New Contact Page
A new contact page replaces the old contact, FAQ, link submission and review guidelines pages. Simpler and less repetitive. And instead of a contact form, there’s just an email address. So much spam was coming… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/new-contact-page/
The Map Cutout Art of Joanathan Bessaci
The art of Joanathan Bessaci includes maps cut out and layered to form images. I presently work with old Michelin maps dated from roughly 1920 to 1970. I use old French Michelin maps because I… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/the-map-cutout-art-of-joanathan-bessaci/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/the-map-cutout-art-of-joanathan-bessaci/
Upcoming Changes to the Email Digest
My hosting provider has announced that it will be retiring the announcement list feature on which The Map Room relies for its weekly email digest. Which means that at some point in the near future… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/upcoming-changes-to-the-email-digest/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/upcoming-changes-to-the-email-digest/
Making Maps in the Newsroom
Before joining Esri, Lauren Tierney spent a number of years making maps for the Washington Post. In this interview with Maps.com editor-in-chief Robby Deming she talks about her experiences making maps in the newsroom and… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/making-maps-in-the-newsroom/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/making-maps-in-the-newsroom/
The Map Men Visit the Ordnance Survey, and Also Wrote a Book
Map Men Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones visit the Ordnance Survey in a (sponsored) set of two (vertically aligned short) videos: part one, part two. Complete with map-folding mishaps, gratuitous hi-viz vest wearing, and a… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/the-map-men-visit-the-ordnance-survey-and-also-wrote-a-book/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/07/the-map-men-visit-the-ordnance-survey-and-also-wrote-a-book/
Allmaps Loses Digital Humanities Grant
The Leventhal Center has posted a statement on the future of the Allmaps project—Allmaps is a georeferencing tool for digital images—now that its Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the NEH has been terminated, like so… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/allmaps-loses-digital-humanities-grant/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/allmaps-loses-digital-humanities-grant/
Defense Department Cuts Off NOAA, NASA from Key Satellite Data Used in Hurricane Forecasting
Citing cybersecurity concerns, the U.S. Department of Defense is cutting off NOAA and NASA access to data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), throwing a wrench into the NOAA’s ability to forecast hurricanes, CNN… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/defense-department-cuts-off-noaa-nasa-from-key-satellite-data-used-in-hurricane-forecasting/
A Map in Every Pocket
It’s been more than 18 years since Steve Jobs demonstrated Google Maps on the then-prototype iPhone, and it’s hard to wrap one’s head around how transformational the fact that every mobile phone comes with a… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/a-map-in-every-pocket/
Star Wars Galaxy Map Updated
Jason Fry reports: “Very happy to share that we’ve restored the cartography page on starwars.com that was originally developed for The Essential Atlas. You’ll find a revised galaxy map (based on the wonderful 2021 Star… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/star-wars-galaxy-map-updated/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/star-wars-galaxy-map-updated/
27.3% of the Ocean Floor Has Now Been Mapped
The Seabed 2030 project announced on Saturday that “27.3% of the world’s ocean floor has now been mapped to modern standards. The increase in data represents more than four million square kilometres of newly mapped… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/27-3-of-the-ocean-floor-has-now-been-mapped/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/27-3-of-the-ocean-floor-has-now-been-mapped/
Maps on Vinyl
Maps on Vinyl: An Atlas of Album Cover Maps collects some 415 examples of record albums with maps on the cover. “The book is the brainchild of renowned Australian cartographer Damien Saunder, whose expertise has… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/maps-on-vinyl/
Quebec Flood Maps Will Get a New Framework Next Year
It seems as though the Quebec government has been in the process of updating its flood maps for the better part of the past decade (previously: Quebec’s Updated Flood Maps Prove Controversial; Quebec Flood Maps).… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/quebec-flood-maps-will-get-a-new-framework-next-year/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/06/quebec-flood-maps-will-get-a-new-framework-next-year/
Reimagining GIS
Linda Stevens says it’s time to move past GIS: Since its inception, the evolution of GIS has often felt like forcing a square peg into a round hole. Over the years, the layer-based model has been… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/reimagining-gis/
Unauthorized Waffle House Index Disaster Maps Taken Down
The Waffle House Index is an informal metric used to assess the severity of a storm in the U.S. South, because Waffle House restaurants don’t close unless Things Are Very Bad. But when Jack LaFond… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/unauthorized-waffle-house-index-disaster-maps-taken-down/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/unauthorized-waffle-house-index-disaster-maps-taken-down/
Map of the Month Club Launches
On behalf of the Independent Map Artists (previously), Daniel Huffman is launching an experiment: a map of the month club. For a one-time subscription fee of $200, folks can get new mappy goods sent to… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/map-of-the-month-club-launches/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/map-of-the-month-club-launches/
Adventures in Unpreparedness
Two recent cautionary tales about the risks of going forth without proper navigational tools. First, I’m a bit confused about this BBC News report, which cites what3words as coming through when a boat broke down… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/adventures-in-unpreparedness/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/adventures-in-unpreparedness/
Trump’s ‘Cartographic Compulsion’
Politico looks at what they call Donald Trump’s “cartographic compulsion”—the ways that maps have turned up in his political career over and over, from his use of election maps to Sharpie-gate in his first term,… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/trumps-cartographic-compulsion/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/trumps-cartographic-compulsion/
A Globe Safety Tip from xkcd
In Wednesday’s xkcd comic, Replogle has apparently been taken over by mad scientists. I’m having a hard time resisting the urge to explain the joke (I doubt many of my readers are physicists, but then… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/a-globe-safety-tip-from-xkcd/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/a-globe-safety-tip-from-xkcd/
No Gulf Is Safe
One consolation to all this “Gulf of America” nonsense was that, as something done by executive order, it would be just as easy to undo when all of this is over. Was. Republicans in the… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/no-gulf-is-safe/
Fantasy Mapmaking Tools
I’ve been making note of procedural fantasy map generators for a while now. These are tools that generate a map of an imaginary landscape, town or dungeon, mostly (but not necessarily exclusively) for the purposes… https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/fantasy-mapmaking-tools/
https://www.maproomblog.com/2025/05/fantasy-mapmaking-tools/