Maps and Digital Voodoo

Been busy lately with both real world and Iclone work.  Not looking too promising on me getting Monsters completed by my self imposed July deadline, though I am making progress and will continue to try.  I have no idea how folks pull off these big projects in so little time.  Hindering some of my efforts is the fact that about 1 in every 5 times I open up my HP laptop, the laptop fires up but the screen remains blank (there are three loud beeps - one long, two short).   Ive already sent the laptop back to HP for a new motherboard about a year ago and now the (already extended) warranty is up.  So Ive done a bunch of research on the issue and found out that  if I wrap the laptop up in a blanket and let it overheat before rebooting then I get it too work again.  Talk about weird voodoo computing.  Just hoping to finish this production before looking at something from Dell.  No more HPs for me.


And now for something completely different, here's a pair of interactive maps from the New York Times.  Im a bit of a Geographic information Systems kinda guy so I'm a sucker for a good old interactive map.  Plus points for demographic info.


New York Times Immigration Explorer - Watch how the foreign born settled into the U.S from 1880 forward.  Tell me it aint cool.

Taxi cab pickups in Manhattan (below 60th street) by day and hour - Like blood circulating through the city.  Watch those late night weekend location to see where the drunken revelry happens.