@maproomblog.com
A blog by @jonathancrowe.net about maps in all their forms, on and off since 2003. maproomblog.com Email digest: maproomblog.com/about/subscribe Mastodon: mapstodon.space/@maproomblog Support via Patreon: patreon.com/jonathancrowe
NEW: Since war broke out in the Middle East, extreme levels of GPS jamming appear to be occurring in and around Iran, especially in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby.
My latest: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The Bodleian Map Room Blog looks at a specific kind of map of imaginary places, “designed to be a guide to cartographers by showing how to portray certain features, or for the map reader to… More
La figure de la Terre: Un débat franco-anglais (XVIIe-XXIe siècle), an exhibition running at the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris from 1 April to 20 June 2026. This exhibition offers a historical and scientific journey through more… More
Stack of tiny art cards showing U.S. state maps drawn with dot patterns, promoting “The Dormidots Tiny Atlas of the United States,” a set of 51 ACEO prints launching March 8.
From my sketchbook to your map collection: ✨ The Dormidots Tiny Atlas of the United States ✨
This series features 51 Dormidots ACEO map prints — all 📍50 states plus Washington, DC.
Launching March 8. www.studio6101.com
Or on Instagram @studio.6101
www.instagram.com/p/DVlwQ1eDX8...
This week on The Map Room:
AI Crawlers and the Cost of Geospatial Infrastructure
www.maproomblog.com/2026/03/ai-c...
A Paris Symposium on Maps and Popular Culture
www.maproomblog.com/2026/03/a-pa...
GPS Jamming and the Iran War
www.maproomblog.com/2026/03/gps-...
GPS jamming has become pretty much endemic in every conflict, open, hybrid or frozen, so it’s no surprise that it’s going on in the Persian Gulf: “Though commercial vessels are not the target, the electronic… More
Older folks are constantly complaining to me about how young people don't use maps.
Of course, I tell them. What would a kid need a map for? We don't let them go anywhere.
If you love maps, exploring and childhoods that are full of adventure, independence and curiosity, we must protect mobility.
Just a reminder that Minneapolis map artist Faye Passow still has a wonderful Etsy shop.
How can you live without a hot dish of Minnesota tea towel map?
www.etsy.com/shop/KeepThe...
A symposium on maps and popular culture, Popcartographie : cartes et cultures populaires (XIXe-XXIe siècle), will be taking place at the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s Mitterrand site in Paris on 10-11 April 2026. Its three… More
Bill Dollins reacts to Gary Gale’s experience with AI crawlers taking down his mapping project (previously), and what that portends for the open geospatial web. “On its own, this is a small incident. No critical… More
When Geospatial Is Consumed at AI-Scale
In February 2026, Gary Gale published a brief post describing a problem that, on its face, looked mundane. A volunteer‑maintained mapping project called Vaguely Rude Places had experienced an abrupt surge in traffic. Daily requests jumped from the low…
Meet the History of Cartography Project’s Managing Editor
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/meet...
Aurora’s Map-Themed Fountain Pens
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/auro...
Google Maps Granted Access to South Korea’s Map Data, with Conditions
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/goog...
(2/2)
A mosaic of images from the past week: a thumbnail image for a surrealist map film, a product photo for a map-themed fountain pen, and a set of icons for online maps.
This week on The Map Room:
Pinhead Map Icons
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/pinh...
‘The Most Amazing Map Exhibition Ever Mounted’
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/the-...
‘And Then the Bots Came’
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/and-...
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Reuters: “South Korea will soon no longer be one of the few countries where Google Maps doesn’t work properly, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade stance to approve the export of high-precision map data… More
I’m as much a fountain pen nerd as I am a map nerd, but I somehow only found out just now that Italian pen company Aurora has been releasing a collection of antique map-themed fountain… More
Five years ago there was a Christmas movie on the Lifetime network called Maps and Mistletoe. www.maproomblog.com/2021/12/maps...
A short interview with Jude Leimer, who joined the History of Cartography Project in 1981 (!) and has served as managing editor for every single volume. (That’s a lot of institutional memory.)
(AI) Bots Ate My Map Tiles: In which Gary Gale discovers that his Vaguely Rude Places Map’s 200K-map-tiles-per-month plan is no match for the hammering delivered by AI crawlers.
Every so often Matthew Edney posts something that had to be cut from his work in progress. This time it’s a piece about what he calls “the most amazing map exhibition ever mounted”: Cartes et… More
Quincy Morgan has released Pinhead Map Icons: “So you’re making a map and need some icons. Well, maybe a lot of icons. Like, for anything that might appear on a map. And they need to… More
A mosaic of images. Clockwise: Da Vinci's octant map of the world (1514), the book cover for The Library of Lost Maps by James Cheshire (2025), and an xkcd comic, Zero Declination, showing up as magnetic north.
This week on the blog:
A Zero Declination World Map
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/a-ze...
One-Day Oxford Symposium Explores Digital and Analog Maps
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/one-...
Da Vinci’s Maps
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/da-v...
The Library of Lost Maps
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/the-...
When it comes to books that present the maps of a single library or museum—take, for example, Debbie Hall’s Treasures from the Map Room, about the Bodleian, or Tom Harper’s Atlas: A World of Maps from the… More
Miguel García Álvarez looks at the maps of Leonardo da Vinci. “Leonardo never wrote a treatise on geography, as Ptolemy did, but his understanding of the territory and the importance of finding effective ways to… More
The Bad Map Projection series of xkcd cartoons are mischievous and brain-melting but often as not come with a kernel of truth. Last Friday’s is a case of geomagnetorectification, distorting the map to line up… More
You should definitely consider picking up a Weekend FT today, because it's the magazine MAPS special. Radical cartography, maps that changed the world, an FT reader competition that almost started a war, they don't love you like i love you, MAPS! www.ft.com/content/efab...
This week on The Map Room:
WCVB’s Chronicle Looks at Maps
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/wcvb...
Warning Signs
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/warn...
Toronto's New Transit Map, and Its Mapmaker
www.maproomblog.com/2026/02/toro...
Globes for days! Have greatly enjoyed tagging along as the brilliant Sylvia Sumira has assessed our globes @rgsibg.bsky.social this week. #conservation #globes 🌏 📚🗃️
With two new light rail lines opening in Toronto recently, the Toronto Transit Commission has had to update the maps of its subway, light rail and streetcar network, which appear in its stations and vehicles.… More