26/03/2019-01/04/2019

Mapping

User yumean1119 announced that voting has started for the improved proposal (automatic translation) on the use of highway=cycleway in Japan. The vote ends 14 April.

in Japan. The vote ends 14 April. Silent Spike proposed leisure=inflatable_park for playgrounds with inflatable equipment and asks for comments on his proposal.

for playgrounds with inflatable equipment and asks for comments on his proposal. If you’ve ever wanted to add a tag to show that a railway track is not used regularly for scheduled services, including trams and subways, you might be interested in SelfishSeahorse’s proposal. The Request for Comments period has just started and feedback is much appreciated.

Warin proposes a new way to mark areas of steps such as the Spanish Steps in Rome. His proposal is now up for discussion.

The vote on the proposal that was drafted for better differentiation of various kinds of police facilities has been postponed to allow more discussion on the topic.

Community

A number of people have expressed concern about the way the development of iD is organised and specifically how iD is influencing tagging in OSM. This time Frederik Ramm, board member of both OSMF and the German chapter of OSM, raised his concerns and asked for feedback. (automatic translation)

his concerns and asked for feedback. (automatic translation) An issue on GitHub about tagging track type in the iD editor became contentious. @matkoniecz suggested that iD deliberately pushes “probably not safe for most cars” as a definition for highway=track , and Bryan Housel, iD maintainer, responded “I basically just disregard everything on the tagging mailing list and the OSM wiki”. This was used as an example in the discussion referred to in the previous item…

, and Bryan Housel, iD maintainer, responded “I basically just disregard everything on the tagging mailing list and the OSM wiki”. This was used as an example in the discussion referred to in the previous item… The application period for this year’s Google Summer of Code is now open and, as in previous years, OSM has been been accepted as a mentoring organisation. You, as a student, have the chance of getting paid while working on open source software projects such as OSM.

Former OSMF board member Ilya Zverev pens a critique (automatic translation) of OSM’s “do-ocracy”.

OpenStreetMap Belgium published an article titled Heritage in Flanders and Crowd-Sourced Projects. They explain how to add information about heritage sites in OSM and Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. The article doesn’t just focus on gathering and adding information but also on how to get and use information on historical places.

OpenStreetMap Foundation

The minutes of the OSMF board meeting held on 20 March 2019 are now available.

The FOSSGIS, OSMF’s local chapter in Germany, has conditionally approved the funding of the OSM-based map of historic places. (automatic translation)

Events

The Albanian Open Source Conference OSCAL 2019, which will take place on 18 and 19 May 2019 in Tirana, Albania, is looking for speakers.

For mappers who like to plan well in advance: The FOSSGIS 2020, a geospatial conference in Germany that covers many open source, open data and OSM topics, will be held on 11 to 14 March 2020 in Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany. The article also features highlights of the recent conference. (automatic translation)

Humanitarian OSM

Following requests received by HOT from several humanitarian partners they are providing support to assist on the ground teams already providing humanitarian aid in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe after Cyclone Idai. HOT is specifically looking for people with experience as Data specialist or Partner liaison. Apparently, HOT also allows applications from people requiring reimbursement for their activity.

After Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique and Zimbabwe, HOT is looking for help to support the local emergency response such as Doctors Without Borders. The article lays out different ways you can support the efforts.

The openrouteservice instance for disaster management, operated by the Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology, is supporting HOT’s activation following Cyclone Idai by updating the data for routing almost hourly.

Maps

The MapOSMaptic instance at osm-baustelle.de has implemented a hillshading overlay.

Andrew Harvey announced the re-launch of a modernised version of BeyondTracks. BeyondTracks started life in 2012 with the aim of helping people find enjoyable walks around Sydney, Australia. The scope of the site has expanded to cover all of Australia and people who would like to suggest a walk are encouraged to contact BeyondTracks.

switch2OSM

A Spanish version of the NewsHereNow website/webapp is now available.Simply click on the “Use my GPS location” button to find the physically nearest, non-chain (“local”) restaurants. If your favourite restaurant is missing, please make sure it (including its website URL) is on OpenStreetMap. There is also a direct link to OpenStreetMap centred at your nearest intersection.

Open Data

EldoHub and OpenStreetMap Kenya received funding from Mapbox and the UK government to take part in the 2019 Open Data Day, on 2 March 2019. The Open Knowledge Foundation blogged about the events in Kenya. These took place in EldoHub, a technology innovation hub in Uasin Gishu County; and in Nairobi, where an open mapping track was held to discuss topics such as open spatial data and crowdsourced mapping.

ČÚZK, the Czech national survey agency, just published some of their data for commercial and non-commercial use as open data. We are getting another great source for OpenStreetMap in the Czech Republic.

The map at electricitymap.org visualises CO₂ emissions and other details about countries’ mix of the production and consumption of energy. The map is currently in German only. However, the project is open source and the developers are asking for help with translation.

Software

Nick Whitelegg announced the release of Hikar 0.2.0, an augmented reality app for walkers and hikers. The app is available for Android and the code is open source. The app, which helps the user with footpaths and signposts on the camera feed, now covers the whole of Europe.

User clementroux writes (automatic translation) in his blog about his app Next2Me, which finds and displays facilities with the key amenity=* in an adjustable radius around the current location – of course based on OSM.

Releases

JOSM has been updated to version 14945. The validator received various improvements and the Add Tag dialog shows now last used tags not only last added tags.

Version 0.12 of the GraphHopper Routing Engine has been released. Turn restrictions and turn costs are now supported in the speed mode, the Isochrone module was made compatible with public transit and the average speed calculation was improved.

User Wambacher is constantly updating his OSM Software Watchlist, which includes almost all OSM-related software along with the date of their latest release. Most recently Basecamp, Mapillary, Vespucci and many others received an update. Wambacher is highlighting one new addition: OSHDB, a high-performance data analysis platform for OSM’s full-history data.

Did you know …

… how to tag a bus bay where buses can stop without blocking traffic? The tag bus_bay can be added to the node of the stopping position of the bus – or it can be added to the road, representing the full length of the bay. JOSM’s PT_Assistant plugin provides support for adding them conveniently on ways with its double split map mode.

can be added to the node of the stopping position of the bus – or it can be added to the road, representing the full length of the bay. JOSM’s PT_Assistant plugin provides support for adding them conveniently on ways with its double split map mode. [1] … the “Magic Roundabout“? On OSM it looks like this.

OSM in the media

Le Monde describes (automatic translation) how local mappers in various African cities are using the JungleBus app to map local bus routes.

eepublishers in South Africa understand more about the threat to OpenStreetMap posed by the EU Copyright Directive than members of the European Parliament. Or should the EU MPs be interest-driven?

Other “geo” things

The deployment of “Strava Scramblers” to reduce conflicts at popular spots made local riders angry.(This April fool’s day article caught many readers off guard).

The AGILE conference in Limassol, Cyprus (17 to 20 June 2019), which is about Geospatial Technologies for Local and Regional Development, will organise a workshop called “GEOgraphical and CULTural aspects of Geo-information: Issues and Solutions” and invites you to submit a short OSM paper.

Upcoming Events

Where What When Country Kawagoe 川越お花見マッピングパーティ2019 2019-04-06 La Riche La Riche (37)#Ateliers d’initiation à OpenStreetMap 2019-04-06 Kyoto お花見！オープンデータソン in 京都 2019-04-07 Rennes Réunion mensuelle 2019-04-08 Bordeaux Réunion mensuelle 2019-04-08 Essen Mappertreffen 2019-04-08 Taipei OSM x Wikidata #3 2019-04-08 Toronto Toronto Mappy Hour 2019-04-08 Lyon Rencontre mensuelle pour tous 2019-04-09 Munich Münchner Stammtisch 2019-04-09 Salt Lake City SLC Mappy Hour 2019-04-09 Viersen OSM Stammtisch Viersen 2019-04-09 Cologne Stammtisch Köln 2019-04-10 Buenos Aires Taller Introducción a JOSM en FOSS4G-AR 2019 2019-04-10 Leoben Stammtisch Obersteiermark 2019-04-11 Zurich OSM Stammtisch Zurich 2019-04-11 Berlin 130. Berlin-Brandenburg Stammtisch 2019-04-12 Salt Lake City University of Utah Campus Mapping Party 2019-04-13 Biella Incontro mensile 2019-04-13 Cologne Bonn Airport Bonner Stammtisch 2019-04-16 Lüneburg Lüneburger Mappertreffen 2019-04-16 Reutti Stammtisch Ulmer Alb 2019-04-16 Toulouse Rencontre mensuelle 2019-04-17 Karlsruhe Stammtisch 2019-04-17 Bremen Bremer Mappertreffen 2019-04-22 Salt Lake City SLC Map Night 2019-04-23 Nottingham Nottingham pub meetup 2019-04-23 Joué-lès-Tours Rencontre Mensuelle 2019-04-23 Barcelona #geomobBCN 2019-04-24 Montpellier Réunion mensuelle 2019-04-24 Düsseldorf Stammtisch 2019-04-24 Phone/Video Conferencing Mappy Hour US 2019-04-24 Lübeck Lübecker Mappertreffen 2019-04-25 Montpellier State of the Map France 2019 2019-06-14-2019-06-16 Angra do Heroísmo Erasmus+ EuYoutH_OSM Meeting 2019-06-24-2019-06-29 Minneapolis State of the Map US 2019 2019-09-06-2019-09-08 Edinburgh FOSS4GUK 2019 2019-09-18-2019-09-21 Heidelberg Erasmus+ EuYoutH_OSM Meeting 2019-09-18-2019-09-23 Heidelberg HOT Summit 2019 2019-09-19-2019-09-20 Heidelberg State of the Map 2019 (international conference) 2019-09-21-2019-09-23 Grand-Bassam State of the Map Africa 2019 2019-11-22-2019-11-24

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This weeklyOSM was produced by Nakaner, NunoMASAzevedo, Polyglot, Rogehm, SK53, SunCobalt, TheSwavu, YoViajo, derFred.