I see everyone is having issues with either their datasets or cartodb. I had problems syncing my excel data with cartodb. The free version has limited features like you stated Maple, so as far as layers are concerned its a dead issue. Since I wasn’t able to sync I had to manually put the data onto the map I created. Yesterday when I realized that I had to put in 56 street names on the map, I thought about switching, using something else, but that too proved to be fruitless. Hopefully the website for final project will be easier to maneuver.. Good luck ladies…
Author Archives: Juana Rodriguez Glover
Data set project
I finally got a plan for my data set project and if all goes well with testing I will have created something that will be informative. My data set will focus on the homeless street population in NYC, using a CartoDB map. I want to tell the story of homeless people, and how many live on the street. I believe using maps will help illustrate the widespread dilemma of homelessness, as well as showing the various parts of the city, and where they live. Later for my final project, I will be using my commons webpage to show how many women, men, and children are living in shelters, in conjunction with the homeless population that live on the street.
The reason I chose homelessness is that many people do not realize how easy it is to become homeless, take it for granted, and judge people for being homeless, when not really knowing how and why. I hope this will at least make people think about how this has become society’s problem and not just the individual’s.
Juana
WordPress Workshop
Last Monday night I went to my second WordPress workshop. I have been going to a lot of workshops for this class, and by far I found WordPress and Lexicon the most informative. Monday night was part II and since I had already created a web page on commons, this workshop reinforced what I learned in part I. What we learned was how to customize a menu, create widgets, and the fact that I can create my own theme page is awesome. Also, I was really interested in learning about plugins, since I had no idea what they were about, and now I know that plugins are really essential for any website. Looking forward to using these tools for my final project.
Everyone, have a Happy Thanksgiving….
Juana
Twitter losing talent/minorities/women because of diversity issues
Pondering my project
I have been pondering how to do my data set project, after going to many various workshops, I have come up with an idea. I like the fact that we can create maps to explain how and why, of course I will be using maps. I want to focus on the homeless in NYC, but I had to narrow it down to something that people are unaware of when it comes to the homeless. In my research I read about homeless tent cities, and believe it or not they do exist in the big apple. However unlike other cities across the US, homeless people in New York have to move around, therefore, unable to keep a community up for very long. This subject I know is a little depressing, but this story has to be told, by someone, and that someone will be me.
I will be attending a workshop next week titled, “Storytelling with Maps: CartoDB” I am looking very much forward to this one in particular because I think it will be extremely helpful with my project.
Future History on the Web
After reading “I nevertheless am a historian” I came across another article about a Texas high school and a mother who complained about her son’s history book. The book titled “Geography” claimed, immigrants were brought over to the new world to be workers, When in reality, the immigrants they were talking about were Africans. The book, further stated that Europeans were brought over, as indenture servants. The latter is partly true, but omitting most of the facts, especially, how Africans were workers, instead of slaves is a lie perpetrated by the book publishers, McGraw Hill, and the school advisory board that approved it. I could not help but think what I read in the Robert S. Wolff piece “People with little or no formal training in the discipline have embraced the writing of history on the web, which raises the question, whose histories will prove authoritative in the digital age?” The publishers have formal training, etc. Wow!
What becomes of history in the digital age remains to be seen, already we are seeing revisionists change history in printed books, and on the web. The fact that a big time book publisher like McGraw Hill would even put their name on a history book that changes and leaves out pertinent details, such as slavery, is an insult to the average person’s intelligence, and a crime against education.
I agree with Corey Meyer in the “Black Confederate Solider” piece, it helps when those who are claiming with authority about an historical account that one should work with original source materials, and have a understanding of the background of how to work with them. I guess McGraw Hill did not get that memo…..
