Free Your Maps from Web Mercator! by Mamata Akella.
From the post:
Most maps that we see on the web use the Web Mercator projection. Web Mercator gained its popularity because it provides an efficient way for a two-dimensional flat map to be chopped up into seamless 256×256 pixel map tiles that load quickly into the rectangular shape of your browser.
If you asked a cartographer which map projection you should choose for your map, most of the time the answer would not be Web Mercator. What projection you choose depends on your map’s extent, the type of data you are mapping, and as with all maps, the story you want to tell.
Well, get excited because with a few lines of SQL in CartoDB, you can free your maps from Web Mercator!
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Not only can you choose from a variety of projections at CartoDB but you can also define your own projections!
Mamata’s post walks you through these new features and promises that more detailed posts are to follow with “advanced cartographic effects on a variety of maps….”
You are probably already following the CartoDB blog but if not…, well today is a good day to start!