50 Best Blogs for Geography Geeks

50 Best Blogs for Geography Geeks

Geography appeals to a wide audience due to the fact that it both influences and is influenced by a staggering number of subjects. History, politics, earth sciences, anthropology, archaeology, social sciences, technology and myriad other disciplines all contribute to geography as a cohesive whole. Unsurprisingly, the internet overflows with blogs that analyze the topic and its close relationship with every other discipline imaginable. Readers pining to learn everything they can have plenty of free, wonderfully diverse resources available to quell their thirst for information. Peruse everything they have to offer – and don’t forget to check out the contributions of other blogs who sadly did not end up on this list, likely due to a slower update schedule. Just because they didn’t end up here doesn’t mean that they don’t have anything valuable to offer!

"Online Engineering Degree is an nonprofit online resource created to explain to students their options and some of the advantages and disadvantages of getting an online engineering degree. It was our opinion that existing sites which attempted to explain to students the reality of obtaining your engineering degree online were typically for-profit and thus biased and less trustworthy.

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Full List of the Best 50 Blogs:

1 National Geographic Blog Central

Explore the world through one of the essential resources on the subject of all things geographic – from cartography to culture, everything gets covered by National Geographic.

2 Matt’s Geography Blog

About.com’s Geography Portal, hosted by Matt Rosenberg, writes about a nice, broad range of relevant topics suitable for general audiences.

3 Newgeography.com

Geography extends beyond the cartographic, as this fantastic must-bookmark illustrates with its excellent writings on the people who make up the places.

4 The Urbanophile

Fans of geography interested in the specifics of cities will love crawling through Aaron M. Renn’s musings on urban areas throughout the world.

5 The Rural Blog

On the other side of the geographic coin lay The Rural Blog, where readers can trace the trends and ideas that shape those particular corners of the United States.

6 Cultural Geography Blog

Watch as people, cities and movements ebb and flow throughout the world with this very cool, very informative blog.

7 Geographic Travels

From the straight-laced to the esoteric, Geographic Travels has plenty of great maps and images to illustrate the true diversity of the discipline.

8 Making Maps: DIY Cartography

Geography buffs who enjoy drawing up their own maps of natural landmarks, cultural phenomena and more will love learning the latest ideas and strategies. A year went by without updates, but they seem to be back into the groove of things.

9 Free Geography Tools

Independent mappers in search of a few gratis technologies to indulge their passion need to bookmark Free Geography Tools and follow the latest and greatest developments.

10 Google Earth

Even those without an overwhelming geekiness towards geography still love tooling around with Google Earth…and those that do probably enjoy following what’s going down with the application.

11 Ogle Earth

Stefan Geens analyzes how “Google Earth and other neogeographical tools” come to impact the perceptions of professionals, amateurs and hobbyists alike.

12 All Points Blog

The official blog of Directions Media, All Points Blog posts about geography as it relates to politics, economics and other subjects.

13 Mapperz

Follow Mapperz for news and reviews of online mapping and GIS programs, discovering the best ones to suit certain needs.

14 Slashgeo

This community and accompanying blog serves as an excellent online forum for geography geeks to band together and discuss their love of geospatial technology – and more!

15 The Map Room

Jonathan Crowe writes about all the ins and outs of maps and mapping technologies in a manner that general audiences can understand.

16 Digital Urban

Digital Urban wants its followers to learn everything they can about the development of cities – their architecture, culture, politics, economics and (obviously) geography.

17 Strange Maps

Cartography lovers interested in perusing the weird and wonderful corners of their hobby (or profession!) need to drop by Strange Maps for some educational fun.

18 Geography blog from Networlddirectory

Most of the content available through Net World Directory’s Geography blog tends to emphasize the environmental facets of the discipline.

19 Google LatLong

The developers behind both Google Maps and Google Earth band together to offer an excellent resource for geography aficionados who enjoy reading about their hobby with a generous shot of technology.

20 Edible Geography

This absolutely amazing blog discusses geography through a foodie’s filter, facilitating talks about how the 2 fields have come to greatly impact one another.

21 World Geography Blog

Read World Geography Blog for global news and views about the immensely intimate relationship between people and places.

22 Bing Maps Blog

Fans of what Bing Maps has to offer may want to keep up with what the developers have been doing to make it the best application it can possible be.

23 Maponics Blog

The GIS service Maponics blogs about its latest endeavors and what they can provide the geography community.

24 AnyGeo

Anything and everything of interest to geospatial technology fanatics can be found right here at this incredibly popular and informative blog.

25 My Wonderful World Blog

National Geographic and other related institutions and publications band together to promote relevant educational initiatives in order to narrow the gulfs between different peoples.

26 Virtual Earth/Live Maps

Dive into the most fascinating corners of current geospatial technologies with one of the most in-depth online resources on the topic.

27 VerySpatial

Between the blog, videos and podcast, VerySpatial has plenty to please fans of all things geography – though mainly emphasizing the latest news and views regarding geospatial technology.

28 Students Without Borders

World University Service of Canada hopes to bring together students from all over the planet as a means of broadening horizons and strengthening understanding between vastly different cultures.

29 James Fee GIS Blog

WeoGeo’s James Fee keeps his readers updated on the diverse news and views from across the rapidly growing GIS industry.

30 Interchange

Planetizen’s Interchange blog caters to geography geeks curious about urban development and the various issues that come with it.

31 Google Maps Mania

These ardent fans of Google Maps hope to share their love of pushing the application to its fullest potential with fellow geography and geospatial technology buffs.

32 Terrain.org Blog

Ruminations on landscapes both natural and constructed comprise the content of Terrain.org and its associated blog.

33 Computing, GIS and Archaeology in the UK

Archaeology and GIS technologies collide in one incredibly interesting resource that focuses mainly on goings-on in the United Kingdom.

34 Google Sightseeing

Google Sightseeing is not affiliated with the eponymous corporation, but it does showcase a love of their applications by using it to take viewers on digital tours around the world.

35 knowwhere

Steven Feldman loves himself some geography, keeping an excellent blog that concentrates on how GIS technologies have forever changed the way people perceive the world around them.

36 Asia Ruminations

China-based Fulbright fellow Daniel Michaeli may not update as often as other bloggers on this list, but his blog remains a must-read for anyone fascinated by Asian geopolitics.

37 Spotlight on Geopolitics

In both English and Italian, Florian Pantazi writes about the geopolitical climate of the European Union.

38 Planet Geospatial

A rotating band of contributors aggregate the best of the best geospatial postings from around the internet.

39 GeoData Policy

Stop by GeoData Policy for detailed news on geospatial technology, geopolitics and social issues and impacts.

40 European Geostrategy

Geography geeks who enjoy studying European geopolitics and defense strategies may find this blog an incredibly engaging resource.

41 Adam Estrada

Geospatial professional Adam Estrada uses his blog to share everything he learns about the industry while going about his day-to-day doings.

42 Geofooding

Geography’s impact on food and foodie culture is undeniable (as is the reverse!), and anyone who enjoys both will find this blog a wonderful treat. Be sure to check out the recipes, too!

43 Geographicus

The rich history of geography and cartography comes alive through amazing imagery and detailed writings – anyone wanting to trace the origins of today’s geospatial technologies should stop by the excellent Geographicus immediately.

44 Atlas Obscura

Explore the wacky world continent by continent in search of esoteric, obscure people, places and things that make Earth what it is today.

45 RealClimate

Climate – and all the scientific and political factors surrounding it – has everything to do with geography.

46 geoMusings

Bill Dollins dishes on geography, with particular attention paid to the latest developments and opinions regarding GIS technologies.

47 Discovery News

The Discovery Channel posts up the latest news on the natural world blog-style, covering myriad topics of interest to geography fanatics of all ages and skill levels – including earth sciences, history, anthropology, paleontology and much more.

48 Climate Progress

For geography fans interested in learning more about anything and everything about climate – particularly politics and science – Climate Progress makes for an essential read.

49 Dot Earth

The New York Times’ official blog regarding the environment and natural resources greatly appeals to those who enjoy studying their geography through a green lens.

50 Global Voices

Source:

http://www.onlineengineeringdegree.org/50-best-blogs-for-geography-geeks

Many thanks to Samantha Rhodes from Online Engineering Degree.

FIND - First Land Registry Advanced Online Mapping Website

FIND, an advanced online mapping website, has launched a unique service, which enables users to order Land Registry documents via a map interface.


Find existing Land registry documents by Map


"FIND, the UK's most advanced online mapping website, has launched a unique service, which enables users to order Land Registry documents via a map interface. This exclusive facility, designed for commercial organisations offers significant time and cost savings for property, environmental and conveyancing professionals. The system works by using maps instead of exact addresses to determine land ownership. FIND allows users to select a map location, zoom into the area of interest - without an exact address – and then highlight a specific area to search. The site then displays Land Registry Title Registers and Title Plans, which can be ordered individually or in bulk, saving both valuable research time and the need to submit multiple document requests for the same area. This application is particularly useful for sites that cover large areas and have multiple occupancy or unclear owner identification. FIND users can also opt to order multiple documents at the same time."


Users can define a search area directly on an Ordnance Survey map for Land Registry title documents.

http://www.findmaps.co.uk/

Easy OpenStreetMap Editors

Easy OpenStreetMap Editors


One early frustration with wanting to help the OpenStreetMap project was how do you edit the data easily?

OpenStreetMap has lot and lots of data already, though more and more people are required for their local knowledge and to do the mamouth task of keeping the 'map up-to-date'

Well there are lots of different applications from online editors to compiled source code are out there. Which is easiest and user friendly?

These two are mapperz best picks

Merkataartor (v0.14) - fairy new software - but nicely laid out user friendly. Has great potential and is supported by most OS
see the list
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Merkaartor#Download
http://www.merkaartor.org/Download/

Small download, very simple to use - download by area/map of your choice.
No knowledge of OSM to start using. (But advise you to research first)
uploading does require a osm account so you can contribute but downloading and viewing data (in cartographic map-form) does not require a login.


Software is updated regularly and many features have been added - recently Area digitising and tagging tools have been introduced.
Offline mode.
Map Style mode - set one from the list or make your own.
Documentaton: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Merkaartor_doc_0.12
(requires an update to v0.14)



Potlatch - long standing Open Street Map 'online editor' but now more user friendly than ever (thankfully).
Back along mapperz liked the idea of editing in a browser (as all GIS will be in the future).
But Potlatch back then was slow,buggy and choked the browser up - all those issues are long gone and now it is a really fast and easy way to edit 'live'.


Potlatch has greatly increased productivity due to the 'drag and drop' POI (Points of Interest) tool. Tip you reuse tag names with the 'r' button (repeat tag) remember to give as much infomation as you know.
Note: There are many tag names (too many to list) please visit
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features
for a full list of tags.

Yes, there are many, many other OSM editors out there but this is for the curious potential new user, that just wants to help out.

others:
JOSM is currently the most popular desktop editor. It is a standalone Java application (requires Java 1.5) which allows fluid zooming, panning, and editing of a locally stored dataset, before uploading changes in a batch.

OSM2Go is a mobile mapping solution currently supporting the Nokia Internet Tablet family (N800 & N810), can also be compiled for the Linux/GTK+ desktop.

Vespucci [1] for android devices.

Amenity Editor is a simple online editor for creating and editing nodes and POIs. (ATM only in German)
source:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Editing

Ordnance Survey - Doom Masters

Ordnance Survey - Doom Masters

Double Update:
Ed Parsons (a former CTO of the Ordnance Survey) writes:
http://www.edparsons.com/2008/11/who-reads-the-terms-of-service-anyway/

"As the Guardian article points out the OS was unhappy with local authorities signing up to the Google Maps API terms of service as it required a “broad” re-licensing of the data to Google and the users of Google maps based sites."

Google Maps Terms have been adjusted:
"Thank you for your interest in the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs. The Google Maps/Google Earth APIs are a collection of services that allow you to include maps, geocoding, and other Content from Google in your webpages or applications."
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html
(Last updated: November 12, 2008)


Update:
Google Maps API Users have raised the issue
http://code.google.com/p/gmaps-api-issues/issues/detail?id=852
(please star the issue so the 'Terms of Use' will be updated asap.)

The Ordnance Survey are striking back after the announcements of 'Show Us a Better Way' about derived data - breaking copyright.


OS Maps Online - But you cannot create points, line or polygons from it as your breaking copyright.


However you can use these Old OS Maps to capture data freely.

http://www.showusabetterway.co.uk/call/2008/11/and-the-winners-are.html
Most have some element of Geographical Data (Postcodes) or Mapping.

From the Free Our Data Blog (The Guardian)
"The OS, we’ve learnt, has circulated local government with a helpful Q+A about how they shouldn’t embed info on Google Maps (or of course other mapping companies such as Microsoft or Yahoo or..) if it has been “derived” from OS data."

How to kill innovation in one huge swipe! Well done OS. Remember the UK Taxpayer has funded you for years (now its 47%).

more on the debate:

Question: I want to pull Google Maps onto my system and host my Ordnance Survey derived business information on top, so that no data will pass to Google. Can I use this solution instead?

A No. Although you will not be passing any data directly to Google, by displaying such data on top of Google Maps in this way and making such mapping available to the public, it appears that you will be granting Google a licence to use such data. This is the case despite the fact that you will be hosting the data on your system. Google’s terms and conditions appear to provide that any display of data on or through the Google services grants Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such data.

The terms of your licence do not permit you to license Ordnance Survey data to a third party in these circumstances.

Full Article by Charles Arthur

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/nov/12/ordnance-survey-google-maps-copyright

View and get bored read the PDF the Ordnance Survey published

http://www.freeourdata.org.uk/docs/use-of-google-maps-for-display-and-promotion.pdf

so '*S%^&@' you are.... thanks OS.

WMS & WFS Google Maps + KML

Oxford Archaeology opened up their data with a Web Mapping Service

Online Archaeology
has a good couple articles on both services. In summary here:

• Web Mapping Service (WMS) produces maps of spatially referenced data dynamically from geographic information.

Live link for WMS
http://www.online-archaeology.co.uk/GoogleMap/Pages/oa.htm

• Web Feature Service (WFS) is an interface allowing requests for geographical features across the web using platform-independent call.

Live Link for WFS
http://www.andrewlarcombe.co.uk/index.php/oa


The future of Web Features/Map Services?
These services will have to make room for the KML (Keyhole Markup Langauge) format that seems to becoming a standard in its own right.

And the inclusion of this 'GGeoXML' integrating kml format with Google Maps API
hinted on the Google Maps API group in the next version of the API (2.76) has great potential in making thousands of features available to view to the world.
When available will have a post here on the mapperz blog about it.

ArcGIS Online (Beta) - ArcGIS Explorer

Update: ESRI's answer to Google Earth is available here (login required)


ESRI has finally released ArcGIS Online (Beta) for the ArcGIS 9.2 products



If your lucky enough to have 9.2 (Arc installed and running you will be able to use this service.
You are required to login (can use your existing ESRI account).

Take a look at the National Geographic Maps in ArcGIS 9.2
(yes mapperz helped make them)

"Using ArcGIS Online, you can:

• Explore data for many digital worlds seamlessly in both 2D and 3D maps—for example using ArcGIS Explorer, the free 3D application for ArcGIS.
• Create your own digital worlds in 2D and 3D by combining ArcGIS Online services with your local data and services from ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, Open Geospatial Consortium WMS services, and KML Services.
• Embed ArcGIS Online services into your own maps and applications and share the results with others.
• Add user tasks from your own secure servers and fuse them with services from ArcGIS Online and other servers—for example, visibility modeling, proximity search, or demographic analysis."

ArcGIS Onlline can be used with the following software:

* ArcGIS Explorer 9.2
* ArcMap 9.2
* ArcGlobe 9.2
* ArcReader 9.2
* ArcCatalog 9.2