WhatsMyLot.com

A presentation to the Canadian Cartographic Association's annual conference in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on May 28, 2015.

Transcript

1. What’s My Lot?
   An open web app that seeks to increase 

   Prince Edward Island “township lot literacy”
   Peter Rukavina
   Hacker in Residence
   Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island
   

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2. I am an untrained cartographic hacker.
   “I know a little bit about a lot of things
   But I don’t know enough about you…”
   – Peggy Lee
   

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3. What’s My Lot?
   “Behind the Music”
   

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7. Metadata Issues
   • Lot 50 was mislabelled as Lot 66.
   • Lot 66 was unlabelled.
   • Georgetown Royalty was mislabelled as Lot 73
   • Princetown Royalty was missing.
   

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8. Complexity Issues
   • Very detailed map.
   • ESRI Shapefiles aren’t that useful for web apps.
   • Large file size (16.6 MB) for a web application.
   

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17. GeoJSON Holland Map
    • 1.3 MB file size
    • Detailed enough for many applications.
    • JSON is the lingua franca of web applications.
    • Easy to use with Leaflet.
    

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18. var layer = L.geoJson(lots).addTo(map);
    

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19. Let’s Build an App!
    • My device (laptop, phone, tablet) can return my
    location.
    • All I need is a way of taking that location and
    finding out what township lot it’s inside…
    

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21. WhatsMyLot.com
    

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24. The lot (or royalty)
    that you’re in.
    

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25. How well your device
    did at locating you.
    

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26. Something about
    the lot you’re in.
    

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28. A map
    

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30. Help!
    

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31. Open Web Apps
    • HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
    • Can be run in any web browser, on any device.
    • Open source by their very nature.
    • Can be packaged up and distributed through “app
    stores” (iOS, Google Play, Amazon, Firefox).
    

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32. • Lot layer GeoJSON
    • Lot metadata as JSON
    • OpenStreetMap base layer
    • jQuery JavaScript library
    • jQuery Mobile framework
    • Leaflet JavaScript library
    • Leaflet Label library
    • Leaflet PIP library
    Web App Ingredients
    

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34. In the wild…
    • Phones are good at returning an accurate location,
    but computers and tablets, especially in rural
    areas, are not.
    Hi, There seems to be a mistake in
    your "What's my Lot" section. I know
    this for a fact because I live in Lot
    28, in the original Holland
    homestead, where Holland's wife and
    children lived on Tryon Point Road.
    Your app says I'm in Lot 17, when I
    know I'm in Lot 28.
    

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35. In the wild…
    • What about people using

    the app who aren’t on 

    Prince Edward Island?
    • Just tell them to come here!
    

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36. In the wild…
    • Should the app be able to be used to explore lots
    when you’re not standing inside them?
    • No!
    • You must be in a lot to learn about it.
    • It’s not a “reference tool,” it’s a “field tool.”
    

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37. In the wild…
    • My own “township lot literacy” has increased!
    • Swimming in the lots for 6 months has outfitted me
    with a new toolset that allows me to build other
    apps…
    • And to answer questions for myself using the data
    layers I’ve refined…
    

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38. The Confederation Trail passes 

    through 47 lots and 2 royalties.
    

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39. I visited 52 lots and 2 royalties
    over the last year.
    

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40. What’s My Lot?
    Peter Rukavina
    prukavina@upei.ca
    http://hacker.vre.upei.ca/
    Hacker in Residence
    Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island
    Presented to Canadian Cartographic Association, May 28, 2015
    Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
    

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