"maptastic"

[Map of San Francisco, The Geotaggers' World Atlas]

(via FlowingData)
Smart and beautiful maps of human behaviors. These maps shows how we get around the cities - trace color indicates mode of transportation; black is walking, red is bicycling, and blue is moving by motor vehicle.

The maps are ordered by the number of pictures taken in the central cluster of each one. This is a little unfair to aggressively polycentric cities like Tokyo and Los Angeles, which probably get lower placement than they really deserve because there are gaps where no one took any pictures. The central cluster of each map is not necessarily in the center of each image, because the image bounds are chosen to include as many geotagged locations as possible near the central cluster. All the maps are to the same scale, chosen to be just large enough for the central New York cluster to fit. - Eric Fischer

Isn't it amazing or what?
[Map of Tokyo, The Geotaggers' World Atlas]

idea to stop the oil spill

[via Mother Jones]

This might be it - nuclear bomb for the cure for the massive BP oil spill.
...or not.

June 11th

[World Cup qualification map, Wikipedia]

It is almost there.

(Country qualified for World Cup = green, Country failed to qualify = red, Country did not enter World Cup = purple, Country not a FIFA member = gray)

So ordinary, but so extraordinary.

[via BuzzFeed]

Being from Japan where bicycling is considered as an ordinary transportation choice for everyone young and old, living in a place bicycling is mostly considered as an extraordinary transportation choice that only those who are fit and hip are allowed to choose is an interesting experience. Yes, it is great that there is a movement to promote more safe bike lanes and bike parking spaces - but I cannot help thinking about how wrong the marketing this idea has become in this city. Having incorrectly advertised and educated out-of-control-Critical-Mass(violence) every month, it raises more bitter criticism from residents and decision makers. Young aggressive hip-stars on fixies riding bicycles without any manners and bicycling education (yes, we do have mandatory bicycle education at 4th grade in Japan) would not appeal to older grown-ups and parents to have their children riding bicycles in the city. [Photo by Noriko Kakue]
Watching this video makes us (by "us", I mean the people in a city like San Francisco, where bicycling is still just a sub-culture) realize why we want a bicycle-friendly city. It will definitely take a different approach to make this dream come true, don't you think so, San Franciscans?