Storytelling Using Google Maps
One of the coolest new features on Google Maps is the ability to create “My Maps.” I geo-tagged photos and 360-degree panoramas to a Google Map from a project that explores the long-term health, environmental and economic-related effects that mining has had on parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Click the image above to view the interactive Google Mining Map. You can visit the original Google Map here.
As you’ll see as you zoom into the Treece and Picher areas, the towns look like a heavily bombed war-zone, with gray mounds of chat contrasting with the predominantly green agricultural region. Although the Google satellite image of the particular region could be of higher resolution, Google Earth and Google Maps provide a new way to understand and illustrate our planet’s environmental issues.
Rattlesnake Roundup Resurrection
I’m resurrecting this audio slideshow from a few years ago because, well, it’s rattlesnake roundup season. I photographed and reported this story for the Lawrence Journal-World after thumbing through an events calendar for Kansas. Rattlesnake roundups are under increasing scrutiny by wildlife groups and animal rights activists as studies have found the species to be in decline. Currently, there are no federal or international laws that protect the western and eastern diamondbacks or the western or prairie rattlesnake. Additional resources can be found at the Humane Society’s website.
Winnie
Say hello to Winnie. She’s my new kitten. Winnie is a small, salt and pepper colored cat with a white front right paw and a white back left paw. Pretty cute if you ask me. She likes the taste of people food, and strangely enough, my fingers. Meow!
