Check out our newest launch, UpNext HD Maps. Nationwide vector maps with over 50 3D cities. Make sure to check out the enhanced 3D cities list.
We have been working on this for a while. Would love it if you could share it with others and if you have any feedback hit me up at dmoon@upnext.com or @dam00n.
Wahoos coming to NYC (Park Ave btw 24th and 25th St)
If you grew up in So Cal, you have to be excited about this.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go surfing off the coast of Waikiki. The waves there are perfect because they are just the right temperature and they are forgiving enough that I can get up on the board and have a great time, despite being pretty out-of-shape. I have always been inspired by…
The best American wall map: David Imus’ “The Essential Geography of the United States of America”
According to independent cartographers I spoke with, the big mapmaking corporations of the world employ type-positioning software, placing their map labels (names of cities, rivers, etc.) according to an algorithm. For example, preferred placement for city labels is generally to the upper right of the dot that indicates location. But if this spot is already occupied—by the label for a river, say, or by a state boundary line—the city label might be shifted over a few millimeters. Sometimes a town might get deleted entirely in favor of a highway shield or a time zone marker. The result is a rough draft of label placement, still in need of human refinement. Post-computer editing decisions are frequently outsourced—sometimes to India, where teams of cheap workers will hunt for obvious errors and messy label overlaps. The overall goal is often a quick and dirty turnaround, with cost and speed trumping excellence and elegance.
By contrast, David Imus worked alone on his map seven days a week for two full years. Nearly 6,000 hours in total. It would be prohibitively expensive just to outsource that much work. But Imus—a 35-year veteran of cartography who’s designed every kind of map for every kind of client—did it all by himself. He used a computer (not a pencil and paper), but absolutely nothing was left to computer-assisted happenstance. Imus spent eons tweaking label positions. Slaving over font types, kerning, letter thicknesses. Scrutinizing levels of blackness. It’s the kind of personal cartographic touch you might only find these days on the hand-illustrated ski-trail maps available at posh mountain resorts.
A few of his more significant design decisions: Your standard wall map will often paint the U.S. states different colors so their shapes are easily grasped. But Imus’ map uses thick lines to indicate state borders and reserves the color for more important purposes—green for denser forestation, yellow for population centers. Instead of hypsometric tinting (darker colors for lower elevations, lighter colors for higher altitudes), Imus uses relief shading for a more natural portrait of U.S. terrain.
» via Slate
Dell and China’s Baidu launch new smartphone ( - Consumer Electronics
Rafer sez:
Google Mobile Maps is going to get it from all sides in 2012. Here’s part of that assault.
(via omniar)
Truth
(via omniar)
The Startup Team « Steve Blank
I have been thinking a lot about this topic and how it relates to our own founding team. Steve Blank, as always, says it better than I could, but I wanted to add a couple additional thoughts around these 4 roles.
1) Tech Visionary: if you are building something technically difficult (ie not something you hack over the weekend), your visionary needs to be high proficient technically and, oftentimes, brilliant. Luckily, we have that in our co-founder Raj. The person in this role sees the status quo and wants to rip it apart. He is willing to tackle extremely difficult problems that oftentimes seem like they have no answer. This vision is what carries him past these hurdles.
2) Business hustler - in the early days (pre-product) this role is “Everything but”, as in do everything but programming. From taking out the trash, getting food to incorporation, testing, legal, biz dev, whatever needs to be done. Once the product is out, add fundraising, marketing, customer acquisition and more to that list. More than the tasks, it is usually a personality type that fills this role best. Someone who is social (above average), communicates clearly and gets shit done.
3) Technical jack of all trades - If you follow sports, people talk about needing a Glue Guy on championship teams. For us, this is Vik, the person that does everything well, understand all the moving parts and brings the team together. This is the person who ships code, meets deadlines, keep the site up and uses every trick in the book to keep the company stable through the lean stages with glue, tape and bubble gum. This person can confidently touch every part of the stack and dive in anywhere to get the job done.
4) Design Guru - driving force behind the look and feel of the company. Creates artwork that is original and compelling. Builds UI frameworks that are simple, intuitive and functional. Most of all, maintains a consistent aesthetic for the company. If you look at the most successful web companies, there is consistency across all elements (web, mobile, stickers, logos, etc). This role, on our team Robin, pushes the boundaries of design to separate your product from the competition.
Chris Paul would look great on the Clippers. Paul/Gordon/Griffin/Jordan/anyone with a pulse becomes the best starting 5 in the league.
