Mapping

I am working on displaying zip codes in Google Maps for the Energy Justice Network power plants map. I'm using ZCTA (zip code) shape files that come from the Census Bureau. You can convert them from shapefile to kml using Geocommons. Unfortunately I need to do this for all 50 states - so it will take a while.

Now the really CRAZY part was that I was unable to get my KML files to show up in Google Maps. They showed up fine in Google Earth.

I recently got the landfills layer of data working on the Energy Justice Network Map. It features 2000 landfills from the EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program data set.

Go to the National Map - and turn on the layer (using the radio buttons) to see the landfills!

Walmart Watch just came out with a
map of Walmarts.

You can find new stores or old stores. You can find stores near you. You can find stores that have been stopped. Users can update information about the store.

I like it because it's very similar to what the Energy Justice Network is going to be doing with our power plants map site. You can find power plants (instead of stores), update their information, find groups or start your own group to oppose them, and share resources (files).

A book that I recently noticed. Looks interesting. Unfortunately it looks a little on the theoretical/academic side, which has its place, but I'd really love to see more popular education oriented mapping projects.

http://www.an-atlas.com/contents.html

The GovTrack site has a map of congressional districts and you can even add the layer to your existing Google Maps mashup.

This is an old link, but I just saw it.

Counter Cartographies Collective UNC 2006 Disorientation Guide

Google Maps now has a Geocoding API for street addresses. Haven't tried it yet. I'm guessing it works off the Tiger database. Will be interesting to compare its accuracy with geocoder.us (an open-source geocoder). Though I'm not really into street-level geocoding (zip-level is adequate for my aims)

Someone created a mashup that lets you see the

Impact of global warming using Google Maps.

You can see the land that will be covered by water, based on different predictions of sealevel rise.

He's using a 50 GB NASA data set for altitude data.

Activists need to embrace the use of maps in our campaigns.

Maps allow you to make information more appealing to the reader, without dumbing down the content (for instance, you don't have to turn your argument into a short slogan). Complex statistical arguments about the correlation between one factor and another are much easier to grasp if they are presented in a nice chart, or better yet, a map.

Currently I'm guessing that we're on the threshold of a coming wave of activist maps. Here are several factors that will start the wave:

1) Google Maps API - has created a renaissance in maps on the internet by making it very easy to create a map, and by provoking a number of competitors (notably Yahoo and ESRI) to provide free APIs.