Google Adds Legend Tool for Range-based Fusion Table Maps

Sharon Machlis at Computerworld notes the need.

The feature had been long sought by users (like me) who didn't want to code manual workarounds for quick one-off projects (those doing more elaborate work with the tool will likely continue customizing the legend and other look-and-feel options). Until now, you could color points or polygons based on specific data characteristics but not generate a legend within the tool; any color keys needed to be created separately.

The announcement came yesterday via a post on the Fusion Tables Issue Tracker site. This issue, and only two others, have more more than 200 requests.

Here's how to use the new feature:

	I'm happy to announce we have released map legends.

Legends can be configured in the "Change map styles" dialog under "Automatic legend."

Create legends for
  - marker icons using buckets
  - polygon fill colors using buckets or gradients

Configure appearance with
  - title
  - position on the map
  - a link back to your table

The resulting legend appears in
  - your map tab (click to change the map style)
  - embedded maps
  - the generated code in the Publish dialog's HTML/JavaScript section

- Computerworld Blog

Editorial Praises Online County GIS Maps!

The editorial in the Frontenac EMC publication by Craig Bakay is titled "Frontenac Maps - something the county does well actually got better." It highlights some new (or newly found) features:

When you go to the county website (oddly enough entitled http://www.frontenacmaps.ca), you can actually access a host of electronic (now printable) maps that give all sorts of information combined with satellite images that are better than Google's.

And now, those images are available at scales up to 1:250.

They've also added a number of featured maps, such as hamlets, and improved property fabric and civic addressing layers.

They've also added some "featured maps" and a "map gallery", but why anybody in the county would care about distances from Kingston or how to get to the county office from Kingston is bit of a mystery, but if you want to know where your lot lines are, this thing is just dandy.

They've even got contour lines showing elevation on the land sections (which may have been there before, but they really stand out now and I never noticed them before anyways).

He calls out the GIS manager.

In this case, the county really got it right (probably by staying out of GIS specialist Kevin Farrell's way and letting him do his thing).

He makes some suggestions - mostly about lakes and fish since apparently, he's a fisherman.

It's great to see such support for GIS people who are so often overlooked. See if you love the app (GeoCortex) as much as Bakay does. I'd point most residents to map gallery.

- Frontenac EMC

Why I Won’t be Taking Your Survey

The Web has democratized a lot things including the ability for nearly anyone to publish a survey and ask people to respond. I feel sure nearly everyone in the geospatial community has the best of intentions when they conceive of and then publish their surveys. I generally learn about them via Twitter or blog posts; the post is on the order of "please take this survey!"

In the past few months I've read through a number of surveys aimed at GIS users and geography educators and chosen not to participate. I can sometimes forgive a poorly written or overly long survey, but usually I make the decision to bail out before I even see the questions. I back out after reading the introduction. Why? Here are few of the reasons:

1. I don't know who is giving the survey.

I feel a lot more secure knowing that a reputable individual or organization is behind a survey. If you don't tell me at the outset who you are, I am suspicious.

2. I don't know if my data is anonymous.

Just because you don't ask for my name or e-mail, there are ways to connect data to individuals or IP addresses. Unless you explicitly state my data will not be tied to me or only used in an aggregated fashion, I can't feel sure that's the case. On the other hand, if the data is to be tied to me, I'd like to know that, too.

3. I don't know the goal of the survey.

If you are asking me to help you out, I'd like to know why you are collecting the data. Is it for personal or professional gain? Part of your research for your thesis? Will it be used to shape policy of some kind?

I'm happy to help in most cases, so long as you are honest about the goal. And, if the survey benefits you directly and monetarily, I'm more inclined to help if I get something in return (a chance in a raffle, a summary of the results, etc.)

4. I don't know what will be done with the data.

Will you share the results with participants?When? Will you publish an article? When? Will you sell the data? Will the survey be repeated in the future for comparison?

Consider answering those questions in your introduction and I for one will more likely to respond to your survey.