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Real-Time Collaborative Mapmaking

Posted by timothy on from the every-city-could-use-this dept.

savetz writes "Throughout October and November, citizens of Amsterdam were invited to wear a GPS tracker as they went about their lives. Their whereabouts were forwarded to a server which created a map of the city in real-time, based on "the sheer movements of real people." The site includes aggregate maps, and those created by individuals, including a subway driver, cyclist, and marathon trainer."

13 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Subway driver? by Scrameustache · · Score: 4, Funny

    They gave a GPS to a subway driver? What next? GPS maps of deep mineshafts? : )

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  2. reminds me of the half a car joke by Brigadier · · Score: 5, Funny



    this reminds me of a story of two guys who at intersections would carry the back wheels of the car over wheel sensors. thus the traffic department would have to account for 64.5 cars passing through the intersections.

    1. Re:reminds me of the half a car joke by greechneb · · Score: 3, Funny

      Were these the guys with the 2.3 kids?

    2. Re:reminds me of the half a car joke by PunchMonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      this reminds me of a story of two guys who at intersections would carry the back wheels of the car over wheel sensors. thus the traffic department would have to account for 64.5 cars passing through the intersections.

      I think I'd just drive with two wheels on the sidewalk... but then again I read /. and have no muscles.

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    3. Re:reminds me of the half a car joke by isomeme · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or 64 cars and one Segway.

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    4. Re:reminds me of the half a car joke by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Funny

      Heh, they did something similar over here, when a new system for measuring speed over a stretch of road was introduced. The system would read the license plate at two points a few miles apart, and calculate the speed using the time difference.

      During the test phase, a few guys got two identical Volkwagens and put the license plate of one on the back of the other. They then drove one past one checkpoint and immediately drove the other past the next, clocking a respectable speed of Mach 15 or so. The people looking at the stored photographs thought they were looking at the same car in both pictures and were as puzzled as the system. Probably didn't stop them for sending these guys a speeding ticket anyway *shudders*

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  3. hey... by Niles_Stonne · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, what's that one that keeps wandering around that street corner...

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  4. real time vice-tracking by sssmashy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally, a way to track the "real people" movements of residents of Amsterdam. Now I can find the marijuana cafes and red-light clubs frequented by Dutchmen who know what they're doing, as opposed to settling for the crappy spots they push on tourists.

  5. Why not me? by r_j_prahad · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should have asked me to participate, they could be having a most excellent map of the red light district by now!

    Oh, it wasn't funded? Never mind.

  6. Ok I'm gonna strap a GPS on my... by nlinecomputers · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...cat. Just where the hell DOES he go when he vanishes for 3 days? Now If I can just tap into those orbiting "Star Wars" laser guns I could teach him to stay at home.

    Bad KITTY!!! ***death ray come down from the sky***ZAP! Fried cat found 2 miles away.

    Well maybe not...

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  7. If you followed people around long enough... by unfortunateson · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... you'd get a most excellent map of where the public restrooms are. Always useful when traveling to a foreign city.

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  8. Re:uh, hello? by nebenfun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Government Agent: How would you like a free child safety camera?

    Average Geek: Screw you! You agent of MS...

    Government Agent: What if I said that it ran linux?

    Average Geek: Screw you...hmmm, did you say linux?

    Government Agent: Yes, I did.

    Average Geek: Does it support...

    Government Agent: Ogg Vorbis? Yes, of course.

    Average Geek: I'll take five.

    Government Agent: Going to run a Beowulf, eh? Hehe...you crazy geeks.

  9. It's playing "Cat Chess"... by FyRE666 · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a little known fact that the average moggy enjoys the intellectual pursuit of Cat Chess almost as much as sporadic violent confrontations with other random cats.

    The rules (based upon observation) are pretty straight forward, and are as follow:

    A point is scored by a cat that can simultaneously observe at least 2 other cats.

    Any cat observed by 2 other cats simultaneously is out of the game.

    That's it - so strategy plays a big part - on the one hand, a high vantage point lends itself to high scoring rounds, but has the increased danger of being spotted by other cats. These games can go on for days though, often ending only in a mass fight or when the competitors fancy some milk and maybe the chance to bat a small bird around for fun.

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