July 2014 Summaries

On July 24th, Andrew Hill hosted a webinar titled "CartoDB for developers" to teach how to use CartoDB for developing geospatial applications. The webinar was aimed at creators interested in learning about APIs, having full SQL access to their data directly from their application or the web, and powering GIS calculations on the fly. A recording of the presentation is available online, and [email protected] can be contacted for any questions. To learn more about CartoDB, stay updated on upcoming webinars and sign up for a free account.

CartoDB Enterprise is a new offering from CartoDB that brings collaboration capabilities to teams and organizations in the cloud. This allows for easy sharing of datasets and visualizations, as well as controlled access and administration. The platform supports large-scale growth with no storage limits, consolidated billing, and VIP support. It also offers on-premise deployment options, database connectors, and a secure environment for analyzing corporate data. CartoDB Enterprise is designed to help organizations reimagine their cloud experience and transform the way they work with data as a team.

A Swiss daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger published an interactive map showing the spatial distribution of Swiss soccer fans using CartoDB, a data visualization tool. The map displays the municipalities where fans of nine top-flight clubs reside, with polygons colored according to the dominant club. To create this map, the developers collected and pre-processed data on season ticket holders from ten top-flight clubs, matched zip codes with municipalities, and used CartoDB's editor to style the map and calculate quantiles for opacity classes. The final application uses CartoDB.js API to build a standalone app that updates the CSS when a user chooses a club, displaying information about each club and municipality in tooltips or popups.

The New York Daily News, with the help of their data projects editor Sarah Ryley, has created an interactive web package that allows readers to explore crime data in the New York subway system. The data, obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request, includes information on 48,749 incidents over a five-year period from July 2008 to August 2013. The map displays various crime categories by station, including violent crimes, property crimes, and drug-related offenses. The data is also used to calculate a rate per 100,000 trips for each station, providing insight into the frequency of crimes at different stations. The interactive web package includes buttons that allow users to switch between viewing the total number of incidents and the rate per 100,000 trips for each crime category. The map is created using CartoDB and requires a significant amount of data preprocessing and manipulation before it can be displayed.

More map storytelling using Odyssey.js showcases recent examples of the tool's application in various parts of the world, including Germany's 2014 Fifa World Cup, a Financial Times investigation into corporate water projects, and a biographical story about James Rodriguez. These examples demonstrate the versatility of Odyssey.js in creating interactive, map-based stories that can be used to tell complex narratives or convey data visualizations in an engaging way.

The Cash Atlas is an interactive global mapping tool that visually represents cash transfer programs at a global level, aiming to improve the quality of emergency cash transfer and voucher programming in the humanitarian sector. The project uses data from over 500 projects impacting almost 20 million beneficiaries, with CartoDB serving as its backend platform for storing and mapping this data. This is another example of innovative projects developed by CartoDB Partners using their technology, with the network of partners continuing to grow and develop more interesting projects.

The company behind the popular data visualization tool CartoDB is increasing storage space for free accounts by 10 times, providing users with up to 50MB of space to create and upload maps. This change aims to make it easier for journalists, NGOs, and businesses to start using CartoDB's features such as styling wizards and geocoding tools. The expanded free account will allow new users to explore the full potential of CartoDB without restrictions, while also offering paid accounts with increased privacy controls and more advanced features.

CartoDB is being used by Startupxplore to create interactive maps of startups, investors, entrepreneurs, events, companies, and services. The platform has been integrated into the web app using CartoDB's API with OAuth for data synchronization. The use of CartoDB has enabled the creation of a streamlined process from signup to map visualization without writing code, and has provided features such as hover-over tooltips, interactive markers, and info windows with customizable fields. The platform is flexible enough to be used by both non-technical users and seasoned hackers, and provides an awesome user experience and great support.

Loomstate, an organic cotton clothing brand, partnered with TS Designs to produce a collection of t-shirts made entirely in America, from cotton farm to dairy farm. They used Odyssey.js, an open-source storytelling tool, to visualize their most traceable tee's journey, providing transparency and education for customers. The visualization was created using the "Slides" option in the Odyssey.js Sandbox, with each step becoming a slide centered around its location. A vizjson was added to give coherence to the process, illustrating the path from beginning to finish. Custom HTML and CSS were used to design the map, which is now live on GitHub Pages, allowing customers to learn more about Loomstate's sustainable practices.

The OKFestival's fringe events will feature a session on CSVs and visualization with Javier Arce from CartoDB. The Open Knowledge Festival Berlin is also hosting an open mapping happy hour event where attendees can discuss strategies and tools over drinks, featuring representatives from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Development Seed, Zeit Online, Mapbox, and Alex Barth. Additionally, CartoDB's CEO Javier de la Torre will be in Berlin for the week, inviting others to meet to discuss about CartoDB.

The new Odyssey.js tool is being used by various organizations and media outlets to create interactive map-based stories, such as an investigation into 16 shooting incidents in New York City, a recreation of Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle voyage, and visualizations of Twitter data during the Wimbledon 2014 men's final. Additionally, there are examples of how CARTO maps can be used to tell stories about wildlife, such as Eric the Seagull's breeding season, and how media outlets like The Washington Post are using Odyssey.js to reimagine their content. These projects showcase the potential of interactive storytelling and visualization tools like Odyssey.js and CARTO.

Create a new project in only three steps, combine visualizations with narrative, and use Markdown editing to structure your story. You can then easily publish your final story with one click, sharing it locally or embedding it on your website. The Odyssey.js sandbox offers a range of templates and controls to help you build map-based interactive stories.

Odyssey.js is an open source library that enables creators to build interactive stories on the web without coding skills, making map-based storytelling easier to develop. It features a sandbox for non-coders and coders alike to test its capabilities using Markdown markup language. The JavaScript library can be used to create complex interactions for map-based storytelling, allowing developers to visualize data-driven stories in an easy-to-use format. With the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Odyssey.js aims to empower creators to bring their stories to life and make interactive storytelling more accessible to a wider audience.

Urban Reviewer is an online map created by freelance programmer mapmaker and teacher Eric Brelsford, as part of 596 Acres, to visualize over 150 master plans for neighborhoods adopted by the City of New York. The process involved a two-year effort to collect and translate paper records into machine-readable spreadsheets using CartoDB. The resulting map allows users to explore which areas have been affected by these master plans, their impact on communities, and the processes behind their implementation. The map's interactivity enables users to view plan boundaries on hover, select plans, and highlight lots within those plans.

CartoDB at the INSPIRE Conference, helping public sector organizations share geo data` At the recent INSPIRE Conference held in Aalborg, Denmark, CartoDB's CEO Javier de la Torre participated in a workshop on the European Public Sector Information platform. The presentation focused on how CartoDB enables next-generation data products and changes the way people visualize data online. It also highlighted the challenges faced by public administrations when sharing geographic data with organizations and the general public they serve, and how CartoDB can help overcome these challenges to create and share maps, manage geo data, and enable its reuse.

The annual FOSS4G conference is taking place in September in Portland, Oregon, with CartoDB as one of its participants, featuring several sessions on topics such as storytelling and dynamic mapping. The organization has launched a Call for Maps to build an exciting exhibit in the FOSS4G Map Gallery, where delegates can share their work to showcase the current state of mapping. All users and map creators are encouraged to contribute to this gallery to create a vibrant exhibit that will act as a reference point for the wider mapping community.