Funny Maps on a Friday: Redrawing Europe & finding Vulgaria

The Economist's "tongue-in-cheek" redrawing of geography of Europe, allowing for odd political alignments, the creation of mythical places, and other general map silliness.

I particularly like the justification for moving Poland and the other former Russian block nations, as they - having endured a 20th century history full of invasions, Communist occupation and everything else - "deserve some isolation" for a while.

Besides, who wouldn't want to "holiday" in a place like Vulgaria?

Enjoy the read.

Link to ful article here.

How Fast is Your Zoom? Benchmarking zoom redraws vs. Google Maps

While I differ on the idea that this is the first "GIS in the cloud" - as far as
I can tell Alteryx has offered this for nearly a decade ( www.DemographicsNow.com & www.FreeDemographics.com ) - the zoom comparison is both compelling & relevant.




GIS Cloud WebMap Engine vs. Google Maps Engine (Zoom Slider Comparison) from GIS Cloud on Vimeo.

Flexible Thematic Cartography - Good SaaS example

Good SaaS example of the power of cartographic data display of information - nice pricepoint too.

Quick Summary:




Detailed tutorial:

Airplane Finder 101: Mapping an Aircraft

Just got back from a business trip - thought these images were hysterical.

Full credits to to South African Travel Blogger Chris Rawlinson and FlowingData for bringing this to my attention (and a good laugh).

Quick "cut & paste" from the official press release:

"...The design covers the planes exterior in a tongue-in-cheek guide to the various parts of the planes interior, such as the “Mile-high initiation chamber”. The plane is just one of a fleet expansion of eight state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800s (each with a unique livery). As these planes will be replacing the 737-400’s currently used in kulula’s fleet, South Africans can look forward to spotting the new 800’s during this year...."

Official Press Release - Kulula Flying 101

For a bit more info on Kulula from Wikipedia:

" ...www.kulula.com is a South African low-fare airline.It is now known as Kulula Air. It operates domestic services to all major cities and regional services to Namibia, Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe... The name kulula is Zulu for easily..."

Map of Florida Area Roads and Traffic Growth

Florida Traffic Map  - Map of Florida Area Roads and Traffic Growth

http://floridaroads.org/
Found this site thru one of my GIS blog feeds. I would be curious to disect the data to look at differences in traffic congestion "off-season" and during the "snowbirds's arrival". The site allows for the standard "pan/zoom" or you and select by community/town of interest.
 
From the site:
"The Florida Traffic Growth Map highlights the busiest roads and highways. From 2005-2007, many roads and highways have seen at least a 50% increase in traffic. The map highlights the pace of change and increased utilization of Florida's infrastructure. In some areas the road conditions have changed significantly. The data is derived from the Florida Department of Transportation website. Each icon represents the location of a traffic counter and once clicked shows the annual average daily traffic (AADT) counts...."