Mapping The Swine Flu Epidemic

Posted on April 30, 2009 by andrei

As the Swine Flu epidemic gets ever more attention, increasing emphasis is placed on it’s movement in the States and around the world. Naturally, maps provide the best way to visualize the impact in a specific locale or on the global level. The map below shows the global spread of the disease using our new (currently in private beta) Heatmap template.

The map is updated several times per day using data from different sources. Feel free to grab the embed code and add this map to your website.

In addition, we’ve created several region-specific maps:

Map of the Week: Osprey Nesting Activity

Posted on April 26, 2009 by andrei

This week’s feature is mainebirder’s Osprey Nesting Activity map which illustrates a post on birdingmaine.com. The map shows Osprey nests near Brunswik, Maine. While you can see the map below, we encourage you to check out the original article for some really nice photos.

News Maps Roundup

Posted on April 24, 2009 by andrei

UMapper maps are being used on a number of news publishing websites. Below is a list of several news stories from last week featuring different maps.

The Roanke Times: Roanoke region tire dumps – View Map

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead: Fargo Marathon Route – View Map

StarTribune: Shooting in Maple Grove – View Map

The Hour: Burglars grab cash at McDonald’s – View Map

UMapper on Austin Daily Herald

Posted on April 22, 2009 by andrei

The Austin Daily Herald is using UMapper to show locations of wetland restoration sites to illustrate the Saving our wetlands article. The map below shows locations in The Cedar River Watershed District.

Tip: Click on the full screen button for a larger view.

New! Map Templates

Posted on April 13, 2009 by andrei

Map templates allow you to modify the setting in which your maps appear; essentially, they are wrappers for your maps. This functionality becomes very useful when you want to change the look and functionality of a map container without modifying the actual map.

Changing map templates is very easy. Simply select a template on the “Edit Map Info” page and click save. Please note, templates don’t have any effect on the map editor, they are only visible when the map is previewed.

In addition to our default template, we added two new ones: Unclustered markers and Locked view. Both templates are described below:

Unclustered markers ( Preview )
In this template, markers are not clustered together based on their proximity (blue circles with a number), instead the map is displayed as is. Unclustered works particularly well for maps with a large number of markers and overlays. While the Default template will start slowing down after 300 points, this one can handle well over 500.

Locked view ( Preview )
This template prevents users from changing the map view in any way; map pan and zoom are disabled. This is a great template for presenting a single set of data.