Blake Esselstyn
@mapblake.bsky.social
Formerly @districks on the birdsite. Geography, demography, GIS, redistricting, fairmaps. Oh, and dataviz. NC native trying to learn some Dutch.
I wrote something, based on my conviction that the current moment calls for a new word. A nice, crisp word to indicate that something was made or done *without* AI. My proposal for this new word is ... zuzai. zuzai.org 1/2
Zuzai, a new word, indicates the absence of AI
About the word zuzai, coined to denote things made or done without artificial intelligence.
zuzai.org
Surprise on a KLM flight yesterday from Tokyo (Narita) to Amsterdam: the entire flight was in an eastward direction. Though both Tokyo and Amsterdam are in the Eastern Hemisphere (with ~⅜ of the world's longitude between them), most of the flight was in the Western Hemisphere. See image & 🧵. 1/3
My latest @npr.org story: New public data for redistricting, policymaking and research may be reduced as Trump officials limit the ways the Census Bureau can protect people’s privacy when it releases statistics www.npr.org/2026/06/12/n...
A Trump push to cut 'statistical noise' could mean less data from the Census Bureau
New public data for redistricting and other uses may be reduced as Trump officials limit the ways the Census Bureau can protect people's privacy when it releases statistics.
npr.org
Looking for the #Tennessee congressional map proposed today by the state legislature? We created one in DRA sourced from the county, VTD, and census block descriptions in SB 7004 & HB 7003. Map: tinyurl.com/3e59msnv Data source: tinyurl.com/rfccsw27 #redistricting @davesredist.bsky.social
This has provided the most fun I've had with an interactive map in quite a while.
Bert Spaan@bertspaan.nl · 5mo ago12½ years ago, I made a map of all the buildings in the Netherlands. Unexpectedly, people loved it! Ever since, I have been wanting to make an updated version of the map. Newer data, higher resolution, more interactive! I never got around to it, until last week: bertspaan.nl/buildings
📅 March 19 @juliesquid.bsky.social will reprise her AGU Greg Leptoukh Lecture: Forking as a Worldview: How Openscapes uses the open source concept of copy-modify to support researchers & shift culture in science. Everyone welcome. Details: openscapes.org/events/2026-... #openscience #kinderscience
In 2019 I created a Story Map explainer of NC's distinctive county grouping requirement for legislative redistricting. Soon that resource will vanish (Esri is retiring that old platform). If you want a refresher on the so-called "Stephenson" process, now's the time! #NCPol 1/3 arcg.is/1DnDO
This story map was created with the Story Map Cascade application in ArcGIS Online.
arcg.is
Some fascinating prognostication in this episode!
Dani Arribas-Bel@darribas.bsky.social · 7mo agoNew episode of the one and only #GLaDpodcast. For this one, @rsfrankl.bsky.social , @levijohnwolf.bsky.social and yours truly dust off our oracles to speculate what 2026 (whatever is left of it anyway) has in store for Geography, Life, Geography Life, and Data! www.podbean.com/eas/pb-8urep...
After years of using Google Maps as my primary app for driving navigation, today I drove to an unfamiliar place using @organicmaps.bsky.social for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. Particularly nice was that the app was less talkative, not stating the obvious (e.g., merge). 1/3
🎧 new episode of the #GLaDpodcast is out! You can run but you can’t hide. @levijohnwolf.bsky.social, @darribas.bsky.social and I went to the source (Krzysztof Janowicz) to hear more about Geo + AI, AI for Geo, and my personal bugbear GeoAI. #geography #geoAI open.spotify.com/episode/7zZj...
Episode 27: Are you GLaD about GeoAI? A conversation with Kryzsztof Janowicz
open.spotify.com
Do you know anyone whose birthday is today (Sept. 16th)? If they like math—or even if they don't—you could point out to them that 9 / 16 / 25 is a sequence of perfect squares. AND! 2025 is also a perfect square (45²). Best time of day to acknowledge? Perhaps 1:04. 🤓
🗳️Job🗳️ The Buncombe County Board of Elections is hiring an absentee voting coordinator It's a great team in a terrific location. Sept 15 deadline. buncombecounty.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Buncom...
Elections Coordinator
This job posting expires at 11:59PM on September 15, 2025. No applications can be submitted after 11:59PM on September 15, 2025. Job Title: Elections Coordinator Department: External Hiring Range: $29...
buncombecounty.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
TIL the US Census Bureau is releasing its latest TIGER/Line data in GeoPackage format! 🧵 www.census.gov/geographies/... 1/5
TIGER/Line GeoPackages
View the available TIGER/Line GeoPackages from the Geography program.
census.gov
Big news! QGIS 4.0 is on the horizon! #QGIS blog.qgis.org/2025/04/17/q...
🎉 Big Changes Ahead: QGIS Is Moving to Qt6 and Launching QGIS 4.0!
Exciting times are ahead for the QGIS project! We’re thrilled to share some major updates coming to the QGIS platform over the next few months. These changes are part of a long-planned technical mi…
blog.qgis.org
JOB! Please RT. Swarthmore is hiring for our Social Science Quantitative Lab Associate to support & do teaching quant methods to undergrads. Especially looking for people familiar with sociology and/or political science, and R. Apply by 4/18. apply.interfolio.com/165892 Happy to answer questions.
Good thread to review if you want a refresher before the arguments today.
Michael Li (李之樸)@mcpli.bsky.social · last yr.On Monday, 3/24, the Supreme Court hears oral argument in a Louisiana racial gerrymandering case brought by *white* voters to challenge the state’s congressional map. At issue is a new Black majority congressional district (LA-06 in the map below). A thread 🧵 on the case.
