are where the highest population densities are found. Similarly to the Asian population map, this map also shows that the largest densities are found within major cities. However, this map does also show that there is a large difference between the densities of southern counties and north western counties, which is not so clearly defined on the Asian map.
My final map shows the population density of races other than White, Black, Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islanders. On this map, the yellow represents the lowest of densities, while the darker reds show the higher. One thing in particular about this map is that most of the highest populations are located on the coastlines and the border with Mexico. However, just like the past two maps, the highest concentrations are still located in the major cities.


...... Sorry about the typo in the map titles......