Magnus Manske wrote:
For those of you interested in automatic map generation for MediaWiki, check out the very first screenshot of my emerging "geo" software: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Geo
This question makes me regret that I don't have the technical skills to develop my own vision of a map project that would be subject to the principles of wiki editing, notably that anybody can edit any map. Thus: 1. The 1-degree "square" is the fundamental building block of the world map. 2. A map may be scaled, with smaller squares showing a greater level of detail. 3. The simplest level of map does nothing more than answer whether that square is all land, all water, or mixed land and water. This may even seem simplistic and too diagrammatic, but it would certainly let you know which squares need more work 4. A map of any square would be built by adding a series of overlays. These could be (among other things) a. Contour lines, including shore lines. b. Rivers and other aquatic features c. Cities, towns, villages and other communities. d. Political boundaries, both national and sub-national e. Transportation systems f. Special features g. Historical references, where clicking on the feature would take us to the Wikipedia article about the event that happened there.
If there is any one major criticism that I would have about the discussion of this topic so far, it's that it has been infected by a lot of in-the-box kind of thinking. A map project has a far greater potential if we look at it from the ground up, and avoid the more limited popular focus on the role of maps.
Ec