Author Archives: Richard Weait

Project of the Week: Food Bank

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Sometimes we map for ourselves, other times we can map for others. The
Project of the Week is to add local food banks to the map.

Learn more about this Project of the Week on the wiki.

This is your Project of the Week. Make suggestions. Inspire other
mappers. What is it about contributing to OpenStreetMap that
interests you? Postboxes? Bowing alleys? Share your OpenStreetMap
interests by contributing a Project of the Week.

Food bank photo by http://www.flickr.com/people/27112995@N02 is licensed CC-By http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Project of the Week: Florist

Has the weather looked a bit monochromatic lately? Let’s brighten
things up a bit by mapping something colorful. How about a flower
shop? Flowers, bouquets, corsages and arrangements for events are
available from a florist shop.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Project_of_the_week/2011/Feb_09

This is your Project of the Week. Make suggestions. Inspire other
mappers. What is it about contributing to OpenStreetMap that
interests you? Postboxes? Bowing alleys? Share your OpenStreetMap
interests by contributing a Project of the Week.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Project_of_the_week/Proposals

Florist photo by Lenore Edman http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenore-m/
is licensed CC-By http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_CA

There is an interesting story about the neon florist sign.

Image of the Week: University of Delaware goes OSM

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University of Delaware has rolled out a campus map that is based on
OpenStreetMap.

This is a Featured image, which means that it has been identified as
one of the best examples of OpenStreetMap mapping, or that it provides
a useful illustration of the OpenStreetMap project.

If you know another image of similar quality, you can nominate it on
Featured image proposals.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Featured_image_proposals

Automatic road detection from imagery

Steve Coast has been busy since his arrival at Bing a while back. They
have rolled out a neat, automated road finder service. Have a look at
the demonstration video here:

http://magicshop.cloudapp.net/

And the announcement and more details here:

http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/maps/archive/2011/02/03/automatica…

Road image by Nicholas_T http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas_t/
is licensed CC-By http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_CA

Working Group Summary

We’ve fallen behind on the Working Group Summaries as the snow got deeper.  Let’s try again.  These summaries do not replace the formal minutes of the working groups, they are intended to be a quick and easy summary of recent topics before the working groups.

Data Working Group

The Data Working Group met most recently on 20 January 2011. They responded to a report of inappropriately sourced data in Ecuador.  In the end that data was removed and the Ecuadoran community was notified on talk-ec@.

Technical Working Group

TWG met on 26 Jan 2011. Tile server loads are increasing. One major cause is the continued growth of data in well-mapped areas. A node moved in central Berlin, for example, causes re-rendering of a very complex meta-tile.  TWG is considering 5 minute expiry time to reduce the amount of re-rendering during an editing session. A new power supply is required for one server.  Most equipment has been transitioned to the new power management hardware.

The TWG also updated the near-, mid- and long-term hardware maintenance plan.

State of the Map Working Group

SotMWG met on 26 Jan 2011 and have released their Call for Papers for Denver.  The SotMWG is still accepting members.  Would you like to help organize the OpenStreetMap conference this year?   In particular, please offer your help to team@stateofthemap.org if you can help translate the Call for Papers. The SotM logo contest ends soon.

Communication Working Group

The CWG meeting of 24 Jan 2011 was canceled due to scheduling issues.

License Working Group

The LWG meeting of 25 Jan 2011 was canceled due to illness.

Strategic Working Group

The SWG met on 27 Jan 2011 and formalized the initial membership and operating practices of the SWG.  There was a review of the proposed budgeting process.

Project of the Week: Confectionery

It was a magical place when we were younger. A place full of sweet
scents, that lead to sticky fingers and perhaps a bit of stray sugar
on a cheek. It was exciting to be going there and disappointing to
have to leave.

You can make an excuse to revisit that place of happy memories, new
flavor discoveries and a tiny little bit of sugar-inspired energy.
The Project of the Week is to map your local candy store. Find out
how to add your local candy store to the map, and watch the results as
other mappers do the same.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Project_of_the_week/2011/Feb_02

This is your Project of the Week. Make suggestions. Inspire other
mappers. What is it about contributing to OpenStreetMap that
interests you? Postboxes? Bowing alleys? Share your OpenStreetMap
interests by contributing a Project of the Week.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Project_of_the_week/Proposals

Candy display photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/ume-y/
is licensed CC-By-SA http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en_CA

Image of the Week: Municipal hazard awareness

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Municipality council using Nicolas Dumoulin’s OSM-based map of
potential flood, fire, cave-in hazards in a town.

This is a Featured image, which means that it has been identified as
one of the best examples of OpenStreetMap mapping, or that it provides
a useful illustration related to the OpenStreetMap project.

If you know another image of similar quality, you can nominate it at

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Featured_image_proposals

State of the Map 2011 – First sponsor

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Call for Sponsors

The State of the Map Call for Sponsors has been open for a little while.  You’ll remember that SotM is Absolutely The Place for cool mappers to meet and greet and share their OpenStreetMap-py experiences.  If you want your company to have a sponsorship presence at SotM, contact the State of the Map team.

And the SotM organizing committee has been busy.  They have announced that the first sponsor for SotM 2011 is [drum roll please]

Tungsten Carbide-level sponsor

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MapQuest

MapQuest is thrilled to sponsor the 2011 State of the Map conference in Denver. The power of open-source mapping unlocks the next wave of innovative LBS apps and we are excited to support OSM’s goals to accelerate growth of the worldwide mapping community

— Christian Dwyer, SVP & GM, AOL/MapQuest

MapQuest is a returing sponsor for State of the Map.  They first joined us last year in Girona.  I enjoyed meeting some of the MapQuest Open Initiative team last year and I know that you are going to enjoy getting to know them this year. 

Okay, State of the Map team, now I really want to book my ticket!  When can I do that? 😉