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Mapping a World of Human Activity

Posted by samzenpus on from the these-are-the-people-in-your-neighborhood dept.

misterbarnacles writes "A Cartography of the Anthropocene maps the various ways that global humanity connects and is interdependent. From the article: 'Using data gathered from U.S. government agencies, anthropologist Felix Pharand-Deschenes has created a collection of maps that illustrate the various circulatory systems that connect humanity: cities, roads, railways, power lines, pipelines, cable Internet, airlines, and shipping lanes. The maps are remarkable cartographic documents of our current age, but also serve deeper research and educational purposes.'"

36 comments

  1. Which means... by Geek70 · · Score: 0

    ...that it will largely give an indication of geographical features as they are the main dictators of where cities, roads, railways, power lines, pipelines, cable Internet, airlines, and shipping lanes can go.

    1. Re:Which means... by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 1

      Geographical features really don't shape air traffic.

    2. Re:Which means... by Geek70 · · Score: 2

      To some degree, they do. Airport locations have clear requirements and flight paths avoid population centres when possible due to noise pollution. Mountain ranges or areas with known volatile weather patterns also dictate some flight paths. This is mainly for smaller aircraft rather than the truly high-flying international flights.

  2. And.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The site is down.

  3. Not a car analogy: by Tastecicles · · Score: 2

    I used to use a simple program to monitor a couple IRC chatrooms; it created a timelapse map of interactions between members. It was fascinating to see the map literally breathe, but it also served a more important purpose in studying the interactions of those members with a 'bot script I created to run alongside. The results surprised me.

    I went in expecting just one or two of the nerdier members interacting with the bot (the regulars knew it was a bot, the transients didn't) to "teach" it new responses to key words and phrases. What I found was pretty much everyone in the chatrooms interacting with the bot to the point of saturation. In fact I had to upgrade the hardware just so it could keep up.

    I didn't have to look at the chat logs to see this behaviour, it was all on the maps and the ever increasing 'bot database.

    FWIW, the mapping software was called PieSpy. I have since, unfortunately, lost the 'bot database and am not in a mind currently to recreate it.

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    1. Re:Not a car analogy: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pics or it didn't happen.

    2. Re:Not a car analogy: by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

      said the AC.

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      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    3. Re:Not a car analogy: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see no pics, I see only words.

      You claim to have seen the throbbing heart of the Internet, enraptured by its cybernetic beauty... ... but you took no screencaps?

      Lies, damn lies, on Slashdot.

    4. Re:Not a car analogy: by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

      Said the AC. If you're gonna call me do it with a UID.

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      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    5. Re:Not a car analogy: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I need no UID. I have truth behind me.

    6. Re:Not a car analogy: by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

      there's your version of the "truth" then there's mine. Guess what? I was there, my truth is based on fact. You weren't, your truth is based on your desire to be first in a pissing contest in which you were the only entrant because most of the rest of us have the maturity to take a man at his word.

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    7. Re:Not a car analogy: by ZorroXXX · · Score: 0

      said the AC.

      Would you please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem?

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      When you are sure of something, you probably are wrong (search for "Unskilled and Unaware of It").
    8. Re:Not a car analogy: by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

      Ah, Wikipedia, that most reliable of sources... Would you please read this?

      Try this for size; I did some collaboration with Dr. Jolanda Tromp after meeting her at a LUG open day, from which I started the research on IRC. This was while she was writing her paper on CoVEn and following projects (IIRC CoVEn got an extension of four years), out of which she gained her post-Doctorate. I have a hardcopy of her thesis "Systematic Usability Design and Evaluation for Collaborative Virtual Environments (2001)" which she personally gave me in recognition of my efforts. Then she moved into a cave house in Spain and we kept in touch for a few years via Second Life (Bluepill island) after that.

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      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
  4. How long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    before he receive a visit from homeland security for posting on the internet data that may be used by terrorists.

    1. Re:How long by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      The throbbing bright animated choke points with very very few expensive interconnects between telco thiefdoms.

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      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  5. Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We slashdotted it.

  6. Nova Scotia Exists! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love how my shitty little province in Canada glows on those maps. And how the coastline lights up but the interior is mostly dark.. that's how it is down east.

    Also, the West is rich as fuck.

    Also also, Tibet is dark as fuck.

    1. Re:Nova Scotia Exists! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      Mostly due to This Hour Has 22 Minutes and the move to Internet by the province.

      Which you can follow on twitter.

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    2. Re:Nova Scotia Exists! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I assume that by 'the province' you mean the provincial government, because I was on the net in 1990 in the dungeons of the dal. I was video chatting before most people had heard of the web with cu-seeme.

      I only started so late because I was born too late.

      We've had the net for a while.

    3. Re:Nova Scotia Exists! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      I assume that by 'the province' you mean the provincial government, because I was on the net in 1990 in the dungeons of the dal. I was video chatting before most people had heard of the web with cu-seeme.

      I only started so late because I was born too late.

      We've had the net for a while.

      I know, I used to be on the Net back at SFU in the late 70s.

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  7. serve deeper research and educational purposes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nuke here, here and here for maximum effect!

  8. Better Link by ideonexus · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think a Link to the Original Images is preferable. These are much larger, there are more of them, and some are javascript rollovers.

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    i ~ Celebrating Science, Cyberspace, Speculation
    1. Re:Better Link by zzyzyx · · Score: 1

      Thanks for this. This is very annoying to see posted a bunch of images resized just to fit the stupid layout and then have to play the "via" game.
      For this one I counted 5 hops :
      Shareable
      via MyModernMet
      via Visual News
      via inhabitat.com
      via The Telegraph

      Some of them linked to the globaia website but none to the actual relevant page.

  9. Better Link by ideonexus · · Score: 0

    I think a Link to the Original Images is preferable. These are much larger, there are more of them, and some are javascript rollovers.

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    i ~ Celebrating Science, Cyberspace, Speculation
  10. Surprisingly, there are other connections by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    While this is great news for the FBI and CIA and the other groups I shall not name (given my past SECRET clearance), there are other connections as well.

    Just today one of the people who has been reading my twitter posts (mostly thru RTs) finally realized my pic was at the exact same place her pic was at, on Mount Washburn at Yellowstone Park, and, in point of fact, had been taken within a day or two of when mine was.

    Even though we were both from Seattle and this was quite a distance away.

    A good analyst would realize that pictures taken by different people have value-added connections that indicate shared values, aspirations, and other connection points, which is how, if we wanted to actually stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons like the other 15 nuclear nations in the Middle East and adjacent countries that aren't in NATO, we could find agents to tap and trace them.

    But that would be obvious.

    And impossible to defeat.

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    1. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by khallow · · Score: 1

      A good analyst would realize that pictures taken by different people have value-added connections that indicate shared values, aspirations, and other connection points, which is how, if we wanted to actually stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons like the other 15 nuclear nations in the Middle East and adjacent countries that aren't in NATO, we could find agents to tap and trace them.

      Three things. First, there are two current nuclear powers in the Middle East, Israel and Pakistan. Second, pictures of Yellowstone don't give you any value concerning Iranian nuclear programs. You have to have pictures from the relevant locations. And that's the thing that Iran and any other country with half a brain has figured out. Don't let people take pictures of your secret locations and the above analysis can't be done.

      Finally, we already know Iran has a nuclear program. That knowledge hasn't stopped them from continuing. What has slowed them down is a fairly clever bit of sabotage and perhaps killing a few people in key positions.

    2. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think there has ever been a behavior more hypocritical and showing how much of a dick the US is, than the country with the batshit insane leadership who already has thousands of nukes, has already used them, *and* wages not one, not two, but *three* actual real wars, (plus two dozen covert ones), telling the other country with the batshit insane leadership who doesn't have more than hot air to not also build nukes.

      You just want to be the only crazy nukers out there, and everybody knows it. Fuck you! NOBODY should have nukes.
      And unless you destroy ALL of your own nukes, biochemical and other weapons of mass-destruction, you don't get to comment on any other country's similar weapons.
      (I mean this in general, regardless if you're the US, Iran or whoever.)

    3. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 2

      What has slowed them down is a fairly clever bit of sabotage and perhaps killing a few people in key positions.

      Yes, and slowing down plus creating a lot of additional hatred is the only thing these measures will ever achieve. Unless you continually bomb their universities and research facilities, a developed country that wants to build a nuclear weapon will at one day or another be able to build one. (Of course, it also doesn't help that the US and Israel already have many more nuclear weapons than Iran, it's neighboring country has recently been attacked and conquered by the US, and the US and Israel have de facto waged more attack wars than Iran.)

    4. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      Three things. First, there are two current nuclear powers in the Middle East, Israel and Pakistan

      Bzzt. Wrong.

      There are more.

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    5. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by khallow · · Score: 1

      There are more.

      Name them.

    6. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      You don't have clearance.

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    7. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by khallow · · Score: 1

      So your claim is bullshit. Why am I not surprised?

    8. Re:Surprisingly, there are other connections by Xest · · Score: 1

      We know other countries have tried, like Syria, but thus far failed, but the vast majority of other countries simply couldn't afford a nuclear program, let alone succesfully follow one through unnoticed by the rest of the world. Potentially some of the ex-soviet states could have hidden arsenals but I don't think that would be possible as Russia is a key member of the NPT so would likely admit to that and force decommissioning of those arms in those countries as happened with the Ukraine. Certainly if as he said, 15 other countries than Israel had nuclear programs then basically there'd be no point having the NPT anymore and neither the US nor Russia would be willing to reduce armament under it as the whole of the middle east would basically be nuclear capable.

      Besides, he said he only had secret clearance not top secret so wouldn't be privy to that sort of information anyway, and frankly people who really are security cleared at this level aren't so insecure as to need to flaunt it on the internet. They'd never clear someone that emotionally weak with so much vulnerability to for example, people like Anna Chapman, in the first place.

      Any lower level stuff he might have had access to if cleared for secret level access is frankly actually much more mudane and boring, for example you may have access at this level if you were producing or repackaging some training materials for the military and whilst you could tell people what you were doing the secret part would be the contents of those materials. This one example, but as I say, it's really not that exciting.

      So yeah, he's full of shit.

  11. Now that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... is majorly badass. Nice work.

    1. Re:Now that... by kermidge · · Score: 1

      Yup. Might neat stuff, indeed. I'd like to see this integrated with Google Earth.

  12. Except South America and Australia... by wanzeo · · Score: 1

    ... you are not important enough to show.