britain's straight line intercepts france's straight line in colonial africa: "tendency within French foreign policy in Africa, giving importance to asserting French influence in areas which may be becoming susceptible to British influence"

"The ability of states to control events will be diluted, in some cases destroyed. Artificial borders will crumble and become more fissiparous, leaving only rivers, deserts, mountains, and other enduring facts of geography. Indeed, the physical features of the landscape may be the only reliable guides left to understanding the shape of future conflict. Like rifts in the Earth’s crust that produce physical instability, there are areas in Eurasia that are more prone to conflict than others." via migurski

Photo Auto Guide, "Live Map", Navteq and its ilk

"Ley lines are hypothetical alignments of a number of places of geographical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths. Their existence was suggested in 1921 by the amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins, in his book The Old Straight Track."

a "blank canvas"?

geography of the meltdown

"geoid is that equipotential surface which would coincide exactly with the mean ocean surface of the Earth, if the oceans were in equilibrium, at rest, and extended through the continents (such as with very narrow canals)" interesting imaginary state of earth used for mathematical calculations

"a path developed by erosion caused by animal or human footfall. The path usually represents the shortest or most easily navigated route between an origin and destination."

collectively assembled overlapping maps of neighborhood boundaries

via julie