For a private project of mine as well as in the context of a data analysis foray on behalf of GeoBeer, I wanted to use the content that has been published on the GIS-centric message board Geowebforum. In order to achieve this, I had to do some webscraping. To that end, I used Python and … Continue reading Scraping data from a GIS web forum using Python
Today, Swiss daily TagesAnzeiger featured a great piece about climate change and shrinking Swiss glaciers. The article features: an animated GIF showing the overall area of glaciers that was lost to melting as compared to the area of the canton of Zurich. This is useful to give the audience a (more) relatable comparison. a small … Continue reading Reworked: “Gletscherschwund” by TagesAnzeiger
John Nelson‘s blog post on Lego-ified maps inspired me to play around with some satellite imagery myself. John’s description of the process is very clear and easy to follow. The only thing I’d add is a recommendation to use a graphics software that has a function to “Pixelate” or “Downsample” images. I used Paint.net on … Continue reading Lego maps
One would assume the case of metric vs. imperial units to be settled once you lose a $ 327.6 million space mission to faulty calculations involving imperial units. Yet, I know staunch defenders of the imperial units system. This rant is for them (transcript follows): In metric, one milliliter of water occupies one cubic centimeter, … Continue reading Rant: Metric vs. imperial
I’ve updated the GeoHipster Map, i.e. the map of the followers of @GeoHipster that I initially published in 2014. Of course, this map is not to be confused with the authoritative Map of GeoHipster Sightings over at the headquarter. Mine is like the theoretical spatial distribution in equilibrium state, the Sighting Map is conceptually closer … Continue reading Updated global GeoHipster map
I sometimes wonder where do ideas come from. And more to the point: How to produce better ideas? Or good ideas faster or more often? I’ve come across a short video by Kirby Ferguson, maker of Everything is a Remix, in which he talks exactly about these questions. Since some of his points ring true … Continue reading How to get ideas
→ What it’s like to read with dyslexia People with dyslexia, or reading disorder, struggle to read texts because their brains have problems processing language. Daniel Britton, a typeface designer and dyslexic, set out to create a typeface that would allow people not affected by the condition to experience what it might feel like to … Continue reading Finds V
Since last week there is a new addition in the small Switzerland-focused and GIS-related part of Twitter. This is as good an opportunity as any to list the few entryways into that small Twitter niche. Here are the (subjectively) most relevant accounts and hashtags I know: SwissGIS list and hashtag Under the monicker “SwissGIS” I … Continue reading Swiss GIS news, Twitter edition
During commuting or sports I often listen to podcasts. As I’m always glad about new podcast recommendations from friends and colleagues I decided to make a list of some podcast I particularly enjoy these days. Maybe something for your summer? This American Life NPR’s This American Life produces an episode every week, typically about an … Continue reading My podcast recommendations
Esri might not quite work like Apple. Ok, likely not at all. But I’m pretty sure the demo computers at the Esri User Conference are vetted thoroughly before the event. Yet, Seth Stark has posted the following on Twitter: So, some Esri employee was demoing ArcGIS Pro while having QGIS visibly installed on their system. … Continue reading Tool partisanship sucks
Few days ago, Spencer Chen posted this picture on Twitter: and commented: Nothing is original, esp. in #design. (btw, these are NOT the logos of Medium, AirBNB, Flipboard, and Beats) That’s right. Spencer’s photograph contains the names of the institutions those logos belong(ed) to: a publishing company, a drive-in, an oil company and a city in Germany. … Continue reading Logo look-alikes
→ Reconsider Schumpeter, disruption, break things, unicorns eating the world. This article by David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails and founder of Basecamp, on starting up is the opposite: “Part of the problem seems to be that nobody these days is content to merely put their dent in the universe. No, they have … Continue reading Finds IV
