Mike Hall

9 Sept

🚨 Delighted to receive the news that The Boroughs of London has won the Stanfords Award for Printed Mapping at the annual @bcsmaps.bsky.social Awards! 🥳 🙌🏻 @mattfromlondon.bsky.social @batsfordbooks.bsky.social www.stanfords.co.uk/bcs-stanford...

British Cartographic Society

I admire the optimism of those who start following me on Mastodon, despite the fact I haven't posted on there since [*checks*] January 2023.

Mike Hall reposted

@bcsmaps.bsky.social

20 Sept

BCS AWARDS 2026 WINNERS *Stanfords Award for printed products - Winner* Congratulations to The Boroughs of London, by Mike Hall & Matt Brown A huge thank you to Stanfords and Vivien for presenting, judging and supporting this award. #carto2026 #GeoFutures #GeoViz

16 Sept

Mother of all thunderstorms assaulting us in Valencia right now ⛈️

8 Apr

Two-step authentication, man. "Just checking it's you!" Yes, bank, it *is* me again, logging into my account for the umpteenth time on the same computer I've been using for the past ~5 years.

Today Dropbox insisted I enter a 6-digit security code to access a link someone had sent me, while I was using the computer ON WHICH I AM ALREADY LOGGED INTO DROPBOX *fumes at modern life*

Some exciting news from yesterday! 👇🏻

Mike Hall@thisismikehall.com

Spotted my first AI slop menu in the wild (Russafa, Valencia) 🤢

What’s even better about this is that when you look closely, it’s really low-resolution. A 1200 x 2400 px web image enlarged to a 1 x 2 metre printed sheet. Rookie error (aside from using AI in the first place ofc)

Spotted my first AI slop menu in the wild (Russafa, Valencia) 🤢

*Screeching horror movie music*

theguardian.comUN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa’s true scaleTogo-sponsored resolution calls to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland The UN general assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size. Robert Dussey, Togo’s foreign affairs minister, said the resolution was sponsored by Togo and backed by countries including the African Union’s 54 other member states. He did not specify the total number. Continue reading...

You can guarantee someone will always pipe up mentioning *that* episode of that bloody show.

The Guardian@theguardian.com

UN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa’s true scale

See also "did you know that Africa is many more times the size of Greenland"

Ah, the EU: on one hand, a remarkable historic project of unity which brings nations together, safeguards peace, champions shared values, and opens up travel and opportunities across Europe 🇪🇺 On the other hand, this:

My face when I read this email

1 Sept

Website saying "hang on! Just checking you're human", while I, a human, stand staring at the phone screen, waiting for a distant robot to establish whether I am in fact, a human

19 Aug

Forty six flipping degrees in Valencia today, guys

20 Aug

Or for you Americans, that’s about 174°F.

17 Aug

Thinking of introducing a new rule for my timeline: blocking anyone who hate-shares screenshots of mad people's posts on X, no exceptions. They seem to forget that we quit that site and set up here instead for a reason.

Mike Hall reposted

Jay Foreman

@jayforeman.bsky.social

17 Aug

@thisismikehall.com Finally stuck this up on the wall where it belongs! :)

12 Aug

It's Total Eclipse Day here in Spain, and I have my glasses ready 😎 The last eclipse I could have seen (back in '99) totally passed me by for some reason, so I've been excitedly awaiting this day for years.

So cool #TotalEclipse2026 #eclipse

12 Aug

Just realised that you can see a plane taking off from Valencia airport near the lower right corner of both photos (look for the small point of light above the buildings). The same plane flew right over us about 30 secs after the sun remerged. Hope they got a good view of it as they took off 🛫

BTW - not that I wish to give away TOO much information about my location - for the transport infrastructure-curious among you, that's our local high-speed rail station in the middle foreground undergoing an extension in the photo. 🚄 🏗️

12 Aug

Here we go here we go here we gooooo (apols for the crappy iPhone pic)

Mike Hall reposted

I'm EXTREMELY fortunate to live not only in the path of totality (Valencia) but to also have a west-facing balcony. Totality will be roughly half an hour before sunset at 4º above the horizon - so just above the yellow crane in the 2nd picture. Fingers crossed that no clouds obscure the view! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

theguardian.comDozens dead after powerful earthquake strikes western ColombiaQuake of 7.4 magnitude collapses and severely damages buildings in several major cities, including Cali and Pereira

10 Aug

We spent some time in Pereira and the local area during our honeymoon in Colombia three years ago and met some lovely people there. Hope they're all OK 🙁

BlackskyNews 🗞️@blackskynews.blacksky.app

Over 80 people have died after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia at 7.34am local time (13.34 BST) Monday, collapsing and severely damaging scores of buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira. | Tom Phillips, Tom Graham www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a... #BlackskyNews

5 Aug

Had to unfollow someone whose shtick I enjoyed but who was waaay too liberal with the ‘repost’ button. To the point that 80% of my timeline seemed to be made up of things that this one person was reposting.

10 Aug

OMG I can follow that person again! bsky.app/profile/cart...

Cartridge Games@cartridgegames.bsky.social

Bluesky is saved

Mike Hall reposted

1 May 2025

The first commandment of every Airbnb apartment kitchen: thou shalt need to buy salt for the dishwasher

18 July

I genuinely thought this was some kind of embroidery or carpet pattern at first glance

Push The Needle@pushtheneedle.bsky.social

I can’t imagine the benefit of this lifestyle.

Mike Hall reposted

Anthony Zacharzewski

@anthonyzach.be

10 July

Nothing says “this insurance company knows my country” than using an AI generated map of Belgium that puts Ghent in Wallonie, gives us two Namurs and a south coast on the Med.

29 June

Babe wake up, another perfect metaphor for the shitty Trump administration just dropped

Tim 🎃wens@attimowens.bsky.social

This was the best they could do for our 250th birthday.

22 June

Small violin for me 🎻 🙁

Mike Hall@thisismikehall.com

If Wes Streeting replaces Keir Starmer, it'll be exciting news for me at least as he'd be the first British Prime Minister (that I know of) to own a Mike Hall Retro London Borough map

Mike Hall reposted

12 June

I've seen this map doing the rounds today, which is indeed very interesting (though Bexley appears to have been partitioned). If you like this kind of thing, we delved into all kinds of borough-by-borough stats in our book 'The Boroughs of London'. Here are just a few ⬇️

Simon Kuestenmacher@simongerman600.bsky.social

What’s the most common non-English main language in your London borough? HT @mapsporn

12 June

Simon Kuestenmacher@simongerman600.bsky.social

What’s the most common non-English main language in your London borough? HT @mapsporn

thisismikehall.comThe Boroughs of London - Mike HallThe Boroughs of London is a borough-by-borough guide to the quirks, landmarks and hidden histories that make up the great metropolis of London. Combining detail

12 June

ℹ️ More info about our, *ahem* AWARD-NOMINATED book here: www.thisismikehall.com/theboroughso...

12 May

*Taps the self-aggrandising topical post again* 👇🏻

Mike Hall@thisismikehall.com

If Wes Streeting replaces Keir Starmer, it'll be exciting news for me at least as he'd be the first British Prime Minister (that I know of) to own a Mike Hall Retro London Borough map

27 Apr

The maddest thing about this is: I log into the app on the phone I carry everywhere, and it’s one 4-digit passcode, no questions asked. On my home computer however, which weighs half a ton and been anchored to the same spot for years, it’s like: ooh, hang on! Might be someone else, best be careful

Mike Hall@thisismikehall.com

Two-step authentication, man. "Just checking it's you!" Yes, bank, it *is* me again, logging into my account for the umpteenth time on the same computer I've been using for the past ~5 years.

24 Apr

Quite liking Bluesky's new scrolling image gallery feature (is that the right technical term?) - a good excuse to repost some recent projects!

Mike Hall@thisismikehall.com

🚨 New work: Really pleased to receive my complimentary copy of Atlas of Botany, a sumptuous new title from DK for which I designed a vintage-style base map of the world that is reproduced throughout the book and also appears on the endpapers and cover art. On sale next month! dk.com/products/978...

14 Apr

Wait what - Starmer came to Valencia for a holiday!? He’s gone up in my estimation. Slightly.

Sam Wilson@samwilson.bsky.social

Fascinated by the implication that £200/night for a family holiday is outrageous luxury living

14 Apr

FWIW: £200 a night for a four-star, city centre hotel in Valencia (off Plaza de la Reina too, if that rooftop photo is anything to go by) is a pretty good deal, if you ask me.

17 Apr

BREAKING: Turns out Keir Starmer neither knew he was going to Valencia on holiday nor that he was here even at the time - and lays blame with Booking dot com. bsky.app/profile/pipp...

Pippa Crerar@pippacrerar.bsky.social

BREAKING: Downing Street says that neither Keir Starmer nor David Lammy knew that Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting - and lays blame with Foreign Office officials for overruling the decision.

Mike Hall reposted