With recent technological advances, namely in the cell phone industry, neogeography has become a huge part of our everyday lives. Neogeography, which is essentially the use of mapping tools by people who are not considered to be professional geographers, is utilized in a variety of ways. For example, when an individual with a GPS-enabled phone goes to a restaurant, he or she can “check-in” to the restaurant on Facebook, write a restaurant review on Yelp, send a “Tweet” about the restaurant, or take pictures of the restaurant and post them on all three of the aforementioned sites. In a positive light, this appears to be fantastic because of the ease at which it allows all of us to share information about locations. Google Maps, for example, will not only give you directions to a destination from a specific location, but it will also give you information about your destination, and where other venues (such as restaurants, gas stations, etc.) are along the way, information about these secondary venues, and so on. With regard to travelling, programs like Google Maps also release “live” information, information that is continuously updated, about traffic development, construction detours, and bus schedule alterations. It makes more efficient travelling possible by reducing the chance of a traveler getting lost. This type of technology makes it simple to figure out where to go and how to get there. The amount of information we can access thanks to neogeography is endless.
While neogeography allows us to learn more information about places, it also can help us figure out what is happening at certain places. For example, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking websites and applications can be quicker tools for notification about a disaster than a national news network. For example, if one person in Southern California feels the ground shake beneath their feet, he or she can log onto Facebook or Twitter and let all of his or her friends or followers know that he or she “felt an earthquake.” In a positive sense, this quick alert can inform other friends in the area to be careful and follow earthquake safety protocol. Now, in another light, maybe a cement truck just drove through this individual’s neighborhood, shaking the ground so immensely that it gives the false sense that an earthquake is happening. This would make the online post about the “earthquake” false. This example illustrates one of the primary problems with neogeography: because anyone can contribute to neogeography by volunteering geographic information, information may not always be accurate. This problem can be directly associated with the same problem Wikipedia faces by allowing all users the ability to edit postings on the site.
Neogeography also poses another problem, as it can be a contributing factor to increased invasions of privacy. In order to generate street images, Google attaches cameras to cars that take pictures of their surroundings, including the people in them. Now while most cases simply show people on the streets, some people have been discovered doing inappropriate or various illegal actions through Google Maps from images registered from the car. Technologies that allow people to “Check-In”, or publicly announce their exact location, allow people to compromise their own privacy and the privacy of others that they include in the tag (a “tag” is essentially a link between an online comment and another person’s profile). This can be considered a security issue because now anyone in the world can figure out where a certain person or a group of people are at a certain time and could possibly encourage certain behaviors such as stalking.
Despite the two downfalls of falsified information and a possible loss of security, I do find neogeography to be more positive than negative because I believe that in the end it makes people more aware of their surroundings. Between information that people can retrieve from computers, GPS devices, cell phones, and other technological communication devices, neogeography allows people to always have access to information ranging from directions to restaurant reviews to traffic information. I firmly believe that the costs and the benefits of neogeography outweigh the aforementioned consequences, and for that reason I believe that neogeography is a positive advancement in our technological society.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Week 2 Lab Assignment
1. What was the name of the quadrangle? – The name of the quadrangle is the Beverly Hills Quadrangle.
2. What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles? - The names of the adjacent quadrangles are as follows:
In the Northwest: Canoga Park Quadrangle
In the North: Van Nuys Quadrangle
In the Northeast: Burbank Quadrangle
In the West: Topanga Quadrangle
In the East: Hollywood Quadrangle
In the South: Venice Quadrangle
In the Southeast: Inglewood Quadrangle
3. When was the quadrangle first created? – The quadrangle was first created in 1966.
4. What datum was used to create your map? – The following three datum were used to create my map:
The first datum is the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27).
The second datum is the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).
The third Datum was the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.
5. What is the scale of the map? – The scale of the map is 1:24000.
6. At the above scale, answer the following
a. 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to how many meters on the ground?
5cm x 24,000 = # of cm on the Earth, or 120,000cm. Then when 120,000 cm is divided by 1000, the resulting answer is 1,200m. So, every 5cm on the map is equivalent to 1,200m.
b. 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground?
5 in x 24,000 = # of inches on the Earth, or 120,000in. Then when 120,000 is divided by 12 (to convert to feet), the 5 inches represents 10,000 feet. Then, to convert to miles, 10,000ft is divided by 5,280ft (the # of ft per mile), and the answer is 1.894 miles. Therefore, every 5 inches on the map equates to 1.894 miles.
c. One mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map?
This can be set up as a ratio, since we already know that 1.894 miles = 5 inches. Therefore, 1mile/1.894miles = x/5 inches, or 1.894x=5. Therefore, 5/1.894=x, or 2.64 inches on the map.
d. Three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map?
This can also be set up as a ratio, since we know that 5 cm on the map = 1,200 meters on the ground. Since 1,200/1,000=1.2 km, 5 cm on the map also equals 1.2km. Therefore 1.2km/3km=5cm/xcm, or 3(5)=1.2x, which is 15=1.2x. 15/1.2=12.5. Therefore, every 12.5 cm on the map represents 3 km on the ground.
7. What is the contour interval on your map? – The contour interval on the map is 20 feet. However, it also has a supplementary contour interval of 10 feet.
8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degree/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:
a. The Public Affairs Building:
34°4’30”N, 118°26’30”W, or 34.075°N, -118.484°E
b. The tip of the Santa Monica pier:
34°0’30”N, 118°29’30”W, or 34.0083°N, -118.492°E
c. The Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir
34°7’05”N, 118°24’30”W, or 34.12°N, -118.41°E
9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:
a. Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park)
560ft, or 170.668m
b. Woodlawn Cemetary
140ft, or 42.672m
c. Crestwood Hills Park
690ft, or 210.312m
10. What is the UTM Zone of the map? – The UTM zone of the map is Zone 11.
11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map? – The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of my map are 3763000 m North, 362000 m East.
12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines? – Since each box is approximately 3 inches, we can multiply 3 x 24,000 to get 72,000 inches per UTM cell (since the scale is 1:24000). Then 72,000/12 results in 6,000 ft along each baseline. Then 6,000ft/5,280ft = 1.136 miles. 1.136 miles x 1.61 (conversion rate from miles to km) = 1.8295km. 1.8295km x 1,000 = 1,829.54 meters per base. Then, (1,829.54)2 = 3,347,236m2, which shows that each cell is approximately 3,347,236m2.
13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus. Insert your elevation profile as a graphic in your blog.
Data Table of Change in Elevation Across UTM Northing 3771000
| UTM m East | Elevation (In Feet) |
| 362000 | 540 |
| 363000 | 620 |
| 364000 | 640 |
| 365000 | 520 |
| 366000 | 520 |
| 367000 | 445 |
| 368000 | 390 |
| 369000 | 355 |
| 370000 | 298 |
| 371000 | 250 |
| 372000 | 193 |
| 373000 | 153 |
14. What is the magnetic declination of the map? – The magnetic declination of the map is 14°, or 249 miles.
15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir. – The intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir is flowing South.
16. Crop out (i.e., cut and paste) UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic on your blog.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
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