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I mentioned my candidacy for the OSMF Board, and as part of the election process, the community suggested questions, and long time OSMer Mike Collinson collated & edited them down.

The answers to the official list of questions has been published! Read here → Answers and Manifestos to the OSMF 2019 AGM

My answers to the questions will have more detail. My manifesto (also on the wiki page) is here. If you have any questions ask away on the comments (or email me privately)

“Steady as she goes, let’s change everything” – My campaign motto

Hello all. I’m Rory McCann ( ᚛ᚏᚒᚐᚔᚏᚔᚋ᚜ 🏳️‍🌈 on osm )

I’m originally from Dublin, Ireland, but live in Karlsruhe, Germany and work in Geofabrik GmbH. I’m a craft mapper and social justice hacker, and I’d like you to vote #1 for me to be your board member.

I’m a craft mapper. OSM is great when it’s a project of people to map their world, when ordinary people feel empowered to collect information about areas or topics that matter to them, when they feel empowered to use that information to make things, to have fun, or to make the world a better place. (People have this power and ability, they might not know it yet) I am a skeptical when giant global corporations starts acting friendly and offers “help”. They’re not doing it out of their kindness of their hearts! But a passionate OSMer I can trust!

I’m a hacker. I like Free Software/Open Source, and in an ideal world everything should be FLOSS. But I’m practical and do use propritary software when there are benefits. OSM should strive to support free software. I’m wary of heirachies. OSM & OSMF is better when it’s passionate people, rather than dozens of paid employees who are just punching a clock and an elite execute/management/leadership “team” who can talk the talk.

… See full entry

I enjoyed with my own rules

Here is the link to an article in the Washington Post about OSM: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/these-students-make-maps-for-the-philippines-and-belize-they-never-leave-campus-to-do-it/2019/12/01/2a4fee3a-0a1c-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html

TL;DR - I recommend voting for Guillaume and against Mikel.

Though I’d been in the Membership Working Group for some time, it was mainly as a hobby mapper wanting to help with housekeeping and back-office support and without any real sense for OSMF governance or politics.

The Global Logic incident changed everything for me.

Using my day-job skills as an internet security guy, I dove into the investigation with my fellow MWG members, and at the time I didn’t know if this incident was a bad thing or not.

Guilllaume was running for the Board at the time, and as I didn’t know him at all, was very much on the lookout for any attempt to spin this into some kind of election advantage, and I would have had no part of it. I had no dog in this fight and wanted this investigation to be scrupulously fair and neutral.

To his credit, so did he: I never once saw even a hint of electioneering, and I promise that I was looking for it. He proposed many avenues of investigation that could have been exculpatory, looked for alternate explanations, and never once attempted to cast any shade upon GL (or anybody else) that the evidence did not fully support.

His fastidious attention to detail and to integrity of process earned my profound respect, and is why I am voting for him again.

But once the report was released to the board, I got to learn how things really work around here.

I’d been warned that our report would not be well received, and Mikel led the charge on pushback with what could only be described as throwing his weight around, bordering on bullying. It was shocking. Our investigation was not within the “remit” of the Membership Working Group? Really?

I’m not willing to publish private communications between MWG and the board without the permission of all the participants.

Another MWG member commented: “MWG did not expect this level of abuse”.

… See full entry

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Learning how to use Open Street Map for future tasks 1 Hour

Map Swipe is a mobile app that helps you contribute on MissingMaps.When I found out that we could map various parts of the world through mobile phone using satellite imagery, I install the app on my mobile phone. Then follow the rest of the instructions.After knowing how to use it, i start working.When I map it out, I feel as if I’m playing a game.Every swipe indicate specific things on that region.Some projects can tell you to indentify only building,but other projects can tell you to indentify building, highway, waterway where you find. Like game it has also level.Initial levels can pass quickly but after that to pass a level i need a lots of swipes.Using this app first time i contribute on MissingMaps and now i am on level 17.It’s an amazing app for humanitarian works.Those who like playing games, they can use this app and participate in humanitarian activities.

150 more buildings mapped in Egume, Nigeria.

Another 83 buildings mapped in Egume, Nigeria.

Mapped 103 more buildings in Egume, Nigeria.

I am working on a block-by-block extraction of Mascoutah features and I am trying to complete the entire town. I was surprised to find so much information missing around Mascoutah, especially major land use features such as Silver Creek and the wooded area surrounding it. I usually break the monotony of extracting houses and power poles with looking for streams, tracks, and trails in the Silver Creek wooded area or by trying to extract the streams that drain into Silver Creek.

1. export and save data from openstreetmap.org
   • map.osm
2. open qgis
3. in qgis top menu, select Vector > OpenStreetMap > Import Topology from XML…
   • “Input XML file” < map.osm
   • rename “Output Spatialite DB file” to something unique, unique.osm.db
   • rename “Connection name” to something unique, unique_connection
4. in qgis top menu, select Vector > OpenStreetMap > Export OpenStreetMap Topology to SpatiaLite…
   • “Input DB file” < unique.osm.db
   • Select the “Export type” that you’re interested in
   • Put a meaningful name in “Output layer name”
   • Hit “Load from DB”, and select/deselect the export type features with the tags you’re interested in
   • Hit “OK”
   • Repeat for all OSM feature types you’re interested in
5. Pan around and inspect the features
   • Select layer to inspect in the “Layers Panel”
   • View specific features with the “Identify Features” tool, ctrl + shift + i

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I learnt about how interesting Map Swipe app is and I decided to download it on my phone and map with it on November 29, 2019. It’s interesting indeed and I was able to participate to some missing maps and I’m now on level 2. ☺

As one of the executives of the Oyo Mappers Team, Oyo, we had a Geo Week event on the 20th of November, 2019 which was tagged MISSING MAP. We trained some set of students in the institution about ‘how to use openstreetmap and many people were satisfied with the training and are willing to join the team.

I went to survay tonight around Juikang Street, clarifing what is the street name of the alley of intersected with Juikang Street. I was a cold night due to blowing cold wind during riding bicycle, and it was much colder tonight, the strong wind make it harder to move.Juikang Street is located in the Muzha township area, and some roads in this area has up and down. There is a national owed land which seems like a towed-down military dependents’ village, and now it was developed by the locals as a simple park.

Next time when I survey around Muzha towship area, I will add shops and amenity.