Of possible interest to UK and Eire only

It's not very often I come across a site that generates a lot of enthusiasm (except for this one of course )

I was reading todays Guardian (don't laugh it was left at the bar in my local), when I came across this site

http://www.geograph.or​g.uk/

I had a look, and it's a free and open on-line community which seeks to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of the UK and Eire (see screen grab)
It looks reasonably simple to navigate, and it's not about showcasing professional images etc.

Check it out, it's worth a look.

It seems this forum is the best place for this subject, if not , my apologies in advance, I'm sure the mods will move it to an appropriate forum

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Thats cool Les, like Trekearth but for the UK only, even better

How interesting...off to take a look..

Looks quite interesting Les

Although awfy slow, I think your plug must have busied up his server

Wow, I wish they had something like that for Michigan. It would certainly give me something to do on my days off.

Thanks for the link Les, and like Scottie has mentioned, it is a bit slow. It does look like a useful site for pre-visit ideas though.

I also noticed that there are apparently 282,849 images from 2,946 users. They must be a busy lot then as this equates to over 96 photos on average from each member. I bet that Martin (CousinMadness) will be envious to get that rate of posting for his sites.

Hi Les,


I first saw this site last year and it is a neat idea. However, it appears to be rife with very bad images which would indicate little or no moderation on the image quality.

The problem is further exaserbated by the fact that the first person to post an image relative to the GPS coordinated... "wins that square" Whether you come along and enter a better image... it doesn't matter. As a result I have found a great many folks with low quality retail cameras have gone out and photographed a field full of grass just to have that square with their name on it.

Perhaps in the last year the folks that own it have made some changes to this chronic abuse... but for now human nature has expelled any interest on my part. Until they fix the quality control issue, I would go as far as saying that it would be detrimental to a photographers name to be putting their images on that site.

Ironically it is sponsored by Ordinance Survey which is a well respected Organisation in the UK. I have also tested the site via Pingdom.com and it is chronically slow. Whether this indicates a lack of scalability in their design, the end result I bet isn't what the owners intended.

Thanks for stirring me up Les.


Cousin... who likes quality... that's why he's here.

rudgej wrote in post #2334782
Thanks for the link Les, and like Scottie has mentioned, it is a bit slow. It does look like a useful site for pre-visit ideas though.

I also noticed that there are apparently 282,849 images from 2,946 users. They must be a busy lot then as this equates to over 96 photos on average from each member. I bet that Martin (CousinMadness) will be envious to get that rate of posting for his sites.

Hi John,


I wrote my piece there before I read this... haha... thanks for thinking of me.


Cuz

thats a great site,iv,e been checking all the areas i roam,below is the first pic i posted on this site 18/10/05

CousinMadness wrote in post #2336041
Hi Les,


I first saw this site last year and it is a neat idea. However, it appears to be rife with very bad images which would indicate little or no moderation on the image quality.

The problem is further exaserbated by the fact that the first person to post an image relative to the GPS coordinated... "wins that square" Whether you come along and enter a better image... it doesn't matter. As a result I have found a great many folks with low quality retail cameras have gone out and photographed a field full of grass just to have that square with their name on it.

Perhaps in the last year the folks that own it have made some changes to this chronic abuse... but for now human nature has expelled any interest on my part. Until they fix the quality control issue, I would go as far as saying that it would be detrimental to a photographers name to be putting their images on that site.

Ironically it is sponsored by Ordinance Survey which is a well respected Organisation in the UK. I have also tested the site via Pingdom.com and it is chronically slow. Whether this indicates a lack of scalability in their design, the end result I bet isn't what the owners intended.

Thanks for stirring me up Les.


Cousin... who likes quality... that's why he's here.

,i love this guy,hahahahaha.

Hello, I'm one of the Geograph site developers. Thanks for the mention in your forums, but I would like to address some of the concerns raised.

Re image quality: It is true that a relately unremarkable shot can be uploaded to the site. This is because it was not concieved as a archive of art, but of geography. We have no idea how valuable any shot might be to future generations.

As for the points system - the first to submit to a square doesn't "claim" or represent that square. We encourage depth of submissions for all squares. At the moment the map browser shows thumbnail of the first geograph for that square, but this is something we are planning to change. The points help to drive coverage, and those who get hooked provide the depth. Have a browse around the Lake District to see what I mean: http://www.geograph.or​g.uk/gridref/NY2529

As for speed, the site is hosted in the UK and is generally speedy for UK residents. A recent mention in the Guardian produced a flurry of activity which sadly coincided with one our webservers being offline. That said, we're always working to improve things, and we'll be pushing the site more into schools in 2007 and ramping up its capabilities even more.

I appreciate contributing to an archive like this is not for everyone, but I hope that anyone concerned about quality would consider submitting if only to improve a square you feel under-represented. Our aim is simply to make a constantly growing educational and geographic archive of images freely available forever, which isn't so bad is it?

I'm hoping Santa is bringing me an EOS 400D, so if nothing else, I've found a new forum to hang around on!

lordelph wrote in post #2365512
Hello, I'm one of the Geograph site developers. Thanks for the mention in your forums, but I would like to address some of the concerns raised.

Re image quality: It is true that a relately unremarkable shot can be uploaded to the site. This is because it was not concieved as a archive of art, but of geography. We have no idea how valuable any shot might be to future generations.

As for the points system - the first to submit to a square doesn't "claim" or represent that square. We encourage depth of submissions for all squares. At the moment the map browser shows thumbnail of the first geograph for that square, but this is something we are planning to change. The points help to drive coverage, and those who get hooked provide the depth. Have a browse around the Lake District to see what I mean: http://www.geograph.or​g.uk/gridref/NY2529

As for speed, the site is hosted in the UK and is generally speedy for UK residents. A recent mention in the Guardian produced a flurry of activity which sadly coincided with one our webservers being offline. That said, we're always working to improve things, and we'll be pushing the site more into schools in 2007 and ramping up its capabilities even more.

I appreciate contributing to an archive like this is not for everyone, but I hope that anyone concerned about quality would consider submitting if only to improve a square you feel under-represented. Our aim is simply to make a constantly growing educational and geographic archive of images freely available forever, which isn't so bad is it?

I'm hoping Santa is bringing me an EOS 400D, so if nothing else, I've found a new forum to hang around on!

Thanks for the feedback, it is appreciated.
And congrats on an excellent choice of camera, will look forward to some of your images.

Thanks for sharing the link... being as I spend time in Ireland, this looks to be a great tool to know what is in the general area, when I am out doing photography.

lordelph wrote in post #2365512
Hello, I'm one of the Geograph site developers. Thanks for the mention in your forums, but I would like to address some of the concerns raised.

Re image quality: It is true that a relately unremarkable shot can be uploaded to the site. This is because it was not concieved as a archive of art, but of geography. We have no idea how valuable any shot might be to future generations.

As for the points system - the first to submit to a square doesn't "claim" or represent that square. We encourage depth of submissions for all squares. At the moment the map browser shows thumbnail of the first geograph for that square, but this is something we are planning to change. The points help to drive coverage, and those who get hooked provide the depth. Have a browse around the Lake District to see what I mean: http://www.geograph.or​g.uk/gridref/NY2529

As for speed, the site is hosted in the UK and is generally speedy for UK residents. A recent mention in the Guardian produced a flurry of activity which sadly coincided with one our webservers being offline. That said, we're always working to improve things, and we'll be pushing the site more into schools in 2007 and ramping up its capabilities even more.

I appreciate contributing to an archive like this is not for everyone, but I hope that anyone concerned about quality would consider submitting if only to improve a square you feel under-represented. Our aim is simply to make a constantly growing educational and geographic archive of images freely available forever, which isn't so bad is it?

I'm hoping Santa is bringing me an EOS 400D, so if nothing else, I've found a new forum to hang around on!

I own and operate many websites, a few of them (not all) procreate through external submissions. Meaning... the whole thing isn't dependent on me alone.

These sites survive on the constant feedback that I receive, and often ask for. My eyes alone cannot "see" what the site is good at, nor rubbish at. Impartiality is a rare meal, found only in the homes of those who truly believe that they the creators (of anything) don't have the best and only ideas.

What am I trying to say? The fact that this gentleman should write to us here about some adverse findings about Geograph, and respond in a decent, non inflammatory manner, is testament to his open mindedness.

Thanks... and welcome to POTN. It is a remarkable place void of flamers and Moderators with a chip on their shoulder. Everyone helps in here... it's quite remarkable actually given the atmosphere in many forums. I doubt even Pekka forseen this amount of good will when he started it in the first place.

Yer Cousin.