Sunday, August 09, 2009

Mapping the World - Wikipedia style

Open Street Map - The Free Wiki World Map, is a map site which allows users to update street maps. Similar to what Wikipedia is trying to do to the standard encyclopedia. This site primarily depends on users uploading GPS tracks to add and update the streets. Plus the various tagging options - 1 way, unpaved streets, malls, restaurants,...

The maps can of course be downloaded and used at will. No fees, as far as I've understood.

Looked at some of the places I regularly visit. Not all streets have been captured yet. All the more motivated to get the GPS out on my next trips.

Some new applications have come up that make it easier to edit the maps. One such is Walking Papers which allows one to print maps, draw on them, and scan it back to Open Street Map.

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