Google just announced a crowd sourced map making tool. Anyone can help
add features (roads, businesses etc) to Google Maps. Instead of the
normal slow cycle that most companies have for edits that people send
in, this has the potential to be nearly realtime. There appears to be
some review mechanism where edits are supervised, but even that appears
to be done on a crowd sourced basis. This has the potential to be a
game changer.

http://www.google.com/mapmaker

-wolfgang
--
g+: https://plus.google.com/114566345864337108516/about

On 14/12/2011 22:31, Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
>
> Google just announced a crowd sourced map making tool. Anyone can help
> add features (roads, businesses etc) to Google Maps. Instead of the
> normal slow cycle that most companies have for edits that people send
> in, this has the potential to be nearly realtime. There appears to be
> some review mechanism where edits are supervised, but even that appears
> to be done on a crowd sourced basis. This has the potential to be a
> game changer.
>
> http://www.google.com/mapmaker

And Google own all of the data that you input, and there is no way to to
get the data out again.

Or you could contribute to OpenStreetMap, which is crowd sourced mapping
that has been around for way longer than Google Map Maker. With
OpenStreetMap you can download all of the data, and you have the freedom
to reuse and redistribute it.
OpenStreetMap is already more detailed and more up to date than Google
Maps in much of the world.

http://www.openstreetmap.org/
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Google_Map_Maker


--
Craig Wallace
http://craig.neogeo.org.uk
http://www.neogeo.org.uk

On 2011-12-14 17:31 , Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
>
> Google just announced a crowd sourced map making tool. Anyone can help
> add features (roads, businesses etc) to Google Maps. Instead of the
> normal slow cycle that most companies have for edits that people send
> in, this has the potential to be nearly realtime. There appears to be
> some review mechanism where edits are supervised, but even that appears
> to be done on a crowd sourced basis. This has the potential to be a
> game changer.

Wiki-maps in effect.

Good. As long as there is adult supervision.


--
"I see!" said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.

Wiki-maps in effect.

A word with many connotations, but it's not wikipedia like unless
there's a free reciprocal license.
It could be proprietary-licensed-wiki-like though, but that's not what
many people would expect from "wiki-maps".

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On 2011-12-14 17:31 , Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
>
> Google just announced a crowd sourced map making tool. Anyone can help
> add features (roads, businesses etc) to Google Maps. Instead of the
> normal slow cycle that most companies have for edits that people send
> in, this has the potential to be nearly realtime. There appears to be
> some review mechanism where edits are supervised, but even that appears
> to be done on a crowd sourced basis. This has the potential to be a
> game changer.
>
> http://www.google.com/mapmaker

I just added a small subset of trails to some local woods. With Google
Earth open on one screen (with GPS tracks) and Google Map Maker on the
other.

Awkward at best. I'd estimate a 10 hour job to do all of the trails in
there. And then I have to wait for someone to audit them (?).

If it would at least import the recorded GPS trails then allow them to
be refined afterwards it would be a lot easier.

And it's difficult (impossible actually) to correct the first or last
point of a line segment (at least I can't figure it out). I
accidentally double clicked and the line closed. I can add intermediate
points, but can't correct the position of the terminating point.

I might be doing the same to make an orienteering map - so I'll probably
save my efforts for that.

--
"I see!" said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:15:51 -0500, Alan Browne wrote:

>If it would at least import the recorded GPS trails then allow them to
>be refined afterwards it would be a lot easier.

You can import and overlay them as a guide.

I've tried to use Mapmaker and entered a road and an airfield
(search in Maps for "Sasaab Road, Kenya" to see the results),
and it works, after getting used to Mapmaker.

I believe Mapmaker is not open for all parts of the world, but
perhaps now it is.

Hans-Georg

Hans-Georg Michna wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:15:51 -0500, Alan Browne wrote:
>
>> If it would at least import the recorded GPS trails then allow them to
>> be refined afterwards it would be a lot easier.
>
> You can import and overlay them as a guide.
>
> I've tried to use Mapmaker and entered a road and an airfield
> (search in Maps for "Sasaab Road, Kenya" to see the results),
> and it works, after getting used to Mapmaker.
>
> I believe Mapmaker is not open for all parts of the world, but
> perhaps now it is.

It most definitely isn't open everywhere: I spent 30 minutes fighting
with the user interface before I realized that Norway is still excluded. :-(

I did register for an email notice when it does become available, I have
a new bridge and tunnel on the way to our seaside cabin that I want to
enter, and then see how long it takes before the Android maps are
willing to use them. :-)

Terje

--
- <Terje.Mathisen at tmsw.no>
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

I just added a small subset of trails to some local woods. With
Google Earth open on one screen (with GPS tracks) and Google Map Maker
on the other.

Have you tried to add to openstreetmap?

How do you get data from GMM out, and convert it to garmin img format so
you can use it on a standalone gps receiver?


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On 2011-12-15 06:26 , Hans-Georg Michna wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:15:51 -0500, Alan Browne wrote:
>
>> If it would at least import the recorded GPS trails then allow them to
>> be refined afterwards it would be a lot easier.
>
> You can import and overlay them as a guide.

I'll try that - didn't see anything in the help for that.

>
> I've tried to use Mapmaker and entered a road and an airfield
> (search in Maps for "Sasaab Road, Kenya" to see the results),
> and it works, after getting used to Mapmaker.
>
> I believe Mapmaker is not open for all parts of the world, but
> perhaps now it is.


--
"I see!" said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.

On 2011-12-15 08:03 , Greg Troxel wrote:
>
> I just added a small subset of trails to some local woods. With
> Google Earth open on one screen (with GPS tracks) and Google Map Maker
> on the other.
>
> Have you tried to add to openstreetmap?
>
> How do you get data from GMM out, and convert it to garmin img format so
> you can use it on a standalone gps receiver?

At worst, a screen shot. (I haven't done any map preps for the garmin
to date, but a screen shot is one way of doing it).


--
"I see!" said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.