OpenStreetMap, or OSM, is the result of an international collaborative effort in which individuals can view, edit and maintain an increasingly accurate map of the world as it is today. In the same way the Wikipedia relies on the activity of volunteers, so too does OpenStreetMap.

OpenStreetMap follows a five step process in the production of its maps. First, data is collected using GPS devices; the GPS traces are then uploaded to the OSM website, and transformed into the representation used by OSM. The next step is to label the routes so that they can be rendered correctly. The final step is to generate the actual graphical map tiles.

Other approaches to collaboarative mapping, such as Google's MapMaker, allow you to edit maps directly without the need to upload GPS data.

The following video shows how OSM maps can become increasingly detailed over time; in this case, we see how the Dutch port of Antwerp was mapped over a period from 2007 to 2009.

A second key feature that distinguishes OSM from commercial maps is that the data used to generate the maps is available under an open license. What this means, among other things, is that it is far easier for you to use the data for your own purposes. So for example, one service that I particularly like is called CloudMade, that makes it possible to add you own 'skin' (that is, your own colour theme or design style) to a map and share it as well. (So if you create your own Digital Planet for CloudMade/OSM, why not share a link to it on Twitter, using the #digitalplanet and #open2 hashtags?!:-).

So, wherever you are in the world, why not check out OpenStreetMap. And if you notice that the map isn't quite as accurate as it could be where you live, if you have a GPS device, why not consider uploading some of your own data to the map? Alternatively, why not try out Google MapMaker - it's currently open for editing locations in much of the southern hemisphere.

Or if you're looking for an even easier way in, why not try Google MyMaps? Google MyMaps let you annotate a Google map on your own map overlay with markers that identify points of interest to you. If you're fortunate enough to have an Android phone, the Google MyMaps app makes it one-click asy to add markers corresponding to your current location. But even without such a device, it;s possible to edit your own MyMap through any modern web browser. Even if you only add one or two points a day, it's amazing how quickly you can create a richly annotated map.

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

To all intents and purposes, it's a "get you started" kit for playing with simple (and not so simple) electronics projects. Built on an open source platform - which is to say, the rights to the design and its reproduction allow people to work with the board without having to pay royalties or patent fees to anyone else - the Arduino is small, programmable electronics board that can talk to a computer and control devices in the real world.

The Arduino Diecimilla.
[image by Randomskk, some rights reserved]

The board contains a microcontroller, a clever device that combines a microprocessor (so it can run programmes you download to it) and a set of electronic inputs and outputs. The inputs allow it to monitor the real world - for example, using a light sensor or a microphone (sound sensor), as well as controlling things in the real world (for example, switching lights or electical motors on and off, controlling an audio speaker, or even driving a small printer).

Arduinos were very much in evidence at the UK's first Maker Faire, held in Newcastle in the North of England in March 2009. Originating in the United States, Maker Faires are celebrations of technological tinkering, a place to share tips and ideas about how to get involved with DIY technology. As part of a special co-production of the BBC World Service IT programme Digital Planet, reporter Angela Saini went along - here's what she found out Arduinos:

Save this mp3 file to your computer

Save this mp3 file to your computer

You can read about more about the other features included in the Open University/Digital Planet special on DIY Technology.

And if the idea of Arduinos intrigues you, they could well be part of home experiment kit in a forthcoming OU course. Stay tuned for more, as we have it...

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

To add to the seaside experience, the hotel menu also posts times of when the cruise ships are passing by so you can look out for them over dinner! These details are also posted in the Island's local newspaper and are presumably "public information".

Now one of the things that I love about the way the web is going is that it's getting easier to access "live data". From traintimes, to what's on the telly now, from roadworks on the M1, to the latest share prices, I can increasingly find out "what's happening now". So I had a look around to see if live shipping data is available from anywhere.

Now it turns out that it is, and it's provided by a system called AIS, the Automatic Identification System. It apparently works like this: each AIS enabled ship has an AIS transponder that incorporates: VHF receivers for receiving AIS information from other ships; a unit that provides integratoin with other shipboard systems (such as GPS and navigation systems); and a transmitter that transmits AIS data. (For a more technical description, there's a "how it works" explanation on the US Coastguard website.)

The transmitted AIS data includes at least a unique identifier for the vessel, location information, and the heading, course and speed information. This information can then be displayed on a map or other location revealing display.

Anyone with an appropriate receiver can receive the AIS data, and with a little bit of tinkering they can then display this information on a map. And it turns out that some enterprising folks around the Solent have done just that: Solent Area Ship Tracking.

Each balloon represents a separate vessel, as identified from its AIS data. So next time family and friends are down, and staying in Seaview, I can point them to the live shipping data map and they can find out a little bit more about each ship as it passes by :-)

Just a note of warning though - checking ship locations using a web based service like this should not be relied on if you're out sailing - the data may be stale (that is, out-of-date) or cached by your browser. The only guaranteed true picture will be one where you have grabbed the AIS data yourself from over the airwaves and then plotted it out, at the time, yourself...

The story isn't quite finished though. Firstly, there's a prequel as to how I found the map - rather than doing a badly specified websearch, (I didn't know AIS existed a week ago!) I asked a question on Twitter. Twitter? A web based short messaging service that sits somewhere between instant messaging, email and SMS text messaging! (For a quick tutorial, see this CommonCraft video: Twitter in Plain English.)

[video by Commoncraft]

As with many other social networking sites, Twitter supports "friending", in the sense of following the posts that other people make. So I posted a question in the hope that some of the people from the Isle of Wight I follow (and who follow me) would know whether such a map exists. And they did, and so that's how I got the link to the map shown above!

And secondly? Secondly there's a wishlist item for something I'd like to be able to see (and do). A way of uploading a photograph of each a ship to the web, tagging it in some way, and then being able to click on the marker for that vessel and see the photos of it (ideally along with a timestamp and location data from where the boat was when the picture was taken). Then it would be possible to 'anecdotally' start plotting out the route taken by each ship, and for the container ships, maybe even how laden it was entering and leaving each port!

PS the thought of tracking a ship as it circumnavigates the globe reminded me of an 'experiment' being run by the BBC at the moment to track a shipping container over the course of a year - you can find out more here: The Box.

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

Almost a year ago now, I wrote a post here on "Human Assisted Computing: Putting CAPTCHAs to Work". Among other things, the post referred to a game created by Luis van Ahn called "The ESP Game". In the game,  two players (sat at oppostie ends of the web!) had to label the same image in a consistent way, the idea being that they could help train search engines to find images on the web more effectively (for more information, see the article "Games With a Purpose").

A week or two ago, the Games with a Purpose website launched, containing four new games alongside The ESP Game. As with the ESP game, all the games are two player games, that pair people who are unknown to each other across the web.

• Tag a Tune:  both players hear a tune and have to describe it to each other; they then have to decide whether they are listening to the same tune. The long term reason - help a search engine learn more ways of finding songs (for example, whether they are happy or sad).
• Verbosity: players take it in turns to describe a secret word to each other - one person describes the word, the other has to guess it.
• Squigl: both players seem the same image, and are presented with a word; they each trace round the object described by the word as it appears in the picture.
• Matchin: two players are shown the same image; each player picks the image they like the most.

In fact, this last game - Matchin - reminds me of an image based 'personality profiling' service - "Visual DNA". In this 'game' you are presented with a series of image collections, and have to select one that best answers a question or statement you are also shown. After completing the exercise, you are presented with a 'personality profile' based on your selections. The idea of this service is - people matching (that is, it's a dating website...)

Intrigued by the idea of using people power to help search engines learn, I've started thinking about building my own "game with a purpose". And this is what I've come up with: Trendspotting.

Trendspotting uses the Google Trends web service to encourage people to identify search query terms that in some way relate to each other, or that have some sort of 'periodicity' - that is, that are more popular at particular times of the year.

For example, some search terms follow natural phenomena:

Google Trends: 'full moon'
[screenshot by Tony Hirst]

Some follow 'events':

Google Trends: 'tennis'
[screenshot by Tony Hirst]

The idea I'm working towards with the game is that players can submit trends that show a very definites periodicity - or repeatability - year on year, or maybe show how certain terms 'lead' or 'lag' one another in certain well defined ways. (I did think 'flowers' might be popular a day or two before "valentine" for example...!)

Anyway - if you'd like to join in, see what you can find on Google Trends, and bookmark any interesting results to Trendspotting.

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

This is of particular interest to me at the moment because I'm running an experiment on blogging an "uncourse" at the moment, on the topic of computer game and interactive media design (you can follow it here: Digital Worlds: Interactive Media and Computer Game Design).

Before looking (briefly) at what the Byron Review recommends, it's worth quickly reviewing how game certification works at the moment.

Legally, games may be classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the same people who classify films, using the age based classification that is also used for films.

Many games publishers also label their game releases using the voluntary PEGI - Pan-European Game Information  - age rating system. PEGI provides additional guidance to consumers about any content within the game that might be deemed offensive (such as references to sex or drugs, violence, discrimation or bad langauge using the following, hopefully familiar, icons (can you work out what each of them depicts?;-) If not, try here: About PEGI Ratings.)

So what does the Byron Review recommend? For starters, the rating scheme should

• offer clear age ratings;
• offer clear accompanying descriptors which explain game content;
• be trustworthy;
• be enforceable where there are risks of potential harm.

It should also build on the best of what the current BBFC and PEGI systems have to offer, in essence providing a hynrid classification scheme in which:

• BBFC logos are on the front of all games (i.e. 18,15,12,PG and U);
• PEGI will continue to rate all 3+ and 7+ games and their equivalent logos (across all age ranges) will be on the back of all boxes.

This approach has the great advantage of providing continuity from the current rating schemes. But the question still remains - to what extent do parents who buy these games for their children pay attention to the ratings and act accordingly?

[For more infromation about game classification, see <a href="http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/classifying-games/">Classifying Games</a> on the Digital Worlds uncourse blog.]

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

Well, now you can try it for real, with your own photographs, in Facebook at least...

Just add the fotowoosh Facebook application, import an appropriate photo from your Facebook account, and fotowoosh will create a short movie that appears to fly you in to the very movie itself. (You can see an example over on my other blog...)

I can quite easily see this sort of technique being added to photo slideshows in a year or two, but things will get really exciting when you can you can take a single photograph and generate a 3D model from it that can be inserted into a virtual world. After all, you can already generate 3D models from 2D floorplans...

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

Although we're digitally disenfranchised in our TV viewing to the extent that we don't have satellite, or even a Freeview box, we do make heavy use of a hard drive video recorder and a growing collection of DVD box sets (we're working through Spaced at the moment :-)

That said, there are occasions when, for whatever reason, we fail to record a programme we really don't want to miss (a full hard disk is the usual reason!)

This happened a couple of weeks ago, when I failed to record an episode of Spooks. This was particularly irritating because the current series uses an ongoing storyline, compared to the standalone episodes of previous seasons.

So  - what to do? My first thought was to mail round the folks at work to see if anyone there had recorded the episode. Second thought - could I pretend I wanted to use the material in a OU course and put in a request for an inspection copy?

The correct answer, of course, was neither of the above. I could watch it online - or at least, download, and then watch it within 30 days on my PC using the BBC iPlayer.

Launched earlier this year, the BBC iPlayer is a Windows only application that lets you download a wide variety of BBC programmes up to seven days after transmission, and then view them within 30 days of download on your PC. The quality of picture isn't great - you wouldn't want to use a big screen, so we've ended up watching Spooks via a laptop in bed! - but it's fine for occasional viewing.

Channel 4 have a similar offering, called 4od - again, the service offers 30 day catch-up, at the expense of a large download, as well as subscription 'pay-on-demand' downloads - and ITV have a limited catch-up service (soaps, mainly) along with a live TV stream from their ITV Watch Now service.

In an ideal world, of course, we wouldn't need a separate application to download and replay content from each broadcast channel, and I think the broadcasters know this, so it was heartening to see the announcement at the end of November (2007) that BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and ITV were joining forces to develop a joint on-demand catch-up service code-named Kangaroo.

This bundling will of course make sense to millions of viewers brought up on terrestrial television, where for many years the only channels available were BBC1, BBC2 and ITV, then Channel 4 and more recently Channel 5 (which we still can't receive where I live...)

But for younger audiences, who have only ever known a multitude of channels from Sky and Freeview, I wonder if they'll wonder why?

Of course, cynical commentators might see this as a last ditch attempt by our terrestrial broadcasters to keep hold of mindshare and viewer loyalty...

...and you know what? They may just be right...

PS it seems that the BBC iPlayer now offers an online, streaming service for "watch again" content. Whatever your computer, as long as it supports Flash, youy can watch BBC content via your browser.

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts

 

Increasingly, I think, many people are turning to search engines for advice - particularly as families are increasingly dislocated and Mum or Dad aren't around to ask for help!

The sort of help we often really want, though, is a practical demonstration. Over recent months, several websites have appeared that might just do the job. You probably haven't heard of any of them - yet - but you may well have heard of something similar: YouTube, the video sharing site.

What's different about Expert Village, Instructables and VideoJug are that they are built around instructional videos; that is, videos that show you how to do something.

I came across a list of these sites the other day whilst getting one of my daily tech news fixes, from the TechCrunch blog: Graspr Steps into the Crowded Instructional Video Ring

And what struck me was: wouldn't it be handy to search all of these sites - and only these sites - in one go?

Now it just so happens that all the major search engines - Google, Yahoo and Microsoft - provide tools that let you build your own custom search engine. In it's simplest form, this boils down to providing a list of website addresses (URLs) that you want your search engine to search over. (If you want to try one out, I suggest Yahoo's Search Builder or Google's Custom Search Engine.

So here's the one I built  - I call it How do I:

What How Do I does is search over the instructional video  websites listed in the TechCrunch site, and return results only from them.

One of the things you might notice is that the search box is preceded withthe words How do I. This encourags the user to enter rather more search terms than they might ordinarily do so, because they are consciously (or not!) completing the sentence.

And the terms they are likely to use when completing the sentence are also likely to be the terms in the title of the instructional video that will tell them what they need to know. This in turn helps the search engine bubble up the most relevant hits (from the selected list of sites I provided in the custom search engine defintion, remember) to the top of the results listing.

So if you ever wondered "how do I descale a kettle", here's one way of finding out! Howdoi

About the author

Tony Hirst is co-founder of the OU Robotics Outreach Group and a lecturer in artificial intelligence at the Open University. Far too much of his time is spent playing with web technologies, developing tools and applications that he claims will be OUseful, one day...

Subscribe to Tony Hirst's posts