Good resolutions I have none, but I did think it was about time to revamp the social me, so here is my new blog. Not quite there yet, but I am fairly well on the way. What I changed:
– moved to jwvaneck.org, no need to hide behind a different name and the .org might give the impression these scribblings actually are very organized endeavor.
– made a few blog-in-blog’s to enable deep linking on different topics (e.g. geo in NL or open innovation).
– added separate sidebars on the specific pages (see http://www.jwvaneck.org/open-innovation/). I don’t have that for all pages yet.
– I have added my own pre-beta widget at http://www.jwvaneck.org/local/ (a life map from National Geographic).
Please note that this blog is a coproduction made possible by the great(er) WordPress community (the many plugins an the vigilance theme) and many tools like Slideshare, Issuu, Anobii, Mindjet, .. Actually thought about sharing Trover as well, but I have not yet made up my mind about that app yet! Curious where these changes will take me…
To all I have met during this year and the year’s before: Happy Holidays and a great 2012, with a good health, love and happiness. And the same, to those who have only visited here and might do so again in the (near?) future. I do hope to meet all of you, eventually.
What a year it has been. I am taking a break now, during which I shall be re-inventing the “social me” and redesign my web presence. I will take some exclusive time with my strong social ties, not the weak ones. It has been a pleasure sharing experiences with all of you and your feedback has been most inspiring.
No offence to maps and apps, but meeting real people, that’s what it is really all about. I am a big fan of conferences (now that’s a possible new blogpost), but the one which really stands out is the Esri User Conference, one of the greatest places and times to endure: so many nationalities, so many people, so much geography – it is this cartographer’s Walhalla. That is why I choose this set of pictures taken at the Esri User Conference, Faces of GIS, as the image of the day. And as a small sign of appreciation to all who make that event what it really is.
Happy Holidays and a great start in the New Year!
Faces of GIS, a set by Esri on Flickr.
Via Flickr:Your work is making a difference in our world
live footage of our bookcase (NG yellow)
I realise that it is rather subjective, but I was pleasantly surprised when my rssfeeds informed me that “Esri and National Geographic collaborated to produce a high-quality basemap that reflects National Geographic’s cartographic design, typographic style, and map policies”. That page already shows a few nice examples of the very typical design choices National Geographic has made.
No doubt the new mapservice is welcomed by many, specifically by educators and friends of National Geographic. The new mapservice kind of puts the National Geographic map near the Christmas tree, as one of the tweets about the launch mentioned.
This time, I get to enjoy even more than the new map: in Holland it is a good common practice for employers to thank employees with a Christmas / New Years gift. It is that kind of moment to consider how little we can achieve completely on our own and how much, if we work together to make a real difference. Since many years, Esri Nederland has a few options for these gifts, like donating your gift to a good cause (SOS Kinderdorpen or Unicef) or receiving a year’s subscription to National Geographic.
Selfishly, I have opted for the latter again. To me, National Geographic has this magnetic-like force over explorer-wannebees. The picture above, actual footage from our living room, shows how it affected us over the years. So I am really looking forward to another year of explorer stories and pictures, and National Geographic magazines and maps!
BTW, for the more technically interested: in the topright iFrame of this page, I have developed a PHP script, which randomly centers the map within a given outerframe. I will be making a nicer WordPress plugin out of this, for others (NG) map lovers. Co-creators are very welcome!