Google acknowledges that their Biking Directions are still in beta: "Use caution and please report unmapped bike routes, streets that aren't suited for cycling, and other problems."
Among the stories told - the proposed State of Navajo:
While the intent was to give the people of the Navajo Nation greater representation, one of the biggest drawbacks would be the elimination of the Four Corners!
Some folks have different ideas on how to divide the Minnesota Territory:
Wiser heads prevailed. (What a barren wasteland West Dakota might have been...)
When rivers change their course, it sometimes takes decades for nations to sort out their borders, creating opportunity:
These stories and maps and more can be found in Lost States. I would love to scan and post more of these maps, but I'm sure Mr. Trinklein and his publisher would object... fortunately, they have started a new Lost States Blog to promote the book, reproducing more of the maps.
So why don’t Jews write more fantasy literature? And a different, deeper but related question: why are there no works of modern fantasy that are profoundly Jewish in the way that, say, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is Christian? Why no Jewish Lewises, and why no Jewish Narnias?
In the course of this discussion, Weingrad reviews two examples of "Jewish fantasy" novels, The Magicians by Lev Grossman and Ha-Mayim she-bein ha-olamot (The Water Between the Worlds) by Hagar Yanai. The latter novel, written in Hebrew, includes a map of an alternate-history Europe and Middle East dominated by the Babylonian Empire.
On the Map will offer ten 15-minute reviews of modern maps and map making. In the first episode, Parker will explore the maps he fell in love with as a teenager - Ordnance Survey maps. The series is scheduled to air on BBC 4 at 15:45 GMT (11:45am EDT). You can listen live online, but I cannot yet tell if they will archive the programmes for future listening. I will update this post if I learn more.
UPDATE: BBC 4 has a "Listen Now" link for the first episode, The Map Makers, that is supposed to be good for seven days.
Additional details about the programme at Collins Maps.
Yet another piece of the geography of The Simpsons' mysterious Springfield was revealed last Sunday. In "Postcards From The Wedge", Bart discovers their town's long forgotten subway system:
The Simpsons' Springfield previously on Cartophilia:
Christoph Niemann: Why have I not been reading your New York Times blog, Abstract City, all along? I'm loving all your illustrations, not just the mappish ones (See last week's New York City in Legos - and yes, Mr. Anonymous, I'm still spelling it that way... deal).
This month, he shares some Google Maps "His Way", including this reference to one of my favorite films:
Which all reminded me of the Internet hoax from 2008, when the artist finally admitted that he didn’t use GPS & DHL shipping to create the ‘Biggest Drawing in the World’:
The Official Carto-Home® is currently in disarray as we are "re-doing" the kitchen: Crumbling walls being repaired, new electric circuits, re-painting old cabinets, and new tile on the floor.
Have no fear, our Carto-Cat® is not dead... he's just big boned.
I tried to convince Mrs. Cartophiliac® to consider a map-tile map mosaic on the kitchen floor, but it was a no go.
The best I could do is talk her in to Carto-Dishtowels®
The "Mercator Projection Dishtowel" does not actually appear to be a Mercator map of anything, but looks good anyway.
Christoph Niemann’s illustrations have appeared on the covers of The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine and American Illustration. His newest book, I LEGO N.Y., shows us another view of New York, with Legos, including maps:
Fans of the ABC television program, Lost, are excited that the final season has begun. Maybe... just maybe they'll finally get some answers... I tried to watch a bit of the show in the first season but generally couldn't bring myself to care.
However, just any other fantasy world (see Lord of the Rings, etc.), Lost fans enjoy creating maps:
The folks at io9.com have pulled together a collection of Lost maps and diagrams, including "Inside the Hatch" and a transit map!:
No spoilers here... My prediction: The series will end as equally satisfying as the finale of The Sopranos.