Open Street Map

November 30, 2005 8:49 PM

OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world, using uploaded GPS traces. So far: London and several other cities have been mapped. (via dataisnature)
posted by vacapinta (11 comments total)

Whoever mapped I-94 from Joliet to Green Bay has gotta be feeling like the king of the world. On the North America projection it's about all you can see.
posted by rolypolyman at 9:38 PM on November 30, 2005

Huh, that map of London is pretty, in a weird, haunting, organic kind of way. Very interesting idea. I wish there would be some agreement on GPS data representation standards, it would make setting up things like this easier. As it is, though, it looks like they are doing a good job. Good post.
posted by blacklite at 9:57 PM on November 30, 2005

Very cool idea. But unlike Wikipedias simple "edit" button, the barrier to entry for this is pretty high.. own a GPS, collect data, upload data, etc.. anyway it's a great application for GPS's, limitless possibilities of maping more than just roads.
posted by stbalbach at 10:12 PM on November 30, 2005

Mmm, perpetually incomplete, out-of-date maps with no street names or other metadata. That's some tasty web 2.0!
posted by jewzilla at 10:48 PM on November 30, 2005

relax, jewzilla. there's enough space on the internets to accomodate this.
posted by ori at 11:54 PM on November 30, 2005

The relevance of this project in the UK is based on the fact that mapping data is not freely available like the US. All those cool things you're doing with maps are not available to us, hence this project. A little more info from their FAQ.
posted by quiet at 3:10 AM on December 1, 2005

I really thought this FPP said "free edible map".... all in all a bit disappointing when it didn't lead to a snack.
posted by HuronBob at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2005

I agree with jewzilla.

And it annoys me that Birmingham in the UK is on there and Manchester isnt.
posted by 13twelve at 6:11 AM on December 1, 2005

It's a little disconcerting to have a map with no country lines. I hadn't realized how important that border between Canada and the US is for me.
posted by arcticwoman at 9:20 AM on December 1, 2005

a nice companion to: Vexed in The City at TMN.
posted by shoepal at 10:59 AM on December 1, 2005

Oh No! The internets is running out of space!

and if only this could load faster.
posted by pithy comment at 11:29 AM on December 1, 2005