24/09/2019-30/09/2019 About us Erratum: AndiTabinas was not a scholar at SotM 2019 (as we reported in issue #479 last week). An extensive post/wiki page about this year’s scholarships will probably get published in the upcoming weeks and we will link to a more detailed update on scholars. We are always looking for …

17/09/2019-23/09/2019 SotM 2019 The latest international State of the Map conference came to a close in Heidelberg, a city in Southwest Germany. A tweet shares a group picture of around 600 participants who came from all over the world. Some weeklyOSM editors met (automatic translation) at SotM 2019, in Heidelberg, …

10/09/2019-16/09/2019 Mapping Martijn Van Exel invited us, on Twitter, to view the MapRoulette presentation he gave at at SotM US. Dan Stowell tweeted that OSM-UK’s quarterly project has reached 100,000 solar panels. In his blog he summarises where both rooftop solar panels and larger solar farms have been mapped in …

03/09/2019-09/09/2019 About us In our last issue we reported on the vacancies on the OSMF Board of Directors. A late update is that four posts will be available for election, not three as we reported. Heather Leson is retiring from the board before the end of her term. Mapping OpenStreetMap Guinea announces in a tweet …

27/08/2019-02/09/2019 Mapping Stolpersteine (literally “stumbling blocks”) are small brass-plated cubes laid, around Europe, in front of the last-known residences or workplaces of those who were driven out or murdered by the Nazis. Reclus asked (automatic translation) if the 8700 Stolpersteine with a Wikidata entry are …

20/08/2019-26/08/2019 Mapping Vespucci now allows the creation of custom presets on-the-fly. Simon Poole tweets a short demonstration showing how it can be done. Thejesh GN put out a call for volunteers to map CCTV cameras in West and South Bangalore. Joseph Eisenberg is asking for comments on the campsite properties …

13/08/2019-19/08/2019 Mapping Kevin Kenny has been working on a proposal for protection_class=* which is intended to replace protect_class=*. His aim is to increase readability and usefulness of the tag values used with the key: specifically replacing opaque numeric codes for classes with more memorable mnemonics. …

06/08/2019-12/08/2019 Mapping A new MapRoulette challenge invites you to check the untouched TIGER roads in the US state of Washington. The import was 12 years ago, and there are still more than 15,000 roads, in this state alone, which have never been checked. Eugene Alvin Villar and other members of the OSM …

30/07/2019-05/08/2019 Mapping The discussion on Facebook’s RapiD continues on Twitter and the talk mailing list. For anyone seriously interested in the values of OSM the latter thread is recommended as it highlights many of the pros and cons. The controversy has been noticed by the MapRoom blog as well. The proposal …

23/07/2019-29/07/2019 Mapping Facebook announced that they are making their AI tool available for OSM mappers through their RapiD editor. According to the press, Facebook wants to improve the map data in OSM on which the company relies. Facebook’s AI mapping activities are not undisputed and were a constant source of …