noted on Wed, 03 Sep 2003
Real Maps
Geoff Cohen apparently had things to say about the way maps are being drawn today.
Then he came up with this really cool idea about maps being more dynamic - for example, using technology, we can load up a map file, and illustrate where borders were at any time, or show border disputes, or show the location of friends.
Hmm... this sounds like a great problem to solve using SVG There are, of course, some challenges. Almost all of the good maps are copyrighted, and those copyrights are judiciously enforced. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the way they can tell you copied ‘their’ map is by deliberately introducing inaccuracies into the map in the first place!
Perhaps a good starting point would be to trace this image and get people to upload GPS coordinates for border points. Does anyone know where there’s a public-domain repository of political boundaries?