#OSGEO IRC Log - 2008-10-13

For logs after Feb 3, 2007, all times are GMT-8. Prior logs are GMT-9.
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01:28:35 stvn: Schuyler: you awake?
06:01:51 Schuyler: stvn: I am now!
06:03:17 MZM: Schuyler: too late...
06:04:39 stvn: never
06:05:31 stvn: Schuyler: you were actively promoting the geodata committee, so I joined, but did you already have ideas how to continue from here?
06:06:11 tbowden: Geodata? Please ramp it up for Sydney. Schuyler, would you like to be on a panel for Syd?
06:06:27 tbowden: unilateral offer on my part but I don't think anyone will object!
06:08:41 tbowden: High level, govt policy makers if we can swing it
06:17:55 crschmidt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crschmidt/sets/72157607880167906/ -- finally finished uploading my kruger photos
06:17:56 sigq: Title: Kruger National Park, 2008 - a set on Flickr ( at www.flickr.com )
06:19:36 stvn: : )
06:20:47 stvn: kruger is very brownish
06:21:03 crschmidt: yes
06:21:51 stvn: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crschmidt/2936270712/in/set-72157607880167906/ is a waterbuck
06:21:53 sigq: Title: Antelope on Flickr - Photo Sharing! ( at www.flickr.com )
06:22:48 stvn: hm I like the hino picture
06:27:33 crschmidt: thx, updated
06:30:29 stvn: nice set of animals
06:40:57 crschmidt: stvn: is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31368575@N02/ you?
06:40:58 sigq: Title: Flickr: Photos & Video from stvno ( at www.flickr.com )
06:41:16 stvn: yes, I lost my password on my other account which I used to test flickr
06:41:26 stvn: I quite like it, so I decided to create aserious account
06:42:05 crschmidt: gotcha
06:58:22 darkblue_B: stvn: hello
07:00:06 stvn: hi darkblue_B
07:01:17 darkblue_B: stvn: unfortunately, I dont have much good news from the San Francisco Bay Area on geo data
07:02:08 darkblue_B: although the Bay Area Automated Mapping Assoc, BAAMA filed suit and won against a county that was witholding/charging high prices fro its public data
07:02:19 darkblue_B: that court case set an important precedent
07:02:23 darkblue_B: but with that said..
07:02:45 darkblue_B: I sat in on a few monthly meetnigs last year, of regional GIS officers for local govt
07:02:55 darkblue_B: they were trying to put together a shared resource
07:03:16 darkblue_B: it dragged on for a long while.. they got a rep from Google, who offered to host even
07:03:35 darkblue_B: I lost track.. and I heard last month that t was disbanded without success
07:04:14 darkblue_B: I dont understand how completely stuck these govt agencies are
07:04:16 stvn: hm
07:04:50 stvn: I thought .us was far more advanced in open geodata than .eu
07:04:51 darkblue_B: meanwhile, there are Homeland Security mandates, with a budget I assume
07:05:19 darkblue_B: .. they are puttng together an internal network of data based on ESRI servers
07:05:42 darkblue_B: but I imagine that drags on through laziness.. I dont know
07:06:04 darkblue_B: eu vs us.. there is a huge amount of data available now
07:06:25 darkblue_B: covering far more population and geographic area
07:06:33 darkblue_B: it is true...
07:06:59 darkblue_B: geo-politically, the eu has a lot of previous history to overcome.. military suspicion and such
07:07:39 darkblue_B: and a history of state ownership.. the US has a history of public access to govt data, in many cases
07:08:00 crschmidt: stvn: At a federal level, geodata in the US is very open
07:08:17 crschmidt: At lower government levels, it depends a lot on where you are. States/local governments all take very different approaches.
07:08:53 stvn: right
07:09:08 : <_wolf_> yeah geodata co-operation is not so trivial in Europe
07:09:23 stvn: what I find here in .nl is that local governments have no clue how to share their data
07:09:35 : <_wolf_> there was also some problems with sharing sea-navigational data too
07:09:39 stvn: even for paid access, they just don't have the expertise
07:10:06 crschmidt: It's not really a triial problem to answer: I mean, the main reason OSGeo has repeatedly fallen down in this regard is specifically because we haven't put together a good way for people to give us their geodata and let us host it, or to help others host their data.
07:10:20 : <_wolf_> in .fi they take a snapshot of their db but it costs a fortune to get full data :(
07:12:14 : * stvn thinks the data hosting is an interesting approach
07:12:18 tbowden: Geodata sharing is starting to happen in AU/NZ. The QLD govt is advocating cc'ing most govt data
07:13:02 tbowden: geodata hosting is interesting, but plenty of pitfalls
07:13:24 tbowden: cost sinks, performance issues, caching etc
07:13:42 darkblue_B: OSGeo doesnt have the capacity to host, as I understand it
07:13:43 : <_wolf_> in .fi there is some data sharing, but mostly between government agencies... there is limited raster data sharing. some cities offer some limited data
07:13:47 tbowden: lots of hardware, and then you have to convince someone to pay
07:14:01 tbowden: OSGeo shouldn't be in that business
07:14:28 stvn: tbowden: I agree, I don't think osgeo should host the data, at least not for free, but we could make it easier for orgs to setup their data
07:14:48 tbowden: but I'm sure there are plenty of OSGeo related firms that would offer services in that arena.
07:14:56 stvn: similar to the osgeo4w and opengeo dvds
07:15:33 tbowden: Hosting Geodata takes way more than that. Massive infrastructure and business issues to solve on a case by case basis
07:16:07 stvn: tbh we host geodata here the infrastructure isn't that massive if you don't have massive amounts of data
07:16:19 tbowden: non trivial exercise, which is why it often gets put in the too hard basket.
07:16:37 tbowden: stvn: even with small amounts of data, there are significant business issues
07:16:48 crschmidt: tbowden: Huh? What 'significant business issues'?
07:16:57 tbowden: privacy, service levels, oversight
07:17:04 tbowden: and so on.
07:17:04 crschmidt: Um.
07:17:07 : * crschmidt thinks he's confused.
07:17:22 : * stvn thinks tbowden overrates the difficulty
07:17:28 crschmidt: I have a shapefile describing the set of abandoned cranberry bogs.
07:17:39 tbowden: having been through the WA govt building a whole of govt sdi, I'm painfully aware of just how many corner issues crop up
07:17:39 crschmidt: The data is licensed such that I can republish it, giving credit to MassGIS.
07:17:51 tbowden: so many that they're not really corner issues
07:17:53 crschmidt: I don't see how publishing that shapefile with an HTML description page is a hard problem
07:18:01 tbowden: it's not just a data licensing issue
07:18:52 stvn: serving your data as google tiles is for many organisations enough
07:18:52 crschmidt: Okay, so what are the other issues I'm missing?
07:18:56 tbowden: vetting of attributes, updating, sharing different attribute data with different consumers, custodianship v service provision between different agencies
07:19:07 crschmidt: You're talking about a different problem than I am
07:19:15 tbowden: whole heap of workflow issues
07:19:24 stvn: tbowden: don't try to tackle all options at once, start with the simple stuff
07:19:25 crschmidt: Currently, the problem that I see for most organizations is that the data they *already have* -- data that isn't changing, data that will never change -- is not findable
07:19:25 tbowden: end up the same issue unless you're doing a one off
07:19:49 crschmidt: The reason for that is that these organizations simply don't know how to publish their data so that other people can find it
07:19:57 stvn: http://kaart.geodan.nl/ <- very simple setup
07:19:58 sigq: Title: Postcodekaart Nederland ( at kaart.geodan.nl )
07:19:59 crschmidt: Solving *that* problem -- making the existing published data accessible/findable
07:20:06 crschmidt: is the first step, imho
07:20:16 tbowden: yes, but there the custodians aren't the ones with the impetus to share. Gov'ts are cautious in how they handle those types of issues
07:20:44 tbowden: sure, at one level the problem is simple; the tech level
07:21:11 crschmidt: Well, no, but one aspect of the problem -- the first one to work towards -- is relatively simple. "Make finding existing geodata easier"
07:21:19 tbowden: but business rational for spending ongoing money needs to be sorted before agencies typically get funding for this sort of thing. At least that's my experience
07:21:46 crschmidt: There are thousands of megs of free geodata sitting on the web that could help people solve existing problems
07:21:51 crschmidt: But finding that geodata is hard
07:22:01 crschmidt: imho, at least linking people who care to that geodata that exists is the first step
07:22:10 tbowden: existing geodata? Has to be vetted for privacy, accuracy, service levels ( none likes to look incompetent if the service is shoddy(
07:22:21 stvn: tbowden: I don't think it is our task to solve the business rational for organisations, although we could provide some reasons
07:22:57 stvn: in .eu the inspire-directive forces govt. to share their data, so the rationale is already there
07:23:05 tbowden: it's not osgeo's problem, sure, but until those types of problems get solved, nothing happens
07:23:12 MZM: stvn: lol
07:23:13 crschmidt: tbowden: I respectfully disagree. That simply isn't the job that needs to be solved by an organization like OSGeo. Those are things that have to be solved by an organization before *they publish*, but once data is published, those problems aren't ours
07:23:24 stvn: MZM: I know ; )
07:23:41 crschmidt: If you'er saying "Data that is published is insufficient", and "OSGeo should help increase the total amount of data published", both of those are true, and all of your statement start to apply
07:23:49 tbowden: ok, so crschmidt: I'm saying it's *not* osgeo's problem to solve, but until it is, nothing happens
07:23:56 : * MZM istrying imagine how .lv geospatial agency will be giving some data away. LOL
07:24:00 crschmidt: But things area *already* happing
07:24:02 crschmidt: happening
07:24:41 stvn: MZM: I couldn't believe the .nl govt would do that last year, but things are changing here, fast
07:24:51 tbowden: yes, because people are starting to realise that in one way or another we will end up there, particularly down under, but the going is slow. It's a different mindset and that takes time
07:24:57 stvn: OSM has a major impact in .nl ( due to the quality of their data here )
07:25:59 tbowden: crschmidt: miss worded. Until the govt agencies solve the problem, nothing happens. Changes my meaning a little
07:26:15 crschmidt: At this point, it wouldn't matter if every gov. organization on the planet put their data on webpages
07:26:22 MZM: stvn: some year( s ) a go OSM had roads in .lv only where I go fishing etc. :P
07:26:26 crschmidt: MassGIS has done that, but no one in the OSGeo space takes advantage of it
07:26:34 crschmidt: The reason is because no one is aware it's available
07:26:46 crschmidt: Demonstrating that there is worth to publishing your geodata is important
07:26:51 crschmidt: and the worth only comes if people can find it
07:26:56 stvn: true
07:27:15 tbowden: findability is another related problem
07:27:36 tbowden: MZM: .lv?
07:27:41 crschmidt: latvia, I assume
07:27:48 tbowden: Ah
07:27:51 MZM: crschmidt: correct
07:27:56 crschmidt: In my opinion, findability is an approachable problem, and starting on that would allow OSGeo to present evidence to organizations that they can participate in a shared web of data
07:28:03 crschmidt: Until they see that, there isn't any point, imho
07:28:30 tbowden: findability is a metadata issue, which is thorny as hell when you get into it
07:29:03 tbowden: ticheler: metadata and geodata findability?
07:29:14 : * stvn remembers eds talk where he stated that metadata is the wrong way to go
07:29:17 : * crschmidt shakes his head and wanders of
07:30:52 : * stvn will see what the opengeodata groups ideas are, but he is in the don't look what is hard, but do it easy camp
07:31:01 tbowden: Note to the wary: I'm far from convinced that *formal* metadata* solves the issue. But *any* data about data is metadata. Data and metadata are often interchangeable depending on what you have and what you're looking for
07:32:11 crschmidt: I think that http://wms-sites.com/ has the right idea.
07:32:12 sigq: Title: WMS Sites ( at wms-sites.com )
07:32:25 : * acuster realizes there's a first step in finding data: merely imagining that it could exist
07:34:09 tbowden: ie, data: Ed's grocery store, 123 main st. Metadata: directions on how to get there, photo of store, customer recommendations etc.
07:34:09 tbowden: Data: Map showing Ed's grocery store. Metadata: Street address of Ed's grocery store. Everything is data *and* metadata
07:34:35 tbowden: depends on what data you have, and what data you want.
07:35:29 tbowden: formal metadata systems typically take a static view of that. Not a good approach. It needs to by dynamic. There is also no need to divide between spatial and non spatial data/metadata in a workable system
07:37:11 stvn: oui
07:38:03 tbowden: crschmidt: I don't think http://wms-sites.com/ is the right idea. It's a start to helping define the problem perhaps, but looks more like the equivalent of search 0.1 many years ago. We need to go much further
07:38:04 sigq: Title: WMS Sites ( at wms-sites.com )
07:39:03 crschmidt: tbowden: so we should skip the first step and jump right to the end?
07:39:46 : * stvn points to http://www.endoftheinternet.com/
07:39:53 tbowden: no, but the problem is big. We need to understand that what we're doing is not solving the problem, but helping to delineate it
07:41:09 tbowden: Just chucking a bunch of govt geodata on the interweb isn't going to cut it, for govt or data consumers
07:42:02 tbowden: there needs to be a better understanding of what the issues are at the data custodian level before we will see any real progress. That takes time and money.
07:45:47 tbowden: crschmidt: note: I'm not advocating govt's don't dump data on the web. Just think that won't get us very far in itself. It's not sustainable.
07:45:47 tbowden: Govt needs to look at maintainability of systems they develop, and for data that forces them to think about data versioning and how to handle it, custodian's ongoing responsibilities ( ->funding ) and all the other issues I mentioned. They can't do it without addressing those.
07:48:53 tbowden: Govt's need to have a change of mindset to understand they are the custodians of *our* data. At the moment they tend to think they're the *owners* of the data, at least as far as my limited experience goes. This is becoming more so as data becomes easier to generate or capture and harder to manage, as opposed to years ago when data capture was relatively more expensive, and hence data volumes typically much lower.
07:50:16 darkblue_B: tbowden: hmm yes, and
07:50:53 darkblue_B: I would add that data is always in a signal theory continuum..
07:52:50 darkblue_B: precision and timeliness are the 'expensive' sides.. where their opposite are the, hmm, tendancy of entropy
07:53:47 darkblue_B: so all data will be somewhere on the precision/timeliness spectrum.. and will take 'energy' or cost to create
07:53:55 darkblue_B: in markets, that cost has to be expressed
07:54:36 darkblue_B: however, in a social contract, govt provides services as infrastructure
07:55:04 darkblue_B: also, researchers create by-product, often quite good, that is easier and easier to capture
07:55:26 darkblue_B: another phenomenon is collective will to make maps, eg OSM
07:55:29 tbowden: acuster: you don't always need to imagine it could exist. Maybe even mostly you don't need to. So long as you ask q like "what can you tell me about Ed's grocery store, or 123 Main St. Let the metadata links show you what can exist.
07:56:10 darkblue_B: with all that long winded stuff, I say that Schuyler's speech, though popular, is not deep enough to really tacle the problem..
07:56:24 darkblue_B: althoug it was a perfect political speech, popular and driving to an end
07:57:33 bitnerd: Schuyler's speach wasn't supposed to be deep enough to tackle the problem -- it was supposed to be inspirational to get others to dig deeper into areas that scratch their itch
07:58:02 acuster: anyone who tells me I'm awesome is giving a good speech
07:58:36 bitnerd: on that end -- if anyone does have ideas of substance -- and the cycles to help act on them -- please let me know
07:58:58 stvn: acuster: awesome but useless
07:59:01 tbowden: darkblue_B: The precision/timeliness spectrum is one that govt's get very concerned about. They have a certain take on that issue as they are often expected to be authoritative sources of data. How to serve data that is questionable is a real issue for them. Back to the cost issue there.
07:59:01 stvn: ; )
07:59:01 tbowden: And yes, they need to develop a fresh understanding of what their social charter is. How can we get govt's to be *our* servants? And not something that is foreign and alien that we want to rail against, but getting off topic now :- )
07:59:45 darkblue_B: np
07:59:58 darkblue_B: I'm keen on this
08:00:14 tbowden: darkblue_B: yes, popular and inspirational, but there is a limit to what you can do in the time he had
08:00:44 darkblue_B: after I saw the TeleAtlas demo at Oracle World, have had to re-adjust my thinking
08:01:09 acuster: no, no, that's my software---me, I stay, awesome
08:01:10 darkblue_B: the private sector now has data that is better than anyone's, with huge capacity to further it
08:01:29 darkblue_B: better than govt, better collection in real time
08:01:47 darkblue_B: hence the EU anti-trust negotiation
08:01:53 tbowden: darkblue_B: not in all parts of the world. In AU the govt data is the canonical source for all
08:02:16 darkblue_B: ok
08:02:26 stvn: thinks .au doesn't have much geodata anyways ( according to yahoo )
08:02:28 stvn: :p
08:03:16 tbowden: was blown away to see that to be honest. I didn't think we ranked so poorly in priorities :-(
08:03:34 darkblue_B: they know where the oil is offshore! there is a priority
08:04:11 tbowden: Ah yes, oil. Amazing what impact it has. Starts wars, stops wars, kills millions, feeds millions.
08:04:53 MZM: gives power to tsars
08:04:55 darkblue_B: money.. lots of money
08:11:07 : * tbowden waves at seven. Still enjoying the wilds?
09:07:54 seven: Hey tbowden, came back yesterday. Trying to catch up now.
09:08:23 : * Schuyler blinks
09:08:26 : * Schuyler waves
09:08:40 Schuyler: tbowden: sure, everyone knows I love a good panel. I don't want to hog the stage, though ; )
09:08:55 : * seven wonders why on earth people write so many emails. This is mad.
09:09:14 seven: myabe because the world is so big...
09:11:17 tbowden: Schuyler: No need to hog, just get a bit of life into things. Wake up the audience. Nothing worse than a dull panel
09:11:37 Schuyler: :-D
09:14:29 tbowden: seven: changed our minds repeatedly over the code sprint ideas. I know you're interested in that one. Still in a big state of flux.
09:16:58 seven: any good reason to still read all the foss4g2009 mails?
09:17:10 tbowden: no
09:17:29 : * seven selects read on the folder.
09:17:51 tbowden: petty stuff mostly, and debate about what we should do with with the codes sprint. Before, after, where. No decision yet
09:18:15 seven: no hurry
09:22:23 hobu: Gary Watry died. He was active in the MapWindow and other open source gis communities http://www.legacy.com/tallahassee/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=117701823
09:22:24 sigq: Title: Guest Book - Gary Lee Watry ( at www.legacy.com )
10:10:22 FrankW: hobu: any thoughts on the request to SAC to install wiktionary software?
10:10:31 FrankW: http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/188
10:10:32 sigq: Title: #188 ( Wiktionary software installation on "osgeo2" ) - OSGeo - Trac ( at trac.osgeo.org )
10:11:27 FrankW: Would you consider a more proactive role in getting SAC tickets addressed or else indicating that no one from SAC seems to want to take them on?
10:11:39 FrankW: Now some of these requests seem to fall into a void with no response.
10:17:55 : * FrankW sneaks away.
10:55:18 stvn: Schuyler: nice one on the emperor : )
10:56:43 Schuyler: actually I was just blowing smoke
10:57:14 Schuyler: if you read the Wikipedia article about the fall of Constantinople, it turns out that the emperor was completely outnumbered and in a total panic
10:59:28 stvn: : )
11:20:32 stvn: I guess you noticed the discussion which spun from my question
11:20:34 Schuyler: stvn: so, the question was "I joined the geodata list, whatnow?"
11:20:42 stvn: oui
11:20:53 Schuyler: and the answer is "I have no clue!"
11:21:20 Schuyler: for a while we were trying to provide hosting for free geodata on Telascience, but TS has proved a bit flaky for that
11:21:38 Schuyler: I think that there is still a real need for a metadata repo identifying free data sources and making them easy to search
11:21:54 crschmidt: but clearly there is some disagreement on that
11:22:21 : * stvn is with crschmidt there
11:22:22 Schuyler: someone, I think, needs to take a lead on getting GeoNetwork or something similar set up somewhere and then egging OSGeo members to start the data entry process
11:22:28 Schuyler: <- MHO
11:22:36 Schuyler: crschmidt: go on?
11:22:49 Schuyler: I mean, that's one starting point
11:23:01 crschmidt: Schuyler: did you not read the earlier conversation with tbodwen?
11:23:04 crschmidt: tbowden*
11:23:08 Schuyler: sorry I didn't read it all
11:23:17 : * Schuyler does so
11:23:23 stvn: it is a very interesting discussion, I recommend to read it all
11:23:49 Schuyler: mind you, I was in the process of trying to write my blog post about FOSS4G, now over a week late ; )
11:24:44 : * stvn hasn't done so either, still working on pictures
11:25:11 Schuyler: ok, I need to digest this and get back to you then : )
11:25:25 Schuyler: I just wanted to get people started talking about it again because the conversation had largely died
11:25:33 Schuyler: and I think our community still has a huge blindspot there
11:25:38 Schuyler: focused as we are on writing code
11:25:51 Schuyler: I don't actually pretend to know what the answer is
11:26:26 : * stvn is aware of that and since he is not writing code anymore I'd like to join other areas of osgeo
11:26:59 stvn: so geodata sounds like a fun area to kick around
11:27:13 Schuyler: *applause* : )
11:37:23 : * stvn is walking through his foss4g photoset and the only ones that are reasonably good are the blackmailable-ones :S
11:39:02 : * Schuyler starts writing his lightning talk
11:39:22 Schuyler: "First off, thanks to the program committee, who showed us *last year* how to have a good time..."
11:40:03 stvn: : )
11:41:02 : * stvn notices a sharp increase in the quality of the pictures with his new camera over time
11:45:05 crschmidt: really?
11:46:10 stvn: yeah I just had it when foss4g started and esp. the indoor pictures suck in the beginning, after two weeks of photographing the pictures turnout much better
11:46:45 stvn: still I'm not yet satisfied with indoor pictures, not sure why my compact is doing a better job still
11:47:35 stvn: also using a ( d )slr takes sometime to get used to again ( haven't used one in years )
11:49:22 crschmidt: oh
11:49:28 crschmidt: i read 'increase' as 'decrease'
11:49:42 stvn: heh
11:49:56 crschmidt: for what it's worth, I picked up a 4x improvement in picture quality ( measured as 'number of pictures kept s. thrown out ) by getting a 1.8 lens instead of a 3.5 lens
11:50:05 crschmidt: when everything i shoot is indoors, 3.5 just doesn't cut it
11:52:05 : * stvn is aware of that and has his next lens lined up: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08092201nikkor_50mm_1_4glens.asp
11:52:46 : * stvn is h
11:53:06 crschmidt: heh
11:53:16 : * stvn is glad that crschmidt produced so many good pictures and stole one to use as flickr profile picture
11:53:32 crschmidt: the 1.4 is nice, but 3x as pricy ( at leeast in canon-land )
11:54:02 stvn: 383 euro/439 usd according to dpreview
11:54:23 crschmidt: yeah, and you can get the 1.8 for $110
11:54:31 crschmidt: so 4x as pricy : )
11:54:38 stvn: : )
11:54:45 : * stvn goes to check if there is
11:54:54 stvn: a good 1.8 50mm
11:55:24 crschmidt: I was just looking at http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm
11:55:29 sigq: Title: Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D Review ( at www.kenrockwell.com )
11:55:49 : * stvn needs builtin autofocus motor
11:56:23 stvn: It won't autofocus on the D40 or D40x <- hm
11:56:40 crschmidt: ah
17:30:08 : * tbowden returns from the dead. grimaces at crschmidt and Schuyler as he re-reads the conversation from late last night, along with catching up on wankers. Interesting that some who should get it still don't. And still pondering geodata, life, the universe and everything
17:32:27 : * crschmidt wonders why grimacing?
17:32:35 crschmidt: I didn't mean to misinterpret what you said
17:33:17 crschmidt: I was just saying that it sounded like you disagreed that aggregation of existing geodata should be osgeo's highest priority, or even that it helps the situation; maybe that's not what you felt, but that's what it sounded like to me
17:33:27 : * crschmidt is geotagging photos
17:33:39 crschmidt: i've bumped my ungeotagged count from 1150 down to 490
17:34:16 tbowden: I think I made a few errors.
17:34:36 tbowden: data is what you want to know. metadata is what you already know.
17:34:48 tbowden: In my examples I put them around the other way I think
17:35:01 tbowden: but the basic idea is still there
17:35:45 tbowden: aggregation of geodata is fine, but I don't think it solves the issues.
17:38:11 tbowden: If I search on 123 main st, along with the usual results we get now, I should see the local planning charts and instruments, traffic feeds, local council motion re: 125 main st, proposed sewer upgrade for back alley and so on. We're a long way from that, but it's where we should be trying to get there.
17:41:02 crschmidt: i guess I either don't understand or don't see this as fitting within the goals of the geodata committee at all.
17:41:17 crschmidt: I mean, what you just described sounds to me exactly like what everyblock is.
17:43:03 tbowden: not sure what it has to do with the geodata committee either, but unless we understand the spatial problem, we won't have a clear job for the geodata committee maybe, except to in principle promote "freeing up geodata"
17:43:44 tbowden: crschmidt: everyblock?
17:44:40 : * tbowden reading about everyblock
17:45:08 crschmidt: sure. http://chicago.everyblock.com/locations/neighborhoods/ford-city/
17:45:10 sigq: Title: Ford City news | EveryBlock Chicago ( at chicago.everyblock.com )
17:45:20 crschmidt: news. Building permits. Health code violations.
17:45:30 crschmidt: real estate. lost and found. photos.
17:45:40 crschmidt: find everything geo about any place
17:47:27 crschmidt: within the next 12 months, I'm pretty sure the software behind everyblock will becceome open source as a condition of their grant
17:48:09 tbowden: interesting development. Will be interesting to see how far it can be pushed.
17:54:19 : * tbowden will ponder for a while before contributing again he thinks
17:56:52 crschmidt: well, I'm ust trying to figure out a practical direction for people wanting to push forward on the geodata committee
17:57:07 crschmidt: I think that the practical direction is twofold -- getting data and finding data
17:57:32 crschmidt: Encouraging organizations to solve the internal questions that lead to answering the former means producing the latter so they're convinced there is value
17:58:48 crschmidt: I don't think there's an easier or more valuable short term goal
17:59:10 crschmidt: at some point, we'll run into organizations that need help solving the internal questions which lead to publishing data
18:00:06 crschmidt: But I think that's a second order problem
18:50:05 adamhill_FL: crschmidt: there is also the problem of people that have free data but won't give it to you : )
18:51:45 crschmidt: Also a second order problem.
18:52:22 crschmidt: People who have free data they aren't sharing *intentionally* usually have some reassons, but nothing is more convincing than demonstrating that by not sharing they're being left out of the loop.
18:53:55 crschmidt: So, creating a convincing argument that not sharing is stupid is key. If the reasons they're not sharing are technical, we can also work to establish ways to help solve that problem.
18:58:06 darkblue_B: ++
19:03:04 crschmidt: ( Stupid is the wrong word. "not ideal" is more politic. )
20:10:21 CIA-30: osgeo: shansen * r1224 /livedvd/ ( 33 files in 4 dirs ): Initial checking of the debian-folder for creating a udig-deb-package.
20:10:23 sigq: osgeofeed: Changeset [1224]: Initial checking of the debian-folder for creating a udig-deb-package. <http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/changeset/1224>
21:03:21 sigq: osgeofeed: Changeset [1225]: Error in copyright file updated. <http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/changeset/1225>
21:03:54 CIA-30: osgeo: shansen * r1225 /livedvd/udig/trunk/debian/copyright: Error in copyright file updated.