June 2005
Intermediate to advanced
568 pages
24h 7m
English
Content preview from Mapping Hacks
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Chapter 4, Mapping (on) the Web
#44 Plot Statistics Against Shapes
HACK
previous elections. These maps were used to identify and target wards where
“Get Out the Vote” and other canvassing initiatives would have the best
effect on our candidate’s chances.
The maps were produced by the high priesthood of GIS: crafted in ArcInfo
and Illustrator, and exported to PDF for view on the Web, making real-time
analysis of exit-poll data difficult. Well, we thought, the data is in the pub-
lic domain, and we can make analysis maps with free software for ourselves.
Now so can you, using the Perl module
SVG::Shapefile, available from
CPAN (http://search.cpan.org/).
The demo that accompanies this module and shows the uses of it is avail-
able at http://locative.us/indymapper/.
The Web Interface
Indymapper allows you to take your own shapefiles and spreadsheets—in
CSV or Excel format, or the .dbf format that comes with shapefiles—and
make maps out of your data via a simple web interface.
Shapefiles (.shp) are a format created by ESRI for storing
map data. They’re one of the most common kinds of map
file you’ll find.
We built a web service at http://locative.us/indymapper/ where you can
upload your own data and generate SVG maps with PNG screenshots. Indy-
mapper was designed to become a part of Indyvoter, the political-social net-
working software at http://indyvoter.org/. Figure 4-15 shows the core of the
Indymapper ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.