I made a scratch map!
I've been working on this a while, but I managed to finally make a scratch map. At my old co-op job back in 2011, I used Google's Fusion Table, which I then assumed would soon be deprecated. After many years, I realized that it still exists in its primitive form which remained unchanged.
See Scratch Map here
Using what knowledge I have left of GIS, and working with basic tabular/vector data, I managed to combine a few XML files showing Canadian Provinces, US States, and the rest of the world. The biggest challenge was downloading and cleaning a half decent XML file.
During the process, I realized that Google has a tendency to avoid geo-politically sensitive issues, as my attempts to repeatedly draw polygons around the island of Taiwan failed (zoom into Taiwan and you will see).
I also managed to finally get rid of the sidebar on the static page, increase the width of the post body, and improved the looks of Contact page as well. It was just a few simple tweaks in HTML/CSS, but I definitely needed a refresher.
I will eventually work on updating the map with relevant information (right now it contains whatever information that came with the XML files). I also definitely hope to get across the Atlantic later this year or sometime next year and start scratching some countries off my list.
I will be going to Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in a couple of months, which I am really excited about. I will be travelling alone, so if you know anyone in the area, give me a shout!
See Scratch Map here
Using what knowledge I have left of GIS, and working with basic tabular/vector data, I managed to combine a few XML files showing Canadian Provinces, US States, and the rest of the world. The biggest challenge was downloading and cleaning a half decent XML file.
During the process, I realized that Google has a tendency to avoid geo-politically sensitive issues, as my attempts to repeatedly draw polygons around the island of Taiwan failed (zoom into Taiwan and you will see).
I also managed to finally get rid of the sidebar on the static page, increase the width of the post body, and improved the looks of Contact page as well. It was just a few simple tweaks in HTML/CSS, but I definitely needed a refresher.
I will eventually work on updating the map with relevant information (right now it contains whatever information that came with the XML files). I also definitely hope to get across the Atlantic later this year or sometime next year and start scratching some countries off my list.
I will be going to Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in a couple of months, which I am really excited about. I will be travelling alone, so if you know anyone in the area, give me a shout!
