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Reason to ride?


donkpow

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I've been using an open source navigation tool on my found cell phone for a few months now. OSMand. I don't use it all the time but when I need navigation assistance, there it is. Occasionally, the app will send me the wrong way down a one way street or onto a closed road. So I went ahead and got the OSM editing software for my PC. I can fix those areas for other people as well as myself. The fun thing is I can improve the data with my local knowledge. So after I review an area, I can verify some information when I am riding in that same area. It's kind of fun. If you like to goof off and help out, you should do it. Right now I am annotating drainage features in my area.

As a side note, any edit to OSM that is related to or near by cycling features; drinking water, shelter, rest rooms, etc. is almost immediately picked up by OpenCycleMap.org. I've seen my contributions added to their map on the same day.

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Seems pretty neat.  From a cycling perspective, I don't really use any "real time" navigation. It's usually more of a "review after the fact" sort of thing. I do look at routes other cyclists take (usually through Strava) and see if there looks to be anything interesting to add to one of my rides. I will also use google's satellite view to see if a road looks paved or if there might be a path connecting two dead end roads.  Sometimes I am correct (and a path I plan works out) and sometimes I am backtracking a bit because I was wrong.  One new route took me on freshly dumped gravel on a road that had looked to be more hardpacked dirt.  I muscled through it on my skinny 28mm tires, but I would plan differently next time.

Still, keep up the good work. That's essentially the spirit of "open source", after all.

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You can program the type of routes you prefer in OSMand. Quality of road, quantity of traffic, elevation change, type of surface, ... It all depends on the quality of information input. Mapillary also has ground level pictures of routes that people have submitted. Not very many though.

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23 hours ago, donkpow said:

You can program the type of routes you prefer in OSMand. Quality of road, quantity of traffic, elevation change, type of surface, ... It all depends on the quality of information input. Mapillary also has ground level pictures of routes that people have submitted. Not very many though.

There is an online resource for mapping, rating, and photographing camp sites.  Man, that's a HUGE endeavor.   These are thousands and thousands of camp sites across the US.  I gotta think this mapping & pics stuff would require an insane amount of effort.  Love or hate Google, they sure have put a TON of energy into mapping and imaging the roads (and many paths, buildings, etc) of America.

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16 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Love or hate Google, they sure have put a TON of energy into mapping and imaging the roads (and many paths, buildings, etc) of America.

They also make a ton of money off the mapping endeavor. Every application that uses the Google Map product pays a monthly fee. IIRC, it starts at $2,000 USD.

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3 hours ago, donkpow said:

They also make a ton of money off the mapping endeavor. Every application that uses the Google Map product pays a monthly fee. IIRC, it starts at $2,000 USD.

Which is interesting in that it was a market open to EVERYONE prior to them doing it.  They single-handedly created it and then took it over.  They will eventually be surpassed as new tech comes along, but it does make you feel bad for the competition - not really bad, but mildly bad.

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On 10/4/2019 at 5:54 PM, donkpow said:

So I went ahead and got the OSM editing software for my PC. I can fix those areas for other people as well as myself. The fun thing is I can improve the data with my local knowledge. So after I review an area, I can verify some information when I am riding in that same area. It's kind of fun. If you like to goof off and help out, you should do it. Right now I am annotating drainage features in my area.

Could weirdos mess with it and give incorrect information? GPS tried to make me turn onto a stairway going up to a footbridge in Pittsburgh and it tried to get people to turn into a cornfield when looking for my address.

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1 hour ago, Longjohn said:

Could weirdos mess with it and give incorrect information? GPS tried to make me turn onto a stairway going up to a footbridge in Pittsburgh and it tried to get people to turn into a cornfield when looking for my address.

Yes. Users correct issues when they find them. I have one guy who is upset about a transit system change. Some ne'er-do-wells operate on a global scale and are dealt with by administrator type people.

I don't use OSMand exclusively. I use Google maps, too. Just not on the bike. I may stop for lunch, enable wi-fi, and check out Google maps for reference.

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