MapGive - Open Mapping from the US State Dept.

http://mapgive.state.gov/the-cause/

by chippy • 13 years ago

113 25 13 years ago

mapgive.state.gov

joshwd2• 13 years ago

This looks like a great project, and nice to see them supporting OSM. Google gets (rightfully) lauded for offering quite good maps[1] of much of the developing world, but I recently checked out the OSM map[2] of the city I live in (Dakar, Senegal) and it's just as good, if not better. Bing Maps[3], by comparison, thinks there are 2 roads in the entire city.

[1]https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d104828!...

[2]http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/14.7286/-17.4508

[3]http://binged.it/1iUjAGi

milliams• 13 years ago

I often use http://tools.geofabrik.de/mc/?lon=-17.41738&lat=14.73861&zoo... when comparing between the different map providers.

joshwd2• 13 years ago

Wow, great tool, thanks!

51Cards• 13 years ago

Of the three initial examples, only Bing marked the Atlantic Ocean. At least they had that detail.

(though they do have a road running right through the airport... win some, lose some)

ToastyMallows• 13 years ago

Wow this is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

welder4• 13 years ago

I wonder if there is a way to automate this using Google maps and places data...

mejackreed• 13 years ago

On some level, certain things could be automated but:

1. It definitely violates Google's TOS: https://developers.google.com/maps/terms

2. Also, in my opinion is contrary to the spirit of the OSM community

A more powerful approach would be providing resources and tools for teachers and students to map their communities and places around the world. The map data becomes more robust, and students get a great opportunity to learn about new places and geography.

welder4• 13 years ago

How about showing the equivalent Google map when editing an OSM map?

welder4• 13 years ago

Why so many downvotes? Can't ask legitimate questions on HN anymore?

chippy2• 13 years ago

Agreed - we really should encourage contributions to the discussions, rather than "i disagree points".

(I cannot downvote, all I see is the comment in a lighter shade of grey. If I could, would I be able to see the number of downvotes?)

BHSPitMonkey• 13 years ago

Doesn't appear downvoted to me.

joelgrus• 13 years ago

"Quality geographic data helps empower killing drones ... I mean, organizations and communities!"

yardie• 13 years ago

While I believe you are being facetious, I'll bite.

Yes, it also means that schoolhouses will no longer be confused with military bunkers. And diplomatic consulates won't be confused for depots [1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_emb...

SEJeff• 13 years ago

Certainly not from this. The military most def (via the NRO) has their own "classified" maps for all of these sorts of things. If you think the US military is using google maps or OSM data for this, you are sadly mistaken. I know this first hand having flown a non-weaponized drone ~12ish hours per day for a year overseas.

- Former Shadow 200 TUAV Operator with 482 combat flight hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2004.

31reasons• 13 years ago

So the problem of converting Satellite data to Maps is still not possible with algorithms ? Google is able to find all Cat photos in the youtube videos, how about finding streets ?

yincrash• 13 years ago

Are you sure they don't already do this, and just only use it on Google Maps?

ZeroGravitas• 13 years ago

There's various algorithm in use for OSM, eg click in the middle of a lake and it'll trace the outline for you based on color, but going from a satellite image to a map requires both a human and other sources of info, generally.

chippy2• 13 years ago

From what I gather there is a number of algorithms that work pretty well, but only on certain datasets and for certain parts of the world. For example, one approach could be flawless to extract highways and on and off ramps in the US, but the same algorithm may struggle with French roads.

What I am excited about within the context of open data and crowdsourcing is using machines to do a rough first pass over the imagery, and get people to rate or fix the results.

A wonderful example of this is the New York Public Library's Building Inspector: http://buildinginspector.nypl.org/

davexunit• 13 years ago

What a nice project. This is the kind of thing that I like to see the US government supporting. Now to find the time to learn to map something.

MapGive - Open Mapping from the US State Dept.

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