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Microsoft Releases 125 Million Building Footprints In the US To the OpenStreetMap Community (mspoweruser.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the come-and-get-it dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from MSPoweruser: Today, Microsoft announced that it is releasing 124 Million building footprints in the United States to the OpenStreetMap community. Bing Maps team used Microsoft's CNTK Unified Toolkit to apply its Deep Neural Networks and the ResNet34 with RefineNet up-sampling layers to detect building footprints from the Bing imagery. OpenStreetMap currently has 30,567,953 building footprints in the U.S., thanks to editor contributions and various city or county wide imports. Using DNNs and Bing Imagery, Microsoft has extracted 124,885,597 footprints in the United States and making it available for download free of charge.

58 comments

  1. Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I didn't like the Microsoft of the 1990s and the early 2000s, but I like the Microsoft of today. Between open sourcing so much of .NET, and giving us the excellent VS Code, and giving us TypeScript, and giving us excellent contributions like this mapping stuff, I think it has redeemed itself. I'd much rather use Microsoft software these days than software from Google or Apple or especially Red Hat. That's how much things have changed: Microsoft has repeatedly improved my Linux experience with stuff like open source .NET and VS Code, while Red Hat has ruined it thanks to junk like systemd, PulseAudio, GNOME 3 and Wayland. Some anti-Microsoft fools will probably make false accusations about me being 'a paid shill for MS', but the reality is that I'm just an uncompensated and satisfied user of their software. As strange as it is to say it, Microsoft is the company that has improved my Linux experience the most over the past 4 to 5 years.

    1. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by nagora · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I had to use Windows 10 this week. I'd say MS is a long way from redeemed.

      Of course, a company that size is not a monolith.

      --
      "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    2. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Spoken like a true spambot.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    3. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      You don't use Windows 10 you use the applications running on it. Or are you just complaining about having to use File Explorer or Notepad? And you certainly should have no complaints about using a browser of your choice since Windows supports every browser being used by the masses today. There are plenty of areas you can complain about regarding Windows 10 but I have many more complaints and issues when trying to use the poorly cloned substitutes on other platforms like Linux. And keep your security assessments to yourself until after you do a little eyes wide open research into the number of reported security related bugs and potential exploits that exist in all the different variants of the nix OS's.

    4. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      everything but windows is alright to me. this operating system is like a god damn prison

    5. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by TheDarkener · · Score: 4, Insightful

      M$ is moving toward SaaS. They're doing it with Office and Windows is next I suspect. Win10 was "free" for a while IMHO because they've loaded the start menu with ads that they're making money off of. Think about that for a second - think about how many Windows installs there are in the world. Now think about Microsoft getting money every time they click on their start menu. Every time is an impression. I mean, I'm guessing that's their model anyway (per impression) but I could very well be wrong.

      Aside from the above rant, Win10 (again, just MHO) is no better than Win7. It just has an updated UI and different methods of accessing the same things. It's no more stable, the updates are far less vetted and less stable and the user privacy issues for even using it makes me vomit in my mouth (and I don't even use it). I honestly don't see how the matador-esque marketing strategy has lasted this long to keep people buying their stuff. They definitely have momentum on their side.

      I'm really sorry. I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful for all of the GOOD things Microsoft has done, I am. They've done things I can't fathom to progress technology as a whole. They've got a lot of great, dedicated devs and there's a LOT to be said for keeping a company so successful for so long. And I'm really happy that they're joining the FOSS train - it's great to see them stop treating it like a competitor, because eventually it would have eventually starved them of air. Their SaaS model shift proves that they understand this, and it's a smart move. I grew up loving DOS just as much as I now love Linux. I just progressed past Microsoft products and onto Linux around 1993 when Windows '95 started putting all sorts of unnecessary junk in the root of my hard drive.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    6. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Hahaha, sorry - obvious typo, I started dabbling in Linux around 1996 actually. 1993 would have been a *very* early beta of Win95 ;}

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    7. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      Not really, but they have understood the benefits of sharing. Free advertising mostly. Keep the name in the news for positive reasons.

      Having a large developer base is another goal, keeping the ecosystem relatively popular and inexpensive.

      It's all still for selfish reasons, and the main face of Microsoft, aka Windows 10, is pure selfish.

    8. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad they don't make an OS that I could install without bending over.

    9. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I had to use Windows 10 this week. I'd say MS is a long way from redeemed.

      You are conflating incompetence with evil. MS is still incompetent, and their software is still terrible, but their evilness has greatly diminished.

      Of course, this is not by choice, but because they no longer have the market power to impose their will. For instance, they have realized they have lost the mapping battle. So they are throwing their data open, at little cost to themselves, as a spoiler for Google and Apple, but to the benefit of the public.

    10. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're such a lying shill.

      Has Microsoft dropped its patent attacks on Linux and Android? No.

      Have they dropped their closed MOOXML format and accepted instead Open Document Format? No.

      Have they stopped shipping buggy, spyware software? No.

      Try harder, shill. You're not giving them their money's worth.

    11. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A prison?

      Dude, just grab a Linux ISO and bust out of there.

      Just make sure to turn off telemetry so the guards aren't looking. :)

    12. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 2

      but their evilness has greatly diminished.
      Of course, this is not by choice, but because they no longer have the market power to impose their will.

      I read your first line and was about to respond with the second. So: ACTUAL evil declined since they've lost market power, but let's face it, their POTENTIAL evil is about the same if they could. Does that really count as a loss of evil?

      OTOH I don't think _anybody_ wants the Thought Police to start making rounds, so I guess that it does.

      Hmmm, does that say something about Absolute Market Share and Power? I know, let's create MORE ISP and news/entertainment monopolies!

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    13. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by BeanThere · · Score: 1

      I was one of Microsoft's harshest critics back in the 90s, but the ugly reality is we were better under their monopoly than we are today. E.g. even at the height of their monopoly, MS would never have had the gall to demand a 30% cut of every single sale of any software ever made for the Windows platform (yet this absurd 'new normal' is the situation developers are in with the Apple and Google duopoly - and most developers today even think it's normal that the OS developer should take a massive cut just for some simple middleman services, as younger developers have never known different.) (And while 30% might sound relatively low, that used to basically be the typical developer's profit margin, so today most App developers lose money, while the 'App store cartels' profit richly - and companies like Google offer a share of those profits to OEMs like Samsung to hook them into further pushing their ecosystem - while App developers are expected, presumably, to be subsidized by their parents as they live at home, or something). (I am not an App developer; this is one of the reasons.)

    14. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would be more inclined to share your outlook, were it not for the way Windows 10 was shoved onto people's computers, and the way Windows 10 spies on its users.

    15. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It just has an updated UI and different methods of accessing the same things.

      An obvious failing on Microsoft's side if that's all you think that has changed. But then that's a victim of it's success. The big changes under the hood are never noticed by end users or not properly registered.

      A few of my noteworthy things would be: Connected Standby, improved security model, far better highDPI interface scaling, multiple desktops, increases in the support of ASLR, better memory management, better performance (not like in bloat that's is getting bigger faster than an American policeofficer staking out a donut shop, but actual in terms of raw kernel peformance), if you're into that sort of thing: better computer management of domain connected computers, far better firewall, the effective equivalent of SE Linux, improved boot performance, a more useful task manager, a more useful startup manager with self-benchmarking so you can see what is causing your computer to grind, file history and backup integration is dramatically improved along with a new backup system, bitlocker's userfriendlyness is dramatically improved, TPM2.0 support for bitlocker, native biometric support, WiFi direct printing, per-application VPNs,

      and then you can look at some of the more device specific imporvements:

      Flexible touch detection allowing you to actually grab that 2px window border with your finger, vastly improved pen / tablet input integration, seriously a lot of people don't care about this kind of thing, but as an early adopter of touchscreens I'm surprised I was turned off for life by Windows 7. It was unusable without a mouse.

      Then there's very targetted features, such as if you're into gaming with DirectX 12, xbox integration, screen recording if you're one of *those people*, gaming mode. Or if your the media type: native support for miracase. Or if you're the connected type: integration with mobile devices and integration of the contact list into the sharing system....

      To be clear: Telemetry is bad. The update system is horrible. The take it or leave it approach to a 25GB deployment is just stupid. The attempt to push people towards a locked in Windows store is borderline nefarious. But there are actually a LOT of very poorly marketed yet very positive changes under the hood as well.

    16. Re: Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the good things you mentioned appeared in 8 and 8.1 and are not exclusive to 10. The memory optimization, the better aslr, the better kernel - all 8. 10 addded a wonkier UI and spying on top of 8.1 only

    17. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by houghi · · Score: 1

      Remember when we thought that Microsoft was the wprst company in the world? Withoiut changing anything they are not anymore.

      I can easily name 5 comapnies that are worse:
      Comcast, Google, Sony, Facebook and that pub on the corner where Dave works, because fuck you Dave!

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    18. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by nagora · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Dave, when are you going to Open Source the beer in the cellar? Fascist!

      --
      "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    19. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SaaS: no thanks, not in a million years. I want my software free and I want to be free from software companies so I can use my hardware the way I want

    20. Re: Microsoft has redeemed itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Way to make Linux users look like freaks.

      The obviously false accusations you made just make you look like a raving mad leftist Democrat. I'm surprised that you didn't try to blame 'Russians' in some way.

      Patents won't be an issue if Linux and Android stop borrowing technologies invented and developed by Microsoft.

      And maybe Microsoft would consider supporting OpenOffice's file formats if the OpenOffice file formats weren't so amateurish and limited.

      Microsoft's software is far more reliable and way less buggy than modern systemd/GNU/Linux is. Systemd alone often fails in dumb ways, preventing Linux installations from even booting!

      I don't know if you had any other stupid points. I didn't actually read your entire comment.

    21. Re:Microsoft has redeemed itself. by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Dave, when are you going to Open Source the beer in the cellar? Fascist!

      It's free as in "speech," not as in "beer."

  2. Re:Now collapse them into footprint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nothing but jet fuel... and large airliners moving 450mph.

  3. Re: Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Na,his commute there will more resemble the events that took place in "The Last Detail" ,literally scene by scene.

  4. Headline says 125 Million by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Summary says 124 million.

    Really BeauHD?

    1. Re: Headline says 125 Million by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Duped from what was already available. Not going to RTFA, so I guess Iâ(TM)ll bever know.

  5. Re:Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Dear Sub-Human Filth,

    I'm appealing to all of you stupid idiots to vote Democrat in 2018. That is if you have the basic education enough to read a ballot, anyway. I understand the majority of you racist rednecks can't even read this post, though. But those who can, please pass my message on to the rest of your inbred family.

    We Democrats are morally, culturally and intellectually superior to you in every way. I will qualify myself by noting that I have a Liberal Arts degree from a college, which you obviously have never been to, if you even know what one is. I also have a black friend. I have been told by several professors that everything you hold dear is terrible. Therefore you, personally, are also terrible.

    I don't know you, but I know that you're racist. I also know that you hate gay people and still get scared during lightning storms.

    The religion which you hold closely, greatly believe in, and which brings you comfort--you are wrong because I'm smarter than you and I'm telling you so. It is one of the many reasons why you are stupid and I'm better than you.

    You see, us Democrats want a system which helps everyone in the world. Our system is designed around love and kindness to everyone. If you don't agree, I hate you.

    It's not too late to change. If you knew your history, which of course you don't, you'll remember a time in America when Indians were dragged away from their homes and forced to assimilate into white society. Well, we want to change that kind of behaviour (sorry for my spelling, as I'm not from your country) by making sure you go to college and have a small apartment in a big, busy coastal city, where you belong. That will help you rid yourselves of your backward, incorrect culture and way of thinking. We'll do everything we can to make sure you agree with us and say all the right things and not be brainwashed against thinking the same way we do.

    All of you stupid, backward, redneck, racist, homophobic, uneducated yokels need to realize we're trying to build a classless society where we all get to live in harmony with each other, where we're all equal. If you only understood that you wouldn't be so much worse of a person than I am.

    So please vote Democrat. Help me help you, you worthless motherfuckers.

  6. Whatever improves OSM is good news by williamyf · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No matter where it comes from.

    Thanks to Microsoft for this contribution. Hope to see some more out of the USoA (where I am from).

    -----------

    PS: Now, if you guys could also Fix Win10, would be even better.

    I use MacOS, but still have to go back to Win10 from time to time, and get an awful experience each and every time.

    --
    *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
    1. Re:Whatever improves OSM is good news by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Windows 10 is not that terrible. Sure, they keep annoying me with ugly backgrounds that I can vote down on the login screen, but once I'm logged in, open Steam and start a game, Windows isn't too annoying.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:Whatever improves OSM is good news by williamyf · · Score: 1

      Yes, for me is the Same, I bootcamp for games, and VBox for Project, Visio, and Various IPMI and iLO crap (using a rawvmdk of course). But each and every time, is a lithany of past due upgrades of everything microsoft and not microsoft. And twice a year, is the crap of feature upgrades.

      Let alone when family and friends ask for "a little help with a little problem that ought not have to take more than five minutes" .

      So, yes, is Annoying

      And yes, Your comment should be modded funny

      --
      *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
    3. Re:Whatever improves OSM is good news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A fire is not that terrible. Once I'm dead and burnt to a crisp and can't feel anything, the coldness of the water coming out of the firehoses isn't too annoying.

    4. Re:Whatever improves OSM is good news by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      It's still pretty terrible.

      It continues to break the WiFi and touchpad drivers on my laptop when installing updates. Last month I spent two days fixing it - not easy to fix your WiFi without working Internet connection, resorted to tethering over Bluetooth through my phone to my home WiFi - and in the end the solution was to install Win8 drivers. Reinstalling the Win10 drivers didn't work this time, probably because the old (working) drivers were gone when I cleaned up the hard disk to get rid of old, unused versions of Windows. Go figure.

      The touchpad at least worked when reinstalling the Win10 drivers. That wasn't the first time.

      It's been over a decade since I had any driver issues with Linux. It just works. Same for playing videos, Linux just works, Windows not so much.

      The only reason I still have Windows is for backwards compatibility - the Taobao chat app is Windows only...

  7. Microsoft long time supporter of OpenStreetMap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They have made their Bing satellite imagery available to the OSM community for many years now. OSM as it exists today would not be possible without MIcrosofts' support.

  8. Re: Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sweet stufg

  9. Re:Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It really hits all the talking points. As a satire of a satire, it's actually pretty funny.

    Except, I doubt that's what you're doing.

  10. It's a trap by kbg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a trap.

    1. Re:It's a trap by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      Well, that's my first thought as well. But a trap for what? What's there to lose for OSM, really? It's an independent project, the mapping data is open, everyone can copy and fork it were MS to manage to fully take over. This assuming MS is releasing the data under a proper (sufficiently permissive) license.

    2. Re:It's a trap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, that's my first thought as well. But a trap for what?

      My guess is that they see that the data is useful but don't have or want to put in the resources needed to make something out of it.

    3. Re:It's a trap by kbg · · Score: 1

      Perhaps to let OSM use the data and then a litigation comes out of nowhere from a "third party" (Like SCO, which is funded by Microsoft) to sue OSM for using the data. Doeesn't matter if they can use the data legally, as long as they can drag the litigation out long enough it could hurt OSM.

    4. Re:It's a trap by jouassou · · Score: 1

      That's not a trap though. If they can't profit from it themselves, just throwing away the data or letting it rot on a backup drive would be extremely wasteful for society as a whole. Donating it to volunteers that can make something out of it is the right thing to do, and I appreciate that Microsoft chose to do that.

    5. Re:It's a trap by DogDude · · Score: 1

      You're right. Better stick to Google Maps. There are no strings attached to using Google Maps.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    6. Re:It's a trap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it's just a way for them to 'eclipse' google maps - a stab at google

  11. Microsoft's History by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember, Microsoft financially backed up SCO several years ago when SCO was issuing bogus lawsuits against companies which used Linux, and specifically against IBM which SCO had claimed placed proprietary Unix code into Linux. When push came to shove, SCO's evidence of infringing code was completely trivial. And that is not to mention all the fear, uncertainty, and doubt Microsoft used to spread about Linux and open source software.

    So I hope Microsoft has finally stopped all the nonsense. But only time will tell if Microsoft can ever be trusted.

  12. Only 1 Solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fuck microsoft

  13. Re:Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Joe stated his case logically and passionately...
    but his perceived effeminate voice only drew big gales of stupid laughter.

    Yep, we have reached that point where trying to reason without soundbites and catchphrases is considered lame.

  14. Re:Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    stupid moron...

  15. Privacy concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait a minute! There aren't 140 million commercial and government buildings in the USA. That means that private residences are included in this trove of information that Microsoft is releasing. Microsoft should be required to have the consent of every owner of every building in that building plan database, before it can be released to the public. Some attorney general at some level of authority should put a stop to this nonsense.

  16. Re:Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's ironic that pretty much the only way to think this way about Democrats would be to only listen to hate-filled partisan blowhards like Hannity or Alex Jones. Have you actually ever talked to someone who is a liberal? They generally do NOT think that people who don't go to college are idiots, quite the opposite. And while there are certainly liberals who do not share your religion, they would never claim that you are not entitled to your beliefs. They do on the other hand generally reject the notion that religious people (no matter what flavor) should not be allowed to enforce their beliefs on others...

    But I'm guessing that reasoning with you in a polite way is rather pointless, the odds of you actually being open to any point of view than your own are very high indeed.

  17. Re: Trump will never be released unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Great sarcasm. Brilliant. If you were being serious Kill yourself.