Flight originated in WI, below that is IL, to the right in IN, and below that is KY, TN, AL, and MS. Going a little to the left and going up: AR, MO, IA, MN. Going more to the left and going down: ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX. Going to the left and going up: NM, CO, WY, & MT. Going left and down: ID, UT, & AZ.

I find it useful to know geography. I had a neighbor while living in Nebraska (on the map in your picture) who grew up in Texas. She told me she really didn’t know where Maryland was located. [In the words on Patrick Starfish, "Texas is dumb!"] I run into so many people from other countries that they are pleasantly surprised I know where it is, I know something about their country, or I can talk about their food. It’s a sad day when most Americans don’t know where the more “unimportant” states are in our union or where the Azorean islands are and what role they played in the 1300s-1700s. And we wonder why most other countries in the world hate the US — we’re too self-centered.

Besides Omaha and Lincoln, can you name another town in Nebraska without looking up that info? Could you name the chief product of the Azores? How about the Dolomites? What is the terrain like there? What is the name of the district in Tokyo that never sleeps? How many climates are in Hawaii?

Answers:
Scottsbluff….Valentine….Nebraska City (Arbor Day Foundation located in this 2 stoplight town). The chief industry in the Azores is dairy products — cheese & beef. The island of Sao Jorge is particularly well-known for it’s cheese. Many treasures from the New World passed through the Azores on their way to Europe. The Azorean islands are Portuguese and at one time the Spanish ran them. It’s a great place to go dolphin and whale watching. The Dolomites are the Italian Alps. Very jagged. Great for growing grapes. Roponggi is the district that always has something going on in Tokyo. The Hard Rock Cafe is located there. 11 of the world’s 13 climates are located in Hawaii.

Plus, for all my traveling, I’ve found that no one ever actually pays me for that knowledge. They always seem more interested in paying me to program EJBs and implement web services and cool stuff like that…

P.S., If you’re a web developer and thinking about doing any geospatial or geocoding, I highly recommend checking out the Yahoo! Maps APIs and the Google Maps APIs. Fun stuff, and it demos well as long as you have a connection to the Internet!