CarmaBlog

Google’s hegemony is by definition everywhere, so it is not a surprise to find the firm in the digital mapping area. Google Maps is one of the leader on the market.

There are many other services available : Bing, Mappy, Michelin, Yahoo… to name the best known.

Above all, there is Open Street Map (OSM).

Started in 2004, this project is the only existing collaborative world map, their slogan : “The Free Wiki World Map”. You’ll understand that it is nothing less than the Wikipedia of maps.

The most important is obviously the community. To give you an idea, in April 2012, OSM had 600,000 registered users for approximately 20,000 regular contributors (source Wikipedia).

Like Wikipedia, anyone can edit the map (Point Of Interest POI, road directions, bus stops, traffic lights…). On a portion of map, you can view all the changesets made by users (source version control). Editing roads is a little more complex, it can be achieved by using technologies based on GPS localization. With the advent of smartphones, it is now easier to contribute to roads tracing.

What I immediately like with OSM is obviously the fact that it is open-source and supported actively by a community. I am especially amazed by the quality of the “final” result. OMS map is very accurate and very readable thanks to its color scheme. I let you judge for yourself.

Google Maps

Open Street Map

The map is available with several layers following main themes (a zoom displays the main axes of the theme) :

Standard

Cycle map

Transport map

MapQuest open

An export function in different formats (including PNG) is a small revolution. Until now, I was used to make prints-screens to export plans under Google Maps. If you like, you can even download the latest version of the map (file is 21 GB).

Unfortunately, OSM features are rather limited… But, as I said, there is an active community. You will certainly find the application that suits your needs and relies on OSM data.

• Thus Open MapQuest adds many features, including directions.
• You take public transportation ? So go take a ride on this amazing map.
• Looking for a city plan, streets index included ? Look no further !
• You are lucky enough to own a yacht, in this case you might be interested in this map.
• You prefer to ride your bike and want to discover new pathways, then it is here’s where it’s at.
• Want to know all the details of your ski-runs for your next winter holiday ?
• Want to find good places for hitchhiking ?
• Want to find wheelchair accessible places ?
• Etc., etc., I can go on for long and perhaps sell you this product (hell no ! It’s free).

If you’re curious, go on the Wiki, a page lists all the OSM based applications, and the list goes on !

At least this map exists, unfortunately there’s not been a lot of buzz around the project (or I’m a little spaced out). Anyway, feel free to promote it in your circles, a promotional site also exists. Personally, I think I will use it regularly, without abandoning Google Maps and its magic Street View experience !

Dropbox is a sharing “box” where you can sync any type of file. It’s a kind of mini personal SVN…

Any file you save to Dropbox also instantly saves to your computers (and your smartphones), and the Dropbox website.

Extensible storage space

At first, you have 2 Gb of online storage. Then you can extend your Dropbox up to 8 Gb through invitations. There are also two premium subscriptions, 50 and 100 Gb.

Also, an invited user get an extra 250 Mb of Dropbox storage.

System integration

Dropbox works with most systems : Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry. I am using it with Windows 7, XP and Ubuntu, Dropbox is fully integrated to the system with notifications, a context menu, small icons on synchronizing files…

Advanced file management

Dropbox keeps a one-month history of your files. You can restore deleted files (or permanently delete them), any changes can be undone… You can also select folders that you do not want to synchronize.

Internet connection

The bandwidth used by Dropbox may be set manually to avoid hogging your connection. The Dropbox works even when offline, it will synchronize the next time you will be connected.

Simple sharing

You can easily share a folder of your Dropbox with another user, he will access it from his own Dropbox. You can use public links to share files with people not registered on Dropbox. Finally, a folder containing photos can be viewed as a gallery / slideshow on the website of Dropbox.

I use this software recently and now I can’t do without ! I invite you to use this link to create your account and get the 250 Mb of extra storage.

Naturally used in micro-enterprises, knowledge sharing is less often used in the biggers. And yet when it is mastered, it can be a key to success.

Nowadays, we know how to search the internet efficiently, Google is (almost) everyone’s friend… But we often lose time to explore forums tirelessly without knowing that one week before, a colleague has already be faced with the same issue and know how to resolve it. This assertion is especially true when the company has more employees.

This accumulation of knowledge over time is a very important development strategy. From my perspective, I see many advantages especially for technical positions such as developers.

Even though many people will see the idea like an encouraging start, some will probably find it a little outdated. For example, they will tell you that most of the information can be find easily by searching on the internet or by reading books borrowed at the library. Some (me included) may wonder why rewrite articles or tutorials is needed while they are accessible at your fingertips. Simply that when you rewrite a text, you keep the most useful information, you personalize it with practical and suitable examples, etc. In some way, you write it as your own and as the image of your company. Furthermore, you know who wrote or has contributed to the article so you know who to ask or even propose some improvement. It can also avoid you getting into a not suitable and complicated solution without having any help to get out.

Setting up such a project is not easy, it can quickly bound to fail. Concern is not technical because it is not very difficult to set up a Wiki platform. Risk is related to the quality of the contents, the relevance of datas and even the whole structure that should be designed for faster searches. We can compare it to a large construction site that will never end, and where one make one’s contribution.

The main factors of success are motivation and involvement, but also communication. To communicate is essential, as always. Without communication, the platform will probably be gradually abandoned. People will stop to publish new articles, or even worse, stop to consult it.

Fragile and not very convincing at first, mainly due to its limited number of articles, the platform can become essential and symbolize a pillar of the corporate knowledge. It will survive in the long term by regularly renewing its contents. As everyone knows, people move on to different companies and it will not be surprising to lose big contributors. It is not the end of the world and you should inform new employees about the existence of this knowledge database in order to sustain it. Ultimate goal is that it is become an important part of the corporate culture.

I could not end this article without mentioning one of the most brilliant success in collaborative work: Wikipedia. It goes without saying that this great world encyclopedia has not been built in one month…