Talk:GPS-Trail

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Revision as of 06:06, 29 July 2007 by Gtkp (Talk | contribs)

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The Openstreetmap page talks about anonymizing results, but I don't see how this can happen. OSM currently requires a login to upload data, and it is necessary that they be able to prove who uploaded what. If they don't have this transparency, they will not survive the first lawsuit from any mapping company that wants to shut them down (and I imagine they probably all do). --ldarwin

What I'd like to see is to have the routing application using OSM data(Maybe something based on navit) ask you if you want to start logging when you go off of a known road. Maybe even have you touch the screen everytime you switch roads after that. With that feature I could see OSM growing very quickly. --dcsmith


An anonymising proxy would simply work by having all the GPS tracklogs uploaded to it, from users wishing to stay anonymous. These would already have the tracks anonymised by chopping off the ends at a user-configurable random distance from 'home/...'. Then, up to a month later (randomly), under its own username the proxy would connect to OSM, and upload each track.

These are _not_ roads. They are merely collections of GPS points.

There would need to be some way to track back GPS points to the originator - it would probably be around the right balance to have the OSM administrators able to see psuedonymised IDs - which would let them see a group of tracks, and then the proxy admin could be contacted by them if they needed to contact the original sender for some reason. --Speedevil 12:10, 8 June 2007 (CEST)

Few different ideas.

First, I see OpenMoko as an easy way to get information about routes. If we could have it record a track, and allow you to annotate it by voice, that would be very useful. If we can get this to be seamless, it definitely makes the map creating job so much easier.

Second, I can see Navigating and mapping as being something that should be fairly straight forward. Maps should be simple image displays, which will be amazing; but the neat thing will be true navigation, and I'm not sure how much power this takes.

I've joined OSM and have started to map streets in areas that I know of my city. I hope to help out with software on the OpenMoko side too, so that we can really get good use out of the device. Historybuff 20:55, 28 July 2007 (CEST)

The idea is for the OpenStreetMap application to be a minimal, small application with very low resource usages, that the user who does not want a mapping program installed uses.

If hundreds, or thousands of users can be convinced simply to leave it running in the background, uploading GPS trails anonymously when they plug into a network, this helps openstreetmap lots.

Having a very small, lean logging application in the background all the time using 0.5M probably won't be a problem for most users. Having a full-featured mapper using 5M or more of memory may get killed as a resource hog.


There also needs to be a seperate Mapping program. This will support displaying maps (OSM and any other available), displaying track logs from this program, and perhaps even optionally being able to upload data entered on streets and streetnames, ... to OSM.

This would be considerably larger than the OpenStreetMap application - this probably needs renamed. Navigation isn't the problem. Data is the problem. Also there is a very small portion of the world (at the moment) where OSM data is suitable for routing.

--Speedevil 22:32, 28 July 2007 (CEST)


How would the anonymous application for getting data know that the user is on the road and not simply walking in a building or a mall?

Also, I'd like to be able to map bike trails and other outdoor walking trails and have them identified as such.

--Gtkp 07:06, 29 July 2007 (CEST)

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The Openstreetmap page talks about anonymizing results, but I don't see how this can happen. OSM currently requires a login to upload data, and it is necessary that they be able to prove who uploaded what. If they don't have this transparency, they will not survive the first lawsuit from any mapping company that wants to shut them down (and I imagine they probably all do). --ldarwin

What I'd like to see is to have the routing application using OSM data(Maybe something based on navit) ask you if you want to start logging when you go off of a known road. Maybe even have you touch the screen everytime you switch roads after that. With that feature I could see OSM growing very quickly. --dcsmith


An anonymising proxy would simply work by having all the GPS tracklogs uploaded to it, from users wishing to stay anonymous. These would already have the tracks anonymised by chopping off the ends at a user-configurable random distance from 'home/...'. Then, up to a month later (randomly), under its own username the proxy would connect to OSM, and upload each track.

These are _not_ roads. They are merely collections of GPS points.

There would need to be some way to track back GPS points to the originator - it would probably be around the right balance to have the OSM administrators able to see psuedonymised IDs - which would let them see a group of tracks, and then the proxy admin could be contacted by them if they needed to contact the original sender for some reason. --Speedevil 12:10, 8 June 2007 (CEST)

Few different ideas.

First, I see OpenMoko as an easy way to get information about routes. If we could have it record a track, and allow you to annotate it by voice, that would be very useful. If we can get this to be seamless, it definitely makes the map creating job so much easier.

Second, I can see Navigating and mapping as being something that should be fairly straight forward. Maps should be simple image displays, which will be amazing; but the neat thing will be true navigation, and I'm not sure how much power this takes.

I've joined OSM and have started to map streets in areas that I know of my city. I hope to help out with software on the OpenMoko side too, so that we can really get good use out of the device. Historybuff 20:55, 28 July 2007 (CEST)

The idea is for the OpenStreetMap application to be a minimal, small application with very low resource usages, that the user who does not want a mapping program installed uses.

If hundreds, or thousands of users can be convinced simply to leave it running in the background, uploading GPS trails anonymously when they plug into a network, this helps openstreetmap lots.

Having a very small, lean logging application in the background all the time using 0.5M probably won't be a problem for most users. Having a full-featured mapper using 5M or more of memory may get killed as a resource hog.


There also needs to be a seperate Mapping program. This will support displaying maps (OSM and any other available), displaying track logs from this program, and perhaps even optionally being able to upload data entered on streets and streetnames, ... to OSM.

This would be considerably larger than the OpenStreetMap application - this probably needs renamed. Navigation isn't the problem. Data is the problem. Also there is a very small portion of the world (at the moment) where OSM data is suitable for routing.

--Speedevil 22:32, 28 July 2007 (CEST)


How would the anonymous application for getting data know that the user is on the road and not simply walking in a building or a mall?

Also, I'd like to be able to map bike trails and other outdoor walking trails and have them identified as such.

--Gtkp 07:06, 29 July 2007 (CEST)