I’ve finished (for a second time!) mapping all the paths in my local cemetery. The first time another mapped decided that concrete or gravel ways designed for walking on weren’t “paths” and deleted them all. He also seemed to have strong feelings about people cycling in cemeteries, which is odd as The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust actually endorse it as a use of their land. As my daughter is buried in the cemetery I feel some ownership of the place, and do love it and Merlynston creek that flows through it. I’m hoping no one vandalises my work again.

Phew, I think I’ve finally finished off the highways and significant residential areas this subdivision of East Timor. It’s really taken some time, partly because I’ve had time away from mapping, and partly because it was a massive job. It would look better with more forests, mountain peaks, rivers and other geographic features marked as much of it is quite high inaccessible land, and that would make it clearer (as always). Still, this is counter mapping for me, missing maps, putting people who aren’t on any map, never mind digital maps onto an open source one that they have even the possibility of adding to or correcting.

I think I’ve mapped all the highways and residential areas in the Aileu district of East Timor. It took about five weeks all told. It’s a neighbouring country, and one that Australia has tried to deliberately fuck over (the Witness K debacle still isn’t settled), so I wanted to improve their maps. There’s a coffee business, Wild Timor Coffee that’s linked to that area, run by Australian for the co-benefit of the Timorese, so that’s another link to the place.

Anyhow, I hope it helps trade, health, tourism, and encourages locals to improve the map themselves now there’s more there to go with….

I’ve recently passed the two million additions to the map milestone.

In other news, I just finished adding all vehicular highways and residential areas in the East Timorese exclave SAR of Oecusse, which was previously seriously undermapped.

Both pretty satisfying.

I’ve finished mapping Tal Afar in Iraq, which previously had less than half the residential streets marked. The Iraqi army are doing a very quick job of recapturing it from daesh, so hopefully the people can all return and start a new happier period of the city’s long history.

I have finished my millionth item on the map, all done by hand, rather than using a bot. There is substantial data added in Melbourne where I live, but far greater numbers in developing and struggling nations like Iraq, Central African Republic and Burkina Faso.

http://hdyc.neis-one.org/?matthewsheffield

Thanks to Pascal Neis for the data to allow me to have any idea about this!

I have just finished tracing the streets of Slêmanî, or Sulaymaniyah, as it’s otherwise known. It’s pretty satisfying to map a large proportion of a major city by yourself; and this is my third.

I like to think of it as part of the missing map project, my own side line of it. From what I’ve read, internet access in Iraq is disproportionately expensive compared to the GDP of country, which would explain why even rapidly growing relatively rich regions haven’t been mapped by the inhabitants.

Countries I’m a citizen of are busy dropping bombs on daesh; I don’t know how I feel about that- in a neo-colonial sense and because of the awful mess that has come from previous efforts. I’d rather help out Kurdistan with something practical, unrelated to military hardware. So there you go people, add all the detail and make it your own.