Monday, December 18, 2017

Strava Heat Map

Strava is an app that tracks your activity with GPS (biking, running. skiing, etc.). On November 1, 2017 Strava unveiled a global heatmap of the most active exercise spots on the planet.
“A global community can seem very abstract until you see its activities visually represented in your immediate location and across the world.”
- Strava CEO James Quarles

Strava Interactive Heat Map

U.S.
Fairfield County, CT

Friday, August 18, 2017

Very Cool Interactive Map Exhibit

Mapping the Territory: Hudson County in Maps, 1840-2013

This exhibit featured maps of all varieties: topographical, infrastructure, transportation, sea level and birds-eye views. These maps showed how the region evolved geographically from forests, marshes and towering granite cliffs populated by Native Americans; to farms, settlements and villages built and inhabited by the Dutch, followed by the British and the newly independent Americans; and ultimately into the diverse, vibrant communities we live in today.



Zoom, Pan  - very Cool

Friday, July 28, 2017

Graphing Jazz

Is Jazz Dead?

Even though Miles Davis’ 1959 Columbia recording “Kind of Blue” is still the biggest selling jazz album of all time with more than 20 million sold to date— Sony’s Columbia label, the former home of Miles Davis’ recordings, no longer signs jazz .

“With the advent of the celebrity-as-musician trend in the 21st century, artistry is quickly going by the wayside. Many of today’s popular artists can’t sing or play an instrument. They are all image and attitude. Jazz, always touted as America’s one true art form, is struggling to survive. The major record labels shy away from niche markets, and promotion and marketing money goes with the youth demographic, which is generally under-educated about the art of music. This presents a cultural and ethical problem.”
by Sal Polcino

Below are a few charts on and graphs on the great and sadly highly misunderstood art form.

Sales

Comparing Music 




Article:
Types of Jazz Listeners

Education Status of of Jazz Listeners

History (Timelines)

Longevity?

Article:
The Future of Jazz in America


Thursday, March 2, 2017

A World of Oil

GSM London have created an amazing interactive map to show oil imports and exports that spans the last 15 years.
Screenshot

Interactive Map >

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Antique Railroad Maps

Curious about the United States railroad history? (I find it fascinating). Besides the motherlode of early USGS topographical maps provided by the University of New Hampshire, wardmaps.com, mapsofthepast.com and a few other sites have a variety of interactive scalable antique map viewers. Here’s a sampling…

Map of the New York Central Lines 1904
Viewer:http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=21105

Railroad Maps of the United States 1848
39 State and Regional Maps
Viewer:
Connecticut & Massachusetts & Rhode Island - 1925
Viewer:
United States - 1916 (New England)
Viewer:

Atlas of Railway Traffic Maps - 1922
by LaSalle Extension University - 15 maps

-1922-

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Santa Fe Railroad 1922
Burlington Route and Western Connections
Illinois Central Railroad and Other Eastern Lines
Southern Pacific Lines
Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad
New York Central Railroad
Union Pacific System
Chicago & North Western Line
Pennsylvania Railroad System

Historic Railroad Maps
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad System 
Viewer:
http://www.mapsofthepast.com/old-railroad-maps


Trolleys/ Interurbans

Map of The Street Railways of Connecticut - 1912
Viewer:

Massachusetts Electric Railways - 1899
Viewer:

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Humorous Charts and Graphs

We all need a little humor now and then... These were garnered on the web.

Line Chart

How old are you?

Pie Charts

Ya gotta laugh at some of these :-)



Graphs

Fave? #2!

Maps

Geographical Insights <wink>

Friday, January 20, 2017

Maps that Celebrate Ignorance


Jan. 20th, 2017 - Amereeka

Yes - intelligence is out and bragging about your ignorance is in...  Here ya go...

The American World


How Amerikans See the World

How the Average American Sees the World

Donald Trump's America


San Francisco Bay Area

Further Info

Judgemental Maps
http://judgmentalmaps.com

“Mapping Stereotypes” Farcical Maps
http://alphadesigner.com/mapping-stereotypes/

Monday, January 16, 2017

The New York City Water System


Largely invisible is New York City’s amazing water supply system, stretching across 125 miles and delivering over one billion gallons of drinking water to nine million people.

“Mountain water” from the Catskill/Delaware watershed provides more than 90 percent of the city’s supply. The rest comes from the Croton watershed. It is delivered to the city through an astounding network of tunnels and aqueducts. 

Did You Know?

It can take 12 weeks to a year for water to wind its way to the city from the streams, tunnels, dams and reservoirs in the Catskills. All of it is delivered to the city by gravity alone. Three main water tunnels have been built on an incline and literally whoosh the water downhill. The force of the water coming through the tunnels creates enough pressure to send it up to the sixth floor of most buildings.


Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Musician's Timelines (Famous Groups)

Kinda cool... (Click any image to enlarge)

Chicago

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band. The group had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Second only to The Beach Boys in Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands, Chicago is one of the longest-running and most successful rock groups, and one of the world's best-selling groups of all time, having sold more than 100 million records.
Chicago - Personnel Changes Timeline
Chicago (Wikipedia)

Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era.

According to the RIAA, the Beatles are the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act.

As the group's music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.
The Beatles - Personnel Changes Timeline
The Beatles (Wikipedia)

Eagles

The Eagles debut album was released on June 1, 1972, It was a breakthrough success, yielding three Top 40 singles. Their second album, Desperado, took Old West outlaws for its theme, drawing comparisons between their lifestyles and modern rock stars. This album was the first to showcase the group's penchant for conceptual songwriting.

Joe Walsh joined the band in 1975. There was some initial concern as to Walsh's ability to fit in with the band, as he was considered too "wild" for the Eagles, especially by Henley

In early 1976, the band released their first compilation album, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975). The album became the highest-selling album of the 20th century in the United States, and has since sold 29 million copies in the U.S. and 42 million copies worldwide. It stayed the biggest seller of all time until it was taken over by Michael Jackson's Thriller following the artist's death in 2009. The album cemented the group's status as the most successful American band of the decade. More info on the Wikipedia site.
The Eagles - Personnel Changes Timeline
The Eagles (Wikipedia)

and finally...

Google Music Timeline 

Explore the history of Pop and Punk, Jazz, and Folk - this is really cool! "This is an Interactive visualization to show “which music has stood the test of time”, and how genres and artists have risen and fallen in popularity. "
The Music Timeline uses aggregated data from Google Play Music...
About the Music Timeline (Google Research Blog)
- Read the Blog for an in-depth explanation.

- Click on the actual timeline to explore different musical genres