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Wind Map of US Will Blow You Away
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Talk about visualizations. Ever wondered what the wind would look like if you could see it in action from above? A new project posted online by a pair of Google computer scientists, called simply Wind Map, has to be seen to be believed. "It can be quite hypnotizing to watch the gusty trails blast across the American continent, skitter over the Sierras, get roughed up by the Rockies, and whoosh over the great plains on its way to Canada," writes Chris Taylor. Wind Map is the brainchild of Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg, the co-leaders of Google's 'Big Picture' visualization research group in Cambridge, Mass. Wind patterns are constantly changing, of course, which is why the Wind Map designers have also given us a moving-image gallery of previous blustery days."
Yeah, stupid. It just averages out to a predictable level over the whole grid, effects minimal pollution and, well, just works. Greetings from Europe - with apologies to all decent people in the US, we kinda find it amusing to see you sliding back into your personal version of the dark ages.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
This is incredible technology. Wouldn't you love to have some checkboxes to turn on/off: state borders, topography, jet stream, hi/lo pressure systems, time display...
Mountain ranges might be an interesting one, perhaps different wind layers as well
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
That's why people have focussed on making very fast Javascript engines over the last couple of years -- to enable stuff like this.
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
Yeah, cutting solar subsidies, because it is becoming self-sustaining by now and cutting nuclear because it was never sustainable without unloading a shitload of externalities on everyone. We did not like that, and, unlike some other western nations, we have a functioning democracy.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.