[GNHLUG] [DLSLUG-Announce] TOMORROW: Mapping Party - DLSLUG Special Event - Saturday, 2009-06-06

Bill McGonigle bill at bfccomputing.com
Fri Jun 5 12:20:11 EDT 2009


***************************************************************
               Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Linux User Group
                        http://dlslug.org/
               a chapter of GNHLUG - http://gnhlug.org
***************************************************************

A DLSLUG Special Event will be held:

                Saturday, June 6th, 11AM-4PM
at:            Dartmouth College, Carson 61

                All are welcome, free of charge.

                            Agenda

11:00 OpenStreetMap Mapping Party!
         lead by Russ Nelson

       Attendees will learn how to create OpenStreetMap data.
       Bring a GPS receiver of any supported type and learn how to
       acquire and upload GPS data, create and edit OpenStreetMap
       data using portable applications, add labels and details to
       data, and render and use maps.  A few extra GPS units will be
       on hand for those who don't yet have one.

       The day will start with an introduction (be sure to attend the
       Thursday night meeting for the full details) and instruction and
       then head out to gather some data. The group will reconvene at
       the classroom, and learn how to upload and process the data to
       make maps.

       Reviews of all kinds of GPS-specific or GPS-enabled devices
       that can be used for OpenStreetMap can be found here:

         http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GPS_Reviews

       with some manufacturer-specific reviews for more popular units
       here:

         http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Garmin
         http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/TomTom
         http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GPS_Reviews/Wintec_and_Woxter

       As general advice, it's useful to have a device with expansion
       memory. For example, in the Garmin series, there is an HC and an
       HCx model line, with the -x models able to take an SD card to
       store *much* more data.

       OpenStreetMap is geodata, a collection of locations
       (intersections), connections between them (roads), and
       connections between the connections (bus routes). All of these
       can have arbitrary amounts of metadata stored with them, like
       names, speed limits, purpose of the road, etc. All of this is
       stored in a PostgreSQL database and available through an API
       which presents a simpler interface than raw SQL queries.

       With all of this data in hand, you can make a map. But maps
       aren't new; why is OpenStreetMap (OSM) new? OpenStreetMap is
       licensed under a community reciprocal license, so that people
       who contribute to it are confident that the people who
       distribute it will reciprocate under the same license. Unlike
       public domain data like the Census's TIGER data, OSM has a
       custodian who wants your contributions. Unlike proprietary data
       like Google Maps, or its underlying proprietary geodata, OSM
       is freely copyable and open to all for editing.

       Russ Nelson is an early Linux adopter; in fact an early adopter
       of all sorts of technology, including the first non-Compaq iPAQ
       reflashed to run Linux. He finally gave up on assembly language
       a few years ago and now programs in C and most languages
       beginning with P. He almost got a PhD from Clarkson University
       but managed to escape writing a dissertation.

       Russ has been giving away his software since he started
       writing it in 1974. Prior to his GPLed Freemacs package,
       there weren't many people to distribute it to. He really came to
       the fore with his Packet Driver Collection, begun while a
       staff member at Clarkson. A GPL'ed set of DOS Ethernet
       drivers, they arguably put GPL'ed software on more CPU's than
       anything prior to Linux. Supporting free software full-time
       since 1991, Russell is a founding member of the Open Source
       Initiative and a Cloudmate Community Ambassador. He lives in
       Potsdam, NY with his wife and two nearly-adult children, but
       was born in NYC and raised in Baldwin out in Nassau County.


-----

                        Driving Directions

        Please see the website for links to driving directions.


                           Refreshments

        We currently lack a refreshment sponsor.  If you or your
        company would like to provide or sponsor refreshments,
        please get in touch.

                              RSVP

        RSVP by replying to this e-mail so we can give any
        refreshment sponsor a count.

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                         Tell Your Friends

        Please pass this announcement along to anyone else who may
        be interested.


-- 
Bill McGonigle, Owner           Work: 603.448.4440
BFC Computing, LLC              Home: 603.448.1668
http://www.bfccomputing.com/    Cell: 603.252.2606
Twitter, etc.: bill_mcgonigle   Page: 603.442.1833
Email, IM, VOIP: bill at bfccomputing.com
Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/
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