26/09/2024-02/10/2024
Mapping
- Kai Michael Poppe has submitted an automated edit proposal to fix the fixme=name inconsistencies of OSM objects.
Community
- Alan Grant discussed various factors that complicate point of interest (POI) mapping, including the instability of POIs due to the accelerated turnover of retail outlets and the overly specific characteristics of each POI, which are difficult to represent with OSM tags.
- Pieter Vander Vennet explained the rationale for why anonymous contributions to OpenStreetMap via MapComplete are forbidden.
OpenStreetMap Foundation
- Christoph Hormann shared his thoughts after reviewing the manifestos of this year’s OSMF board candidates and has created his own for his fictional candidate.
Events
- [1] Geomob shared a summary thread of the recent Geomob London event held at the UCL, the birthplace of OpenStreetMap, in celebration of 20 years of OpenStreetMap.
- Katja Haferkorn announced that the upcoming FOSSGIS conference is scheduled for 26 to 29 March 2025, in the Schloss Münster, Germany. The event is being organised in collaboration with FOSSGIS e.V. and the Institute for Geoinformatics at the University of Münster. Those interested in contributing to the programme can submit proposals through the call for participation, which began on 5 October and will remain open until Tuesday 5 November.
- FOSSGIS reported that the Dresden, Germany, OpenStreetMap community set up an OSM booth at the annual Chaos Computer Club Dresden (C3D2) conference on Saturday, offering a space for discussions and inquiries about OpenStreetMap. The booth featured OSM banners and flags, a large screen displaying live mapping activity in OSM via the ‘Show me the way’ tool, and a 300-piece puzzle showcasing various OSM map styles.
Maps
- Jochen Topf has introduced OSM XRAY, a vector tiles service that includes all OSM data, intended to be used primarily for debugging purposes.
- Michael Altfield has written a guide on how to generate vector-based topographic maps to print as large paper wall maps, using Inkscape and OpenStreetMap data.
- Zsolt Ero has built OpenFreeMap, a free and open-source OSM hosting solution with customisable styles. The service is available for free on its public instance, or you can choose to self-host it.
OSM in action
- Marcus Jaschen discovered an advertising banner featuring an embedded interactive OpenStreetMap map.
- OpenBeta is a platform where members can collaboratively create open-source, open-licensed climbing data. Their home page features an OpenStreetMap-based display showcasing the latest contributions from users.
- Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration has developed an OpenStreetMap-based interactive map to monitor the movement of Typhoon Krathon, a powerful typhoon originating in the west Pacific Ocean and currently moving along the coast of Taiwan as at early October 2024.
- The State Chancellery of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern created a uMap interactive map to assist visitors attending the citizens’ festival for the Day of German Unity 2024, which was held 2 to 4 October, in the city of Schwerin.
Open Data
- The call for proposals for the EU Open Data Days 2025 is open until Tuesday 22 October. This event seeks to showcase the potential of open data and gather data providers, enthusiasts, and users from across Europe and beyond.
Licenses
- Jean-Christophe Becquet, a board member of the French Federation of OSM Professionals, has endorsed the publication of the practical guide ‘Everything You Need to Know About the ODbL Licence’ (we reported earlier), describing it as an impressive educational initiative that clarifies the rights and responsibilities associated with this open licence.
Software
- Emil (coolultra1) has added more aerial imagery of Saarland and Baden-Württemberg (both in Germany) to the OSM Editor Layer Index.
Releases
- Amanda McCann has significantly refactored her WaterwayMapOrg code to make use of the name=* tag for connecting river basins.
- TrickyFoxy has released version 0.5 of better-osm-org, which includes several new features such as the visualisation of changesets, likes/dislikes, more hotkeys, and the ability to view older versions of map objects.
Did you know …
- … that Stephan Bösch-Plepelits used PTMap to illustrate their proposed new public transportation route for Vienna, Austria? PTMap is a tool for visualising OSM public transportation route data.
OSM in the media
- c’t, a German computer magazine, interviewed Tobias Zwick about StreetComplete for their ‘Open Source Spotlight’ newsletter.
Other “geo” things
- Marguerite Catton, of France Culture, interviewed Sébastien Soriano, Director General of the French National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN), about IGN Maps , a smartphone application developed by the IGN that provides access to multiple map layers and geolocation services.
- Switzerland and Italy have redefined a section of their border that crosses an Alpine peak due to the shifting glaciers altering the historically established boundary.
Note:
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This weeklyOSM was produced by MatthiasMatthias, Strubbl, TheSwavu, barefootstache, derFred, rtnf.
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