Tag Archives: Geography

Natural Earth Data In QGIS 3: Part 3

Last time, I finished working on my Alaska map with political boundaries and shading in place, and the major rivers and lakes depicted. This time, I’m going to use some more Natural Earth data to add more information to the map. The first thing I want is some towns and villages, so I download the … Continue reading Natural Earth Data In QGIS 3: Part 3

Natural Earth Data in QGIS 3: Part 2

Last time, I described how I used free Natural Earth data and the software package QGIS to produce a basic map of Alaska and its surroundings, shown above. This time, I’m going to lay some more vector datasets on top of this map to make it a little more useful. First, I want to add … Continue reading Natural Earth Data in QGIS 3: Part 2

Natural Earth Data in QGIS 3: Part 1

A while ago, I wrote about my experience using Ordnance Survey data to generate maps of the UK using the free and open-source Geographical Information System package QGIS 3. At that time I was using the then-current Long-Term Release, QGIS 3.4. Things have moved on, though, and this report uses the current QGIS LTR, version … Continue reading Natural Earth Data in QGIS 3: Part 1

Brian C. Kalt: The Perfect Crime

Say that you are in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone, and you decide to spice up your vacation by going on a crime spree. You make some moonshine, you poach some wildlife, you strangle some people and steal their picnic baskets. Brian C. Kalt “The Perfect Crime” Georgetown Law Journal (2005) The content of Kalt’s … Continue reading Brian C. Kalt: The Perfect Crime

Does The Sun Set On The British Empire?

In short, taking every thing into consideration, the British empire in power and strength may be stated as the greatest that ever existed on earth, as it far surpasses them all in knowledge, moral character, and worth. On her dominions the sun never sets. Before his evening rays leave the spires of Quebec, his morning … Continue reading Does The Sun Set On The British Empire?

Sidlaws: The Mystery of Lundiecra Wood

  So here’s a puzzle. I was wandering around in the snow in the Sidlaw Hills, back in February when random wandering around was still a thing people did, when I noticed an odd placename on my 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map: “Lundiecra Wood”. I’ve been nigglingly half-aware of it before, but on this occasion its … Continue reading Sidlaws: The Mystery of Lundiecra Wood

Ordnance Survey OpenData In QGIS 3: Part 4

At the end of my previous post on this topic, I left you with this map of the area around the mountain of Blaven (Gaelic Bla Bheinn) on the Isle of Skye: That concluded a three-part tutorial on using Ordnance Survey OpenData products in QGIS mapping software. (To go to the start of the series, … Continue reading Ordnance Survey OpenData In QGIS 3: Part 4

Michael Palin: Erebus

They might have had monogrammed dinner plates and personalised silver cutlery, but the didn’t have very good maps. Michael Palin needs no introduction from me. He rose to fame with Monty Python in the 1970s, and then in 1989 began a career as a presenter of more-or-less gruelling travel documentaries, starting with Around The World … Continue reading Michael Palin: Erebus

Ordnance Survey OpenData In QGIS 3: Part 3

I finish my last post about using Ordnance Survey OpenData in QGIS having produced this map of the area around Blaven, on the Isle of Skye: It’s tinted for height, shaded and marked up with contours to emphasize landforms, and has features such as surface water, coastline, roads and buildings added. Now it needs some … Continue reading Ordnance Survey OpenData In QGIS 3: Part 3