Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Maps, Maps, Maps.

Have I ever mentioned that I really like maps. This is a good thing considering the fact that being able to read a map is a very basic necessity of my job. After all I spend an awful lot of time asking the following three questions:

  • Where the hell am I?
  • Where the hell am I going?
  • How the hell do I get there?

So, yeah. I spend a lot of time looking at maps. And before anyone starts suggesting GPS, there are a couple of reasons that's not the answer for me. Yes, there are times when GPS is a wonderful bit of technology. It's especially useful when you find a location literally in the middle of nowhere with no landmarks. On the other hand, if I go to an unfamiliar city and use GPS to get around, I never get to know the city. If I use maps, I'm usually very familiar with the place within a very few days.

Also, there are days like today where GPS would be fairly useless. What I'm after today is a house that meets the following criteria:

  • preferably in Queens.
  • very close to an Indian Restaurant because there are a lot of vehicles and extras who work at each of these locations and it would be nice to only hire/rent them for one day.
  • a big enough house that can pretend to be many different interior houses with clever set dressing.
  • not too...ahem...upscale.
There's more to it than that, but you get the idea. Anyway, I've got a general idea of some neighborhoods that may be fertile for this, but the best way to find something like this is to drive around until you're lost, and just keep driving until you see something that looks like it might work.

All of this has been a long winded way to say I'm a fan of the site Strange Maps. But you knew that already because you've, of course, poured over every link from my blog list, haven't you? Yesterday's entry is pretty cool. I'm linking them because they brought this other site to my attention. Ultimately, I'm sending you to look at Frank Chimero's graphic representations of some states. I think they're pretty cool and you should go look at them. I know at least one person who should get a kick out of ByGodWestVirginia!

Back to work now. (No time to proof this, so I hope I haven't made any stupid typos...smart typos are O.K.)

4 comments:

Tania said...

Maps are super cool. That's why I have an undergrad degree in Geography. I was going to work with GIS and Remote Sensing making cool maps on computers. Well, that didn't quite work out...

Strange Maps is a great site. I loved the Swiss Air map from the other day.

Steve Buchheit said...

Love maps because I usually find a better way to get where I'm going than what the GPS and mapservices can give me.

Nathan said...

Tania,

I missed that one the other day. Excellent!

Steve, I feel the same way. And what did I find when I got home...Jim's post today about neat handheld GPS devices...and I want one! The terrain mapping looks so f'ing cool. (Don't tell him I said so.)

Jim Wright said...

Yeah, Steve, don't tell me. :)