Wiki - Cast-iron architecture

Cast-iron skillets are all the rage, but cast-iron architecture? Don't put either one in the dishwasher.

Wiki - GDAL

An essential building block in GIS work today is the open source Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). But, it is worth noting, that most of us don't realize that we are using it within the many other geospatial apps in our daily life and worklife. As the entry explains, it is embedded in the software that the GIS word relies on, including QGIS, R, ArcGIS, ERDAS, ENVI, MapServer and GRASS. 

Wiki - Amiable Child Memorial

New York City has so many hidden features. Consider the Amiable Child Memorial that is dedicated to a bot that fell off a high bluff on the Hudson River in 1797. Not only is he remembered with a memorial, but also with a street named after him. Wikipedia tells the story. 

This is a full article for what could otherwise be a long-forgotten incident. How many of these are there in NYC? 

Wiki - Disruptive innovation

When a new idea or product displaces an entire previous category, we might call that a Disruptive Innovation. Some of these disruptions change entire markets. Think of how the smartphone has not only replaced the Palm Pilot and the landline, but maybe also the movie theater. 

This is a rich and lengthy entry. I am especially appreciative of the section in which the editors have created an extensive table of examples and categories of disruptive innovations. The Examples are robust and fascinating - each with its own Wikipedia entry. The "See Also" list at the end is remarkable. Many of these topics have direct applications to the ongoing innovation and diffusion of GIS. The often misused Killer Apps, Hype Cycles, and the nearly forgotten Blue Ocean Strategy.

 

Wiki - Akegera National Park

The wild dogs are gone. But the lengthy entry demonstrates the many personalities of Akegera National Park that remain. Quite a place.

Wiki - Door to Hell (aka, Darvaza gas crater)

The Door to Hell has become a tourist attraction despite the difficulties in travelling there and the dangers involved.

Wiki - Liquid Rainbow

A stream in Colombia is so colorful that it is known as the Liquid Rainbow or the River of Five Colors. Plus, it runs very clear despite the colors.  The Caño Cristales runs through the Serranía de la Macarena in Meta.