Some secondary OpenStreetMap services will be unavailable during the
following dates, due to power maintenance work at our server hosting:

– 2nd and 3rd July 2011. (Saturday & Sunday)
– 30th and 31st July 2011. (Saturday & Sunday)
– 3rd and 4th September 2011. (Saturday & Sunday)
– and 1 weekday (to be confirmed) during August 2011.

On each of these weekends, the servers will be shut down at 7:30 UTC,
and will be started again after works are completed, which will be
Sunday 16:30 UTC at the latest, but may be earlier. We do not yet have
a precise date for the August maintenance.

The following services will be unavailable during these periods:
* XAPI / jXAPI
* dev.openstreetmap.org server (errol)
* rendering of new map tiles
* osmfoundation.org and stateofthemap.org web sites

As a temporary replacement for XAPI/jXAPI, consider using third-party
services such as that provided by MapQuest:
http://developer.mapquest.com/web/products/open/xapi

Additional information will be posted to the following page:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Power_Maintenance_Q3_2011

The following services are *not* affected:
* www.openstreetmap.org web site
* API and Editing
* planet.openstreetmap.org and diffs.
* tile serving for existing tiles (details below)
* Wiki
* Nominatim (search)
* mailing lists
* subversion and git (source code repositories)
* trac (bug-tracker)
* donate.openstreetmap.org

Maps will still be viewable on the openstreetmap.org homepage and on
other people’s websites. We’ll be serving tiles from a back-up tile
server. However rendering engines will be deactivated, meaning that
new rendering of map updates will not take place during the
maintenance period, some requests for tiles will fail where no cached
copy is available, and tile response times may be slower than normal.

Utility pole photo by strollers is
licensed CC-By-SA

This week we wrap up education month with a tribute to books.

Libraries are repositories of information, places of learning and of
research. One of the ancient libraries, the Library of Alexandria is
credited with comparing different versions of books with empirical
standards which became the beginnings of the scientific method.
Libraries are filled with adventures of discovery wrapped in layers of
shush. Book stores are another source for book-learning, though the
brick and mortar versions are dwindling in some places.

The Project of the Week is to add local libraries and book stores to the map.

Librería El Ateneo. Buenos Aires photo by radioher and is
licensed CC-By-NC-ND.

Rowr! Dinosaur week on OpenStreetMap could be even bigger than Shark
Week on Discovery TV!

As education month continues we turn our sights from schools to
museums. These places of wonder and learning range from traditional
displays behind glass with descriptive plaques at a museum of natural
history to interactive exhibits of levers and pulleys at a science
museum. Add your favourite local museums to the map. And don’t forget
the dinosaurs!

Add your favourite local museums to the map.

American Museum of Natural History photo by Smiley Man with a Hat is licensed CC-By-ND-NC

OpenStreetMap contributor, Ed Hillsman, was the senior research
associate on a multi-modal trip planner study. In it the authors
implement a multi-modal trip planner using transit feeds,
OpenStreetMap data and a variety of Open Source tools. Join me in
reading this weighty tome. My quick first glance suggests that it
will be well worth reading the full report.

or download the complete report (118 pp, pdf)

OpenStreetMap now allows accounts to be authenticated with OpenID as
an additional, optional authentication method for some OSM functions.
You may ignore this if you are not interested in OpenID. Some users
find OpenID an interesting way to reduce the number of passwords they
have to use in their travels on the internet.

If you have an existing OpenID or wish to create an OPenID for use
with OpenStreetMap, have a look at the OSM OpenID page on the wiki for important caveats.

Both Kai and Tom were key in
writing and implementing these improvements. Be sure to thank them if
you like OPenID. Perhaps buy them a beverage when you see them.

Just announced on legal-talk[1]
is that Phase 4[2]
of the license change process is scheduled for this Sunday, 19 June
2011. During Phase 4, the 166,000+ contributors who have accepted
CT/ODbL will be able to edit. That is, the 406 contributors who have
declined CT/ODbL will not be able to edit after phase 4 has begun.

Those who have declined with their existing account may reconsider or
may open a new account to continue editing. Those who have already
accepted should be unaffected by the move to Phase 4.

If you have an unexpected problem with editing, please see #osm-dev on
IRC[3].

[1] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/legal-talk/2011-June/006156.html
[2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Open_Database_License/Implementation_Plan
[3] use your favorite IRC client for #osm-dev on irc.oftc.net, or the
web client at http://irc.openstreetmap.org

OpenStreetMap contributor, David Ellams has
created a second instructional video for new OpenStreetMap
contributors. Have a look and point newcomers at them.

Part 1: Add a point of interest
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/24992100 w=500&h=283]

Part 2: Add a road or area
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/24984085 w=500&h=283]