Simon
@simon.poole.ch
Father, jack of many trades, open data cynic. Somewhat involved with OpenStreetMap
Allergic to monopolies and have a knack of making myself unpopular with them.
More active on mastodon as @simon@poole.ch
Allergic to monopolies and have a knack of making myself unpopular with them.
More active on mastodon as @simon@poole.ch
It speaks for my nerdy nitpicking nature 😉 that I continue to be annoyed that in 2002 the BAKOM (the Swiss telecoms regulator) modified the AEFV (the ordinance regulating address elements used in telecoms) to include domain names even though there was no legal base to do that.
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November 2, 2025 at 11:51 AM
It speaks for my nerdy nitpicking nature 😉 that I continue to be annoyed that in 2002 the BAKOM (the Swiss telecoms regulator) modified the AEFV (the ordinance regulating address elements used in telecoms) to include domain names even though there was no legal base to do that.
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November 1994 I did a company internal presentation on IPng (the competing proposals that would eventually give us IPv6), more than 30 years later I'm still exclusively using an IPv4 network at home ... sigh.
#EUnet #Internet #Nostaliga
#EUnet #Internet #Nostaliga
November 2, 2025 at 9:51 AM
November 1994 I did a company internal presentation on IPng (the competing proposals that would eventually give us IPv6), more than 30 years later I'm still exclusively using an IPv4 network at home ... sigh.
#EUnet #Internet #Nostaliga
#EUnet #Internet #Nostaliga
One of the depressing things about looking back to 88/89 is that is when open systems en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_sy... really started winning, networking and the #Internet being one of levers that worked in our favour.
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Open system (computing) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 26, 2025 at 9:58 AM
One of the depressing things about looking back to 88/89 is that is when open systems en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_sy... really started winning, networking and the #Internet being one of levers that worked in our favour.
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"One of the main problems of the "Internet" today is that it is -near- to impossible to earn money from "non-connectivity" services. This is less a technology problem ..., it's just practically impossible to find a service to provide that somebody else is not doing for free."
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October 23, 2025 at 11:05 AM
"One of the main problems of the "Internet" today is that it is -near- to impossible to earn money from "non-connectivity" services. This is less a technology problem ..., it's just practically impossible to find a service to provide that somebody else is not doing for free."
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In "stuff that I've forgotten", did I coin the term "transit" (in an ISP context)? diswww.mit.edu/menelaus.mit... probably not, though nobody else is using it.
In any case a discussion that underlines how different the early Internet was from the fairy tales of today.
#Internet #EUnet #Nostalgia
In any case a discussion that underlines how different the early Internet was from the fairy tales of today.
#Internet #EUnet #Nostalgia
discuss@menelaus.mit.edu: [11171] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
diswww.mit.edu
October 22, 2025 at 4:27 PM
In "stuff that I've forgotten", did I coin the term "transit" (in an ISP context)? diswww.mit.edu/menelaus.mit... probably not, though nobody else is using it.
In any case a discussion that underlines how different the early Internet was from the fairy tales of today.
#Internet #EUnet #Nostalgia
In any case a discussion that underlines how different the early Internet was from the fairy tales of today.
#Internet #EUnet #Nostalgia
Very minor mystery:
Does anybody know what happened with the UUCP maps for Switzerland in 1989/1990? That is likely u.che.0 and u.che.1.
Up to 1989 Dietrich Wiegandt (who ran cernvax at CERN) posted them to comp.mail.maps, and from 1991 on I posted them from chsun (the CHUUG/EUnet Switzerland).
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Does anybody know what happened with the UUCP maps for Switzerland in 1989/1990? That is likely u.che.0 and u.che.1.
Up to 1989 Dietrich Wiegandt (who ran cernvax at CERN) posted them to comp.mail.maps, and from 1991 on I posted them from chsun (the CHUUG/EUnet Switzerland).
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October 20, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Very minor mystery:
Does anybody know what happened with the UUCP maps for Switzerland in 1989/1990? That is likely u.che.0 and u.che.1.
Up to 1989 Dietrich Wiegandt (who ran cernvax at CERN) posted them to comp.mail.maps, and from 1991 on I posted them from chsun (the CHUUG/EUnet Switzerland).
..
Does anybody know what happened with the UUCP maps for Switzerland in 1989/1990? That is likely u.che.0 and u.che.1.
Up to 1989 Dietrich Wiegandt (who ran cernvax at CERN) posted them to comp.mail.maps, and from 1991 on I posted them from chsun (the CHUUG/EUnet Switzerland).
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Have you ever noticed that when the invention of the WWW by @timbl.bsky.social is discussed CERN is in Switzerland, just to mysteriously change countries when the first Internet connection in the country is mentioned?
Must be a quantum effect.
#EUnet #Nostalgia
Must be a quantum effect.
#EUnet #Nostalgia
October 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Have you ever noticed that when the invention of the WWW by @timbl.bsky.social is discussed CERN is in Switzerland, just to mysteriously change countries when the first Internet connection in the country is mentioned?
Must be a quantum effect.
#EUnet #Nostalgia
Must be a quantum effect.
#EUnet #Nostalgia
The next couple of weeks you are all going to have to suffer from a bout of Internet nostalgia from me as I dig through my archives.
This is from a February 1993 mail that I sent to colleagues at other #EUnet national orgs asking for them to update the POP (50 total) list I was maintaining ...
This is from a February 1993 mail that I sent to colleagues at other #EUnet national orgs asking for them to update the POP (50 total) list I was maintaining ...
October 17, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The next couple of weeks you are all going to have to suffer from a bout of Internet nostalgia from me as I dig through my archives.
This is from a February 1993 mail that I sent to colleagues at other #EUnet national orgs asking for them to update the POP (50 total) list I was maintaining ...
This is from a February 1993 mail that I sent to colleagues at other #EUnet national orgs asking for them to update the POP (50 total) list I was maintaining ...
Data spaces are now mainly a thing because the open data consulting business has run its course.
September 5, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Data spaces are now mainly a thing because the open data consulting business has run its course.
Reposted by Simon
Reposted by Simon
Maintenance release V21.1.2 is available now and has been rolling out for a couple of days, see github.com/MarcusWolsch... for a list of changes since 21.1.0.
We've written a bit more on this release here en.osm.town/deck/@vespuc...
#OpenStreetMap
We've written a bit more on this release here en.osm.town/deck/@vespuc...
#OpenStreetMap
github.com
August 20, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Maintenance release V21.1.2 is available now and has been rolling out for a couple of days, see github.com/MarcusWolsch... for a list of changes since 21.1.0.
We've written a bit more on this release here en.osm.town/deck/@vespuc...
#OpenStreetMap
We've written a bit more on this release here en.osm.town/deck/@vespuc...
#OpenStreetMap
gemini is showing signs of AGI ...
it's refusing to answer my questions about XSLT.
it's refusing to answer my questions about XSLT.
August 6, 2025 at 5:50 PM
gemini is showing signs of AGI ...
it's refusing to answer my questions about XSLT.
it's refusing to answer my questions about XSLT.
Reposted by Simon
If you are located in #Switzerland and are contributing to #OpenStreetMap or are using a device or app that uses OSM data: please follow us here and on LinkedIn.com/company/swis... or Facebook.com/SwissOSM #garmin #osmandapp #Komoot #organicMaps #Alltrails #LocusMap #wahoo
LinkedIn.com
June 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
If you are located in #Switzerland and are contributing to #OpenStreetMap or are using a device or app that uses OSM data: please follow us here and on LinkedIn.com/company/swis... or Facebook.com/SwissOSM #garmin #osmandapp #Komoot #organicMaps #Alltrails #LocusMap #wahoo
www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/M... didn't seem to make the news in April (or maybe I was just on vacation :-)).
At least for #OpenStreetMap this is bit of a downer as it potentially makes google more competitive, not less.
At least for #OpenStreetMap this is bit of a downer as it potentially makes google more competitive, not less.
Google muss Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen bei Google Automotive Services und bei der Google Maps Platform abstellen
www.bundeskartellamt.de
June 8, 2025 at 11:52 AM
www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/M... didn't seem to make the news in April (or maybe I was just on vacation :-)).
At least for #OpenStreetMap this is bit of a downer as it potentially makes google more competitive, not less.
At least for #OpenStreetMap this is bit of a downer as it potentially makes google more competitive, not less.
Reposted by Simon
At the end of this month Microsoft will be ending its Bing map services community.openstreetmap.org/t/discontinu... This has been a key bit of infrastructure #OpenStreetMap has relied on for nearly the last 15 years and was a significant boost to contributions back then.
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Discontinued Services Bing Maps Rest Services
I recently came across the NEWS of the discontinuation of the Bing Maps Rest Services which includes BING MAPS IMAGERY API. On the OSM side, is there any news about what will happen with Bing Aerial ...
community.openstreetmap.org
June 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
At the end of this month Microsoft will be ending its Bing map services community.openstreetmap.org/t/discontinu... This has been a key bit of infrastructure #OpenStreetMap has relied on for nearly the last 15 years and was a significant boost to contributions back then.
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Just in case you are wondering .... we are deliberately letting the building in Blatten VS standing for a couple of days , we -could- have re-tagged them yesterday afternoon.
See community.openstreetmap.org/t/blatten-vs...
#OpenStreetMap
See community.openstreetmap.org/t/blatten-vs...
#OpenStreetMap
Blatten VS - Gletscher-Abbruch
Darf man da die Gebäude schon als “abgerissen” und die Strasse als blockiert markieren? Wird definitiv nicht so schnell behoben sein.
community.openstreetmap.org
May 29, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Just in case you are wondering .... we are deliberately letting the building in Blatten VS standing for a couple of days , we -could- have re-tagged them yesterday afternoon.
See community.openstreetmap.org/t/blatten-vs...
#OpenStreetMap
See community.openstreetmap.org/t/blatten-vs...
#OpenStreetMap
Just your regular reminder that the @linuxfoundation.org Overture maps tool chains (aka the code to produce their data) are not #opensource software.
May 28, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Just your regular reminder that the @linuxfoundation.org Overture maps tool chains (aka the code to produce their data) are not #opensource software.
Old blog post, still just as relevant today as 11 years ago www.openstreetmap.org/user/SimonPo...
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OpenStreetMap and the Open Data Movement
[As always this is just my own, personal, opinion, and is no way an official statement by anybody]
www.openstreetmap.org
May 26, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Old blog post, still just as relevant today as 11 years ago www.openstreetmap.org/user/SimonPo...
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Open since yesterday, available for navigation on #OpenStreetMap now
May 22, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Open since yesterday, available for navigation on #OpenStreetMap now
Reposted by Simon
Jetzt auch auf Deutsch sosm.ch/de/fragen-un...
Fragen und Antworten zum MODI
Dieses Q&A wird laufend ergänzt und verbessert und kann sich deshalb jederzeit ändern. Frage: Warum lehnt SOSM den MODI-Gesetzentwurf ab? Ist die Verbesserung der Effizienz unserer Mobilitätsinfrastru...
sosm.ch
May 20, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Jetzt auch auf Deutsch sosm.ch/de/fragen-un...
Jetzt hat's plötzlich "klick" gemacht. Nach positivem Erstkontakt mit dem Bundesamt für Energie vor 2 Jahren werden wir sehr hartnäckig ge-ghostet.
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May 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Jetzt hat's plötzlich "klick" gemacht. Nach positivem Erstkontakt mit dem Bundesamt für Energie vor 2 Jahren werden wir sehr hartnäckig ge-ghostet.
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Reposted by Simon
It really shouldn’t matter if you are building your app or service on Tomtom, Here, google, apple, #OpenStreetMap or swisstopo data and services, the technology is there to make the mobility infrastructure (MODI) vendor agnostic, what is missing is the political will to require it.
sosm.ch/modi-faq/
sosm.ch/modi-faq/
MODI FAQ
This is a work in progress and may change at any time. Q: Why does SOSM oppose the MODI bill, isn't improving the efficiency of our mobility infrastructure a good thing?A: We have always supported mak...
sosm.ch
May 16, 2025 at 8:11 AM
It really shouldn’t matter if you are building your app or service on Tomtom, Here, google, apple, #OpenStreetMap or swisstopo data and services, the technology is there to make the mobility infrastructure (MODI) vendor agnostic, what is missing is the political will to require it.
sosm.ch/modi-faq/
sosm.ch/modi-faq/
Reposted by Simon
Today the Swiss Federal Council finalised its proposal for a mobility data law to the Swiss parliament.
Should be good news, but unluckily isn't. See sosm.ch/de/stellungs... for our statement (English here sosm.ch/statement-on...).
Should be good news, but unluckily isn't. See sosm.ch/de/stellungs... for our statement (English here sosm.ch/statement-on...).
Stellungsnahme zur Gesetzesvorlage zum Bundesgesetz über die Mobilitätsdateninfrastruktur
Heute hat der Bundesrat seine Vorlage zur Mobilitätsdateninfrastruktur (MODI) verabschiedet. Auch wenn wir das grundsätzliche Ziel – Mobilitätsdaten umfassender und einfacher zugänglich zu machen – un...
sosm.ch
May 14, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Today the Swiss Federal Council finalised its proposal for a mobility data law to the Swiss parliament.
Should be good news, but unluckily isn't. See sosm.ch/de/stellungs... for our statement (English here sosm.ch/statement-on...).
Should be good news, but unluckily isn't. See sosm.ch/de/stellungs... for our statement (English here sosm.ch/statement-on...).