The Google Maps Platform Awards Winners / / No Comments Google has announced the winners of the very first Google Maps Platform Awards. The awards were launched to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of the Google Maps API and were open to anyone who has used the Google Maps Platform over the past two decades.As one of the judges for the competition, I can attest to the overall quality of the maps submitted. Winners were named in 10 Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Awards, Google, maps, Platform, Winners
Time for something new… / / No Comments So, maybe you’re noticing a new look here. Or maybe this is your first time here. Either way, welcome to the new (and hopefully) improved raymondcamden.com, my little home on the internet. For the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing my experience using GenAI to generate a blog theme on my YouTube channel. My plan was to share those results here and ask folks which theme they thought would be best. I still plan on sharing those results here, but yesterday while frustrated and anxious, I decided, screw it, one theme really spoke to me, and it’s the one you see here. While I know I’ve still got stuff to fix here and there, I’m really happy with this update and I hope... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: new..., Something, time
The College Football Imperialism Map / / No Comments The CFB Charts Imperialism Map is a fan-created, season-long project that turns the college football season into a map-based “conquest” game. It started on Reddit and Twitter a few years ago and has become a tradition among college football fans.Here’s how it works (I think):Each FBS team begins the season owning the county in which its school is located (and probably all the nearest counties). Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: College, Football, Imperialism
Using Chrome’s Built-in AI to Improve AI Prompts / / No Comments Props for this article go to my best friend, Todd Sharp, who yesterday said something along the lines of, "Hey Ray, you should blog a demo of …" which is pretty much akin to bring out a laser pointer in front of a cat. Not only do I love getting ideas for new demos, his idea was actually pretty freaking brilliant, which means I get to pretend I’m brilliant as well. His idea was this: Given a user created prompt meant to be shipped off to a "proper" (i.e. maybe expensive) Generate AI API, can we use tools to help improve the prompt and make it "cheaper" before used. Given we’ve got AI in the browser via Chrome (ok, we will have it soon), this seemed... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Builtin, Chrome's, improve, Prompts, using
Isochrone Tokyo / / No Comments Tokyo has one of the most comprehensive public transit systems in the world. Curtis Fenner has built an isochrone map that allows you to see where you can travel in the city by train in a given time.The purpose of the map is to help people make crucial decisions about where to live by visualizing real-world commute times. It effectively achieves this by not only showing the reach of the entire Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Isochrone, Tokyo
Fall is Warmer Now / / No Comments Meteorological fall started on September 1, but if you live in the contiguous U.S., you may not have noticed the typical crisp, cool air. That’s because the season has been steadily warming for decades. Since 1970, average fall temperatures have risen in every single county in the country.On average, fall temperatures are now a remarkable 2.8°F warmer than they were in the early 1970s. This Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Fall, Warmer
Adding a Web Debugger to BoxLang (First Version) / / No Comments This one’s been sitting in my "to do" blog queue for sometime now and I figured the beginning of spooky season (September 1 – don’t we all start celebrating Halloween then?) was a good excuse to finally kick this out the door. Many, many years ago I learned to love one of the simpler features of ColdFusion, the debugging output. This is a feature ColdFusion has probably had for near twenty or so plus years and while it’s not the same as a "full" debugging service (which also exists), or the powerhouse Fusion Reactor, it’s an incredibly simple way to look at what’s going on in your web application. It works by first enabling it (something... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Adding, BoxLang, Debugger, first, version
The New Geologic Map of the United States / / No Comments The United States Geological Survey has released a new geologic map of the United States that lets you click anywhere in the country to see the rocks, sediments, and geologic units under your feet, along with their age and material type.The Cooperative National Geological Map was created by combining around 100 state and regional maps into one seamless, nationwide view of U.S. geology. Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Geologic, States, United