A personal data visualization site with maps and animated diagrams, including distance-to-McDonald's maps and factorization animations.
HN links it for the McDonald's distance maps, which commenters tie to remote places like McDermitt, and for the animated factorization diagrams.
Oh man. I learned to drive in my parents' automatic mid-sixties Impala, so when when I bought my first car - a yellow 1969 Toyota Corolla - I wanted an automatic. The salesman said, "You know, this is just a two-speed automatic, and it doesn't perform very well. I really think you'd be happier with the stick shift." I told him I didn't know how to drive a stick shift and he said, "That's no problem, I'll teach you."
So we drove a few lurchy blocks around San Francisco - yes, San Francisco, the city of seven hills. Ah, if it were only seven!
After a while he said, "Doing great, drive me back to the dealership and you're on your own."
I knew my way home, but I couldn't remember where the hills were.
I could have used elevation data that day...
"...sweat beading upon his brow, he might recount that Damp Morning when he drove his Manual Transmission up the Impossible Grade, and was forced to stop, just below the top! In frantic pantomime, he’ll pull the emergency brake and disengage the clutch. Crane his neck to peer anxiously at the car sniffing his downhill bumper. Bulge his eyes. Gun the engine. Pop the clutch. Release the brakes. Lay down some rubber with a piercing squeal. Float his steed slowly onto the flat. Wave the smoke from his eyes. Pump his arms in brief celebration. And finally, grouse about that sadistic driving instructor who got him into the pickle in the first place. What a jerk!"
http://www.datapointed.net/2009/11/the-steeps-of-san-francisco/
Apples to apples, this does not really apply to SF or even most of the Bay Area.
Perhaps all of Texas, Arizona or NM.
Not here.
I hope some smart Alec SF supe does not get any ideas, reading this.
The bulb-outs at the intersections [1], the rules-dont-apply-to-us cyclists [2], the abundance of parklets and dedicated Muni lanes are already making driving in SF a hugely cumbersome affair. If it isn't already, with its 20%+ grade roads [3].
From my experience living in SF, drivers here are not the most skilled as it is. This will only worsen things.
If Mr. Wiener catches wind of this, I'm certain he will call for miniature lanes, like when he called for miniature firetrucks, when firefighters expressed concern over the width of streets. [4]
[1] http://sf.streetsblog.org/2014/07/03/bulb-outs-noe-valleys-getting-them-outer-balboas-got-them/
[2] http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Bicyclist-sentenced-for-fatal-S-F-crash-4736312.php
[3] http://www.datapointed.net/2009/11/the-steeps-of-san-francisco/
[4] http://sf.streetsblog.org/2014/05/09/monday-speak-out-on-sffds-push-for-wider-streets-at-city-hall/
I've looked at some really old maps. Like this one from 1853 [1]. So for starters, the Long Island Railroad is apparently eternal as its nearly impossible to find a map which pre-dates it, the modern subway lines bare remarkable resemblance to the former "plank roads", and above all the regions that I'm finding most difficult to reconcile are actually younger not older than the other grids that have been stitched together.
This helpful tool [2] highlights what I mean. Zoom out and look around, its mostly consistent large jigsaw pieces. There's just this one turbulent maelstrom in the middle that ruins the idea of several grids glued.
1. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804n.la002117/?r=0.197,0.358,0.528,0.237,0
2. http://www.datapointed.net/visualizations/maps/enhanced-street-grids/?lat=40.705368&lon=-73.889236&z=12
I've actually driven through the "town" of McDermitt, on the border. It is in the middle of f'ing nowhere. It's not terribly far from one of the original "McFarthest spots" ( http://www.datapointed.net/2010/09/distance-to-nearest-mcdonalds-sept-2010/ ).
Some environmentalists and local native Americans aren't terribly happy about the idea: https://apnews.com/article/nevada-lithium-mine-court-appeal-15bd07e0ec03230d81349ff172c790dd
It's actually a pretty interesting bit of country to see, because it's rare for most of us to experience places that remote. A few years back, when visiting Steens Mountain (highly recommended) we drove the paved road from Frenchglen to the Alvord desert. We saw I think 2 other cars in an hour.
If you want the almost exact opposite of Breezewood visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I tell people it's like time travelling back to the fifties. I can remember when there wasn't a single fast food restaurant up there.
Even today it's been voted the most McUnderEndowed area in the United States.
http://www.datapointed.net/2009/10/distance-to-nearest-mcdonalds-midwest/
It does have some pretty cool taverns and in fact a father-son duo wrote a book just on the U.P.'s bars.
https://www.amazon.com/Yooper-Finest-Michigans-Peninsula-September/dp/B015X49GTS
If you go have a pastie and if you're brave go out at night hunting YooperLite rocks that glow in the dark.
Go to the original visualization at http://www.datapointed.net/visualizations/color/men-women-color-names-d3/ and sort by popularity. This enables you to see colors that are gender-outliers for how popular they are - the most popular colors tend to be near gender parity (or in this case a bit skewed male) whereas the less popular colors are all over the place.
One of the colors you'll see along the bottom edge of that cloud of points - meaning it's rather male among colors of its popularity - is "light red".
Men don't even want to say pink.