! MAP THIS ! #7 BIGGEST DRAWING IN THE WORLD

Erik Nordenankar about his huge drawing:

With the help of a GPS device and DHL, I have drawn a self portrait on our planet. My pen was a briefcase containing the GPS device, being sent around the world. The paths the briefcase took around the globe became the strokes of the drawing.

As the author notes on his website, this is fictional work. The GPS device was never sent. And any resemblences with the-world-is-my-canvas project (also worth a glimpse) are occasional.

WIND OF CHANGE

Sail ships are back.
A cargo ship with wind in its sails will take to the high seas, carrying the hopes of the shipping industry for a clean and green future free from the dependency on oil.

It's no ordinary clipper replete with rigging and tons of canvas. The MV Beluga, due to sail on its maiden voyage from the German port of Bremen across the Atlantic to Venezuela, is closer to a kite-surfer on steroids. Giant sails of 160 square meters complement the Beluga's existing power plant; the more wind, the less fuel is used.

Developed by SkySail, the propulsion technology is based on a similar concept to paragliding. It consists of a towing kite with a rope, a launch and recovery system and a control system for automatic operation. With future kite sails up to 600 square meters being proposed, it will cut fuel consumption in half in the right conditions. A significant advantage of the SkySail technology is it can be retrofitted to virtually all existing cargo ships and the force it exerts is similar to that of a tug.
:: via smart planet

! MAP THIS ! #6

'Everybody Is Against Everybody – Somebody Has To Be For Them'
Amnesty International's United Nations of War
Click image to enlarge, it's worth it!

POST-WATER BARCELONA

Do you remember the plan to import water to the city because of the severe drought? It's no longer being considered; it's being carried out.
A ship loaded with drinking water is seen docked in the northern Spanish port of Barcelona, Spain Tuesday, May 13, 2008 as part of an unprecedented emergency plan to alleviate a drought in Barcelona. The ship was carrying some 20,000 cubic meters (5.3 million US gallons) of water, roughly enough to satisfy a day's requirements for 180,000 people, from nearby Tarragona. Spain is suffering its driest spring since records began 60 years ago. Catalonia is one of the worst-hit regions, with reservoirs at about a fifth of their capacity, compared with reservoirs on average half-full nationally. Read the Guardian's article

! MAP THIS ! #5

relative densities of Internet connectivity across the globe. The stronger the contrast, the more connectivity there is.

The Dimes Project provides several excellent data sets that describe the structure of the Internet. Using their most recent data at the time (Feb 2007), Chris Harrison created a set of visualizations that display how cities across the globe are interconnected (by router configuration and not physical backbone). In total, there are 89,344 connectionsWorld City-to-City Connections

European City-to-City Connections

North American City-to-City Connections

TOPOGRAPHY OF TERROR

The Stranger writes on the Topography of Terror: Seattle's famous Freeway Park transforms to 'a garden of earthly delights--for the city's crazed murderers and inhuman rapists!'
via pruned

! MAP THIS ! #4

Travel Time Tube Map of London by Tom Carden. Click here to test