Isle of Man
iPhone guide to Isle of Man businesses
If you're on the Isle of Man (or thinking of visiting) and you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you may be interested in the latest mobile guide to the Island that's been released for the iPhone.
I blogged last year about a couple of specialised iPhone apps that let you see offline maps of the Island - but not much more - and I also mentioned OffMaps which at the time was simply an offline map viewer that let you download maps of anywhere in the world. Having released their latest version though, OffMaps now provides much more functionality in the form of a local guide to businesses, services and attractions, and access to Wikipedia articles about the places around you.
Now, if you're looking for a bar, cafe, restaurant, museum, tourist attraction - or, in theory, anything else - you need look no further than the guide in OffMaps. It'll show you its location, give you their address and phone number (though there aren't many of these yet) and link you through to their website if they have one. Note that not everything is in there, and in particular it's lacking in the shops it covers, as well as in some other areas.
If you run a business or service - or know of one which isn't already covered - and you'd like to advertise yourself in this guide to the Island, you can be a part of it for free.
All of the information is based on the OpenStreetMap project and Wikipedia, so you can add your information yourself. The easiest way to edit is using the free Mapzen POI collector app for the iPhone, but if you're not comfortable, just drop me an email and I'll happily add your details in to OpenStreetMap for you, for free, and you should get into the guide the next time it gets refreshed.
Note: the app is currently only listing things in certain chosen categories, so if your business falls outside of those categories it may not show up in the guide. You're still free to add your listing to OpenStreetMap though, as it could be used in the future either in OffMaps or in any other application.
Guess where on the Isle of Man
Since I received the DVD of high resolution aerial imagery and maps from the Isle of Man Government last week, I've spent most of my spare time starting to digitise information for the OpenStreetMap project.
Using QGIS to load in the data, I started to gather all the names from the map that I could, including both place names (for small local areas, hamlets and villages that weren't already in the database) and also farm names. With over a thousand names, this is already a massive boost to the data in OpenStreetMap as it is data that would have been immensely difficult to gather on the ground.
The image to the left represents the shape of the Island, made up of all the points obtained from the map, and soon to be imported into the main database.
The three images below are of small areas that I have started to digitise the buildings of. I'm offering a prize (a pint at the next London mapping party perhaps) to the first person to guess all three places correctly. Two of them may well look familiar to anyone who I chatted to at the 5th birthday party of OpenStreetMap.
Most of the data in the images above (and future data others would like to extract for OpenStreetMap) would have been impossible (well, certainly extremely impractical) to gather were it not for the very generous support of the Isle of Man Survey in giving us a license to derive this information, for which I'm personally very grateful, and I know a lot of other people in the project are also excited about.
These images are licenced as CC-by-SA and the data behind them all will be in the OpenStreetMap database very soon.
Help map the Isle of Man
In just two weeks time, on Saturday 1st August 2009, I am going to be organising a mapping party in Douglas, Isle of Man for the OpenStreetMap project. The aim of the project is to build up a map of the world that can be used without the restrictions that are typically imposed by mapping providers such as Google Maps.
The Isle of Man already has a great amount of map data in the database - as you can see on the map at openstreetmap.org - so we have a good starting point, but it isn't yet complete, so there is plenty of information that we can still add. While the road network is very close to complete, we are missing many of the points of interest you might like to see on a map, or be able to search for (perhaps through a website, or in the future from your in-car navigation device), like pubs, cafes, restaurants, libraries, hotels, historic sites or museums, for example.
We also have some Manx names for places and streets, but this isn't yet widespread, so it would be great to capture this information from street signs around the town.
As we have a good street network already, the need for a GPS isn't as important as it was earlier on in the project, so the plan for the mapping party is to use printed maps (from the excellent Walking Papers project) onto which we can add annotations during the day. At the end of the day, we can use the paper maps for reference when entering the information into the map through the OpenStreetMap website, or scan them in and deal with them later, depending on how tired people are after a day's mapping.
If you're on the Isle of Man and interested in making or using maps (or just the underlying map data), then do come along and find out more. If you're also interested in a little exercise, come out with us and explore Douglas for the day, collecting information to add to the map. You can find out more on the OpenStreetMap wiki, or alternatively contact me if you'd like more information.
If you run an organisation on the Isle of Man which uses geographic information (e.g. business listings) and would like to find out more about including your information in the map database so they can be displayed on the map, or would like to use the maps on your website with your own information displayed on top, please get in touch.
(map from OpenStreetMap, CC-by-SA)
iPhone street maps for the Isle of Man
I was looking recently to see what applications were available for the iPhone (or iPod touch) relating to the Isle of Man, and was pleasantly surprised to see that a mapping application had been released.
The application, simply called 'Isle of Man', gives users a map of the Island for use on their iPhone while they are visiting. In addition to the map, it lets users find amenities and streetnames that have been added into the OpenStreetMap database. I decided this morning to pay the 59p to download the app and try it out, but beyond the initial excitement of seeing OpenStreetMap data being used for mobile maps of the Isle of Man, I haven't been so impressed with the execution of the idea for a number of reasons...
The Mobile-Streetmaps.com website promotes this app and hundreds of other similar ones from around the world, each just a download of OpenStreetMap data packaged into an application, for which they charge 59p. While it's not a large amount to pay, the company producing the applications is profiting off the generosity of the OpenStreetMap community (and in the case of the Isle of Man, Cloud Made as well, thanks to their donation of data) with little attribution, and no mention within the app itself of the license under which the data is available.
Hopefully the company will fix the attribution issue soon, by adding a mention to the pages in the iPhone app store that the data is from OpenStreetMap, and also by adding information about the license to at least the about page of each app, and to the side bar of the pages on their website.
The app itself could be quite useful if you're visiting the Island, but it has quite a few usability issues that hamper its use:
- Zooming in to the map, you are not shown beyond a certain level, leaving many streets in the center of towns and villages left without names.
- Navigation within the app could really be improved... there's not even a back button to get back to the map from various other screens.
- After searching for items, you're taken to the map, but you are left looking at the place you were looking at before, with no obvious indication that pins have been added to the map outside of your current view.
- There is no way of clearing the pins from previous searches from the map, leading to possible confusion when searching for other things.
- Clicking on the pins for search results doesn't give any more information to the user. It would be nice to be able to get contact details where available, what the nearest street is, etc.
If you would like to access maps offline for more than just a single place, and be able to take advantage of recent updates to the maps, you will probably be better off downloading the OffMaps app which I have yet to try, but costs just a little more at £1.19 and lets you choose the area and level of detail you wish to download, and lets you do it for as many places as you wish.
While free and open geodata from OpenStreetMap gives a great boost to these applications, it also has its downfalls in that it's likely not (yet) complete for any given area. To give an example, searching for 'cafe' amenities in the Isle of Man resulted in just the Silverdale cafe being shown on the map, where in reality there are many more cafes that aren't (yet) listed.
To help improve the amount of data in the Isle of Man that's represented in OpenStreetmap, in particular relating to points of interest (POIs), I'm planning to hold another mapping party on Saturday 1st August. I'll post more information about this soon, but put the date in your diary if you're interested in helping put some of these amenities on the map. If you'd like more information in the mean time, please get in touch.
Update: having contacted the author of the apps, he's already been working with the OpenStreetMap community and has agreed to improve on the attribution, which is good. I also tried out OffMaps and liked it, but one thing it doesn't give you that the individual place-based apps do, is the access to find the location of POIs and streets while you're offline (though it does work when online).
The Isle of Man and a Manx euro
With the British pound getting closer and closer in value every day to the euro, it's hard not to consider what will happen when the currencies align. The Guardian comments on this 'psychological moment' in a piece a week ago, when the high street rates (after commission) gave less than one euro for your pound, when a year and a half ago, you would have got around half as much again for each pound.
"Sterling's decline to a value of less than a euro, after commission charges, is seen by economists and opposition politicians as a pivotal 'psychological moment' - and evidence of declining faith in the British economy on global currency markets."
It's not a given - and there will likely be a struggle before it happens - but there is a possibility that the United Kingdom could adopt the euro, and that time may not be too far off.
The thing I'm more curious about though, more than the situation in the UK, is the situation in the Isle of Man if the UK were to adopt the euro.
The Isle of Man has it's own currency - the Manx pound - that is linked in value to the British pound. Coins are similar in overall design characteristics, portray our head of state (Elizabeth II), and have a local design on the reverse. The currency can be spent on-Island but not off, while the British pound can also be used on-Island.
Before the euro was introduced into Europe, around ten years ago, the Isle of Man Government set up a working party to investigate the implications the euro would have on the Island. They published a report titled A Review of European Economic and Monetary Union and its Implications which stated (in part):
"The Isle of Man Government is presently planning to ensure that necessary preparations will be in place for the eventuality of a single currency, irrespective of whether the UK participates in monetary union in 1999.
[...]
If the UK joins monetary union and Sterling is replaced by the euro, the Isle of Man will retain the right to issue its own currency. The provisions of the Currency Act 1992 would allow the Island to issue a new Manx currency which would be a ‘substitute Euro’, similar to the ‘substitute Sterling’ currently issued. The Government has been active in its preparations for a new currency as the retention of the Island’s own currency through issue of the Manx euro has two significant advantages:
- It provides a positive public statement of independence for the Island; and
- It allows for the continuation of the accrual of investment income from the issue of Manx notes and coins.
While it will clearly be necessary for the technical specifications of notes and coins to be the same as other euro issues, the Island is preparing its own designs for Manx euro notes and coins."
So, the Isle of Man could adopt a Manx euro, similar to the current Manx pound, whether or not the UK adopted it. But what would the currency have have on it?
The Island is not part of the UK, nor part of the European Union (though it has certain ties to both). It has managed with the current psuedo Sterling currency since 1971, with very little confusion other than when people try to spend the money in the UK. With the euro, where each issuing country has their own designs on one side of their coins, having a Manx euro would create one more design on the equivalent of that 'national side' as well as a replacement 'common side' that differentiated it from 'real' euro coins. There's much more potential for confusion than with the British/Manx pound.
It would be interesting to get a glimpse of the designs that the Government were preparing a decade ago to see how they have retained the basics of the euro, highlighted that it is not a normal euro while also adding a Manx look to the currency.
How would you feel if the Isle of Man were to adopt the euro? Can you see it happening any time soon? What images would you like to see on the currency if it were to be introduced?
(Image source: Wikipedia)
