Has it been a while since you looked at a blog? I specialize in open-source GIS, traditional cartography, and prairie history. I want the free internet to be more interesting, so I'm writing longer posts about some of my map projects over the years.
December 09, 2024
Tutorial
In 2021, I was really interested in centres of population, and I decided to calculate them for everything I could imagine. It turns out the results are pretty entertaining for almost any section of a national census. Are Fijians a more westerly ethnicity than Acadians? (Yes, they…
December 06, 2024
As previously discussed, I am obsessed with the original blue house number plates in Regina. It's not the most popular hobby out there, but what would I do if I didn't have weird interests - watch TV? Play video games?? Relax??? Here's a map of the 104 known original house…
December 04, 2024
At the start of 2024, I bought a rustic old house in Val Marie. Turns out fixing up an old house is difficult, and draws on many skilled disciplines! So, rather than take on the most important tasks first (insulating the roof, insulating the basement, etc.) I thought I would…
December 01, 2024
Yes, the votes are finally in, and I lost by 36 to 45. It feels a little inappropriate to use percentage points to analyze a race where less than 100 votes were cast in total, but that's 44.4% to 55.6%, an 11-point loss. The closest analogue in provincial politics would be…
November 26, 2024
During the recent Saskatchewan provincial election, I was back in a traditional office environment for the first time in 5 years. I expected that the intense election environment would be taxing in unexpected new ways. Yeah, I ran into an unexpected one, all right: I actually had…
November 25, 2024
Tutorial
Here's a simple little map of Edmonton, Alberta. If you happen to be an Edmontonian, you might know something about the city's legal municipal boundary, and most people are generally aware that the North Saskatchewan River has a diagonal southwest-northeast course. But to…
November 03, 2024
Saskatchewan's fixed-date municipal elections approach on November 13, a date well-known to myself because I am currently running for mayor of Val Marie. (Please spare the applause, this is a contested race.) A mass mailout reminded me that, on the same day that I have the…
October 26, 2024
Tutorial
I am really proud of my work as a cartographer. There is one thing I feel is difficult to communicate to people outside the field: exactly how much effort it all takes!! On one hand, at my best I can make it look really easy. On the other hand, most people assume that my job is…
