The Global Building Atlas Downloader

The Global Building Atlas is cool, but most people (and especially my students) cannot handle a GitHub respository. But, thanks to Maps Mania, we now have a convenient downloader into GeoJSON: The Global Building Atlas Downloader. Thanks!

Times New Roman vs Calibri

This argument is old and the facts are clear, but of course this is back in news recently with the State Department switching back to Times New Roman because Calibri is too woke for them.

The NYT has a nice article: Is Times New Roman Better Than Calibri for the State Department?

Personally, I have been using Calibri for my slidedecks for a long time: it is simple, looks good, and is easy to read. But...maybe a little boring. For text I prefer Garamond - I think it looks elegant & sophisticated. But...Arial is Google Docs default & thus most of my text is now in Arial.

The Top-20 Programming Languages

Here's the latest TIOBE index: https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/

• Learn Python, it's that simple!
• Or, one of the many versions of C!
• Don't bother with any of the other!

ChatGPT Edu

This - or something like that - is what we need at Westfield State University:

• AI Tools @ CSU
• ChatGPT Edu @ CSUN

Lonnie Thompson: Canary

Worth a watch!

AI chatbots can effectively sway voters – in either direction

AI chatbots can effectively sway voters – in either direction & that sounds scary. The article in Nature is better, but behind a paywall: AI chatbots can sway voters with remarkable ease — is it time to worry?

And why are we surprised? An engaging back-and-forth conversation with a nice 'person' that can synthesize a lot of information in conversational way has always been a great way to learn and maybe change your mind. The challange was scaling this.

How can we leverage this for teaching & learning? If chatbots are so effective, why are we not using them in-class or as homework assignments: Have a 10-minute chatbot chat about Topic X & synthesize the main points handwritten on this piece of paper.

Urban Mobility: CAVs

Good article here about how CAVs (connected autonmous vehicles) can be integrated into new urban mobility systems within 'smart' cities. Yes, a lot of techo buzzwords here, but worth a read.

The Future of GIS?

Well, it was just a matter of time!

• The Web Mapper (powered by AI)
• The Map Doctor (powered by AI)

Mappy Holiday Ornaments!

Fun little mappy holiday ornaments!

• The Spiral Globe
• More Ornaments!

All Of Human History In One Hour

Got an hour? Great!

USA Surficial Geology

Verty cool new map from the USGS: Cooperative National Geologic Map: Earth's Surface geology (ArcGIS Online). Or, get it from the USGS.

Losing the Climate Info Wars?

Good stuff here: Losing the Climate Info Wars?

"The strategy is not subtle, a recent study found. Climate skeptics present their position as “projecting rationality, authority, and masculine self-control” while those who acknowledge global warming “are depicted through emotionally charged, feminized, and irrational imagery,” and labeled “alarmists” who propose radical solutions.

Political campaigns deploy the same playbook. Republicans frequently claimed the Biden administration was trying to “emasculate” American drivers by forcing them into electric vehicles. Lee Zeldin, Mr. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency administrator, has labeled climate change a “religion” instead of what it is: a matter of physics.

Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said that Mr. Trump was pursuing “energy addition, not energy transition.”

“The President has set a strong example for the rest of the world by reversing course on the Green Energy Scam and unleashing our natural resources, like beautiful, clean coal and natural gas, to strengthen our grid stability and lower energy costs,” she said, citing arguments that many economists dispute."

Elizabeth Kolbert & John Stewart

Always worth a watch & read!

Glaciers in the Andes

Here are three excellent videos about glacier recession & disappearance in the Andes:

No More GDP!

Great article in Nature by Constanza et al.: Beyond growth — why we need to agree on an alternative to GDP now

Here's the summary: GDP was never designed as a metric for human well-being. It kind of worked as a proxy for that for a couple of decades after WWII, but no more. Using GDP assumes substitutability between labor, technology, and natural resources in the context of production. But this obviously ignores ecological limits or planetary boundaries, or, in other words: it decouples economic activity from natural resource use.

We need instead to adopt a universal goal: sustainabilty & inclusive well-being. Not sure why inclusive well-being is separated from sustainabilty here, but ok. The question then is how do we a) measure that and b) how do we aggreate our metrics into some kind of index or proxy? Here are some of the metrics: Well-being components: these 19 core factors are common to most beyond-GDP indicators.

Human

• Life satisfaction
• Health
• Life expectancy at birth
• Education

Social

• Crime
• Civic engagement
• Governance
• Income equality
• Gender equality

Built

• Housing
• Infrastructure
• Financial security
• Employment
• Per capita consumption
• Business health

Natural

• Natural capital
• Water quality
• Air quality
• Greenhouse-gas emissions

Sounds a lot like donut economics to me!

The Cost Of Living

Excellent data set & web map from the Economic Policy Institute: The Family Budget Map. This map shows (by county) the cost-of-living for a 'normal' two-parent, two-child family broken down into housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, taxes, and other necessities.

Even better: the data are accessible as MS Excel!