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google maps petition
This was posted on Bike Forums. It is a petition to Google asking for a
'bike there' feature on Google Maps http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/ -- _~o _o _`\`\,_ (*)/ /(*) Tom Anderson Living life a day at a time |
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#2
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google maps petition
Tom Anderson wrote:
This was posted on Bike Forums. It is a petition to Google asking for a 'bike there' feature on Google Maps http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/ And if you want to see how really usuful such a feature is go to: http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/ User input data here means the mapping in the Cambridge Area is very good. You can choose Fastest, Shortest or Quietest route, and you get a 'run through' of photos on the way. Isn't part of the issue here that to show 'cycle routes' you need a database of information that is probably only complete in Cambridge? Jim Chisholm |
#3
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google maps petition
On 13 Mar, 09:14, "J. Chisholm" wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote: This was posted on Bike Forums. *It is a petition to Google asking for a *'bike there' feature on Google Maps http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/ And if you want to see how really usuful such a feature is go to: http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/ User input data here means the mapping in the Cambridge Area is very good. You can choose Fastest, Shortest or Quietest route, and you get a 'run through' of photos on the way. Isn't part of the issue here that to show 'cycle routes' you need a database of information that is probably only complete in Cambridge? Jim Chisholm I've used the Google route planner a couple of times recently for car journeys and it have ended up abandoning its suggestions and using a map. It wanted to send me down mazes of back streets when there's a perfectly straightforward main-road way of getting to the same place. The TFL cycle route planner in cycle mode does quite a good job at providing quieter back-street routes for London so I guess it must have a lot of cycle-specific data to work from. OpenStreetMap is starting to build up a lot of cycle route information that a route planner could use, not just numbered cycle network routes but useful stuff like where roads are gated at one end but allow cyclists through. There's a lot of potential there and the best thing is that if the data is wrong you can fix it. |
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google maps petition
POHB wrote:
On 13 Mar, 09:14, "J. Chisholm" wrote: Tom Anderson wrote: This was posted on Bike Forums. It is a petition to Google asking for a 'bike there' feature on Google Maps http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/ And if you want to see how really usuful such a feature is go to: http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/ User input data here means the mapping in the Cambridge Area is very good. You can choose Fastest, Shortest or Quietest route, and you get a 'run through' of photos on the way. Isn't part of the issue here that to show 'cycle routes' you need a database of information that is probably only complete in Cambridge? Jim Chisholm I've used the Google route planner a couple of times recently for car journeys and it have ended up abandoning its suggestions and using a map. It wanted to send me down mazes of back streets when there's a perfectly straightforward main-road way of getting to the same place. I suspect it it is too crude. To make such a model work it needs far more that just link lengths. Just think of the Manhatten Problem (how many possible routes of the shortest length are there between to nodes on a grid network) No one but a Mathematician would do anything other than a trip with a single right angle turn to get between the two nodes. The route you take also varies according to your percieved costs of 'distance' and 'time'. If you pay for your petrol, and have plenty of time you may take the short and slow route, but if its the firms car and you're in a hurry... The TFL cycle route planner in cycle mode does quite a good job at providing quieter back-street routes for London so I guess it must have a lot of cycle-specific data to work from. OpenStreetMap is starting to build up a lot of cycle route information that a route planner could use, not just numbered cycle network routes but useful stuff like where roads are gated at one end but allow cyclists through. There's a lot of potential there and the best thing is that if the data is wrong you can fix it. And can you 'legally' port data collected on a Google map to the Open Street Map you've just spent months creating? Jim Chisholm |
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google maps petition
On 13 Mar, 11:11, "J. Chisholm" wrote:
And can you 'legally' port data collected on a Google map to the Open Street Map you've just spent months creating? I'm not sure I understand the question, what do you mean by "collected on a Google map"? Google doesn't have a way for users to load data into its maps, but lots of sites use Google maps as a background for data they've collected. It certainly wouldn't be legal to trace streets or copy their names from a Google map onto an OpenStreetMap but you could take your own data collection that you previously displayed on a Google map background and enter it into OpenStreet instead. However, if your data set was created by locating places on a Google map rather than e.g. using a GPS I'm not so sure. You'd be on dodgy copyright ground publishing cycle routes based on Google data even if you could get access to the underlying routing information rather than just the generated map image tiles. I suppose the moral is that it's best to start off with copyright-free data sources in the first place so you don't have to worry about getting caught out later. |
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google maps petition
POHB wrote:
On 13 Mar, 11:11, "J. Chisholm" wrote: And can you 'legally' port data collected on a Google map to the Open Street Map you've just spent months creating? I'm not sure I understand the question, what do you mean by "collected on a Google map"? Google doesn't have a way for users to load data into its maps, but lots of sites use Google maps as a background for data they've collected. It certainly wouldn't be legal to trace streets or copy their names from a Google map onto an OpenStreetMap but you could take your own data collection that you previously displayed on a Google map background and enter it into OpenStreet instead. However, if your data set was created by locating places on a Google map rather than e.g. using a GPS I'm not so sure. Correct. Users clicked onto a Goggle map to determine location, so although the Lat and Long are determined it USED the Google base Hence the uncertainty. You'd be on dodgy copyright ground publishing cycle routes based on Google data even if you could get access to the underlying routing information rather than just the generated map image tiles. I suppose the moral is that it's best to start off with copyright-free data sources in the first place so you don't have to worry about getting caught out later. I hope others considering similar excercises consider that. Jim |
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google maps petition
In article , J. Chisholm wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote: This was posted on Bike Forums. It is a petition to Google asking for a 'bike there' feature on Google Maps http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/ [...] Isn't part of the issue here that to show 'cycle routes' you need a database of information that is probably only complete in Cambridge? Presumably part of the point of the petition is to encourage Google to gather such data where possible. Just adding a "this blockage is a through road for me really" feature to the existing route planner would be an improvement - for example allowing you to go through the rising bollards in Cambridge, whether because you want to plan a cycle route or to estimate a taxi cost. If it's done as a "don't reroute this line segment even if it isn't on a known road/track/path" function, then you could also use bits of off-road tracks you know about even when they aren't in the database, and let the normal existing routing handle the on-road bits. Obviously it would be _more_ useful if it did know about shortcuts, off-road cycle paths, and contraflow cycle lanes in the database (and at least for some users knew which roads had shared use paths besides them), but it could be better than it is currently even without that. |
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google maps petition
On Mar 13, 12:15*pm, "J. Chisholm" wrote:
Correct. Users clicked onto a Goggle map to determine location, so although the Lat and Long are determined it USED the Google base Hence the uncertainty. You can make your own website which overlays data derived from a Google map (or anything else) onto an OpenStreetMap base. This is a "Collective Work"; the OSM licence expressly allows it. What you can't do is feed that data into OpenStreetMap itself. I suppose the moral is that it's best to start off with copyright-free data sources in the first place so you don't have to worry about getting caught out later. I hope others considering similar excercises consider that. Oh, how I wish they would...! On the wider point of the Google petition, I concur that such a feature wouldn't be useful without the relevant data - which Google's suppliers (TeleAtlas and Navteq) simply don't have. Away from automotive routing, their data is pretty sparse. So it has to be either user-generated or licenced from the OS. Google are unlikely to go for a solution which is UK-only, so it'll be user- generated. Getting back to your comment above, then, it's much better for people to contribute to an openly-licensed project - such as OpenStreetMap or similar - than to further enrich Google's coffers by donating them your hard work. Richard |
#9
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google maps petition
POHB wrote:
On 13 Mar, 09:14, "J. Chisholm" wrote: Tom Anderson wrote: This was posted on Bike Forums. It is a petition to Google asking for a 'bike there' feature on Google Maps http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/ And if you want to see how really usuful such a feature is go to: http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/ User input data here means the mapping in the Cambridge Area is very good. You can choose Fastest, Shortest or Quietest route, and you get a 'run through' of photos on the way. Isn't part of the issue here that to show 'cycle routes' you need a database of information that is probably only complete in Cambridge? Jim Chisholm I've used the Google route planner a couple of times recently for car journeys and it have ended up abandoning its suggestions and using a map. It wanted to send me down mazes of back streets when there's a perfectly straightforward main-road way of getting to the same place. The TFL cycle route planner in cycle mode does quite a good job at providing quieter back-street routes for London so I guess it must have a lot of cycle-specific data to work from. OpenStreetMap is starting to build up a lot of cycle route information that a route planner could use, not just numbered cycle network routes but useful stuff like where roads are gated at one end but allow cyclists through. There's a lot of potential there and the best thing is that if the data is wrong you can fix it. it is getting quite good isn't it. though doesn't work terribly well out of london or other populated areas. nr my folks place it just lists the main road, almost nothing else. mind you google maps and the like are fairly poor there as well. roger -- www.rogermerriman.com |
#10
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google maps petition
J. Chisholm wrote:
Just think of the Manhatten Problem (how many possible routes of the shortest length are there between to nodes on a grid network) No one but a Mathematician would do anything other than a trip with a single right angle turn to get between the two nodes. How big is Manhattan? I'm not a mathematician [1], but I can well imagine attempting some form of limited zigzag if the time / effort saving were large enough. Cheers, Luke [1] although several of my family are -- Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in exile in Lancashire http://www.shrimper.org.uk |
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