MapBox’s OpenStreetMap editor
Go to osm.org right now and click the edit tab. Select the “Edit with iD” and check it out.
iD for OSM
It’s like nothing you’ve seen before. This is the tool that OSM needs to finish the map as Steve Coast said on my Hangout last week. All this is because of the Knight Foundation grant to MapBox which finally gives users tools they need to edit the map. As I said back then:
I’ve always felt OSM was held back by it’s editing tools. They are designed by nerds for geeks.
Well no longer, the editor is live and it’s gorgeous! Check out how you add a road:
Or add a park:
That’s not some crazy Potlach (now I did love that tool but it isn’t mainstream) method that only OSM users know. These are simple methods that everyone will understand. I do hope that it will also improve OSM’s biggest weakness, addressing. But in the meantime we should see lots of people start improving the map all around the world.
I have to be honest, when I first heard MapBox got a grant to improve OSM editing I thought it was a waste of time. There were already tools available, why not spend that money on something worthwhile. Well seeing iD in action, I feel like I need to take that all back. I no longer have to install Flash to edit OSM, that’s worth it’s weight in gold. I can imagine how this might look if another company did it, probably build in Silverlight with some crazy proprietary APIs. We should all be thankful MapBox took this on.
Update The OSM Blog has much more.
MapBox’s OpenStreetMap editor
Go to osm.org right now and click the edit tab. Select the “Edit with iD” and check it out.
iD for OSM
It’s like nothing you’ve seen before. This is the tool that OSM needs to finish the map as Steve Coast said on my Hangout last week. All this is because of the Knight Foundation grant to MapBox which finally gives users tools they need to edit the map. As I said back then:
I’ve always felt OSM was held back by it’s editing tools. They are designed by nerds for geeks.
Well no longer, the editor is live and it’s gorgeous! Check out how you add a road:
Or add a park:
That’s not some crazy Potlach (now I did love that tool but it isn’t mainstream) method that only OSM users know. These are simple methods that everyone will understand. I do hope that it will also improve OSM’s biggest weakness, addressing. But in the meantime we should see lots of people start improving the map all around the world.
I have to be honest, when I first heard MapBox got a grant to improve OSM editing I thought it was a waste of time. There were already tools available, why not spend that money on something worthwhile. Well seeing iD in action, I feel like I need to take that all back. I no longer have to install Flash to edit OSM, that’s worth it’s weight in gold. I can imagine how this might look if another company did it, probably build in Silverlight with some crazy proprietary APIs. We should all be thankful MapBox took this on.
Update The OSM Blog has much more.
ArcGIS Cloud is in Your Future
Nobody likes to complain more about software than Adobe Creative Suite users. But then this happened:
Adobe is pointing all of its energy towards Creative Cloud, eliminating the familiar retail box in the process. Like last year, the company is releasing an updated suite of applications this June, newly branded as “CC” apps. This includes: Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC and Premiere Pro CC.
The key here is per user, per month. No more stupid buying a new copy of Photoshop every year and complaining about how there is no new value. Now you get the new version no matter what new features are added. Microsoft is trying to do with with Office 365 but most of us realize it is just a awful implementation of SharePoint. That said they realize that people just don’t upgrade anymore and in fact I’d wager they’d rather not anyway.
So Esri has lived on maintenance agreements and the wacky ELA agreements for revenue so they are practically halfway there anyway. I think the ELA tries to capture “per user/per month” but it’s not a 1 to 1 relationship. Adobe is showing the way and I think we GIS folks need to expect that Esri will transition everyone to such a model (at least those not on ELA) in a couple years. Autodesk is probably much closer to this reality so keep an eye on your AutoCAD users down the hall and see how their do when their 100% on Autodesk 360.
Now in the rush to get on the cloud, be careful slipping on those stairs in your Salvatore Ferragamo shoes.
Pete Campbell Fall
ArcGIS Cloud is in Your Future
Nobody likes to complain more about software than Adobe Creative Suite users. But then this happened:
Adobe is pointing all of its energy towards Creative Cloud, eliminating the familiar retail box in the process. Like last year, the company is releasing an updated suite of applications this June, newly branded as “CC” apps. This includes: Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC and Premiere Pro CC.
The key here is per user, per month. No more stupid buying a new copy of Photoshop every year and complaining about how there is no new value. Now you get the new version no matter what new features are added. Microsoft is trying to do with with Office 365 but most of us realize it is just a awful implementation of SharePoint. That said they realize that people just don’t upgrade anymore and in fact I’d wager they’d rather not anyway.
So Esri has lived on maintenance agreements and the wacky ELA agreements for revenue so they are practically halfway there anyway. I think the ELA tries to capture “per user/per month” but it’s not a 1 to 1 relationship. Adobe is showing the way and I think we GIS folks need to expect that Esri will transition everyone to such a model (at least those not on ELA) in a couple years. Autodesk is probably much closer to this reality so keep an eye on your AutoCAD users down the hall and see how their do when their 100% on Autodesk 360.
Now in the rush to get on the cloud, be careful slipping on those stairs in your Salvatore Ferragamo shoes.
Pete Campbell Fall
WxS Say What Now?
So the requirements doc says the application must support WMS, WFS, WCS and WTS. I hate the first three, but the four one confused me. I was unaware of WTS and Wikipedia is zero help. A phone call into the contracts person (who has no idea what GIS is in the first place) was zero help. She did say that she’d get back to me later today to find out.
UPDATE
WTS means “Web Tile Service”. It’s not WMTS but something they just made up. There is some sort of 900913 awesome in that. I’m just a bit afraid to ask the XYZ order…
WxS Say What Now?
So the requirements doc says the application must support WMS, WFS, WCS and WTS. I hate the first three, but the four one confused me. I was unaware of WTS and Wikipedia is zero help. A phone call into the contracts person (who has no idea what GIS is in the first place) was zero help. She did say that she’d get back to me later today to find out.
UPDATE
WTS means “Web Tile Service”. It’s not WMTS but something they just made up. There is some sort of 900913 awesome in that. I’m just a bit afraid to ask the XYZ order…