cloudsourced

Getting OpenStreetMap on the BBC News Front Page

Chris — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:57:57 +0000

As this blog is rapidly turning into a vanity project, its only fair to point out this triumph:

No, I’m not responsible for the fighting dogs.

A few months experience of marketing and working with the press has taught me this: great stories, in a well written press release, with a media pack of images and quotes will get OSM on the front page of pretty much anything. Its been wonderful to observe how individuals and organisations have spread the OpenStreetMap message in the last few weeks. We’re getting better at marketing ourselves, lets keep it up.

btw if you’re not from the UK, being on the front page of the BBC News website is *a big deal*

WhereCampEU – sold out

Chris — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:16:00 +0000

Result

Japan 2008 Part 4 – Time Lapse

Chris — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:15:14 +0000

Click through for HD

Japan 2008 Part 4 from Christopher Osborne on Vimeo.

Me Presenting at Data.gov.uk Launch [video]

Chris — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:22:37 +0000

It doesn’t come much better than sharing a stage with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and I am mighty proud to have taken a small part in the launch of Data.gov.uk.

Data.gov.uk Launch from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

*Mental note* don’t scratch nose when nervous.

Tron Legacy

Chris — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:31:34 +0000

Haiti Earthquake Response – Mapping The Crisis

Chris — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:06:52 +0000

Confusion reigns in the aftermath of any big natural disaster, but particularly in what was already a failed state – Haiti. With the little existing political and social infrastructure now destroyed, the situation is bleak.The irrepressible Mikel seems to be coordinating the OSM response amongst other missions. It might seem pretty small but you can get involved in creating better mapping to help in the search, rescue and eventual cleanup operations. The information is crucial to aid agencies arriving on the ground.

See the Earthquake Response on the OSM Wiki, the CrisisMapper Google Group, and while you’re at it donate to the Red Cross. There are already some very useful maps up on GeoCommons, thanks to Andrew Turner amongst others.

This morning I added a few street names and the Town Hall in Port-au-Prince to OSM, from historical maps on Map Warper, thanks to Tim Waters.

Here’s what it looks like now.

That’s from some GeoEye images recently released on Google Earth. A vivid example of how up-to-date geodata is essential for crisis management.

We have yet to confirm whether the images can be used for updating OpenStreetMap. Here’s hoping that sense prevails.

Tron Job: London Landuse Coverage

Chris — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:28:18 +0000

Click image for HighDef glory.

Visualising Globalised Trade

Chris — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:01:06 +0000

Gorgeous visualisation of trade in the era of globalisation. (Click through for HD).

From the BBC’s ‘The History of Now: The Story of the Noughties‘.

Create Printable OpenStreetMaps

Chris — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:59:05 +0000

Download now or preview on posterous

Hackney OSM Maposmatic.pdf (10341 KB)

Amazing new service from MapOSMatic, create high quality rendered pdfs of OpenStreetMap. Complete with grid and street index.

You can see my handiwork in the north east of Hackney.

Natural Cartography

Chris — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:11:03 +0000

Sometimes, mother nature does all your cartography for you.

Photo: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response