Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Neogeography and My Map of Tel Aviv



View Tel Aviv on my Mind in a larger map


I created this guide to Tel Aviv in order to provide the average tourist with a simple and easy guide to some of the main points of interest and destinations in Tel Aviv. Because I have spent a lot of time in that city I was able to provide recommendations to several restaurants, shuks (outdoor markets) and historical/cultural sites. Incorporated into the points of interest on the map are explanations of what the place is and its relevancy. As such, I won’t re-discuss the meaning and value of every place mentioned on my map. The tour can be done either by walking or by taking public transportation (I tried to provide relevant bus lines wherever I could). I only wish I had known about this feature in google maps while I was still in Israel so I could have forwarded my map to some of my friends who came to visit the country when I did not have time to give them a tour of the ‘white city’ myself.

Neogeography provides many advantages to the field of geography including the ability for people to instantaneously share relevant cultural and cartographic information with others. Moreover, neogeography (especially through simplistic and easy to use softwares like google maps) grants the average person the ability to map the world through their own personal perspectives and interests. This is a particularly important development in geography because throughout history those who hold power and control have determined the information conveyed through maps and other cartographic data. Allowing the average person to distribute geographical data, however, comes with several consequences. For example, with the expansion of softwares like ‘my maps’ people have the ability to distribute inaccurate information. Moreover, neogeography contributes to a larger amount of subjectivity in cartography, which can cause issues in areas where territory or places are already disputed. Finally, while pre-existing tool kits might seem easy to use, sometimes glitches make them difficult and frustrating to employ. While trying to make my map I had several issues drawing lines (the lines wouldn't coordinate with where I clicked my mouse) and embedding youtube videos.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

USGS Topographic Maps--Survey Questions




  1. The name of this quadrangle is the ‘Beverly Hills Quadrangle’
  2. The surrounding quadrangles include Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice and Inglewood.
  3. This quadrangle was first created in 1995
  4. The Datum used to create this map is NAD 27 and NAD 83
  5. The scale of the map is 1:24,000
  6. At the above scale
    1. 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to1200 meters on the ground
    2. Every 5 inches on the map is equivalent to 1.8939393939 miles
    3. Every mile on the ground is equivalent to 2.64 inches on the map
    4. Three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to 12.51 centimeters on the map
  7. The contour interval on the map is 20 feet.
  8. The approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:
    1. The Public Affairs Building: 34 d 4’ 20’’N, 118d 26’30’’W; 34.075N, 188.443
    2. The Tip of the Pier: 34d 0’ 27’’N, 118d 30’ 00’’ W; 34.0075 N, 118.5W
    3. Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir: 34d 7’ 0’’N, 188d 24’ 30’’; 34.117N, 118.406W

  1. The approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:
    1. Greystone Mansion: approx. 550 ft/167.64 meters
    2. Woodlawn Cemetary: approx. 140 ft/42.672 meters
    3. Crestwood Hills: approx. 720 ft/219.456 meters
  2. The UTM zone is 11
  3. The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of the map are 3763000N, 361500E
  4. There are 1,000,000 Square Meters in each square of the UTM gridlines
  5. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus.
  6. The magnetic declination of the map is 14 degrees
  7. The water flows fromNorth to South as the V’s that indicate upstream point North
  8. UCLA Campus: