Here I am. Still fresh and having a very limited knowledge on OSM, but hopefully I will contribute to the project in the future.
There was no interest in maps I had until very recently when I was trying to find an idea for my final project in Goldsmiths College. So after some time I decided to create the application which will compute the shortest route. Although there are some programs which already to this I could not find anything which would find the route for a cyclist. The difference is that when cycling one would like to avoid busy roads and stay on cycle routes wherever possible. There are some other factors which cyclist would take into account, but I am not going to go into details now.
Having the idea I needed some geospatial data which would allow me to accomplish the task. And that is how I found OSM project. It gives me exactly what I need to develop my ideas.
As I am a beginner programmer I realize that the project can be to overwhelming for me, but why not to give it a try. I noticed that there was an event called Google Summer of Code and one of project proposals is almost exactly the same as mine which is good because there is somebody I could exchange my ideas with.
OK that is all for now. I will try to keep updating this diary as I go.
Jacek