Re: Putting dots on a map

"richard" <member@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:vie2441irsaetvug45jpog43po6hubvrm2@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 30 May 2008 23:56:14 -0700 (PDT), Scott Nazelrod
<Scott5114@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If you want to be simple about it, go get a copy of Inkscape (
http://www.inkscape.org ) and an SVG U.S. map (several available at
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Blank_maps_of_the_United_States
) and draw the dots on there however you please. Then either embed the
SVG into the webpage (IE users may not be able to see it, but Firefox
and Opera can) or use Inkscape's export to PNG feature. (Note: be
careful using the Wikimedia Commons images; they may require you to
give credit to the authors of the map and/or license your map under
the same free license as theirs. Be sure to read the little boxes
under the images before using them.)

If you want to be precise about it, go get a copy of QGIS ( http://www.qgis.org
) and find a U.S. shapefile somewhere, like ESRI's website or the
Census Bureau's TIGER/line data. Then you can start a new point
shapefile and add points to your heart's content, even adding metadata
along the way (so if you want to add dates, for instance, you can
later select only things labeled with a certain date). QGIS can be a
pain in the ass to deal with, but it's probably more precise. But if
you're just looking for a way to slap dots on a map, QGIS is probably
overkill, and Inkscape is the way to go.

Thanks. Looks like fun time.

If you want to be less technical about it, and are content with not having "dots" on the map, you can set up an account at http://www.mob-rule.com/counties/ and enter there the counties you visited (you can color-code the ones you visited on this trip, and the ones you visited earlier; or you can code them in other ways). A day or two after you've logged your counties, the site will generate a nationwide map of where you've been.

There's also the Clinched Interstates mapping program on line. But it for now only covers the primary and business Interstates (volunteers are still working on adding coverage for U.S. routes). While it doesn't require technical skills, it does involve more work to input where you've been than does the county-counting site.

--
Oscar Voss - oscar.voss@xxxxxxxxxxx - Arlington VA

my Hot Springs and Highways pages: http://home.comcast.net/~oscar.voss/
Hawaii Highways: http://www.hawaiihighways.com/

.