Final grades are completed! Woo-hoo!

Scores for the Weekly blog maps, the Final Project Proposals, and the Final Project are available on Blackboard. There is also a column for the Field trip (everyone received the full 50 points to keep the grading scale listed in the syllabus). 

Letter grades have been uploaded to Patriot Web. Please be patient -- it can take some time for the scores to appear. Don't ask me why. I blame the ghost of George Mason... 

Once again I want to congratulate you on churning out some fantastically creative and compelling final project maps! I so enjoyed watching your progress and seeing the end result. You should feel proud of what you created!

I will send out information soon about cartography map competitions. They are not much work (you've done the hardest part already).

Good luck with any remaining finals/papers! Have a wonderful semester break!

-Professor Hallden

p.s. Stop by and say hi anytime (I'm great with faces but lousy with names so there is a good chance I will smile, say hi, and then draw a blank trying to recall your name. Please don't take it personally.). I do love hearing what you're up to. :)

Today's the day!

Projects due at 10:30. Upload .AI and static version to Dropbox (if you're having issues with that, email is a backup). Make sure you have the best quality static version on your blog (that's the one you'll show and will be graded).

Presentations: no set order. Informal. Remind us of what you set out to make. What you ended up making. Any challenges? Any changes you'd make if given more time? Grand plans for the map? (or will you never.touch.it.again?)

That's it! Easy.

I will grade the projects and remaining elements today/tomorrow. Scores will go on Blackboard. Letter grade on Patriot Web. I will email when scores are up.

Final Project Info!!

Final Project Presentations are Thurs Dec 11th from 10:30am -1:15pm. It is my hope that we can get through everyone in that one time block. In fact, I'm betting everything on it. Presentations of completed maps move much quicker than critiques. 

Presentations will be informal: show the class your finished map, discuss the theme and audience of the map, the production steps, any hurdles encountered, and the end product. You'll be asked a few questions and then you're done. No critiquing. The Final Project/Presentation is worth 150 points. You will lose points if you do not attend or arrive significantly late / leave early. Please be courteous to your classmates and give them your attention. 

What do you need to turn in? The .ai of the final version of your map and the highest quality static version you can generate (png or jpg). I will view (and grade) the static version but want a copy of the .ai as backup. You do not need to print anything. And although we will all be viewing your map on the classroom's computer projector, I will use a nice, quality computer monitor to grade your map. 

How do you turn in your files? Upload them to the shared class Dropbox folder. Both the .ai and the static file you posted on your blog (please put your name in your file names). If you have any questions, please ask!

When do you turn in your files? **By 10:30am Thursday Dec 11th.** THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM THE SYLLABUS. Because we are only using one of our 3 allotted final exam blocks I want the projects turned in when we begin. Make sure you upload the .ai and static as indicated above by 10:30am and you'll be all set. 

Show & Tell Reminder

If you have not shared a map with the class, you have one more opportunity. Make sure you have something for our last regular lab this week (Thursday/Friday). 20 easy points.

3D city map puzzles

So the website says 4D Cityscape Time Puzzles...but unless there is a distinctive odor or they are edible (or emit traffic sounds), I think they are really 3D puzzles. But neat nonetheless. If they were cheaper I'd buy each one and affix them vertically all the way up my office wall.
http://www.4dcityscape.com/

GIS Day and Lab 10

Lab 10 is still due today. If you haven't wrapped it up, use the class/lab time today to do so. I honestly won't even start looking at them until very late tonight.

Tomorrow is GIS Day @ Mason! 
Please attend! It is an event very much catered to you all. Print out the extra credit sheet on Blackboard and I'll give you easy points. The event runs from 10am-3:30pm in the Center for the Arts. You do not need to stay long nor dress up. And there will be some free food!

Congrats to all of the participants of the Mason Shuttle Map competition! Although I do not know the winners, I did get to see them all (as a judge) and I was very impressed. Distinctively individual approaches to visualizing a complicated space. Please make sure you check them out at GIS Day!

**Class Cancelled Today!**

***Class is Cancelled today: Tues Nov 18th. Lecture and Lab***

Sorry to do this but my kid's Dad had to go to the Emergency Room yesterday and although home now, still needs help. 

Today's plan was to go over Exam 3 (scores online), Sign up for Critiques, and have more Show & Tells. Here is what we'll do:

-I will go over the Exam during Lab on Thursday (and lab on Friday)

-Show & Tells will be moved to the Lab blocks for the remainder of the semester (giving everyone more flexibility to get it done). 

-Critique Sign ups will be done via email today. 

Critiques begin this Thursday and run through every lecture block for the remainder of the semester. Everyone has to have a time block. Info regarding the Critiques is on the class blog. I ask that you email me (jhallden@gmu.edu) your top two preferred days/slots and I'll work to fill in the chart the best I can. 

As an incentive to get people to start this Thursday I'm offering 5 extra credit points for going that day. If you've already begun…..go for it!

Questions? Ask! I will be online as much as I can. 

Critique Sign-ups (this will open on Tues Nov 18)

Critiques are an opportunity to get feedback on your in-progress map. I do not expect any completed maps! See prior post for details.

I will fill in names as they come in!

Thurs Nov 20
(Note, this day we will wrap up the lecture block ~8 min early. Lab will be open work time.)
(as an incentive, I'm giving 5 EC points for going this day!)
1. Colin
2. Jake
3. Nicole
4. Chris
5. Alfred
6. Jon
7.

Tues Nov 25
(starting with Jon)
1. Katie
2. Yelsey
3. Melanie
4. Jeremy
5. Robert
6. Ramzi
7. Tim
8. Rob

Tues Dec 2
1. Sam
2. Jennifer
3. Anuraag
4. Bryan E
5. Matt
6. Sean
7. Garrett
8. Ashley
9. Nathan

Thurs Dec 4
1. Dai
2. Ernie
3. Diana
4. Micah
5. Brian
6. Trinh
7. Scott
8. Alex
9. Caitlyn

Final Project topics

Everyone has a green light! (...so get to work!)

Critiques begin Thursday, Nov 20th. A sign up sheet for the Critiques will open on Tues Nov 18.

Critiques

The Final Project Critique is a time to receive feedback on your in-progress map. Prepare a minimum of 3 questions to ask the class regarding your map. It can be on anything -- layout, projection, symbols, colors, classes, type, you name it. If you want to show more than one version of the map, that's great! Each student will get the lectern for 10 minutes.

You must attend class all 4 days (Thursday Nov 20, Tuesday Nov 25, Tuesday Dec 2, Thursday Dec 4) for an opportunity to receive credit for the critique. The 50 points are broken down as follows:

10 points: Showing the class your in-progress final map and asking, at minimum, 3 questions. 

10 points (11-20): participating in the discussion (lecture block)

10 points (11-25): participating in the discussion (lecture block)

10 points (12-2): participating in the discussion (lecture block)

10 points (12-4): participating in the discussion (lecture block)

I will be keeping a tally of the comments. Make a few good comments/suggestions that day and you'll get the full 10 points. One comment (or arriving late) will yield partial credit (5 points). Say nothing: 1 point. There is no makeup for missing a class day. And you must present on your correct day!

Weekly Blog Post #10: Bivariate/Multivariate

You know the drill. Find a great static map. This time with more than 1 variable (2, 3 or more).
Post to your blog. Explain why you selected it. See what the rest of the class found. :)

Google Doodles

So...Google's catchy little doodles on their home page -- the ones that change daily to reflect local/regional/world events -- are archived. And mapped! They show where the particular doodle was displayed. They have a lot of incredibly specific doodles!

Rosetta's path

WashingtonPost's graphic of Rosetta's path to the comet. Make sure you make it to the bottom where they show relative scale.

...and now this for the comet's scale (bonus if you can guess the location)

xkcd (the comic of geeks) live blogged the landing with comics (click through them).

Females by State

So there I was critiquing the NC map that indicated the primary gender of each county....and then on the WashingtonPost site is that same principle for the 50 states: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/11/10/in-most-states-women-outnumber-men/?tid=pm_pop

OK....so Reddit got ahold of this map and lots of questions popped up. Here is one person's correction

New political map

Are you reflected in the new Congress? by the Guardian

Physical Basemaps

Finding free quality physical geography basemaps is a challenge. Most of the ones you'll find online will charge a fee to download. 

One avenue is National Geographic's Map Maker: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/interactive-map/?ar_a=1 
It has different map layers and a few have no labels (so your symbology does not interfere with text). Get your area of interest centered in the view window (away from the navigation icons) and take a screen shot. You can then import the screen shot into Illustrator as a static raster layer. You will not be able to edit the basemap (other than cropping/resizing), but it may be just the thing you want underneath your nifty map data. I'm particularly fond of the "terrain" layer which is text free and has nice hill shading. 

Another excellent source is Natural Earth Data. It is a site supported by NACIS (the North American Cartographic Information Society). It offers a variety of quality basemaps at different scales ready for use in ArcMap. Definitely worth checking out!

If you find another site that has good text-free basemaps for free (be it through downloads or screen shots), post a comment with a link!

Bivariate Map Examples

These two links showcase a variety of Lab 10's that students have done in the past. Same geographic boundary (NC), but a wide variety of topics, style pairings, and design. Use this final lab assignment to push your design skills one last time before jumping into the final project!

http://ggs310.posthaven.com/bivariate-example-maps
http://ggs310.posthaven.com/more-bivariate-map-examples

Realtime map of users clicking Facebook's "I voted" button

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/11/04/a-real-time-map-of-everyone-whos-clicked-that-i-voted-button-on-facebook/?tid=pm_business_pop

2013 Final Project Maps (a majority of them)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wsu73xlfo0igbtc/FINAL%20MAP%20DONE.pdf?dl=0

Due Dates (for Tues/Thurs folks)

Lab 8: Isoline due on your blog today by start of lab.
Lab 9: Dot Density due next Tuesday Nov 11th at the start of lab.
Lab 10: We will begin next Tuesday Nov 11th. It is the last regular lab.