Re: [Talk-us] dead line for joining voting in current board election
On 8/25/10 11:39 PM, Samat K Jain wrote: On Wednesday, August 25, 2010 04:39:53 pm, Richard Welty wrote: The deadline for join vote will be 5pm Friday, Eastern Time. The election ends at 2:15pm Sunday, Eastern Time. If you wish to join, here is the link: http://www.openstreetmap.us/membership/ Not to be negative, but I'm on the fence—other than the OSMF US board election, what other benefits are there to be an OSMF US member? If this has been discussed before it should be on the OpenStreetMap.us site somewhere. it probably should be, but we've been running as fast as we can to stay in one place. the question is a valid one. the organization is new, and at a critical moment, as we (the community) work out what it does and how it interacts. when you say what benefits are there, are you referring to member benefits, or to benefits for the community and for OSM? for member benefits, there aren't many right now, although they may come into being under the direction of the new board and of future boards. for the community and for OSM, it's about potential. there are numerous issues confronting OSM right now. The biggest US centric one i can think of right now are the questions about imports and Tiger 2010. while OSMF US cannot take a dictatorial position (everyone would just point and laugh and walk away), there are definitely things OSMF US can do here. i myself think that the next board should form an import committee to start developing a coherent policy framework and an agreed upon process. likewise, OSMF US can help with meetups and mapping parties. OSMF US will continue to work with local committees to organize SOTM US every year. i don't think that this is by any means comprehensive. it's just what i came up with on a half a cup of coffee this morning. if you don't find it compelling, that's ok. the membership will probably always be a minority of the active US mappers. richard ___ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us
Re: [Talk-us] dead line for joining voting in current board election
On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 11:39 PM, Samat K Jain li...@samat.org wrote: Not to be negative, but I'm on the fence—other than the OSMF US board election, what other benefits are there to be an OSMF US member? It's okay to be negative if you want. It's a tough question, so let me try my best to address it in parts: First, we're a very new organization; this is our first official election! The group that's currently on the board has written bylaws, written articles of incorporation, set up bank accounts and mechanisms to accept members, and then put on a conference! If this has been discussed before it should be on the OpenStreetMap.us site somewhere. We discussed this at SOTM at one of the last panel talks. Dave's done an amazing job of getting these videos online, so if we're lucky, you'll have a chance to see it before the election is over. We have a lot of plans, and hopes. But basically, right now, joining is a way of showing support for the US OpenStreetMap community. And once you join, you can see some of the projects we'd like to do and maybe help them along! There are a lot more details, but I think that's the main thing... your membership goes to trying to build the organization. More important than your membership dues, though, is actually getting involved. - Serge ___ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us
[Talk-us] San Francisco Geodata
San Francisco has a website at datasf.org that has a lot of good geodata on it. The current licence isn't acceptable for using any of the data but they might be willing to give us permission to use it. Some of the datasets that I thought were interesting were city lotshttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/citylots.zip, addresseshttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/sfaddresses.zip, neighborhoodshttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/planning_neighborhoods_tiybi.zip, landusehttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/planning_landuse.zip, public landshttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/sflnds_public.zip, street centerlineshttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/stclines.zip, speed limitshttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/dpt_speedlimits.zipand the bike networkhttp://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfshare/catalog/dpt_bike_network.zip . We have good street data for San Francisco so the street centerline file would mostly be useful to check for errors and inform us about which streets really don't have a name. We need addresses if we want to have usable data for routing programs. The addresses file has them in point format. The city lots file also has addresses or address ranges for each parcel. Has anybody done imports of similar address data? If so, did you keep it in a point format or convert it into the parallel ways format? How did things turn out? I would really like to put that address data into OSM if I can get permission from the city to use it for that purpose. The speed limits would be useful for routing as well. Also, just to be clear, even if the city grants permission for us to use this data I certainly don't plan on just 'dumping' it into OSM. We already have good data for San Francisco. I'm more interested in using it to refine what we already have and plan on taking it slow and doing any imports the right way. I'd love to hear any thoughts or ideas or what other locals would like to see our map have. I'm probably going to be meeting with someone from the city next week to discuss the licence issue and ways we can collaborate. Anything in particular you folks are interested in? Cheers, Greg ___ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us
Re: [Talk-us] GeoBus Discussion
I am planning on another phone meeting tonight at 8:00pm: Thursday August 26, 2010 8:00PM EDT Call in number: 218-486-3891 x663610833 I will try to get the minutes into this email as soon as the conversation is over, so we can keep the discussion going here. Katie had some good questions, so I'm going to try to answer them here: When do you think this would happen? Duration? Would anyone really be available for the entire duration? or just portions? I think the Bus will be a symbol of the project, and will be flexible enough that it can do a month long trip, but also be used for smaller trips. Agree with the concerns over costs and burden of maintenance. Do we really want to maintain something in the long-term? What about renting a vehicle? Considering the costs of ownership, perhaps this might be a better option? Having a Bus as a marking symbol is the way we want to go. Eric Wolf has some good information on VW buses. A lot of it is kind of scary. We did discuss renting a van for a short time. I'm not sure of how that would work, but it's not a bad idea. Also, what about taking Amtrak across the country? (always been interested in doing this) Amtrak offers unlimited passes for 15 days, 30 days, or 45 days of travel. They also have good group specials and perhaps we could lower the costs. I had a roommate in college that did this one summer, he had some great stories. I would also be happy doing car trips at a smaller scale, doing outreach at universities and engaging people, (e.g. ambassadors, trainers) and scheduling things during weekends. In reality, not sure how much vacation time I would have for this anyway, versus other ways of spending vacation time. That is a major problem with it, and people would probably each only do a short stint on the bus. I'll keep these in mind for the discussion tonight, and I hope to talk to some of you there! I'll be back with the meeting minutes before tomorrow. -- Jim McAndrew On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 1:23 PM, Eric Wolf ebw...@gmail.com wrote: Just to jump in here... As a former owner of a '74 VW Bus, I can tell you that there are serious positives and negatives to going that route. First, the positives: 1. If you can find someone not wanting to rape you, they can be purchased fairly cheap ~ $2500 for a decent camper. However, decent doesn't mean the same thing here as it would for any newer vehicle. That means: a. Engine runs well enough to get it home. b. Minimal rust through (straight frame, no undercarriage rust) c. Interior isn't hideously gross (and I'm not just talking 70s plaid gross) 2. They get pretty good gas mileage (~ 20mpg) and are fun to drive once you get used to it. They are amazingly easy to parallel park! Very short wheel-base. 3. Style + Substance - better than a schoolbus 4. There is a great network of people to help you WHEN you break down: http://www.type2.com/rescue/ 5. You will be a decent mechanic after owning one Second, the negatives: 1. 90% of the buses for sale now are in the rape category. I'm talking $11,000 for a vehicle with 150K miles?!? If you want a classic 21-window, you'll spend at least $5K for a rolling body and no engine. 2. Be sure to clean it thoroughly. If you have a friend in the police department, ask them if you can have a drug dog check it for you. There are about a billion places to hide (or lose) drugs in a VW bus. You don't want to get pulled over by an over-zealous redneck cop and then find out there's a kilo of cocaine in some hidden corner. 3. You get good gas mileage because you won't be going fast. The semis will be blowing past you. It will be life in the slow lane. 4. You will be a decent mechanic after owning one because you will do repairs on the side of the road. I always had the necessary tools with me in the bus to remove the engine on the side of the road. Fortunately, I only ever had to do this in my driveway. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebwolf/269029370/ -Eric -=--=---===---=--=-=--=---==---=--=-=- Eric B. Wolf 720-334-7734 On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 1:20 PM, Jim McAndrew j...@loc8.us wrote: Blars, I do realize that the telephone format is inconvenient to a lot of people, especially considering time zones and availability. It is a good suggestion to move it to an email list. As far as the amount of work involved, we know that getting an old school bus is expensive and won't be easy. The mileage, insurance, and fuel cost are all concerns to us. Thea Clay is currently in the process of pricing the total cost of ownership for different vehicles, and we think that a VW bus will probably be the best solution for this idea. If you would like, I can send you the meeting minutes from last week's meeting. -- Jim McAndrew On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 1:28 PM, Blars Blarson openstreetmap-talk...@scd.debian.net wrote: In article
Re: [Talk-us] GeoBus Discussion
I am a VW lover and owned a bus for a few years. I now have a wonderful bug. A great place to look for VWs is http://www.thesamba.com/vw/ Or you could always get a new one in Brazil :-) Leslie Zolman From: Jim McAndrew j...@loc8.us To: Eric Wolf ebw...@gmail.com Cc: talk-us@openstreetmap.org Sent: Thu, August 26, 2010 3:07:04 PM Subject: Re: [Talk-us] GeoBus Discussion I am planning on another phone meeting tonight at 8:00pm: Thursday August 26, 2010 8:00PM EDT Call in number: 218-486-3891 x663610833 I will try to get the minutes into this email as soon as the conversation is over, so we can keep the discussion going here. Katie had some good questions, so I'm going to try to answer them here: When do you think this would happen? Duration? Would anyone really be available for the entire duration? or just portions? I think the Bus will be a symbol of the project, and will be flexible enough that it can do a month long trip, but also be used for smaller trips. Agree with the concerns over costs and burden of maintenance. Do we really want to maintain something in the long-term? What about renting a vehicle? Considering the costs of ownership, perhaps this might be a better option? Having a Bus as a marking symbol is the way we want to go. Eric Wolf has some good information on VW buses. A lot of it is kind of scary. We did discuss renting a van for a short time. I'm not sure of how that would work, but it's not a bad idea. Also, what about taking Amtrak across the country? (always been interested in doing this) Amtrak offers unlimited passes for 15 days, 30 days, or 45 days of travel. They also have good group specials and perhaps we could lower the costs. I had a roommate in college that did this one summer, he had some great stories. I would also be happy doing car trips at a smaller scale, doing outreach at universities and engaging people, (e.g. ambassadors, trainers) and scheduling things during weekends. In reality, not sure how much vacation time I would have for this anyway, versus other ways of spending vacation time. That is a major problem with it, and people would probably each only do a short stint on the bus. I'll keep these in mind for the discussion tonight, and I hope to talk to some of you there! I'll be back with the meeting minutes before tomorrow. -- Jim McAndrew On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 1:23 PM, Eric Wolf ebw...@gmail.com wrote: Just to jump in here... As a former owner of a '74 VW Bus, I can tell you that there are serious positives and negatives to going that route. First, the positives: 1. If you can find someone not wanting to rape you, they can be purchased fairly cheap ~ $2500 for a decent camper. However, decent doesn't mean the same thing here as it would for any newer vehicle. That means: a. Engine runs well enough to get it home. b. Minimal rust through (straight frame, no undercarriage rust) c. Interior isn't hideously gross (and I'm not just talking 70s plaid gross) 2. They get pretty good gas mileage (~ 20mpg) and are fun to drive once you get used to it. They are amazingly easy to parallel park! Very short wheel-base. 3. Style + Substance - better than a schoolbus 4. There is a great network of people to help you WHEN you break down: http://www.type2.com/rescue/ 5. You will be a decent mechanic after owning one Second, the negatives: 1. 90% of the buses for sale now are in the rape category. I'm talking $11,000 for a vehicle with 150K miles?!? If you want a classic 21-window, you'll spend at least $5K for a rolling body and no engine. 2. Be sure to clean it thoroughly. If you have a friend in the police department, ask them if you can have a drug dog check it for you. There are about a billion places to hide (or lose) drugs in a VW bus. You don't want to get pulled over by an over-zealous redneck cop and then find out there's a kilo of cocaine in some hidden corner. 3. You get good gas mileage because you won't be going fast. The semis will be blowing past you. It will be life in the slow lane. 4. You will be a decent mechanic after owning one because you will do repairs on the side of the road. I always had the necessary tools with me in the bus to remove the engine on the side of the road. Fortunately, I only ever had to do this in my driveway. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebwolf/269029370/ -Eric -=--=---===---=--=-=--=---==---=--=-=- Eric B. Wolf 720-334-7734 On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 1:20 PM, Jim McAndrew j...@loc8.us wrote: Blars, I do realize that the telephone format is inconvenient to a lot of people, especially considering time zones and availability. It is a good suggestion to move it to an email list. As far as the amount of work involved, we know that getting an old school bus is expensive and won't be easy. The mileage, insurance, and fuel cost
Re: [Talk-us] dead line for joining voting in current b oard election
On Thursday, August 26, 2010 08:18:10 am, Richard Welty wrote: for the community and for OSM, it's about potential. there are numerous issues confronting OSM right now. The biggest US centric one i can think of right now are the questions about imports and Tiger 2010. while OSMF US cannot take a dictatorial position (everyone would just point and laugh and walk away), there are definitely things OSMF US can do here. i myself think that the next board should form an import committee to start developing a coherent policy framework and an agreed upon process. likewise, OSMF US can help with meetups and mapping parties. OSMF US will continue to work with local committees to organize SOTM US every year. Thanks Ian, Richard, and Serge. OSM US's plans have been a e-mail message here and there since April, but AFAIK they've yet to be coagulated into one place… As such, I support OSM US's plans, and have joined as a member. Thanks for all the information! Regards, Samat -- Samat K Jain http://samat.org/ | GPG: 0x4A456FBA Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody is looking. -- H. L. Mencken (445) signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part. ___ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us
