WordPress iOS editing app gets styling buttons, full-screen mode

Update your WordPress apps!  This is for iPads as well as iPhones.

It’s only fair and right that one of the world’s most popular content management/blogging platforms should have a snazzy and capable iPhone app to go with it. The WordPress app has been updated to version 2.9, adding three new features for mobile users.

The new version adds handy styling buttons right above the keyboard, so you no longer have to put in your markup manually for bold or italic text, links or lists. Full-screen editing gives you more real estate to view what you’re working on, especially handy on the iPhone’s screen. You can also now follow other subscribed WordPress.com blogs directly in the app.

via WordPress iOS editing app gets styling buttons, full-screen mode | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Imagining subway maps as symbols of their city

We talked about how the NYC subway map distorts the proportions and cardinal orientation of Manhattan to serve the needs of the map — laying out all of the info on the page, fitting the whole system on the map, graphical clarity.  But a subway is just a line with points — from the viewpoint of the subway rider you just need to know how many stops until you transfer to the green line, then which direction to take (binary decision) and then how many stops until you get off.  You don’t need to know that the F train makes a 90° turn after W. 4th, just that 2nd Avenue stop is two stations later.  When leaving the subway you do need a planar map for negotiating the grid, but in the tunnels a line will do.

So if that is the case, why make the subway map resemble its geographical reality at all?  Why not let it become something else, something symbolic or representative of structures and organizing principles unburdened by physical reality?…
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Naming the American Stream | Strange Maps

Visual maps of languages are fascinating to me, since they chart so many other things — cultures, ethnic groups, historical events (invasions, immigrations and emigrations, royal marriages and other forced mergers) and more.  This one is great because it maps it to words for geographical features; I’m amazed at how well it clusters!  It also reminds me of how confused I was when I first moved to the northeast at the preponderance of “-kills” in the Hudson River Valley (Peekskill, Catskill, Fishkill — lots of animals being killed…) until someone explained it to me.

This map charts the rich variety of waterflow toponyms in the US, which reflects the climatological and geographical diversity of the country, but also its linguistic and historical heritage. River names seem extremely resistant to change, and indeed often are echoes of earlier dominant cultures [1].

The colours on the map, which is based on the place names in the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, correspond to the generic toponyms for waterflows, excluding the two commonest ones (river and creek, rendered in gray).

via 531 – A Rio Runs Through It: Naming the American Stream | Strange Maps | Big Think.

I definitely recommend clicking through and reading the whole post, which includes more explanation of each color and word (and word origin.)

ANNOUNCEMENT: post material from today’s class

Everyone remember, sometime today while it’s fresh in your mind, to document your Short Map Story performances, both with what you did for us, and any changes you might want to make (notes to self.)  When it’s done, please post it to the blog in whatever format makes sense (text, scan of handwritten notes, screengrab of Noteshelf notes, etc.)

Julia:  can you also do this for your fabulous Juxtaposition?

Carl and Melissa:  Can you also please post the text of your script and poem, respectively?

All of the above should be categorized with our new “I made this” category 🙂

ANNOUNCEMENT: new category stuff

I have made a new category called “I made this” — tag any post with this that contains any sort of content that you have made:  maps, photos, video, writings, performance, you name it.  Then also categorize with other things as relevant.  This way, when after reading period we want to see everything that we have done, we can go to a single category listing and have an archive of it all.  I have also added this category as a standalone link on the top menubar.

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