Lab 1.

(http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/170-a-map-of-the-internets-black-holes)
This map illustrates the internet "black holes" of the Internet around the World.  The "black holes" represent the places around the world in which internet access is restricted by the government.  This is indicated by the large pieces of black amongst the lines of green on the map. The map was created by Reporters Without Borders to represent the restriction of "free speech".  The map comes from http://bigthink.com.  I found this map interesting for several reasons.  On a most basic level, the map is eye-catching.  The lack of empty space draws people in, and highlights the "black holes" of the internet because it breaks up the green.  This map was clearly used to not only inform of the "black holes", but to also make a point of displaying the lack of freedom in parts of the world.  This map is effective at creating the point that the reporters wanted to make: to represent the restriction of free speech through restriction of the internet.  I also found this map interesting because it is problematic for many reasons.  The map uses green lines to represent internet connections.  However, the map does not explain what these green lines represent. The map leaves the person looking at the map to conclude that the green lines represent interconnection through internet access between countries. The map would also be more accurate if it did not use lines, but shadings of green to represent places in which the internet is accessible to the general public.  Furthermore, the map does not indicate if the internet "black holes" are black holes solely because of government restriction, or if lack of access to the web was also factored into the creation of the map.

(www.popvssoda.com )
This map represents the generic names for soft drinks by county.  This map was created by Matthew T. Campbell.  This map came from www.popvssoda.com.  This map is an interesting map.  It sparked my interest because I have noticed that in Los Angeles and in a majority of California, people refer to soft drinks as "soda".  It was not until I visited the Midwest that I heard the term "pop" to refer to soft drinks.  This map supports my conclusion.  The map shows that Western Coast and North Eastern   parts of the United States uses the term "soda" to describe soft drinks.  The Northern and Midwestern part of the United States uses the word "pop" to describe soft drinks.  The south uses the word "coke" to describe soft drinks.  This map uses survey data generalized over county.  I am curious as to whether this data would change if the the creator of this map divided responses by city, or even by state.  At first glance, the coloring of the map makes it look like there are stark division of responses to the term used for soft drinks by regions.  However, if the viewer looks more closely, it appears that there are a good number of counties for which the creator of the map received no responses.  Also, the map does not indicate the number of people that were involved with data collection. This could misrepresent the actual data, causing a discrepancy in this map. 

(http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2012/07/11/we-are-sorry-churchgoers-to-have-shortchanged-you.php)
The website said that this map was created by someone named Floating Sheep.  The map comes from a map website, philly.curbed.com.  This map represents the comparison between tweets about beer and church from Twitter.  I found this map interesting because it is an interesting and fun comparison.  It does not represent the number of tweets about each subject, but instead whether the state "tweeted" more about beer or church.  Based on the coloring of the map, it appears that more people tweet about beer than church.  I am curious as to how this comparison was made and at which point a state is considered to have tweeted "more beer" or "more church" as compared to "much more beer" or "much more church".