The Non-Google Maps of the Week

Twitter has released a series of dot maps showing geo-tagged Tweets since 2009. The series includes maps of America, Europe and a number of worldwide cites.

You can read about the visualisations on the Twitter Blog and view all the maps on Flickr.


The Washington Post's Sea of Steel is a mapped visualisation of guns recovered in the District and Prince George's County.

Users can click on any point on the map to view a detailed breakdown of the guns recovered within half a mile of the chosen location. The map was created using MapBox. If you like the map then read this Behind the Scenes - Making the Heatmap post.


Moore, Oklahoma Before and After is an Esri Map that compares aerial views of Moore before and after the tornado on May 20th.

The map uses a simple swipe tool that allows the user to compare the before and after aerial imagery.


PlanetMaker is a great application that allows you to create and tweak your own planet using image textures and lighting. It is great fun being able to add Saturn's rings to Earth or adding clouds to Mars.