[OSGeo-Discuss] Short codes for locations

Wed Oct 29 17:04:40 PDT 2014

I think the Github page here already lists plenty of alternatives and
explains well, why they were not used:
https://github.com/google/open-location-code/blob/master/docs/comparison.adoc

Daniel

On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 7:10 AM, Gavin Fleming <gavinjfleming at gmail.com>
wrote:

>  Or MapCode: http://www.mapcode.com/ . It's already embedded in TomTom
> systems; however, it is open. Only the master grid database is controlled
> centrally by a foundation.
>
> There's definitely a place for a non-coordinate-based place identifier,
> especially for the large proportion of the world's population without
> formal addresses. It'll be interesting to see what emerges. I've been
> thinking a mapcode plugin for QGIS would be a nice idea...
>
> On 29/10/2014 23:00, Barry Rowlingson wrote:
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 8:34 PM, Daniel Morissette <
> dmorissette at mapgears.com> wrote:
>
>> This sounds very much like the Natural Area Coding (NAC) system:
>>
>> http://www.nacgeo.com/
>>
>> Interesting idea in theory, but in practice this has been around for
>> over a decade and hasn't really taken off, quite likely because an
>> alphanumerical code is not of much more use than pure geographic
>> coordinates.
>>
>> Or maybe it's like the case of "rasters in a database" [1] and this
>> concept just needs a strong champion to sell us the idea and convince
>> the world that we need it?
>>
>>
>   Or possibly because of non-open licensing terms?
>
> http://www.nacgeo.com/nacsite/licensing/
>
>   I think I have seen some web services teaming up with What3Words which
> does a similar thing except translates coords to a word triple via a
> proprietary, secret, server-based algorithm. Its cutesy nature ("I live at
> monkey sponge gearstick") seems to appeal to many since it makes memorable
> locations.
>
>  Anyhooo...
>
>
>
>
>> Daniel
>>
>> [1]
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/postgis-users/2006-October/013569.html
>>
>> On 14-10-29 3:53 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>> > Hi Doug,
>> > An interesting and potentially useful concept.
>> > It sounds like you are proposing a spatial standard. Have you approached
>> > the Open Geospatial Consortium about getting the standard endorsed?
>> >
>> > With regards to any code which you wish to produce and open source, I
>> > suggest considering bringing it under the umbrella of the Open Source
>> > Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).
>> > Details about OSGeo incubation here:
>> > http://www.osgeo.org/incubator
>> >
>> >
>> > On 30/10/2014 1:08 am, Doug Rinckes wrote:
>> >> I'm an engineer at Google, and I have just open sourced a geo project
>> >> we've been working on for a while.
>> >>
>> >> I used to work on our maps, detecting missing road networks and in my
>> >> spare time mapping roads in Papua New Guinea, Central and West Africa
>> >> from the satellite imagery. But without street names or addresses, a
>> >> road network isn't all that useful. People can't use it for
>> >> directions, because they can't express where they want directions to.
>> >> After talking with colleagues from around the world, I discovered
>> >> that's it actually very common for streets to be unnamed.
>> >>
>> >> We thought that we should provide short codes that could be used like
>> >> addresses, to give the location of homes, businesses, anything. If we
>> >> made them usable from smartphones, we can make addresses for anywhere
>> >> available to anyone with a smartphone pretty much immediately.
>> >>
>> >> We had some specific requirements, including that these address codes
>> >> should work offline, they shouldn't spell words or include easily
>> >> confused characters. We wanted to be able to look at two codes and
>> >> tell if they are near each other, and estimate the direction and even
>> >> the distance. The codes should not be generated by a single provider,
>> >> because what do you do when they disappear? Finally, it had to be open
>> >> sourced.
>> >>
>> >> Open sourcing the project was important. We wanted to allow everyone
>> >> to evaluate it so that we don't go implementing something that turns
>> >> out to not be useful. If it does turn out to be useful, everyone
>> >> (including other mapping providers) should be able to implement it and
>> >> use the codes freely.
>> >>
>> >> I'm pre-announcing this to a couple of geo lists today, and I'll be
>> >> sticking around for comments and questions. The following links
>> >> provide more information:
>> >>
>> >> Github project: https://github.com/google/open-location-code
>>  >> Demonstration website: http://plus.codes <http://plus.codes/>
>> >> Discussion list:
>> >> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/open-location-code
>> >> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#%21forum/open-location-code>
>> >>
>> >> Enjoy!
>> >>
>> >> Doug
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> > --
>> > Cameron Shorter,
>> > Software and Data Solutions Manager
>> > LISAsoft
>> > Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
>> > 26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
>> >
>> > P +61 2 9009 5000 <%2B61%202%209009%205000>,  Wwww.lisasoft.com,  F +61
>> 2 9009 5099 <%2B61%202%209009%205099>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> > Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
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>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Daniel Morissette
>> T: +1 418-696-5056 #201
>> http://www.mapgears.com/
>> Provider of Professional MapServer Support since 2000
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>
>
>
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>
> --
> Gavin Fleming
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> Paarl
> South Africa
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