Lab 3 Week 3

View Obama's Cabinet in a larger map

The above map is a map of where President Obama and his cabinet were born. It is interesting to see in the map that only 5 of the 15 cabinet members are from west of the Mississippi River, meaning that it is a mid-west and east-coast dominated cabinet (by birth). You can always tell a little bit about someone from where they were born and raised and I decided to create this map to see if there was any correlation between where members of the cabinet were from and the current political climate of that state. I can say confidently that almost every member of the President's cabinet was born in a state that voted for President Obama in 2008. In addition to where each member was born is a line to the White House, where they now work and meet with the President on a frequent basis.

Regarding nanogeography, the study and implementation has many positive and negative features associated with its use that is sure to shape the way we look at geography and maps. To start on the downside, one major downside of nanogeograph is its ability to "clog" up the information markets where people go for advice. Sure, everyone has an opinion on most things, but if each person created a map of their favorite places to eat, ski, shop, etc..., then it would be tougher to distiguish and find in a search the more relevant, better put-together, and profession maps. Also, nanogeography makes way for people to data-mine to find a pattern where infact there is none. Maps, like data, can always be squewed in a certain way to support a certain cause/idea, and with the tools of nanogeograph, the door is open for people to draw seemingly absurd ideas and prove them weakly with a map. Lastly, there are ways to create inaccurate maps and not enough people to fact-check every map, which could lead to people getting inaccurate information.

The positives in nanogeography I believe far outweight the pitfalls. Nanogeography makes the study and use of geography more acessable for everyone, letting them utilize powerful geographic tools for certain purposes. Nanogeography allows runners to better map out their favorite routes, a hiker their trail, and a road-tripper their itinerary. This ability to allow anyone to better use geographic tools can not only help themselves personally, but through publishing those maps on the web, help others find enjoyment aswell. Nanogeography lets viewers see patterns they may have otherwise missed or find new geographic information data that others have missed. By opening up the tools of nanogeograph, the world is more involved in the workings around them and allows everyone to be a scholar, participant, and viewer of the world.