Doing a diary entry for OSM

As I was preparing a new diary entry for OpenStreetMap (that involces my non-epic mapping activites inspired by the trip to Manila last January 18, 2009), I rediscovered a post I made there regarding the new bulding that housed GMA Network Studios 4 & 5. I was looking for the articles related to the building’s launch (on GMANews.TV) and I get bombarded by the on-line advertising. I may not like some of the ads, but this is how they make that dollar. (a longer analysis could be seen as criticism of its advertising.)

I gave too much mportance to the GMA Network Studios portion of my post and not to the SM Mall of Asia complex portion, but I suddenly shifted course and posted something about the successful mapping of the Mall of Asia complex, which is a big accomplishment for me (at that time). (Link to the map that shows one result of my mapping efforts: the SM Mall of Asia Complex. All OpenStreetMap data currently licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0.)

After that trip, there were other recent trips to Metro Manila that brought more info to the OpenStreetMap database. Between the 18th and the 31st of January (supposedly today), I traveled to different points of the metropolis at least 3-5 times mostly inside a vehicle which is hard at times, since you can’t see some of the POI’s. But a name of a certain POI is quite elusive. It’s supposed name in English is “Settlement House”, but the name of the said POI is in Spanish. And it’s an orphanage, located in Paco, Manila. (map here) Maybe one day, when the traffic situation is slower than usual, that’s where I’ll get that elusive name.

Eugene gave points regarding GPStogo, which will be discussed in an OSM meetup (either in Makati or in Ortigas), and to quote him:

Is it possible to get the devices from the post office
and bring them during the meetup? If Ian will attend,
then he can get his device. (I vote that he gets one
since he's often in places where there are no Yahoo!
imagery, especially in Laguna.)

The “Ian” in that paragraph is me. There is a 30% chance that I’ll attend it, since I’m “busy” (in front of the computer) during weekends.

Another week, another hundred (or so) more ways, nodes and relations added, fixed or removed. (yawns)