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Diary Entries in English

Recent diary entries

Posted by Koreller on 1 September 2024 in English. Last updated on 19 September 2024.

In this diary, I’m going to explain how I draw buildings (and shape in general), with my tricks for doing the most precise work possible and achieving the greatest possible symmetry and alignment, but without measuring everything out either.

It’s my meticulous way of trying to do things as perfectly as possible, and everyone does it the way they want. There are many times when I do things more simply and less precisely

Tip 1: Use JOSM

JOSM Logo

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It was like getting back to the start point for all of us, revisiting the basics of OSM with my in-person training in Grab last June 30 for the KartaView x OSM Philippines meetup event. It was a great event that allowed me and fellow mappers to share about our knowledge in Basic ID editor and other mapping methods while also contributing to map data in areas recently affected by the Mt. Kanlaon eruption in the Philippines.

Truth be told, a lot of the participants are already quite experienced when it comes to OSM, but this also provided me the opportunity to have a more hands-on teaching session with those that are still learning or still getting used to the Basic ID Editor. It was a great experience to be able to teach and guide more closely and watch our beginner participants progress and be able to contribute to the task, beginning with creating an OSM Account, to adding features through ID editor and saving their changes!

Hands-on OSM Sharing

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Posted by catme0w on 28 August 2024 in English.

Hi, I’m known as catme0w on the internet, and I’m a contributor to Google Summer of Code 2024. Below are my contributions during GSoC.

This post is not yet complete and will be updated gradually with detailed progress throughout my GSoC journey.

Goals

These goals were initially discussed and finalized at https://github.com/stadiamaps/ferrostar/issues/102.

  • ✅ Making requests to an arbitrary routing backend and parsing the response into a route
  • ✅ Decide on a map framework (Leaflet -> MapLibre GL JS. This has taken some detours, I’ll cover it soon… )
  • ✅ Search for the destination using an autocomplete search box
  • ✅ Displaying the route on the map
  • ✅ Showing the user’s location on the map
  • ✅ Updating the user’s location on the map “live” if the web page is visible, and having a tracking mode that follows the user around
  • ✅ Showing a banner indicating the next maneuver
  • ✅ Updating the navigation state when a new location update arrives + update the UI
“Stretch goals”
  • ⏳ A simple list view showing all remaining steps
  • ⏳ Recalculating when the user strays too far off the route
  • ✅ A MapLibre integration with “3D” / isometric perspective
  • ✅ Speech synthesis using the Web Speech APIs

You can find all my contributions to Ferrostar at https://github.com/stadiamaps/ferrostar/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3ACatMe0w.

Final Product

Here’s a web demo: https://stadiamaps.github.io/ferrostar/web-demo/

  • TODO: Other things?

Lastly, I would like to sincerely thank my mentor Ian and Jacob for their assistance. I’m glad to have met such an outstanding team. Without their support, none of this would have been possible.

BUILDINGS ADDED BY USER ZH9567 IN OPENSTREETMAP AROUND THE KLANG VALLEY AS OF 20 AUGUST 2024

Data generated through Overpass Turbo, with all features with the tag building=* on OpenStreetMap with latest revision made by Zh9567. Note that it include buildings added by others and last updated by the user, but not include buildings added by the user and got updated by other users.

As we can see in the map, Zh9567 mapped many buildings around the Klang Valley. They are mainly concentrated in Klang, southern Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Puchong, Seri Kembangan, Kajang, Cheras, and Ampang.

As of 20 August 2024, there are 715,932 buildings (23,987 hectares) added into OpenStreetMap in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Selangor combined. Zh9567 has added and updated 510,000 buildings (11,007 hectares) around the region, with a total of 71% (or 45.9% if counted by hectares). And these numbers will continue to rise in the future.

This is quite a major contribution in OpenStreetMap. Let’s help improve OpenStreetMap together!

Kindly fill in our survey about knowledge and opinion of maps among Malaysians (for Malaysians only at the moment): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5KOuuNLtZAAkFU8DYO_-xjZixJVTY3NukRORiIfLtGGaQVA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Zh9567
Support us on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/zh9567

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Posted by b-unicycling on 21 August 2024 in English.

No, not that kind of a minister!

Anyways, at the moment, Heritage Week is on in Ireland, and I gave a talk on Monday in our new library building (on OSM) about “Citizen Science and Linked OpenData” using mostly my holy well survey as an example, but a bit the Ogham Project as well. I used one of the toilets in the library to explain how the general tagging works, because it is quite nano mapped and relatable.

The Minister for Heritage (and other things) was present and kindly posted on Facebook about it afterwards: https://www.facebook.com/MinisterMalcolmNoonan/posts/pfbid09t7ubGw1CgEN6vNZeUqTGFngepAsKsARzxiJbinr6siLtn9ovPuXdEA46spxdW8xl

Just for context, in the first photo, he’s the guy in the middle, and the elderly people are descendants of Hubert Butler (on wikipedia), they were the other VIP guests so to speak.

It’s a busy week for him, so I was pretty happy that he attended and promoted OSMin his post. (Even though we still have to work on the spelling, but at least he didn’t use the plural like so many other people.)

I talked about the Wikiverse as well, of course. Wikimedia Ireland dedicated a blog post to it beforehand as advertisement for the talk. Thanks very much for that as well!

Posted by tyr_asd on 21 August 2024 in English.

It’s been a while since I last wrote about iD’s development and thought it would be a nice idea to make this a more regular thing in addition to the regular online community chats.

Recently, there have been some new features implemented that are worth showcasing, including several great ways that community members are stepping up to contribute to iD.

iD v2.30 release

screenshot of new Panoramax layer in iD

In his Google Summer of Code project, Mattia Pezzotti has implemented support for street level imagery from Panoramax. Panoramax is a relatively new completely free and open-source alternative to other street level imagery providers such as Mapillary, KartaView or Bing Streetside. It even includes features like a federated system architecture and the possibility to self-host the server software if you need to. Check the project out on panoramax.fr to read more and how to contribute your own pictures.

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Read part 1 here.

I drive through the new RCUT intersection again today, this time making a GPS trace of my movements. I attempted to make each of the possible turns in the configuration. I did have to make one illegal maneuver, as the left turn north from Athens-Boonesboro does not go anywhere, and, while the light is installed and the turn lane unblocked, there are signs indicating that no turn is possible from that lane. The light is (as far as I can tell), in a semi-permanent red arrow state until the side road is developed. Since the turn lane is divided from the main road by a concrete island, the only way out is to make an impermissible left turn or unsafely reverse back into traffic. I chose to make the left turn. Cones or bollards are probably warranted to keep motorists from accessing the left turn lane to nowhere.

Based on this trace, I attempted to align the nodes for the separated left turn and U-turn lanes to the correct positions. Since the lane begins further back from where the dividing island begins, there is some ambiguity on when to split the lane into a separate line; I chose to break it off roughly where the dividing island begins. This makes for a less visually appealing line, but it does semantically indicate where lane changes are still technically possible.

This matches the approach I saw elsewhere on OSM, in Troy, MI. Apple Maps does the same thing (possibly with OSM data), while Bing Maps maps the entire turn lane as separate. Google Maps has a very interesting mix where one direction breaks away at the dividing island, but the other direction breaks away much further back in the turn lane. Google Street-View imagery from November 2021 shows bollards dividing the entire turn lane, so their system must’ve used that as the dividing point . Bing Maps imagery collected in April 2022 do not show these dividers.

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Location: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, United States

Glad I found this app so I’m able to help out, as my neighborhood is very very much out of date! Many roads are missing and names are missing for many roads on the map…. Now, if I can figure out how to actually get my note to save, or how to name a road, then I’ll be in business!! hahaha.

Location: Shoreline Plaza Apartments, 2500, Reno, Washoe County, Nevada, 89503, United States
Posted by JJSmapy18 on 19 August 2024 in English.

Introduction

Another little update. I am writing these, usually, on Sundays. Since I am still a new user of OSM I am writing these as a little how are things going. I wanted to share my experiences and ideas with the greater OSM community.

Confused

I am still doing the mapping and having a super hard time in some ways. I have a disability and if the OSM community could make the program more accessible that would be helpful to a lot of folks. I am haaving a really hard time mapping and understanding what the tools do. For instance attributes like car=wheel, just took that out of the air. I am not fully understanding the relationships and how many should be tagged and if there is a standard block of them already made up for new users. If anyone has any ideas on how to understand the relationships more please feel free to let me know.

Disability and Accessibility

I know I just mentioned that I have a challenge and I am curious what the OSM community is reaching out to folks with challenges. Keep in mind I know nothing about what OSM is or has been doing to make this possible. Its a thought I had.

GitHub

No idea what github is and I am not sure if I should use it or not. I would love to learn more about it and what I can use it for and what one cannot use it for.

StreetComplete

I am having a lot of fun doing this. Its simple yet important information. I am super curious about what happens and what the data collected goes towards after a quest is completed. Its simple yet I feel I am contributing in a small simple way.

Conclusion

Its not much but some questions and thoughts this time. Have a wonderful day!

Ask

If anyone knows of any answers to my questions, or thoughts, or people I could reachout to please let me know and feel free to DM me.

Posted by Cyberjuan on 18 August 2024 in English.

Pete Masters called our attention on this new feature for communities on OpenStreetMap, so I decided to give it a try.

First thing to say is that it resulted me very confusing, not only the name -as is told in the comments of the original publication- but the sign up process too. Here are some screen captures to ilustrate the process:

Sign up process 1

This part was easy but confusing. I had to take a look at the URL to be sure I was not trying to create another OSM user. And I had my OSM user live and open in another tab.

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Location: La Paz, Envigado, Valle de Aburrá, Antioquia, RAP del Agua y la Montaña, 055421, Colombia
Posted by Isaac Rowe on 18 August 2024 in English. Last updated on 20 August 2024.

Lexington, KY is in the process of installing new “RCUT” intersections on Athens-Boonesboro Road 0, to support future development, including a new pro soccer stadium 1 along the corridor near the I-75 interstate access. I am attempting to add the features as they go live. The first section, at Competition Drive went live on 2024-07-22. I have made a first cut at adding it in this edit, basing it off of the map imagery provided by the state transportation cabinet, a drive-through I made, and an existing similar intersection in Troy, MI.

Still todo:

  • I think I may still need to add 2 signal heads for the Competition Drive side street.
  • I need to drive-through again and record a GPS trace to align the nodes.
  • There are still multiple changes that will be made to intersections along this corridor in the coming months.
Location: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, United States
Posted by omundy on 16 August 2024 in English.

Strava > OSM

  1. Export GPX from Strava ride
  2. Upload to GPS Traces
  3. Wait
  4. Trace over it
  5. For multiuse choose “Cycle & Foot Path”

“Where a pathway is designated for pedestrians but is also allowed for bicycles you can use highway=footway and bicycle=yes.” osm.wiki/Tag:highway=footway

Location: Hopewell, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 28036, United States
Posted by Probelnijs on 16 August 2024 in English.

About a year ago I wrote about my experiences of mapping in Bonaire. It’s time for an update.

Satellite imagery

One of the challenges I had was adding data without high quality and recent imagery. Luckily, earlier this year the ‘Satellietdataportaal’ (Satellite Data Portal) made high resolution data available for Caribbean Netherlands.1

License

First things first though: are we allowed to use the aerial photos they publish for improving OpenStreetMap? There is a long thread on the Community forums. Whether it’s allowed or not depends on the agreement the Dutch government has with the satellite data provider.2 Luckily, in the topic itself it is discussed that it is allowed to use Pléiades, SuperView and TripleSat.

Geoblock

The downside? You can only use this in The Netherlands. The data is geoblocked. I’ve added a lot of new streets and buildings in Bonaire over the past few weeks, but only other people currently in The Netherlands would be able to validate that I’m mapping actual buildings. The rest of the world would need to wait for a worldwide aerial imagery provider to update their data.

Selecting the satellite data

In the Satellite Data Portal Viewer, after selecting Bonaire from the top left menu, you then need to select a part of the area for which you want to see the satellite data, then it gives you a list of options. Currently for Bonaire there are only three options (as we’re only interested in recent and high resolution satellite data). * Pleiades-NEO January 9, 2023 * Pleiades-NEO April 18, 2023 * Pleiades-NEO June 17, 2023

The January one is generally too cloudy, but the April and June ones are useful. Use the April one if you’re looking at the Western part of Bonaire (Rincon and Washingtong Slagbaai National Park) and use the June one for Kralendijk and all of the east and south.

You can simply click on ‘Select for WMTS’ which fetches you a link.3

Setting the background

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Update for the past 10 days of the mapping challenge.

Today I mapped the last village on the list, so in 71 days i have mapped around 100 villages. Since my initial personal challenge was to map for 100 days, I will continue mapping and add villages to the list. I will finish mapping what is left from the Online Mapping Party for OSM 20th birthday. List of villages is we mapped and what is still to be mapped is here.

Villages mapped during the past 10 days:

  1. Vorrozen

  2. Levan

  3. Pilur

  4. Kodër

  5. Toç

  6. Skrevan

  7. Arn i Epërm

  8. Lofkend

  9. Ogren-Kostrec

  10. Lenmushë

  11. Rrashtan

  12. Raban

  13. Skënderbej

  14. Kuç

  15. Jezull

  16. Shpatanj

  17. Arrëz

Heyy! I am very excited to share our latest OSM-NG development progress with you. Apologies for the slight delay — I wanted to wrap up some work for this week’s diary.

🔖 You can read other development diaries here:
osm.org/user/NorthCrab/diary/

⭐ This project is open-source — join us today:
https://github.com/openstreetmap-ng/openstreetmap-ng

🛈 This initiative is not affiliated with the OpenStreetMap Foundation.

📹 Video Summary

It’s been a while since our last video showcase, so let’s recap the recent progress in video format. It’ll also give you a better feel of the new exclusive profile backgrounds feature.

⬇ Click below to play ⬇

Video thumbnail

or click here: https://peertube.monicz.dev/w/5fKNRsq2K8jRyF22zEG5px

Profile Backgrounds

With OpenStreetMap-NG, users can now customize their profile backgrounds, making their personal pages even more personal. It’s time to show off your personality!

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