Month: June 2007

Map fusion

Annoyed that whichever mapping / aerial photography site you prefer doesn’t have a particular area in detail? Flash Earth may be helpful. The site compiles data from a number of mapping providers, including Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google. Switching between them is as simple as clicking a name in the list that hovers on the left-hand side of the page.

It also makes it easier to find the latitude and longitude of a place than any of the competing services do. Wadham College is 51˚ 45′ 21.0 ” N and 1˚ 15′ 15.8″ W. Our flat in Church Walk is 52.2″ N, 48.5″ W. My favourite Japanese restaurant is at 49˚ 17′ 18.8″ N and 123˚ 7′ 50.1″ W.

This ability to seamlessly and usefully combine data from multiple sources is one reason why open access to information can be so valuable.

Trip tally

Trips in the UK

Here is a simple map of my trips in the British Isles so far. Blue is for London, visited many times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) . Orange is the the trip to Chichester for Sarah Webster’s wedding, with the eastward jot to Arundel shown also. Yellow is the reading retreat to Devon, while pink is for my day in Bath. Green is the excellent Ireland trip: to Dublin and then across to Galway. Light blue is the Walking Club trip to Snowdonia. Red is their trip to the Scottish Highlands, and light green is this weekend’s trip to the Lake District.

All told, it’s not too shabby an exploration. That is especially true when one considers the number of papers I wrote, the thesis, exams, and other trips to Estonia, Finland, Malta, Turkey, Vancouver, and Paris.