Lab 1: Find 3 cool maps

Map 1: Obesity in America



This is a shot of a map that I pulled from boingboing.com, and in fact is supposed to be an animated map of obesity in America from 1985 until 2005. However, for whatever reason the link appears to be broken, but the image intact. This map defines obesity below the Key as when a person has a BMI greater than 30. I would venture to guess that this is in the 2000s, and maybe 2005, but unfortunately we can't see exactly where the bar is, but can judge by the fact that most of the states are in the orange/reds, and the later 2000s are the same color on the time line, that this map is around this time. What I find interesting about this map is that you can see that obesity is not equal across the whole US, and in fact appears to be clustered in the deep south (the most extreme cases in red, meaning that more than 25% of the population is obese), and makes its way up north and to the east, and also jumps up to Michigan. For me I expected more states with harsher winters to have greater obesity rates, such as Minnesota and the Dakotas, but I suppose the South has other factors including diet and lifestyle that have contributed to obesity in the area. Also it is intersting that the states with the lower rates of obesity (Utah, Montana, Colorado, and the New England area) are so spread apart, perhaps they have the lowest rates because they have smaller populations than the other states? or again is it other factors?

Map 2: Foreigners


I pulled this map from the National Geographic website, under the section "Earth Pulse". This map is actually interactive , and you can choose many different features to appear on this map, and one of the options (the one I chose) was % foreign born population (and this screen shot I took didn't come out very clear I'm afraid, but if you hit the link and then select the option "Percent Foregin Born" you may see it better). The areas that are the darkest shade of red (more than 15%) have the greatest percentage of foreigners in their country. It's interesting to see that Canada appears to have a higher percentage than the US, which is generally considered a melting pot of cultures! Also, Australia and New Zeland to have a high percentage as well, which I was not aware of, I know that originally when they were discovered the indigenous population was over powered by the British, but I was not aware that foreign-born people were still going over to live there. It also is very curious to see some areas that have the deep red also, such as Saudia Arabia/Gulf, but I suppose you could infer that the oil wealth there encourages internationals, or it may be in fact that its just persons from neighboring countries in the region, given the nomadic history of the region. But perhaps the most two curious cases for me are that of Kazakhstan and Gabon. I suppose Kazakhstan has oil or some other industry which attracts the foreigners, but I would need to do more research to understand why Gabon has such the highest foreign population in Africa.

Map 3: Shoes

This is a map of real time purchases from zappos.com, so while it is an interactive map, its still pretty cool to see which shoes are being bought where. From this you can learn the weather patterns of certain areas, the lifestyles, and also perhaps the purchaser's accessibility to a shoe store. Since the screen shot I've taken, I'm seeing more running shoes and sneakers being purchased on the west coast, while the East coast is stocking up on boots and heels. Also you can see in the screen shot someone from Salt lake city has bought a pair of boots and in NY someone has purchased a jacket. Also it seems that the Midwest is purchasing the most stuff as I watch the map in real time. Hopefully Zappos will compile this data soon, and one will not only be able to see the trends in fashion but also be able to judge the time of year etc.