“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
— Albert Einstein
Utilizing spatial information systems for non-spatial-data analysis
L. J. Old. Utilizing spatial information systems for non-spatial-data analysis. Scientometrics, 51(3):563–571, 2001. [url]
—————————–
The author presents some methodologies for using GIS-specific visualization techniques to convert the data to a form that has spatial attributes. The aim is to allow the viewer to gain an intuition about the relationships of the datas.
The main method chosen by the user is the multi-dimensional scaling, connected to an output in two-dimension which uses isolines, or in three-dimension, using view of accumulated counts.
The results are compared to Kohonen “spheres of influence”. Finally some graphical usability issues are raised.
Copyright notice: the present content was taken from the following URL, the copyrights are reserved by the respective author/s.
Tags: clustering, map algorithms, maps, spatial clustering
w la ricerca
Today I managed to see this TV documentary titled: “w la ricerca”. The outcome is an image of Italy’s research as the “Sick man of the world”! Brain drain is just the head of the iceberg. An in-depth look shows a society that is just used to corruption …. sad …
The program is still available on streaming on raiclick if you manage to have a DSL connection. If you don’t manage please drop me a line :-).
[Here the synopsis (in italian)]
Tic-Tac-Textiles
‘Tic’ and ‘tac’ are two pieces of furniture, ideal for tea and coffee fika breaks. Taking a comfortable seat on ‘tic’ and setting your hot cup on the attached table activates patterns hidden in the table’s textile surface. These patterns – your ‘x’ or ‘o’ mark – are communicated to the textile surface in ‘tac’. By intention or accident, you can discover and invite another into an aesthetic and subtle game of ‘tic-tac-toe’ that lasts just as long as your coffee stays hot.
Tags: interactive furniture
ET-Map
In 1995, a testbed of 110,000 Internet homepages from the entertainment section of Yahoo! was gathered by an Internet Spider. An automatic indexing algorithm was applied to the homepages and a concept space (ET-Space) and multi-layered Kohonen SOM (ET-Map) were created.
A 2-D multi-layered SOM was generated from the entertainment collection. Text labels and colors are used to demarcate regions in the SOM, color has no specific meaning. SOMs will cluster similar categories near each other on the map. Clicking on a map region will take you down a layer in a multi-layered map, or show you the documents associated with that category if the number of documents is less than 200. [url]
This image is based on the ET-Map created by a team led by Hsinchun Chen. © National Science Foundation
Tags: clustering, map algorithms, maps
A mac mini in the wall of the kitchen
This is something for Zeno’s macminicenter portal:
An individual calling himself “Lilmuckers” has posted the process he went through to build a mac-mini into the wall of his kitchen. “It is hidden and everything works perfectly.” he says.
(via)
Anamorphosis maps of traveling time in Europe
Reposting from Pasta&Vinegar these amazing maps.
Those anamorphosis maps shows the rail travel times in Europe. Taken from Spiekermann, K. and M. Wegener. 1996. Trans-European Networks and Unequal Accessibility in Europe. European Journal of Regional Development 4:35-42.
Tags: anamorphosis maps, maps
Chronically poor populations
The Chronic Poverty Centre has published a Chronic Poverty Report, which measures chronic poverty as the amount of people who spend most or all of the time in destitution, i.e. on an income of less than $1 a day. It’s interesting stuff, but one thing really grabs the attention: this map (click for a larger version) of chronic poverty around the world, where a country’s size represents its number of chronically poor, and it’s shade the proportion of the whole population who are chronically poor.
(via)
Tags: maps, politics, anamorphosis maps, society
End of armed campaign in Northern Ireland
I worked in Ireland for two years and a half, I visited Belfast many times. It was a plagued city.
I have to admit that this news astonished me, but at the same time the more I thought about it the more it started to make sense. History is changing rapidly the sense of the word: “terrorism”. If I were in the IR Army I would feel obliged to distinguish my political intentions from this no sensed terroristic activities of killings and bombings.
Time will tell if this act was a collective decision or just a political show off. I hope that the british government will take this seriously and will make their step.
There are no sides of the river, there is only one flow
Copyright notice: the present content was taken from the following URL, the copyrights are reserved by the respective author/s.
Tags: interaction design, politics, society
Tout Rennes blogue
This project really thrills me. The idea is to give to the citizen of a city a place where to share their idea about the places of the city. Here they can collect their impressions, stories, suggestions. A nice interface allows also for a geographical browsing of the posts. France is really ahead on eGovernment! I wonder how these information will be used for the urban planning of the city. To be continued …
“Tout Rennes blogue” est un projet d’expression des habitants créé par la Ville de Rennes, et qui s’inscrit directement dans l’événement “Rennes, une envie de ville”. Cette grande manifestation, qui aura lieu du 14 au 30 octobre 2005 au Liberté, invitera les Rennais au dialogue, à l’échange, à la mobilisation et à la réflexion autour du thème du “vivre ensemble”.
Tags: maps, new technology, politics, society, tagging