Here we are again… Happy Friday! To celebrate, we once again share 5 awesome “mappy” related tips and tricks withyou. Enjoy checking out these resources over the week-end, or, be sure to come back during a lunch or coffee break and explore further. Some fun and useful tips here to help you over Valentine’s Day and we’ve also got a guide to Mardi Gras fun along the Gulf Coast as well as tips on a favorite topic, Beer Maps! Have a great week-end and be sure to share your favorite map/Geek tip with us any time – Twitter @geojobegis is always a good way to reach us
Beer or Wine? This map can help
Wondering what to get that someone special for Valentine’s Day? Perhaps beer or wine? This clever map explains just where in America per capita spending tops out on beer or wine. Obviously, the left coast, ripe with wine country and grapes, people tend to prefer wine. In the heartland beer seems to be the beverage of choice while most other coastal areas seem to favor vino! Enjoy this clever map to identify regional preferences. More info in this Esri blog post.
Note, data for this mapping effort were derived from this valuable resource, demographic data from Esri – what a score!!
Python is popular.. well, that might be a hug understatement! This is a great time to polish up your Python skills, particularly if you think you might be hunting for a new GIS analyst job. Thi popular cheat sheet is a must have to keep on your desk, even if python isn’t in your toolbox at the moment. Find out how to write readable, even beautiful, code with Python. Enjoy this free cheat sheet (although registration is required). Note, if you want to dive deeper in Python, this free E-book is a MUST!
Every good GIS tech, Geo analyst, or geogeek really does need to have some level of understanding of map projections (remember Cartography 101 from way back??). this recent post at Geoawesomeness provides some very useful resources to help you better understand map projections and how to go about selecting the right projection for your map or map project.

Yes indeed, Spring is just around the corner, and that means Mardi Gras is here! To help you enjoy Fat Tuesday in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, here’s a great list of events to help you enjoy the celebrations. Mardi Gras isn’t just in N’Orleans! There’s many fantastic events and parades all along the southern Gulf Coast in places like Biloxi MS, Mobile AL, and along the Florida Gulf Coast. Have a great time and enjoy a Hurricane and squash a couple of mud bugs for us! If you happen to be headed near NOLA then consult this parade schedule
US Breweries Map – 7000+ and growing!
This is an important map. It shows the location of Breweries, Microbreweries, and Brewpubs in North America. You can also turn on geo-enabled social media to found out what is going on near you in the ‘Layers’ tab. Currently the map boasts some 7308 items. POIs have been derived from the POI factory (available to all to mashup). By default, the map opens up as a heat map, however, when you zoom into an area you’ll soon see all the individual points of interest, including breweries, taprooms, and more. the data is pretty current although some updates are missing. Overall it really is a great database though! This would be a super starting point for a regional brewery map where you could then expand on the data by providing more product specific data, weblinks, contact information and more.
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