Our current mission is to create a geographic information system that takes a web server logfile and shows where the requests of the readers came from. We will parse the logfile and then extract the IP address and the timestamp of the request. Then we will use a database of IP ranges to get a pair of geographic coordinates and display a small pin on a world map. Finally, we will replace the map with the 3D neon globe we have created in our last mission and visualize the geocoded logfile entries on its surface.
For a long time, creating maps or visualizing data on a map was the realm of very expensive tools and highly paid experts. Fortunately, this has changed in recent years. More and more tools, data, maps, and satellite images are available to mere mortals for free or at very low costs. So knowing how to create visualizations that show data on a globe or map is surely a very useful tool in your toolbox.