Notable

Photo by: C.Saetre

Join the campus mapping effort and OpenStreetMap competition this month at NTNU. I can attest that mapping is a bit addicting, and there is fun to be had by joining the collective NTNU effort.  Even if there weren´t prizes it would be fun—but there are indeed some prizes—good prizes.

Did I lose you?

OpenStreetMap is on its way in as NTNU´s official map app (cheering heard somewhere). A free editable, net-based, map of the world, OpenStreetMap (or OSM)  is made up of data collected and plotted by anyone who wants to.  For any who find this hard to digest, it could be described as the Wikipedia of mapping, if you will.

More about the prizes

The competition is open to both NTNU students and employees. Just by participating one will be eligible to win one of 3 gift checks for NOK 3000.  Prizes will be awarded in each of the following groups:

• Best contributor to NTNU campus regions.
• One random contributor to NTNU campus regions ( lottery drawing)
• One random contributor to Trondheim´s “midtby” regio (lottery drawing)

It´s never too late to get started,  but keep in mind that the competition ends on the 15th of November. One GPS track will earn you 10 lottery entries, 1 change-set with sensible comments will earn you 1 lottery entry, (max 1 change-sets per 3 minute interval).  Definitely read the official rules and registration, and if you are an exchange student in need of a translation, let me know.  Happy mapping!

Further Reading for OpenStreetMap fans

• Flickr Allows OpenStreetMap, FourSquare Geotags

So it turns out that Trondheim Kommune’s short-sightedness is among the reasons we can’t see satellite imagery of Trondheim via Google maps (See article “Google Fog Over Downtown” ). The local map and survey office (Kart og oppmålingskontoret) has chosen to prioritize their revenue stream over making the satellite imagery available to its citizenry through channels other than their own, cumbersome, map application. It turns out that they sell map data and imagery—the same data which we as tax payers certainly pay them to administer and make available. [Read more]

Despite the fact that Trondheim is the 3rd largest city in Norway the outer edges of the city have satellite imagery on Google Maps, while the downtown and university areas are missing. Most of the hotels in town can’t be seen. The cathedral (Nidarosdomen) can’t be seen. The main university campus (NTNU Gløshaugen) with thousands of students is absent; but Lade and Leangen we have. An Adressa article mentioned the issues in April under the banner “Google Fog Over Downtown“, and I waited patiently for a change. But no. The article got no more of a response than the one can find online. I shot off a Get Satisfaction posting. Google participates, but we shall see.