The United States of Drunk Driving

From Thatsaabguy:

One of my favorite non-map-related daily websites is Jalopnik, a haven for automotive crazies like myself. A recent story from Insure.com listed the cities witht he highest percentages of drunk drivers in their juristictions. The numbers may surprise you:

Find the original article here.

Border Hunting

From Thatsaabguy:

Yes, I love maps. But what I love even MORE is border hunting, and highpointing. I'll get to the latter in a future post, but first, let's talk about borders. Every country, city, county, parish, state, municipality and township has them. To some they are just lines on a map. To others, like Jan Krogh, and Jesper Nielsen, they are a passion.

Golfing between Finland and Sweden - one hell of a lie

Consider: Jan Krogh's GeoSite and Jesper's Borderbase.

Here you can find lists, links, photos and descriptions of weird border crossings, exclaves and enclaves, divided towns, tri-point markers from all over the world, a collection of passport stamps that brought a tear to my well-traveled eye, links to all manner of additional reading...the works. Jesper hails from my adoptive hometown of Harstad, Norway, so we're kinda like long-lost twins who've never met. Except I'm far better looking.

The tri-point map of Poland, Belorussia and Ukraine

As a border freak myself, I have gone to the farthest-flung points of the earth in order to "bag" another marker or border. See for yourself our summer 2008 expedition to FINORU, otherwise known as the tri-point between Finland, Norway and Russia. We also drove to, quite literally, the End Of The Road in Norway, where one must either turn back or find a way to drive north over the Barents Sea (our earlier attempt at the FINOSE tripoint having been thwarted by ice on the lake. In July. Oh, and zombies. Long story.) Fortunately, we also live quite near the US-Canada border, so every time we head north is like a slice of border-hunter heaven.

Looking due east along the 49th Parallel, with White Rock BC to the left and Blaine WA to the right

If you see what you like and wish to join the rest of the border freaks, feel free to join us on our Yahoo email group called BorderPoint, and tell us about your interesting border stories, or just listen in - you never know WHAT you might learn!

Dining Carto-Socially

On AllFacebook.com blah blah blah How Social Are U.S. Restaurants On Facebook? blah blah something about social-marketing your business blah blah.... I just want this table in my dining room:

Apparently, Santa Was Not Consulted

From Thatsaabguy:

One of the biggest geographical battles of recent memory has revolved around the oil-rich, polar-bear-infested, ice-melting home of Kris Kringle, the Arctic Ocean (and, more specifically, who gets to call dibs on the potential oil and gas deposits located therein). Every country with even the slightest possibility of a claim to the top of the globe has come out swinging, in some cases even planting flags on the seabed in the hopes of claiming "finders keepers".

Some countries, like Canada and Russia, have very legitimate claims to the Pole - they do, indeed, own the vast majority of coastline surrounding the Arctic Ocean. Other countries, such as Denmark/Greenland, Norway and the United States, can lay claim to some small portion of the disputed area in one form or another. There's also the argument of Law of the Sea, which only allows each country a 200 nautical mile claim outwards from their coastlines, which leaves vast swaths of the Arctic technically unclaimable.

This week, the normally docile Canadian Parliament got all uppity with Russia, and insisted that their claim to the Lomonosov Range - an underwater mountain range that physically connects the roofs of these two countries - is more valid than that of their Eastern (Northern? Over-The-Top?) counterparts.

With all the melting ice, opening sea passages and continually annoyed polar bears, it's hard to say who will emerge victorious in this kerfluffle, but one thing is certain - we have some shiny maps to consider. Here's Canada's somewhat optimistic outlook:


And another from Russia's also rose-colored viewpoint:
Here's a juicy, confusing map that makes the whole situation clear as mud:



(Link to the original Durham University paper on the whole mess)

Another one from the BBC that clears things up a tiny little bit:

One thing is for certain in all this: a whole lot of people in a whole lot of countries are going to be getting coal in their stockings this holiday season:



The North Pole on Cartophilia

North VS South

From Thatsaabguy:

One of my favorite webcomics is XKCD, a delightful mix of computer, gaming and observational insanity that never fails to leave me in stitches. Yeah, so some of the jokes are obscure and a bit tech-slanted...even more reason to love it so!

Here's one from a couple weeks back that not only contains a map, but a thought-provoking laugh as well:




Check it out every few days at XKCD.

#675

Spiral Island

A man lives on an artificial island made of recycled plastic bottles.

Richie Sowa's Spriral Islanders


Via Boing Boing

The New Iron Curtain?

This week on Slate:

A Tale of Two Europes By Anne Applebaum

"Forget East and West, Europe is dividing itself into North and South."



From 1947 to 1991 the Cold War divided Europe into East and West. Winston Churchill popularized the term "Iron Curtain" to describe the dividing line. In her article, Applebaum discusses the new economic relationships in Europe, and sees a new division: North and South. In her (admittedly broad) generalizations, the countries of the North have embraced austerity measures to deal with the economic downturn, while the South is in a bit of a shambles... (France and the UK appear to be somewhere in the middle.) I just read them... I don't write them.

But I was inspired to draw the new "Iron Curtain" on this map.

T-Shirt Tuesday: There And Back Again, By Rail

If only Frodo and Sam could have used this transit system. They would have been able to destroy the ring and be home in time for tea.



"There and Back Again" from Threadless Tees

Also available as a print

What is T-Shirt Tuesday?

Other map T-shirts on Cartophilia

HT to James at Spatial Analysis

Jello World

Look how the Earth jiggles... would that be like a 100 on the Richter Scale?



From My Food Looks Funny

Texas Toast...?

From Thatsaabguy:

This week finds Yr. Obt. Svt. shilling shirts at Dragon*Con, a fantastic sci-fi convention that overtakes downtown Atlanta every Labor Day weekend. I've been a bit busy to hunt down any neat new mappy goodness - but that doesn't mean said goodness doesn't find ME on occasion.

To wit: I had to fly from Seattle to Dallas, there to drive a van full of product across the Deep South (wearing a Utilikilt, no less!) I had to spend the night in a Super 8 near DFW, and they offered your typical free cheap hotel breakfast, complete with make-your-own-waffle service.

You know you're in Texas when even your breakfast breadstuffs are shaped like the place:


Mmmmmm, tasty, tasty Texas.

#670

United States of Star Wars

Star Wars fan and blogger, Rogue Leader, has created this map, The United States of Star Wars:



Each state has been assigned a planet from the Star Wars universe according to "types of people in the state and planet, famous landmarks, or slightly randomly selected."

I don't know much about Star Wars geography, but this is a pretty map.

Star Wars previously on Cartophilia: May the 4th Be With You

My favorite Star Wars related web comic: Blue Milk Special. A loving parody of the original Star Wars trilogy. Start from the beginning for best results. They will be starting The Empire Strikes Back soon...

HT to jonlc