Orange is pleasant to walk around. The houses are unique and interesting, the people are friendly, and sometimes there are dogs outside you can say hi to (and I say hi to every single one). Even in the quieter neighborhoods, it’s still a lively place. At least, during the day.

At night, it’s perfectly quiet and still. Because of this, I like to walk around at night; sometimes to help digest a large meal, sometimes just to think a bit before bed. Despite the solitude, I don’t feel entirely alone, because I’m being watched by a network of doorbell cameras. Some of them are set far enough back that I’m pretty sure they can’t see me. Others are close enough that they come alive and emit a faint glow when I walk by. Can they see in the dark? Does someone get a push notification alerting them to my presence? I’m not breaking the law, but it feels like I am.

I’m interested in privacy rights, and how technology makes it easy to surveil entire groups of people, always without their consent. I believe that people have a right to know when they’re being watched, and by whom, at least as long as recording in public remains legal. To that end, I’m starting to map doorbell cameras.

I did some research beforehand to see what the community thinks of mapping private objects. I’m still new, and I want to make sure I contribute in a way that is welcome and helpful. The Good practice page also reads: “Be brave in what you add…”

I read the Mapping private information wiki page. As far as I can tell, nothing there explicitly prohibits doorbell camera mapping. I believe I can also satisfy verifiability requirements: someone with a reasonably up-to-date prescription could stand on the same sidewalk and verify that these devices exist at a given location.

I also found a forum thread with some lively debate. The arguments I read in favor were convincing. Then, I checked the map, which had 1,121 camera:mount=doorbell tags, some of which go quite far back.

… See full entry

Peta Bencana Banjir Kabupaten Aceh Tamiang

gpx desa terdampak
PDF Ukuran Kertas A-0
Google view

Current wiki guidance for tagging slipways (osm.wiki/Tag:leisure=slipway) is as follows:

A typical mapping might be to make a short highway=service way to the water’s edge and make the final node a leisure=slipway.

The highway=service that is part of the physical slipway is often further refined with a service=slipway. Keep in mind though that this does not replace leisure=slipway, mapped as a node on the end of that way.

Some mappers instead tag the whole way as leisure=slipway without using a highway=* tag, or sometimes in combination with highway=service (here service=slipway can be applied as well as above).

In other words there are two options (the first being implicitly preferred)

Option 1 - tag the node

• way: highway=service + service=slipway
• final node: leisure=slipway

Option 2 - tag the way

• way: leisure=slipway + optional highway=service + service=slipway
• final node: not tagged

The map marks an icon for both nodes and ways tagged with leisure=slipway. It’s therefore likely not advisable to do both. But which one is preferable?

There is some discussion about this on the wiki but no apparent resolution and it appears to refer to previous versions of the guidance: osm.wiki/Talk:Tag:leisure%3Dslipway

Though there is a question raised about wether leisure=slipway should be replaced by highway=service + service=slipway outright, especially given not all slips are for leisure use. But the map only marks an icon for leisure=slipway so this is likely not recommended.

Status quo

I wrote a script to analyse the data from of an area on the south east coast of Scotland.

https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/2hdk

The results:

• 45: option 1 (includes 16 orphaned nodes with no way)
• 62: option 2

So option 2 appears to be preferred, however it results in the map icon being placed at the mid point of the slip.

For ways that are correctly scoped to just the sloped slipway, this is probably ok. Longer ways should be split anyway.

… See full entry

To edit an OpenStreetMap (OSM) diary entry, you must navigate to the specific post while logged into your account.

Steps to Edit Your OSM Diary

• Log in to your account on OpenStreetMap.org.
• Click on your username in the top right corner to go to your user profile.
• Click the “New Diary Entry” link (usually located in the menu tab just below your username).
• Find the specific entry you want to change and click on its title to open the full post.
• Scroll to the bottom of the post text; you will see an “Edit this entry” button.
• Click it to open the editor, make your changes, and hit Save.

Important Notes

… See full entry

Buste op het Kennemerpark in Alkmaar.
Het OSM knooppunt
Meer informatie op de website van Kunstwacht.

Wijzigingset
Op OSM

wikidata:Q2369995
wikimedia_commons: Category:Dorpskerk (Castricum)
wikipedia nl:Dorpskerk (Castricum)

Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hoje, comecei uma ordem de trabalhos novos: fui à pagina da taginfo para key:building, ordenei os termos por quantidade de valores e fui à última página. Aqui estão nodes ou áreas etiquetadas como “buildings” em que só há uma instância de cada - ou seja, há 98% a certeza que está mal etiquetada. Lancei-me à correcção ordenada de cada uma.

É uma forma de ajudar a limpar as tags: de momento, 625 páginas de valores na chave “building”, 8120 itens… de certo agora 624 páginas pois editei os itens todos da última página e agora estou à espera que as edições cheguem aos servidores e actualizem esta tabela …e também de editar fora da minha por assim dizer jurisprudência, porque até agora cingi-me a mapear passeios, passadeiras, ciclovias, acrescentar vários detalhes, e corrigir problemas indicados pelo Osmose na minha área de residência.

Até agora, deparei-me com (entre outros!):

… See full entry

I was a bit too sleepy to post last night, but I got coffee and wandered by Long Dog Coffee and Treats, a delightful dachshund-themed café (with treats for both two-legged and four-legged friends) because that POI was not on the map. :)

Ahoj, tento projekt má za cíl zlepšit kvalitu a přesnost mapování obnovitelných zdrojů energie. A taky začít rozšiřovat infrastrukturu o tyto detailní data. Čím také přispěje k lepšímu pochopení a také budoucího vývoje v této oblasti energetiky.

Bod: 1. Opravy Mnohé např: fotovoltaické elektrárny jsou nesprávně zmapované jako například že se tváří že jsou vlastně solárním kolektorem a né fotovoltaickou elektrárnou.

Bod: 2. Přesné a detailní zpracování Je nutno dbát na kvalitu zapisování a mapování této infrastruktury.

Bod: 3. Expanze Růst této infrastruktury je klíčová k zlepšení kvality a dostupnosti dat o jejím vývoji. Je nutno přidávat nové generátory energie a elektrárny

https://accda.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=2045711bf8a44a109d83d31300e5f5ed

Ashland, Cherryland, Hayward Acres and Fairview all used to have “Hayward” as their city for their addresses. The U.S. post office reverted their names to their historical place names. I am taking care of Fairview (I live here) but if anyone wants to help with the other communities, please jump in.

So as I was mapping some rooftop solar, I noticed that some of the houses were all offset from the Bing image data by the same amount. I’m pretty sure there’s a way to resolve this without turning my GPS on and driving around a bunch, but where’s the fun in that? I also wanted to play around with Go Map!! and get comfortable with uploading traces in general, so I turned on Go Map!!’s GPS and drove around a bunch while listening to a podcast. Seeing the GPS data later on in JOSM was neat! It was also a reminder that GPS has a sampling frequency, and moving in a car, even at 25 miles per hour, spreads those samples out.

I’m guessing this is an imagery offset problem (I think that’s usually more likely to be incorrect), but I want to be sure so the solar panels are correct. I have to dig in some more. I know there are various ways to do it, but I’m entirely too sleepy to figure them out right now, which means it is officially a tomorrow thing. :)

Edit: I got a brief second wind. I learned that there is an imagery offset database, although neither of the two options available helped in this instance. I also noticed that both Bing and ESRI imagery comport, so the buildings are offset by the same amount compared to both images.

I checked the history of one of the buildings, and it was created in 2018 from Bing imagery. I then checked the buildings against ESRI Clarity, and they match much better. Now it’s officially a tomorrow thing. ;)

I started mapping my community last month. Looking at how the map is filling in, I think I’m about 1/4 to a 1/3 done with getting Fairview on the map. I’m focusing on homes, property boundaries, trees, pools and other out buildings.

Tonight I also worked on sidewalks and crossings.

Was a map user with Mapinfo for years at work, and added Google Earth Pro to that skill set. AllTrails uses OSM for their base map. Recommended by Carey Spies.

Enjoying the learning process so far. Have edited the course cart path at the Grizzly. And have added the path/driveway to Dale Spies’ house.

Last weekend I gave a talk about OpenStreetMap and biking at the Madison Bike Advocacy Meetup. This is a monthly meeting of people interested in biking and local bike advocacy. The purpose of the talk was to give a high-level overview of what OpenStreetMap is, how it can be used for biking and bike advocacy, and how you can contribute to OpenStreetMap. About two-thirds of the audience had previously heard about OSM. I think the talk was well received and there were many questions during the Q&A period. And in the days after the event I saw some OSM editing activity from new contributors.

The slides, notes, and resources are available in this Github repository under a CC BY-SA license. Please feel free to reuse it!

All mistakes and omissions are mine.

• Suivi des commerces (@karr4s)
• Suivi des zones en travaux : requête à mettre à jour en fonction de la date + utilisation du tag check_date dans OSM pour avoir un suivi des travaux
• Suivi des vitesses limites

Vadémécum de raccourcis JOSM :

• Tracer une ligne, sélection de l’ancienne zone puis Alt+X : découpe et crée une nouvelle zone
• Maj+J : Fusionner des zones
• Raccourci pour suivre rapidement les points
• W : crée une pseudo-ligne (appuyer Ctrl ou Alt ou Shift : ajoute des points)
• Ctrl pour aimanter deux points
• Ctrl+Maj : Rotation
• Ctrl+Alt Gr : Redimensionner
• G : Séparer deux chemins relier par un noeud

I’m finding it difficult to pick a particular mapping task to focus on, because even in my corner of Orange, there seems to be so much to do. For example, I’ve noticed that the sidewalk ways sort of peter out a few blocks away from the Circle. I was glancing at some geometry last night, and also noticed that some people have tagged a few backyard swimming pools, but there are plenty of unmapped pools visible on imagery. I spent a little time adding some pools, as well as adding access=private tags the existing ones. It’s nice to have some stuff to do that doesn’t always involve going out somewhere (not that that would be feasible in people’s backyards anyway heh).

Then I noticed solar panels on aerial imagery, and wondered if anyone had tagged them. I know people tag larger power infrastructure, but mapping rooftop solar seems like it would be cool data to have, too, especially in Southern California, where it works particularly well. It’s also easy to do from imagery.

The neighborhood with the pools also has a decent amount of rooftop solar, so I mapped a few of those as well. I realized, though, after uploading a bunch (oops), that some of the panels aren’t necessarily photovoltaic cells; they could be rooftop water heating, especially smaller areas that look particularly black. I plan to go back through and try to verify if they really are rooftop solar. Most probably are, and most of them look distinctive or big enough that I’d be confident in tagging them as rooftop photovoltaic cells, but a few of them could also be rooftop water heating, so I might just remove the photovoltaic-specific tags from them for now. It’s still rooftop solar, but the particular energy use will just be ambiguous. I think that’s better than it being incorrect.

Focus!

I need to pick a few things to focus on and them see them through to completion, I think. I have a bad habit of starting projects and not finishing them. In no particular order, I’d like to map:

… See full entry

J’ai créé mon salon sur BigBlueButton, le lien se trouve ici: osm.org/user/HugoC01

---

RETEX: Encounters Along My Mapping Walks

(translation by ChatGpt)

to be continued, maybe:

• journal entry (upcoming): Existential Questions About My Encounter with Panoramax
• journal entry (upcoming): Existential Questions About OSM and the Wikimedia World
• journal entry (upcoming): My First Experiences With an RTK Rover and an RTK Base

My urban recycling trek is now complete (at least regarding the attempt to map all voluntary drop-off points in the GPS&O intercommunality). I still need to clear up some fixme tags. This journal entry isn’t about mapping information but simply about a few encounters I had during my walks. They are just brief flashes of emotion, smiles, or frustration.

To understand the atmosphere of these encounters, picture me as:

• 70 years old, usually in shorts (except below 11°C)
• with a backpack (20L)
• always carrying at least one hiking pole in one hand and a camera in the other
• sometimes with a pole sticking out of my backpack holding a GNSS antenna at head height

The Best of the Best: Hunting for AEDs

in a micro-crèche

2025-09-08 in Médan I’m looking for a micro-daycare facility to verify the presence of an AED (Osmose suggestion). I wander a bit around the assumed location at the end of a residential cul-de-sac and eventually identify the daycare. I hesitate to enter the garden and ring the doorbell when an educator opens a ground-floor window, leans out, and asks whether I’m looking for something and if she can help (a polite way of saying “we’re watching, please move along”).

We exchange a couple of rather friendly minutes during which I silently give up on asking whether I may come in to photograph the AED (didn’t seem very wise). Instead, I hand her my phone and ask if she can photograph the AED on their wall (at least we both know she will avoid putting any children in the frame).

… See full entry

RETEX : Rencontres au fil des randonnées cartographiques

à suivre peut-être :

• entrée de journal (à venir) : Questions existentielles sur ma rencontre avec panoramax
• entrée de journal (à venir) : Questions existentielles sur OSM et le monde Wikimédia
• entrée de journal (à venir) : Mes premières expériences de rover RTK et de base RTK

Mon trekking urbain recyclage est maintenant fini (en ce qui concerne la tentative de cartographie de tous les points d’apport volontaire de l’intercommunalité GPS&O.). Il me reste à régler certains fixme.
Cette entrée de journal ne concerne pas des informations cartographiques mais simplement quelques rencontres que j’ai faites au cours de mes marches. Il s’agit juste de brefs éclats d’émotion, de sourire ou de colère.

Pour comprendre l’ambiance de ces rencontres, il faut m’imaginer :

• 70 ans, en short en général (sauf en dessous de 11 degrés Celsius)
• avec un sac à dos (20l)
• toujours au moins un bâton de marche dans une main et un appareil photo dans l’autre.
• parfois une canne sortant du sac à dos et portant (à hauteur de ma tête) une antenne GNSS

Le must : la recherche des DAE

dans une microcrèche

2025-09-08 à Médan
Je cherche une micro-crèche pour vérifier l’existence d’un DAE (suggestion Osmose). Je tourne un peu autour du lieu supposé au bout d’une impasse résidentielle et finis par identifier la crèche. J’hésite à entrer dans le jardin et à sonner à la porte lorsqu’une animatrice ouvre une fenêtre (rez-de-chaussée), se penche à l’extérieur et me demande si je cherche quelque chose et si elle peut m’aider (façon de me dire “nous sommes vigilantes, passez votre chemin”).

… See full entry