Final Project

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8zxef7iq12a1ve/FP_2.swf

Map Post #11

I’ve seen other maps related to Wikipedia before, but this one is pretty interesting. It shows the Wikipedia edits over the course of one day, each edit is symbolized by the abbreviation for the language it was written in. The color scheme reminds of a Lite Brite, thanks to the monochromatic background and colorful symbols. There’s a temporal element to the map, which begins at midnight on July 29, 2011. Simple zoom options are available, but the legends are hidden when zoomed in.

Source: http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/animations/requests/AnimationEditsOneDayWp.html

Map Post #10

My tenth map is a 3D  version of the London subway (tube) system.  The rail lines themselves remind me of long ropes of Play-Doh. The  3D buildings are added at their respective locations, making it easier for riders to get a sense of where they actually are. I like the white background and oblique angle, it makes it a bit modern.  Viewers are also able to pan and zoom in the map, although it becomes a bit choppy on the edges of the map.

Source: http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/googlemaps/tubebuildings.html

Map Post #9

This map, while not the flashiest, shows westward expansion in the United States.  It incorporates many features we’ve discussed in class: selectable layers, panning, zooming, collapsible legend, and popup windows.  Overall, it’s a clean, nicely done interactive map.

Source: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u5/

Map Post #8

The Nature Valley Trail View map has a great splash screen.  The map opens with stunning images of various national parks. From the splash screen, you can select a park from a drop down menu, view the map key, tutorial and more. This map was actually one of my inspiration maps for my final project. I love the wide, unobstructed view of the image and the transitions between images.

Source:  http://www.naturevalleytrailview.com/#

Map Post #7

The above map, centered on the west Pacific, shows the path of the total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009. The path of the solar eclipse is marked by the three red lines. When the total eclipse occurs at each location, the symbol will flash. Each sun uses a shape tween effect to depict how the eclipse looks at other locations at a specific time.

Source: http://science1.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2009/07/20/20jul_longestsolareclipse_resources/World.gif

Map Post #6

1

 This map shows sightings of the migration of high Arctic shorebirds. The sightings occurred in North America during 2006; the video plays the cycle twice. The colors of the squares change from white to red, depending on the number of sightings. Overall, the symbols remind me of confetti, and not so much birds.

Source: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdflu/AIscience/maps/

Lab 10

Lab 10  was quite annoying for me. At first I had trouble getting my maps to show up at all. I thought that I needed to put all of the scripts for each map under the same "function initialize ()" section; but that did not work for me. So I created a new section of "function initialize ()" for each map. It took a long time for me to get my third map to show up. In the end, I have no idea what the issue was. I worked on it one night with it not working, then when I checked it in the morning it worked- only the styled map was completely orange- no matter how zoomed in/out it was. Luckily, I had some code saved of another styled map I created; the new code worked just fine.

The maps that I chose are all places that I've visited here in Virginia: Merrimac Farm, Leesylvania State Park, and River Farm. All of the photos were taken by me.

Lab 9: Google Earth Experiments

Here is the link to my Avenged Sevenfold North American tour leg from October - December 2007.
Avenged Sevenfold Tour

(The KML files for Parts 1 and 2 are located within our class Dropbox folder)

Lab 8a

Lab 8b

Final Project Proposal

For our final project, I will create a virtual tour of the annual Bluebell Festival at Merrimac Farm for Prince William Conservation Alliance. The current web page for Prince William Conservation Alliance features photo collections and lists of the flora and fauna found at Merrimac Farm, as well as other Northern Virginia wildlife. There is a very simple trail map of the farm; it consists of aerial imagery with simple drawn trail lines.  Overall, the organization is lacking an online presentation of the bluebell festival. The actual festival is held on April 13, 2014.

The festival features ten separate tours of Merrimac Farm, each lasts approximately 90 minutes and covers approximately one mile. The tours are staggered to begin every 30 minutes, from 10:30 am to 3: 30 pm. Due to the timing; I will only be able to go on about three or four of the tours. Below are the tours.

Time	Tour Leader	Focus
10:30am	Larry Meade Northern Virginia Bird Club	Things that fly -- Birds, butterflies and dragonflies
11:00pm	Ernie Sears PWCA	Visit some of the best places for photos with camera and guide
11:30am	Julie Flanagan PWC Arborist	Trees and forest ecosystems
12:00pm	Charles Smith,Prince William Wildflower Society	Native plants - identification, interaction with wildlife and role in the floodplain environment
12:30am	Jeff Irwin & Bill Olson PWCA & Historic Prince William	History in the woods at theGreenlevel Cemetery
1:00pm	Harry Glasgow PWCA	Birding the Bluebell Trail
1:30pm	Judy Gallagher PWCA	Butterflies, bees & other pollinators that make wildflowers possible
2:00pm	Especially for Families	A hands-on, interactive exploration of habitats and wildlife.
2:30pm	Rachel Habig-Myers, Mosquito & Forest Pest Mgt.	Native trees, floodplain forests, and wildlife diversity
3:00pm	Kevin ParkerPWCA	Wildlife in the wetlands
3:30pm	Charlie Grymes	How Merrimac Farm was protected and opened for public use.

Source:  Prince William Conservation Alliance. http://www.pwconserve.org/merrimacfarm/bluebellfestival/index.html

While I’m on the tours, I will take significant amounts of photographs, videos, and notes.  The collected material will then be used as content for the virtual tour. The tour will be constructed in Flash, although it is likely that I’ll use Adobe Illustrator for details.  For the scope of this project, I will only create a presentation for one of the above tours. I will, however, add in additional tour data at a later time.  The image below shows the splash screen for the Prince William Forest Park virtual tour. My splash screen will either provide a selectable list/menu of each tour (or subject), or I might create an all-inclusive tour that encompasses everything. Either way, once the user selects a specific point on the base map, the tour will launch from that site. The base map will be a faux GIS style, featuring, at a minimum, aerial imagery and your standard Google-style street map. Ideally, there will be numerous photos for each spot, a brief video of the tour guide, and text. Additional photos can be obtained from the organization’s website. At the beginning of each segment, I’d like to use the VCAM on a photograph of the trail so that the user feels like they are actually entering the trail. The floodplain is supposed to be entirely filled with bluebells, so a 360 degree view would be great, but I’m not so sure about my video capabilities.

http://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/pwri/tour/index.htm

More inspiration:
http://www.naturevalleytrailview.com/#

Operation Barbarossa: Part 3, Lab 7

New features include an introduction screen, a rollover effect for Moscow, interactive buttons (Menu, Map, Photos, and Sources), hyperlinks within the Sources section, and upgraded text.

Operation Barbarossa: Part 2, Lab 6

There were two main challenges with this map version. The first issue was the mask: it just didn't work right away. My base map is a vector, but Flash CC didn't seem to care. Once I created the mask, the program appeared to create the mask in the timeline (the symbols next to my mask layers changed and my front line layer became indented), but the mask was never actually created on the stage. So then I decided to painfully digitize the coastlines and try the mask process again. It didn't work. For some reason, I couldn't even fill that object. So then I created another digitized coastline and was able to fill it -- and the mask finally worked. The next issue was with my front line. The shape hints just did not work for me and the program makes certain parts of my boundary "roll". Did anyone else have this issue? New features to the map are the front line layer, improved unit routes, and the playhead on my slider now moves with the timeline (it was previously stationary).

Operation Barbarossa

I had originally used boots as my unit symbols, but with the size of my movie, it was quite difficult to see the unit numbers on top of the boots. In the end, I just settled on the rectangle and oval shapes to represent the infantry and panzergruppe (tank) units. Yes, it's a bit boring, but it will have to do for now. After creating the symbols, it occurred to me that a legend was needed. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room on my stage to add a legend, which eventually led to me creating my roll-over legend.

Financial Service Locations in Nigeria

If you ever find yourself traveling to Nigeria, then you might want to check out this map before you go. Users can turn on/off each layer to see ATM locations, political boundaries, cell phone coverage, post offices, and everything else financial-related. Similar options are available for Tanzania, Uganda, and Bangladesh, but Nigeria has the most map layers to choose from. The map analysis tools allow users to enter a desired radius to see all financial locations within that area, and/or calculate the population totals within the radius of your selected financial location.


Source: http://www.fspmaps.com/

Winter Olympics 2014: Sochi Map

If realistic maps are not for you, then check out this interactive map of Sochi. It's quite colorful and has lovely little details: smoke puffing from the ships, a moving ski lift, flickering flames, and even freakishly large people. The mouse allows users to pan through the map and clicking on points of interest will produce a pop-up data window. The data window gives factoids and even the cost of that facility.

Map Find: Timelines

The Lord of the Rings Project (http://lotrproject.com/thehobbit/map) created the above interactive map with a timeline for The Hobbit . Clicking on each event on the left timeline will automatically center the map on that even location. One of my favorite things about The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series are the maps. Using this map is definitely easier than flipping back and forth between pages in the books.

 

Lab #4

Lab #3: Added Interactivity

Forest Fires are Bad!

Weekly Map Post #2

The above map is a wonderful example of a map that allows you to move through the timeline with simple buttons. The static image doesn't show the buttons, but when viewing the actual map- the buttons tell you which year you are moving forward/backward to. Certain areas on the map feature mouse-rollovers and explain why there is change in that particular region. I also like the color choices; they coordinate with each other and don't clash.

Source: http://www.timemaps.com/history

The Buffalo Bills' Unfortunate Path to Super Bowl XXV

Lab 1: A Simple Static Map

Interactive Tourist Map for Savannah, Georgia

Five years ago I was lucky enough to get to live in Savannah, Georgia for eight months. The city is beautiful and very walk-able. This tourist map features several categories that can be toggled on and off: local favorites, places to stay, food and drink,shopping, entertainment, arts and culture, outdoor activities, and tours and adventures. The map features a color scheme that is a nice break from the typical Google Map scheme. Additional detailed information appears as the user zooms in on a location. The green nine-square grids on the map are the famous square of Savannah. Click on the source link below to visit the actual map.

Source: http://www.visitsavannah.com/map.aspx#map/LocalFavorites/All