Talkmap Feature

Overview

The talkmap feature automatically generates an interactive map showing all the locations where you’ve given talks and presentations. The map is embedded directly in the /talks/ page.

How It Works

1. Talk Metadata: Each talk file in _talks/ contains location information in its YAML frontmatter:

   ---
   title: "Your Talk Title"
   venue: "Conference Name"
   location: "City, State/Country"
   ---
   

2. Map Generation: The talkmap.py script (or talkmap.ipynb Jupyter notebook) reads all talk files, geocodes the locations, and generates:
   • talkmap/org-locations.js - JavaScript file with geocoded coordinates
   • talkmap/map.html - Interactive Leaflet map
3. Display: The map is embedded in _pages/talks.html using an iframe.

Regenerating the Map

When you add new talks or update locations, regenerate the map:

Option 1: Using Python Script

python3 talkmap.py

Option 2: Using Jupyter Notebook

jupyter nbconvert --to notebook --execute talkmap.ipynb --output talkmap_out.ipynb

Prerequisites

Install required dependencies:

pip install python-frontmatter getorg geopy --upgrade

Troubleshooting

SSL Certificate Errors

If you encounter SSL certificate verification errors when running the script, you may need to:

1. Install/update certificates on your system
2. Or manually update the talkmap/org-locations.js file with coordinates

Finding Coordinates

You can manually find coordinates for locations at:

• https://www.latlong.net/
• https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/

Then update talkmap/org-locations.js in this format:

var addressPoints = [
    [latitude, longitude, "Talk Title<br />Venue; Location"],
    // ... more entries
];

Files Structure

• _talks/*.md - Individual talk files with location metadata
• talkmap.py - Python script to generate the map
• talkmap.ipynb - Jupyter notebook version
• talkmap/map.html - The interactive map HTML
• talkmap/org-locations.js - Geocoded location data
• talkmap/leaflet_dist/ - Leaflet library files
• _pages/talks.html - Talks page with embedded map

Features

• Interactive Clustering: Nearby locations are automatically clustered
• Responsive Design: Map adapts to different screen sizes
• Automatic Updates: Just run the script after adding new talks
• No Separate Page: Map is integrated directly into the talks page