Scrambled Maps for Mobile

Scrambled Maps Just Got a Mobile Makeover, Thanks to TripGeo!

Great news for puzzle lovers! TripGeo has been hard at work to make Scrambled Maps even better - now fully optimized for mobile devices. If you love solving map challenges, you can now take Scrambled Maps with you wherever you go, right on your phone!

For those new to the game, Scrambled Maps is a fun daily challenge where you’re presented with a jumbled city map from somewhere in the world. Your mission? Unscramble the tiles to restore the map to its original layout. Sounds simple, right? But every day brings a new city and a fresh challenge to keep you on your toes.

Thanks to TripGeo’s latest updates, Scrambled Maps is now smoother and more flexible across all devices. Whether you’re playing on your phone, tablet, or desktop, the game will automatically adjust to fit your screen size. No more squinting or awkward zooming! Plus, you can now customize the grid size - deciding how many vertical and horizontal map tiles you want to unscramble for an added layer of challenge.

But that’s not all! A few extra tweaks have been thrown in to make the game even more enjoyable. You’ll now see handy green ticks to show which tiles you’ve placed correctly, and once you solve the puzzle, you’ll get a breakdown of how many moves it took to complete that day’s map.

So, if you’re up for a daily brain teaser and want to sharpen your map skills, Scrambled Maps is ready for you - anytime, anywhere. 

Happy unscrambling!

The 2024 #30DayMapChallenge

Are you ready for the 2024 #30DayMapChallenge? In just over two weeks the 2024 #30DayMapChallenge will begin, and it's your chance to join thousands of cartographers worldwide in one of the most exciting mapping events of the year! Topi Tjukanov has just revealed this year's calendar of daily map challenge categories on the #30DayMapChallenge website.

For the past four years, this global event has brought together cartographers, hobbyists, and map-lovers alike, who challenge themselves to craft a unique map every day throughout November. Each day comes with a new theme to inspire your creativity - whether it’s something abstract, artistic, or data-driven. It's not just about making maps; it's about sharing them with the world. Participants can showcase their maps on social media using the #30DayMapChallenge hashtag and connect with the growing community of map enthusiasts.

Since its launch in 2019, over 50,000 maps have been created as part of the challenge! But don’t worry - you don’t have to create a new map every single day if you don't want to. Whether you want to tackle all 30 prompts or just a few, you’re free to join in whenever inspiration strikes. The official guidelines even encourage a bit of planning: "You can prepare the maps beforehand, but the main idea is to publish maps on the dedicated days." Plus, there’s no limit to how you create your maps. Hand-draw them, use digital tools, or experiment with any other technique that suits your style.

Inside the Maya Temples of Copan

Mused has released another amazing virtual tour. Explore the Maya Temples at Copán Ruinas is an extraordinary 'Street View' tour of the Maya temples at Copan, one of the most significant archaeological sites of the ancient world. 

Uncover Copan’s Ancient Past

Nestled in the lush jungles of western Honduras, Copan was once a thriving center of Maya culture, renowned for its artistic achievements, monumental temples, and complex understanding of astronomy. This tour offers a rare opportunity to explore the sacred spaces of Copan from the comfort of your home, including parts of the site usually hidden from the public eye. 

Beneath the towering stone structures at Copan Ruinas lies a network of ancient tunnels, which have now been digitally preserved and made accessible online for the first time, revealing secrets of a civilization that flourished over 1,600 years ago. The virtual tour provides an immersive look into Copan’s rich past, starting with the earliest known structures dating back to the 5th century CE. 

Each new generation of Maya rulers built over the temples of their predecessors, creating a city of nested monuments - what archaeologists liken to "Russian nesting dolls." The tour reveals how these layers of construction were not just architectural feats, but also reflections of the political and spiritual continuity that defined Maya society.

The Virtual Experience

Among the highlights of this tour are three significant structures: the Margarita Structure, the Rosalila Temple, and the famous Hieroglyphic Stairway. Each of these monuments offers a glimpse into the spiritual and dynastic power of the Maya rulers. The Margarita Structure, adorned with intricate carvings of sacred birds, honors Copan's founder, K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’. The Rosalila Temple, perfectly preserved beneath later constructions, stands as a testament to Maya artistry with its vibrant stucco colors and detailed carvings. Meanwhile, the Hieroglyphic Stairway, the longest Maya inscription in existence, chronicles the lineage of Copan’s rulers in stunning detail.

While the visible structures of Copan are magnificent, the virtual tour goes deeper - literally - into the tunnels where archaeologists have uncovered hidden chambers and ancient artifacts. These tunnels, which are normally closed to the public, provide insight into the earlier phases of Copan’s development, long before the grand temples we see today were constructed. This virtual experience not only showcases the extraordinary craftsmanship of the Maya but also highlights the importance of digital preservation in safeguarding these fragile treasures for future generations.

Bringing the Past to Life with 3D Technology

The online tour of the Maya temples at Copan was created using advanced 3D scanning techniques and the Matterport SDK, combined with the Three.js JavaScript library for rendering. Over the course of two years, a dedicated team worked onsite to gather detailed imagery and spatial data from the ancient tunnels and temples using high-precision scanners. This data was then processed into 3D models, allowing for accurate, immersive virtual representations of the site. The Matterport SDK was used to integrate these models into an interactive, web-based platform, while Three.js facilitated the smooth rendering of the complex geometries and textures, enabling users to explore Copan’s hidden architectural layers and intricate carvings, almost as if walking through the site in real life.

Mused has previously published a number of amazing virtual tours of other important archeological sites around the world. These include:

The Tomb of Ramesses I
The Great Sphinx of Giza
The Tomb of Nefertari

Even more virtual tours can be found via the Mused home page.

The A-Z Music Map

Step into the heart of Swinging London and let its iconic music lead you through the streets of a city alive with creativity, rebellion, and freedom. The 'London A to Z 1962-1973' interactive map will take you on a sonic journey through the London locations that helped shape one of the most exciting periods in music history.

LONDON A to Z 1962-1973 is an interactive map of songs about London from the Swinging 60s. During the 60s, London was at the heart of a global cultural revolution. As a symbol of youthful energy and creativity, the city represented freedom and opportunity. Many artists were drawn to this vibrant atmosphere and naturally incorporated London’s spirit into their music. Now, you can experience that creative energy for yourself by exploring the tracks on the London A to Z map.

All the songs featured on the map come from a new compilation album published by Ace Records, titled Bob Stanley Presents: London A to Z (1962-1973). The album includes tracks from artists such as Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull, and Marianne Faithfull (though it seems Ace Records couldn't secure the rights to Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks!). As the title suggests, all the songs on the album reference a location or landmark in London. 

Each song on the album is represented on the London A to Z map by a pin. When you click on a marker, you can listen to a 30-second excerpt from the song. If you enjoy the selections, you can purchase the full album from Ace Records. For me, discovering a Nick Drake song I’d never heard before was like finding a hidden treasure. What might you find with the new musical London A to Z?

What is Your Neighborhood Scare Score?

The Spookiest ZIP Codes in the U.S.

As Halloween approaches, many of us are stocking up on candy, preparing costumes, and decking our homes with spooky décor. But did you know that how much candy, costumes, and Halloween decorations you buy might reveal just how into Halloween your neighborhood is? That’s the concept behind Instacart’s brand-new interactive map, Explore America’s Haunts, which ranks the Halloween-ness of every ZIP code based on its “Scare Score.”

So, what exactly is a Scare Score, and how does it work?

What’s a Scare Score?

Instacart created the Scare Score using Halloween-related purchase data from October 2023. The score is based on three key factors:

Total candy sold: Instacart looked at the total number of ounces of candy delivered in each ZIP code.

Costume sales: The total number of Halloween costume items sold, broken down per person in each area.

Halloween décor: The number of spooky decorations purchased, also calculated per person.

These data points combine to give each ZIP code a customized “Scare Score” that reflects just how into Halloween its residents are!

Local Favorites and Top-Sellers: Your ZIP Code’s Unique Flavor

In addition to Scare Scores, Instacart also shares insights into which candies are most popular in each ZIP code. They did this by identifying the top-sellers (based on the total weight of candy delivered) and local favorites, which are candies that sold at a higher rate in your area compared to the national average.

For example, if your ZIP code can’t get enough of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or perhaps has a soft spot for Sour Patch Kids, that local candy preference will show up on the map. This gives a fun and unique perspective on how Halloween tastes differ from one place to another.

Explore America’s Haunts: Discover the Spirit of Halloween Across the Country

Whether you’re curious to see how your neighborhood stacks up or you want to explore the spookiest ZIP codes in America, Explore America’s Haunts offers a fun and interactive way to dive into Halloween trends. The map not only ranks each area based on its Scare Score but also highlights candy favorites, allowing you to get a feel for how different regions celebrate the holiday.

Check out the map for yourself, and see if your neighborhood makes the list of the country’s most haunted haunts this Halloween season!

(FYI: I had to use a web-proxy to view Explore America's Haunts because it appears to be "configured to block access from your country".)

Open Places Map

Welcome to OpenPlacesMap!

Are you bored of living in Plainville, USA? Don't you wish your hometown had a more exciting name? Now you can make it happen! OpenPlacesMap is an interactive map that empowers you to redefine your neighborhood. Simply click on any country, state, city, or neighborhood label and change its name to anything you want! 

Now you can live in Gotham City, Hogwarts, or Middle Earth - just by changing your town's name on OpenPlacesMap! Of course, be prepared: someone else just might change your town's name to Mordor, Skull Island, or Beyond the Wall.

Background

OpenPlacesMap is my latest weekend project. I have had the idea for creating a map with editable place-name labels for a long time. However, I have always been a little wary of how the map might be abused. I also haven't had access to a backend server to store the user data.

With Glitch's full range of project management tools, everybody and anybody now has easy access to collaborative web app development without the hassle of managing servers or databases. By leveraging Glitch's real-time editing features and built-in hosting, I was able to turn this concept into a fully functional map where users can rename any location instantly. 

OpenPlacesMap uses the badwords list to implement a basic profanity filter for the map. I also have the ability to remove any abusive language, and if the map becomes too toxic, I can always take it down.

Here’s a brief "how-to" guide explaining how the map was created:

Initialize the Map

OpenLabelMap is powered by MapLibre GL JS with OpenFreeMap tiles. These tiles are based on OpenStreetMap (OSM) data and allow us to display a beautiful, open-source map.

Expressions

MapLibre Expressions allow developers to style the data in vector map tiles based on conditions. In OpenLabelMap, we use expressions to filter the place name labels in the OpenFreeMap map tiles. Here are the OpenFreeMap label layers that we use expressions to style: 

const placeNameLayers = [
   
 'label_other',
  
  'label_city_capital',
   
 'label_city',
  
  'label_town',
   
 'label_village',
   
 'label_state',
  
  'label_country_1',
   
 'label_country_2',
   
 'label_country_3',
];

This array defines all the different OpenFreeMap layers that contain place names. Using expressions, we can allow map users to interact with these layers and change the names displayed.

Persisting User Data with Node.js

Once a map user clicks on a place name label, they can enter an alternative name. To store and retrieve user-defined names, OpenLabelMap uses a Node.js server with Express. The server handles API requests from the client to save and fetch the user-edited place names. When the page loads, the client fetches the previously saved names from the server and updates the map labels accordingly. This ensures that the user-defined place names are displayed every time the map is loaded.

Conclusion 

By combining MapLibre GL JS, OpenFreeMap tiles, and a Node.js backend, it is possible to create a dynamic map that allows users to interact with place names, customize them, and save those changes for future use.

If you’re interested in building a similar project, you can access and clone the full-code on the OpenLabelMap Glitch edit page. You can expand on it by adding more customization options, different types of layers, or even advanced features like user authentication or data analytics. By cloning the project on Glitch, you can even let Glitch handle the Node.js server and Express backend.

Florida's Waffle House Index Score

In the wake of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast with devastating winds and flooding, emergency responders are working to assess the damage. One unconventional but, some argue, effective tool for gauging the situation is the "Waffle House Index," a metric used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to evaluate the severity of storms and guide disaster recovery efforts.

Named after the resilient Southern restaurant chain, the Waffle House Index has, in the past, proven useful in post-storm assessments and could now play a role in the recovery process following Hurricane Milton.

Riley Walz has created what is the first map to track the “Waffle House Index” in real-time. His Waffle House Index map currently shows that 106 Waffle House restaurants are closed in Florida. Waffle House, which operates extensively across the southern U.S. where hurricanes are frequent, has developed strong risk management and disaster preparedness strategies. The chain is known for staying operational during extreme weather and quickly reopening, often with a limited menu, after major storms like Hurricane Milton.

Dan Stoneking, FEMA’s director of external affairs, explains:

“The Waffle House test doesn't just tell us how quickly a business might rebound – it also tells us how the larger community is faring. The sooner restaurants, grocery stores, and banks can reopen, the sooner local economies will start generating revenue again – signaling a stronger recovery for that community."

The Waffle House Index map can therefore serve as a useful tool for assessing which areas in Florida are struggling to recover from Hurricane Milton, if used alongside a broader recovery strategy.

Real-Time Animated Wind Maps

In recent weeks, ferocious winds have dominated the headlines. The devastating impact of Hurricane Milton, arriving so soon after Hurricane Helene rampaged through Florida, has left many communities reeling from the destructive power of these tropical storm-force winds. 

In the last fortnight, I've often found myself drawn to Earth Nullschool's real-time map of global wind conditions. At the time of writing, Earth Nullschool shows the eye of Hurricane Milton centered northwest of Orlando (animated map above).

Earth Nullschool is just one of several interactive maps providing near real-time maps of current wind conditions. Windfinder uses data from over 20,000 weather stations worldwide, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to provide real-time wind reports. The map offers real-time and forecasted wind speeds, wind direction, air temperature, and other meteorological data, with global wind forecasts available up to 10 days in advance.

Windy.com also offers a real-time map of global weather conditions. Windy.com includes a timeline feature that allows users to view an animated forecast of the upcoming week's wind patterns. This feature can help you track Hurricane Milton as it follows its predicted path out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Animal Migration Tracking

The Atlas of Ungulate Migration

Ungulates, large herbivorous mammals with hooves, are a vital part of many ecosystems across the globe. These animals, including species like wildebeest, caribou, elk, and zebra, often migrate seasonally over vast distances. These migrations play a crucial role in maintaining the resilience of ecosystems, supporting biodiversity, and even sustaining local economies. However, human activities have increasingly disrupted the natural migratory routes of animals. As a result, tracking ungulate migration has become an essential tool for conservation efforts aimed at preserving both the animals and the ecosystems they depend on.

The UN has now launched a new interactive map, the Atlas of Ungulate Migration, to serve as a vital resource for tracking and conserving ungulate migrations across the globe. Powered by detailed GPS tracking data, this repository of migration maps is designed to inform conservation planning, infrastructure development, and policymaking efforts.

By providing insights into the migratory paths of some of the world's most iconic species - such as the Serengeti wildebeest, African elephants, and the Central Asian saiga - the Atlas allows stakeholders to make evidence-based decisions that balance development with environmental preservation.

Understanding Ungulate Migration and its Importance

Ungulate migration refers to the seasonal movements of hooved animals that traverse vast landscapes in search of food, water, or suitable climates. In temperate regions, animals often move between summer and winter ranges, while in tropical areas, they follow the availability of water between dry and rainy seasons. These migrations are essential for the survival of species, influencing the health of ecosystems, supporting biodiversity, and even sustaining rural economies through hunting and ecotourism.

However, human activities, such as urban development, road construction, and agricultural expansion, have increasingly fragmented the landscapes that ungulates rely on. This has disrupted migration routes, leading to population declines in species like bison, wildebeest, and elk. In this context, the Atlas of Ungulate Migration plays a crucial role by mapping out these routes and highlighting areas where conservation efforts are most needed.

Tracking the Migratory Routes of Bird Species

The eBird Status and Trends maps offer another powerful tool for understanding wildlife movements, complementing the insights provided by the Atlas of Ungulate Migration. These maps, developed by the eBird Science team, utilize sophisticated statistical models and machine learning to analyze vast datasets, including raw bird observation data submitted by the public and satellite imagery from NASA, NOAA, and USGS. By integrating these sources, eBird creates predictive visualizations that showcase bird migration patterns, population trends, and range boundaries with high precision. This information helps decision-makers, scientists, and birders alike to better understand the dynamics of bird populations throughout the year.

One of the key features of these tools is the eBird Trends maps, which reveal long-term patterns in bird abundance. These maps show where certain bird species have been increasing or decreasing since 2007, offering the most detailed insights available on bird population changes. Such data is invaluable for conservationists working to reverse the widespread declines in bird populations by targeting the areas where species are most at risk.

By visualizing seasonal abundance patterns, these maps enhance our understanding of bird biology and migration ecology. The animations generated from this data are not only mesmerizing but also serve as practical tools for guiding conservation efforts, helping scientists and policymakers protect critical habitats along migratory routes.

The American Election & the Rest of the World

With the world closely watching the U.S. 2024 election, what could a Trump or Harris presidency mean for international stability? From rising tensions in Eastern Europe to critical climate action, the global implications of the U.S. election stretch far beyond American borders.

The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) has been exploring "how a Trump or a Harris presidency would affect key flashpoints around the world." The positions of the Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. Presidency differ significantly on many issues, particularly regarding how the U.S. should engage with the rest of the world.

In The US elections: what choices for Europe?, the EUISS outlines a number of key global flashpoints and examines the potential impacts on these areas if either Trump or Harris wins next month's election. Despite the title, this analysis covers flashpoints beyond Europe, many of which are global in nature.

As readers scroll through the EUISS article, an interactive globe spins and zooms in on each flashpoint in turn, highlighting how that area could be affected by the foreign policies of Trump or Harris. The flashpoints discussed include the Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S.-EU trade relations, the Israel-Hamas war, and global climate change.

While the EUISS analysis centers on an EU perspective, it provides a compelling synopsis of each candidate's foreign policy vision. And with global media attention often locked on domestic issues, the international consequences of the 2024 U.S. election could prove to be just as important. Whether it's maintaining stability in Europe or confronting global climate challenges, the next U.S. president will have a profound influence on the future of international relations.