Mining Statistics

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on July 23, 2009 • manifold map visualization: mining • COMMENT

So what do you do when a friend wonders about mining fatalities and the difficulties of putting into perspective the differences between U.S. and China? You make a map!.. an infographic?

A bit time consuming but I miss the design aspects of mapmaking especially in this age where mashups rule. This is not to say I’m against mashups – in fact, like a good geo-data girl, I’ve uploaded the U.S. mining dataset to Geocommons. Did you know Geocommons already provides 15 pages of ‘mining’ data already?

China’s figure of 3,215 coal mining deaths was provided by their State Administration of Work Safety (which, by the way, had originally mistakenly announced that 91,172 people have perished. Still, 3,215 deaths is 107 TIMES the number of deaths in the U.S. (30). It’s hard to believe China has actually reduced the number of mining accidents over the years. In 2003? 7,200 deaths….

Black and White D.C.

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on March 8, 2009 • manifold • COMMENT

As part of my ongoing experimentation with Manifold, I mapped D.C. population by race according to the 2000 Census. Here are the results:

Notice the geographical split of the Black and White population in our nation’s capital. To the west of Rock Creek Park is mainly the White population and to the east, the Black population.

I’d be interested to see how other cities compare to D.C. Are others more complex in nature with a core of certain races here and there, or are they more similar to D.C. with a single well defined line?

Where do I start?

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on February 28, 2009 • manifold review • COMMENT

I’m finally starting to understand Manifold! Fortunately, they have an excellent online manual where I can learn all about ‘Drawings’ and ‘Themes’ and ‘Maps’ and so forth. Trust me, a ‘Drawing’…… barely qualifies as a drawing.

As a test today, I started downloading some data from the DC Office of the Chief Technology Officer in order to create a simple DC map showing each of their wards. After a bit of trouble with changing projections, adding multiple layers, and exporting, I produced this map.

Not bad, I think. Manifold definitely has a large number of capabilities, many of which I have not touched and/or yet discovered. It’s not free but it is only $250.. a much cheaper alternative than you know what.

As implied earlier, I’m still learning Manifold but I wanted to show off a nice feature they now support. Exporting to KML! Works like a charm – DC KML

2009: Year of the Manifold

by KUMIKO YAMAZAKI on January 4, 2009 • manifold • 3 COMMENTS

Happy 2009 everyone!

After a busy month and a half (making my rounds in New York City, Philadelphia, DC and New Orleans), I’m ready to devote some time to Mapkist finally.

What I’m looking forward to is testing out Manifold, the ultimate GIS and mapping package! Or at least that’s what they claim. I’ve already installed Vista on my Mac OSX Leopard so everything is good to go.  Free GIS software can only get me so far, we’ll have to wait and see what types of functionality Manifold can bring and if it’s web 2.0-friendly.

Manifold updates coming soon!