User:68kHeart

About Me

Devan Ferguson
Just a dog on the Internet
Language	English
Pronouns	they/them
Profiles
OpenStreetMap	68kHeart
OSM US Slack	68kHeart
Location
Continent	North America
Country	United States
State	Maryland
County	Anne Arundel
Mapping
Transportation	Cycling Walking Public transit
Hardware	iPhone 12 mini iPad Pro 12.9"
Software	Go Map!! CoMaps Open GPX Tracker
Userboxes
68kHeart identifies as Genderqueer 68kHeart prefers to go outside and map. Fedora logo 68kHeart uses Fedora Linux

Hello there! I hope to use my little space here on the wiki to openly document my tagging cheatsheet and other things I learn as a new mapper.

Methodology

I like going on walks to record GPX traces with Open GPX Tracker on my phone. It's been a great excuse to walk more in addition to all the biking! Walking paths several times helps you create a better final route with the average of all the passes. Planning out loops you can just keep walking over and over is great for getting in more passes; you don't have to stop and think about it, you just keep going!

I do all my serious mapping in Go Map!! on my iPad. It's pretty easy to use, seems fairly robust, and I can just toss my tablet into my pannier, hop on my bike, and do some mapping at a coffee shop or on site. And because I have the mapping software I use with me, it's easy to stop and drop a node at some feature or signage, add notes about what might be tag-worthy, and continue on my way.

Especially when I'm planning to map buildings or features, traveling to do a survey first before I start is often helpful. A recent example — as of the time of writing — is some courts in our neighborhood use the center of their odd, square cul-de-sacs as informal, but organized parking. I did not know this, and it's not something you could tell from the maps! I have since updated the maps in our local area to reflect their real-world usage. Things like this are why surveys are important; you cannot glean everything from an aerial, even if it's up to date! Problems with using aerials alone are amplified by armchair mappers who use "AI", which degrades the quality of maps even further.

Cool Things

Sometimes I learn about something new through mapping. Here's some neat things I've learned about or finally have a name for:

• Bioswales, retaining stormwater captures that help with runoff and provide habitats.
• Kneipp facilities, shallow pools for soaking your feet in that are found along German hiking routes.