Comments on: Neighborhood Boundaries with Flickr Shapefiles http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/ Strength in Numbers Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:38:16 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Janet http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-23229 Janet Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:55:49 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-23229 From what I understand about the technology in use here, this is to a GIS what wikipedia is to an encyclopedia. In other words, instead of being developed by 'experts' as a formal planned project, it depends on the input of many people to become complete and accurate. So it'll be interesting to see how long it takes for the map to develop into something as accurate as a USGS map or similar. The early maps more or less represent what's been contributed so far (as ellen points out). Also keep in mind that the overlays depend on an accurate base map to be geographically meaningful - not to say that they aren't meaningful in other ways that are independent of the projection. From what I understand about the technology in use here, this is to a GIS what wikipedia is to an encyclopedia. In other words, instead of being developed by ‘experts’ as a formal planned project, it depends on the input of many people to become complete and accurate. So it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes for the map to develop into something as accurate as a USGS map or similar. The early maps more or less represent what’s been contributed so far (as ellen points out). Also keep in mind that the overlays depend on an accurate base map to be geographically meaningful – not to say that they aren’t meaningful in other ways that are independent of the projection.

]]> By: Jason Young http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-21286 Jason Young Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:42:06 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-21286 The hierarchical relationship is valuable. I've personally had to build an app that lets you drilldown through the relationship hierarchy. This was a pain because the boundary data we had did not come with these relationships. A simple thing like showing all the counties in Texas becomes harder without this information. The hierarchical relationship is valuable. I’ve personally had to build an app that lets you drilldown through the relationship hierarchy. This was a pain because the boundary data we had did not come with these relationships. A simple thing like showing all the counties in Texas becomes harder without this information.

]]> By: Border Patrol, or: Where’s Dallas Again? | Clubs in Dallas http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-21237 Border Patrol, or: Where’s Dallas Again? | Clubs in Dallas Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:20:31 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-21237 [...] You betcha — even to folks who understand it. But I think it has something to do with the fact that people who think they’re taking photos [...] [...] You betcha — even to folks who understand it. But I think it has something to do with the fact that people who think they’re taking photos [...]

]]> By: Rachel http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-21076 Rachel Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:29:27 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-21076 I don't know whether to be amazed by the new tech here or be possibly scared by it. This has so much potential for good as well as evil in terms of what can be done with this level of information. One can only hope that before this becomes widespread as it has the potential to be that safeguards are put in place as to how this data can be used. I don’t know whether to be amazed by the new tech here or be possibly scared by it. This has so much potential for good as well as evil in terms of what can be done with this level of information. One can only hope that before this becomes widespread as it has the potential to be that safeguards are put in place as to how this data can be used.

]]> By: ellen http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-21074 ellen Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:56:09 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-21074 I checked it out for my neighborhood. Not exactly perfect. My city was showing way smaller than it actually is. That could be because the way people may loosely define the area they live in. I live in Oakland Park, but many people will call the area Ft. Lauderdale since it's part of the Ft. Lauderdale metro area. And that is reflected on this map. I checked it out for my neighborhood. Not exactly perfect. My city was showing way smaller than it actually is. That could be because the way people may loosely define the area they live in. I live in Oakland Park, but many people will call the area Ft. Lauderdale since it’s part of the Ft. Lauderdale metro area. And that is reflected on this map.

]]> By: William Couch http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-20889 William Couch Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:05:06 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-20889 When I first saw the blog post on Flickr's development site, I was pretty impressed/amazed that they had already accumulated enough geodata to be able to define geographic areas. What intrigued me though when I started playing around with Tom's implementation of the data however, was the notion of psyhogeography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography) that appears to be at play here. Right now, some boundaries are pretty loosely defined, but as the data matures, there will be some very well-defined boundaries. Already some metropolitan areas have their neighborhoods quite well outlined. What would be very intriguing is to apply a time filter/slider to this data, say over several decades, to observe how the notions of neighborhoods and people's overall sense of place in general changes with its inhabitants (or visitors) and then even over generations. It's pretty far-flung and would require this data to be archived over time, instead of constantly amalgamated to a well-defined data set, but either way, it's kind of fun to think about. When I first saw the blog post on Flickr’s development site, I was pretty impressed/amazed that they had already accumulated enough geodata to be able to define geographic areas. What intrigued me though when I started playing around with Tom’s implementation of the data however, was the notion of psyhogeography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography) that appears to be at play here.

Right now, some boundaries are pretty loosely defined, but as the data matures, there will be some very well-defined boundaries. Already some metropolitan areas have their neighborhoods quite well outlined. What would be very intriguing is to apply a time filter/slider to this data, say over several decades, to observe how the notions of neighborhoods and people’s overall sense of place in general changes with its inhabitants (or visitors) and then even over generations. It’s pretty far-flung and would require this data to be archived over time, instead of constantly amalgamated to a well-defined data set, but either way, it’s kind of fun to think about.

]]> By: Guilherme http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/#comment-20856 Guilherme Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:14:07 +0000 http://flowingdata.com/?p=1147#comment-20856 Well, by definition, GIS (Geographic Information Services) is a system for "capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the earth". Having that said, I believe Flicker is doing half the job here (capturing & storing the geographic information via GeoTags), Tom is doing the calculation and Yahoo is doing the management and association of that data to a map... Doesn't that make the visualization a GIS? Or at least something very similar to it? Well, by definition, GIS (Geographic Information Services) is a system for “capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the earth”.
Having that said, I believe Flicker is doing half the job here (capturing & storing the geographic information via GeoTags), Tom is doing the calculation and Yahoo is doing the management and association of that data to a map… Doesn’t that make the visualization a GIS? Or at least something very similar to it?

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