tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4889848627540591802.post1994677927713337429..comments2020-10-29T06:33:03.229-07:00Comments on Geologic Froth: Geo-R[ec]ant on Dead Tree MapsDr. Jerquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15934444760785537721noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4889848627540591802.post-12132154962436861072009-01-09T14:21:00.000-08:002009-01-09T14:21:00.000-08:00Ryan...thanks for the comment. Valid points all. I...Ryan...thanks for the comment. Valid points all. I hope for an efficient conduit that links good digital maps with good paper maps without a lot of extra work on either end.Dr. Jerquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15934444760785537721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4889848627540591802.post-55811754594852301002009-01-09T14:18:00.000-08:002009-01-09T14:18:00.000-08:00Forgot about bribery, Joe. Thanks.Forgot about bribery, Joe. Thanks.Dr. Jerquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15934444760785537721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4889848627540591802.post-37594870074126675162009-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:002009-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00"The challenge to the modern cartographer is to cr..."The challenge to the modern cartographer is to create aesthetically acceptable analog / dead tree derivatives of digital maps when needed (which, admittedly, is often)."<BR/><BR/>Making a pretty map on paper is no longer done with a drafting board and really nice pens. These days, all the pretty maps you see anywhere are made digitally -- and there are some really pretty maps being made. So I think we have a pretty good grasp of that.<BR/><BR/>Creating a good looking paper map from our digital data is less important than the inverse -- the more important challenge for the modern cartographer is to create DIGITAL products which live up to the aesthetic we expect from paper maps.<BR/><BR/>What we don't see much of these days, are really pretty digital maps. Personally, I think this is because people get so carried away with the possibilities of what they could depict digitally, that they end up with giant, sprawling, messy web-applications or maps. You've seen plenty of these. Consider also, a dataset that you download packed full of fields like "UF_TB1" with some silly string of numbers in it for each row, and no reasonable metadata to use to deduce what the hell it all means.<BR/><BR/>Just like a paper map, you can't depict all your data with one digital map. It just doesn't work. Applications are bloated, ugly, and scare people away from the whole idea of digital mapping. <BR/><BR/>The bottom line is, the concept of digital data gets us so excited about what we CAN portray, that we forget how important it is HOW we portray it. I still think a considerable amount of "paper map aesthetic" needs to penetrate our ever expanding datasets and data products.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16109149109791647102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4889848627540591802.post-7294017718630797252009-01-09T13:32:00.000-08:002009-01-09T13:32:00.000-08:00What's Leroy lettering? Paper maps are also good f...What's Leroy lettering? Paper maps are also good for bribing locals for access to otherwise private propertyJoe Dirthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249330785928895589noreply@blogger.com