Geography
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Almost a fifth of Earth's ocean floor has been mapped
Scientists have mapped nearly a fifth of the Earth's ocean floor, taking a big step forward for everything from biological studies to internet access.
Geocannon lets you travel anywhere and conquer the city
You can conquer the world if you try hard enough. I'm sure some adult told you that at one point when you were younger. It seems like kind of a stretch though, doesn't it? Well, conquering the physical world is probably best left off your bucket list. It might be nice to conquer the world in virtual form instead. That's cool, right? Less casualties, too. With Geocannon, that power is in your hands. Pick any location on Earth and battle it out with other players on a real map to claim that area as your own. The game is free with in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad. Did you know that every single city in the world is actually covered with giant crates? It's true, well, at least in the game of Geocannon. These crates are the secret to slowly but surely conquering the world. Visit any city and Geocannon loads a 3D version of its satellite imagery as a playing field. The technology is just mind-blowing. Being able to visit any city in the world alone is just stunning already, but add a gaming layer to that and the concept gets slightly better. Your initial weapons are just a magnet and a bomb. Crates are scattered all around the territory. Launch the magnet (green) to collect as many of these crates together as possible. Then tap the pin to switch from the magnet to the bomb (red) and destroy them. The more you're able to bomb in one shot, the higher your score is. Geocannon plays online or offline, but offline is boring. When you log in with Facebook, you battle against every other Geocannon player to own that city. Whoever scores the most points during their short visit in that city claims ownership. It's also important to monitor your "geopower" which is basically a number representing how likely you are to score well relative to other locations. Your geopower is at its greatest when you're closest to your current location. It's wise to start off playing in cities nearby to strengthen your abilities and geopower, then expand outward. When you get to level three, you unlock another important weapon: black hole. This acts like the magnet by gathering crates wherever you launch it, but takes the functionality a step further by sucking them up and dumping them right where you place your pin. That, as well as the ability to move your pin around the city, are two free upgrades. Other upgrades are available for in-app purchases of US$0.99 and up. They mostly just enhance what is already possible though. It took me a little bit to really get into this game, but it has a very peculiar charm to it. The game isn't even in my preferred genre, but there's no denying that visiting cities all around the world and earning points is entertaining. Collecting crates and bombing them also has a soothing effect too, almost a stress reliever. My one real gripe with Geocannon is it takes too long to level up. I've been playing for days and own multiple cities, yet I'm still on level one. It's kind of disheartening. Geocannon is free with in-app purchases and is universal for iOS devices.
Daily App: Stack the States is a must-have educational game that quizzes you on US Geography
Stack the States by Freecloud Design is a geography game that makes learning about the 50 states fun for children and adults. The app quizzes you on a variety of information about the states including capitals, borders, flags and notable landmarks. The main part of the game challenges you to enter a fact-based question about one of the 50 states without any time constraints or pressure. In fact, I allowed my children to use a US geography book to help them look up answers to the questions they did not know. If you answer correctly, you win that state and are allowed to add it to a stacking pile that is situated on a platform at the bottom of the screen. You need to place each state carefully as you can lose it if it tumbles off the edge. The placement is a challenge as some states are oddly shaped and don't fit easily into a pile, or are large, such as Alaska, and tend to knock your pile to pieces if you are sloppy in your placement. As you answer additional questions, your pile of states grows until it crosses the finish line. Once you cross this line, you are awarded a permanent state that you can add to your US map. Your goal is to eventually fill the map with states that you have earned. As you earn permanent states, you also unlock mini-games such as Map It!, Pile Up!, Puzzler and Capital Drop. Each one these mini-games reinforces the facts that you learn in the main part of the app. Stack the States is a wonderful tool that makes learning US geography an enjoyable experience. The graphics are cute, the music is catchy and the gameplay is exceptionally fun. It also supports multiple users, allowing my children to learn at different rates. I've used it as a prelude to a comprehensive geography class as well as refresher for those who are studying geography and need a break from the traditional pen and paper coursework. Stack the States is available for US$0.99 in the iOS App Store. It is compatible with both the iPhone and the iPad.
Elevation Earth for iOS is endlessly fascinating and educational
Elevation Earth is a universal iOS app (US$2.99) that displays a 3D model of our planet. You can manipulate your location with finger movements on the screen while rotating and zooming into Earth using standard iOS gestures. The app shows more than 300 annotated locations, like where the Titanic sank, impressive mountain peaks and famous cities. Of course, you examine any place on earth. Elevation is sometimes subtle on a 3D map of the planet, so the app lets you exaggerate elevation up to a hundred times. One of the most striking effects is to manipulate sea level and watch areas flood and drain in a very compelling animation. Looking at the deepest parts of the oceans, you can begin to understand the difficulty in locating the missing Malaysian passenger jet. The app lets you select from various color schemes, and then share your views via email or social media. There are also Wikipedia links to more information about the labeled landmarks. Help is built into Elevation Earth, but I found the app pretty easy to use without a close consultation of the instructions. One could play with Elevation Earth for hours. It's the kind of app that shows how a well thought-out mobile application can surpass a book in providing entertainment and knowledge. A couple of changes that would be nice; first, I'd like to see country boundaries and state lines that can be toggled on and off, since it's hard to locate some places on an unmarked map. Also, while the 300 landmarks are nice, I'd like to see a lot more. Still, Elevation Earth is well-conceived and works smoothly. Adults and kids will be fascinated to take this self-guided tour of our planet with such a wealth of interesting things to see. Elevation Earth requires iOS 6, and it's optimized for the iPhone 5.
National Geographic brings its custom cartography to Google Maps
National Geographic has long contributed photos and article links to Google Maps, but it's now deepening that commitment by introducing its own cartography. The magazine is using Google Maps Engine to share over 500 of its historical and reference maps with the public, including interactive overlays. You can see what Medieval England looked like, for example, or find tourist hotspots in South America. All of these maps are free to use through Google's platform; National Geographic is only charging for high-resolution and printed copies to help fund its non-profit efforts.
Google Earth 7.1 for iOS now includes Street View
Google yesterday updated its Google Earth app for iOS to version 7.1.1. While previous updates to Google Earth have simply come with boring "performance improvements and bug fixes," this is an update actually worth exploring. You see, the latest iteration of Google Earth finally includes Street View. A post on the Google Maps blog reads: Have you ever wanted to take a tour of Stonehenge or retrace the steps of Christopher Columbus? With the addition of Street View to Google Earth for mobile devices, you can explore many sites from street level right on your mobile device. And with the new streamlined interface, a simple click of the Earth logo in top left will give you quick access to more information through layers like Panoramio Photos and Wikipedia. Just in case you decide to visit these places yourself, Google Earth's improved directions enable you to visualize step-by-step transit, walking and biking directions in full 3D. What's more, Google notes that the updated version of Google Earth for mobile is now available in more than 100 countries across the globe. The full changelog reads: Google Maps Street View: With Street View, you can explore the world at street level. Improved directions/search: Updated directions let you can visualize transit, walk, bike and drive directions in 3D while update search result list will let you browse search results quickly. Improved interface: Easily browse and enable different layers through use of new left hand panel. You can check out the update on iTunes over here.
Google Maps adds natural terrain by default outside of satellite views, reminds us the world isn't flat
Everyone knows that Google prides itself on mapping accuracy. If you hadn't checked beyond the base maps in the past few years, though, you'd have thought the terrain was charted in the "here be dragons" era -- it's been as flat as a board. Take a second look today. Google has overhauled Google Maps worldwide to show hills, deserts and lush zones by default, as well as label the geographical features that hadn't previously been identifiable in a sea of white. The map overhaul isn't so nuanced enough as to remind us how steep the hills can be in San Francisco, but it will remind us that Gobi refers to more than just a chipset.
Daily iPad App: GeoMaster Plus HD
I tried the original GeoMaster app from French mobile developer VirtuaMobile a long time ago, but the HD version is well-suited to the bigger iPad screen. GeoMaster Plus HD is a geography quizzing game. It is simple enough, flashing text on the screen and asking you to tap the appropriate location. You battle against the clock but only to beat your times. This is a basic learning tool, and is fun yet relaxed, lacking really flashy or annoying elements. As such, it is perfect for kids learning geography. You can choose from states, countries, capitals and French departments, and players need only tap the appropriate spots on the screen to register answers. GeoMaster Plus HD adds a few things for the iPad. The larger screen makes it somewhat easier to tap the maps. Still, you can pinch to zoom and swipe to pan around if you can't hit Rhode Island with your giant fingers. The graphics are crisp and attractive, and the app really nails the chalkboard look. The drawstring on the pull-down map (which accesses the Atlas) even interacts as you tilt the iPad. The Atlas is a basic factoid lookup tool for the geography used in the game. It isn't that detailed nor is it as fun to browse as the game is to play. There are much better atlas apps, so consider this a somewhat weak freebie. Still, GeoMaster Plus HD is a fun, accessible and useful educational game for learning geography. Even at full price I can recall paying much more for flash cards which weren't nearly this enjoyable. Pick it up if you have a friend or relative who needs to learn some basic geography fast.
Visualized: Google searches around the globe
You've already seen Android activations mapped around the globe over time, now how about some Google search volumes? Using WebGL and different color crayons for each language, the coders at Mountain View have put together the above Search Globe, which presents a single day's worth of Google queries in a beautiful, skyscraper-infused visualization. Jacking yourself into the source link below (your browser can handle WebGL, right?) will let you twist and turn the model world for a closer exploration of global Google use. And if you get tired of that, there's an alternative map showing world populations over 1990s -- that's available at the second link.
Geology app puts mountains of info in the palm of your hand
I always loved geology and geography when I was in school and have kept up my interest over the years. Living in Arizona, we've got plenty of interesting geography, from mountains and deserts to fascinating road cuts and huge canyons that reveal geologic ages gone by.Now, someone has created what I would say is the ultimate app for Geography/Geology amateurs and professionals.I've been using Geology AZ, [iTunes link] which for US$4.99 overlays a whole lot of information on a basic map of the state. You can add town and cities, roads, counties; you know, the usual stuff you find on maps. Then you can dive much, much deeper, with maps of new and old fault areas, earthquake sites, old and current mines, public lands, fire history, and nicely rendered terrain elevation maps. I'm just scratching the surface here, so to speak. You can go to the developer web site and get a lot more information about what is available.You use standard finger gestures to zoom in and out, and the level of detail is amazing. The items on the map are color coded, so you can tap something and get a lot more detail. You can use the iPhone's built-in GPS to plot your position on the map, and find out all sorts of interesting features that are near you. Thankfully, I'm not living on a fault line.You can also capture one of your custom maps and output it in high resolution to your computer. If you're not interested in Arizona there are currently maps of Oregon/Washington, California, Texas, Florida and New York, with other states on the way. You can check them out here.This is a great tool for education, enjoyment, or a heads-up about what geological formations or geographical highlights are near you. You can change the transparency of each layer, superimposing data across several layers of the map.I can't say enough about how clever this app is, and the price is very reasonable considering the mountains (pun intended) of data it contains. The Arizona map data is about 42MB, and using the app does not require any data from your cell provider. It runs on either the iPhone or the iPod touch, but getting a GPS fix is only possible on the iPhone.Check the gallery for some screen shots and click here to see a video of this app in action.:%Gallery-74082%
The NBA playoffs, presented by World of Warcraft
This isn't exactly shocking news (this just in: Blizzard has an advertising budget!) but it is worth noting: Mark C. was watching the NBA playoffs the other day and lo and behold, guess which familiar logo appeared during a halftime sponsorship. Apparently the announcer even read off the name of the game during a tag. I don't think Mark is exactly right about it being one of the "first non-sports games being advertised in a sporting event" (I'm pretty sure I've seen one of those Killzone 2 or Call of Duty spots during my Cubs games lately), but it's the first time we've seen WoW promoted outside of the usual TV spots.It's interesting to note, too, that it's being presented during the NBA playoffs as well -- I've seen more WoW twitterers tweet about the hockey playoffs lately than the basketball equivalent. Then again, Mark also says he saw it on the NBA TV subscription service, so maybe it was targeted at people who are willing to subscribe to a digital service. And just for the heck of it, we'll also point out that it was an LA (Blizzard is in Anaheim) vs. Houston (Blizzard also has an HQ in Austin) game, so maybe it was geographically targeted as well.But this will probably not be the last time you see WoW in this context. Keep those eyes open.
A look at the geography of WoW from Interesting '08
This is just beautiful, from the title ("Brave Noob World") to the idea -- a geographical survey of Azeroth. James Wallis, the director of Hogshead Publishing, gave this presentation at an "unconference" called Interesting '08, in which he tried to do a survey of Azeroth, in the same way that Tobold did -- by walking from one end to the other. And he discovers that Azeroth is pretty small and pretty dense -- it's about 12km across, according to him (I really like his comparison image of the Death Star), and using a Female Tauren, he even comes up with the force of gravity, which is about equal to Earth -- about 1g. Which makes sense; Blizzard would want the virtual world to feel the same as our world, no matter how big it is.There's a problem with that, though -- if you have a small planet with the same gravity as a much larger planet, the only answer is that the mass of the planet is much more dense. And when you get a really small, densely packed mass, you start to mess around with the flow of time. So Wallis actually ends up explaining one of the more annoying features of Azeroth with actual science. Very nice.It's definitely a fun example of looking for more in this MMO than Blizzard probably put there, but Wallis covers it with enough zest and logic that it works, strangely. Now if he could only explain the weather...[via Massively]Update: Looks like the video got pulled. It's been stowed after the break, just in case it comes back.
Map of WoW online communities
Keeping in line with a recent hypothetical map created by our very own Michael Zenke, which depicts a geographical equivalent to the MMO blogosphere's most popular sites, Tim Howgego decided it was about time he created one for the World of Warcraft community. This map shows an interesting assortment of sites, including a humorous take on gold farmers and an itty bitty island in the middle of the sea called GM Island.There is a thorough explanation accompanying the map on Howgego's website, including his reasoning behind the placement of each landmass versus the outlying islands. Even the directional arrangement has a purpose. Curiously enough, we find our sister site WoW Insider occupying a lone island in the murky southwestern corner of the map, although Howgego explains that placement as well. The best part about this map? Everything is linked!
The geography of WoW space
World of Warcraft has seen the rise of a massive community of diverse players. Most of us do not simply log into WoW, but visit a number of news sources, fan sites, and web-bases resources to stay on top of new developments in the game. Tim Howgego has created a map of the virtual WoW community. In this image he has categorized some of the most popular spaces that players visit outside of Azeroth. His map is divided into several areas:
Test your useless knowledge with Super Brain Tease
From the consistently high Brain Training sales in the UK, we have to assume that at least some of you Brits are nuts for the kind of games that give you a mental workout. Lexicon Entertainment is even banking on that assumption, as the company is releasing five different trivia games under the Super Brain Tease license. Each game will have a different subject, giving you a choice from the following: Football (aka soccer, for those of us in the U.S.) History Geography Music Movies We find it amusing that you Brits are so crazy about your soccer, er, football, that Lexicon has ditched a broader "Sports" category in favor of something so specific. All poking fun aside, though, should these titles sell well enough they'll only be the first of many. The main allure of such games, we're sure, will be their budget price points, as each edition will be offered for £9.99. If the idea of trivia at such a cost interests you, you can expect to see the Super Brain Tease series hit retail in Q4.[Via press release]
Details on the zones of Northrend
Over on the EU forums, Blizzard poster Salthem gives us a few details on the new zones we'll be visiting in Northrend. Of course, all of this is subject to change per developer whim but this is what Northrend is shaping up to be, so far. Salthem lists six zones (with notes that there will be more, though the exact number hasn't been finalized yet) that will be comparable in size to Outland zones.Howling Fjord: Your first chance to go up against the ancient Vrykul in their instance Utgarde Keep. Borean Tundra: The home to the Tuskarr. Parts of Borean Tundra are being melted down for water by the Naga. Garrosh Hellscream has established a base of operations at Warsong Hold. Grizzly Hills: The home of Furbolgs and their city of Grizzlemaw. Also home to the ancient Dwarven City of Thor Modan. The land is largely covered in forests - an example of our desire to make sure that not all zones are just snow and ice. Dragonblight: The home of Wyrmrest Temple, the ancient meeting place where dragons go to die.Lake Wintergrasp: A new non-instanced PvP zone with Siege Weapons, destructible buildings and multiple objectives with lasting effects. Players on Normal realms will automatically be flagged for PvP when entering this zone. The Storm Peaks: Containing Ulduar, the ancient Titan city in the Far North. The capitol city of Northrend (the Shattrath of the north) will be Dalaran. Yes, you read me right, the same Dalaran that presently hides under a sparkly dome near Hillsbrad. The Kirin Tor have invoked powerful magic to relocate their city, and hopefully safeguard themselves from the dragon Malygos, who is concerned over magic running amok in Azeroth.
