It's been a while since I've written a diary here. Check out my page on SwingStateProject to see about the recent evolution of Daves Redistricting App. The App has been noted by David Wasserman of Cook Political Report in this article and this CSPAN Wash Journal Video (look from 17:30 - 19:20).
Anyway, if you're interested in Redistricting and want to create your own maps, check it out! Also, please take my survey after you've used the app a bit. Thanks!
App Launch page Survey Launch
More below the fold.
[cross-posted at SwingStateProject.com]
What's new in 2.0.4: a new way of coloring districts. I really like it and I hope you agree. The old way is still there, too, so you have a choice.
You can toggle between the old and new way to color from the File Menu. Also, if you let the "How To" banner appear on startup, you'll get a dialog box to choose. More detail below the fold.
The new coloring method is similar to the old, but makes 2 key changes, that I hope you agree are improvements:
(1) You can click the "Color Districts" button (labeled "Coloring Is Off" for the old way) to turn on coloring. (Double-click also still toggles Coloring Mode.)
(2) You have to hold down the mouse button as you sweep to color districts, so you can maneuver better in coloring mode.
Advantages:
(1) You don't as often accidentally color districts you don't want.
(2) You can move to the control panel and change CDs or opacity without leaving Coloring Mode.
(3) You can hover over a district and get its population data tooltip, so you can decide whether to color it or not.
And this allows for an additional feature that I'm very excited about: Draw a box and color everything inside it. When you hold down the Ctrl key and mouse button and move the mouse (called Ctrl-Drag) you draw a box on the map. When you release the mouse button all districts in the box are colored. I've been trying this out and it allows you to work much faster!
The survey is 22 questions, most short and easy. It's open until January 17th. Please take it after you've tried the new coloring method. I really value your feedback.
Survey Launch
I'm in the midst of planning for this year. It's not a done deal yet, but I've got some good leads on funding for the app and I plan to focus full time on it for most of this year. The survey will help me improve and enhance the app.
Thanks!