How Did You Contribute To OpenStreetMap?

Since 2013, I have been contributing to various projects with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (http://tasks.hotosm.org/). While my contributions have been few and far between in recent years, taking part in these projects has been both enjoyable and rewarding for me (and I've met some really cool people along the way). Recently, I discovered a pretty neat website that allows you to view your individual OpenStreetMap (OSM) contribution statistics.

How Did You Contribute to OpenStreetMap?
(http://hdyc.neis-one.org/)

Looking at my contributions by year (see above), I took a wild dip from 2014 to 2015, after taking a new job in the GIS consulting world. By 2016 my OSM contributions became non-existent, as more and more of my time was gobbled up by work and life commitments (Who knew adopting a dog and getting engaged could take up so much of my time? ;P). Free time in the evenings was a rare treat, and sadly OSM fell by the wayside. In the Summer of 2017, I found myself with a new opportunity working with the State of Minnesota. With a ring on my finger and the puppy now a well-trained (sort of) fully grown 100-lb beast, I found myself with an itch to re-enter the OSM Community. As shown below, I have been contributing to several HOTOSM tasks related to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. I couldn't be happier to be back, and would urge anyone who is interested to contribute as well! http://tasks.hotosm.org/


For the most part, my contributions have consisted of volunteer coordination and arm-chair digitizing. I have always felt an odd satisfaction from letting my mind go blank and digitizing geographic features, whether it was in ArcMap, QGIS, or Java OpenStreetMap (JOSM Editor). There isn't much to it, but I think there's something about getting into a rhythm and seeing points, lines, and polygons appear on a map, and seeing a project come together that is really satisfying to me. More than anything, it feels good to contribute to something so positive, and I hope to always find time for the OSM Community.

Unnecessary Concern of the Day: Snapping Beyond a 1:1 Scale

An ongoing head-scratcher for me has been why my points/lines/polygons look "off" in ArcMap when zoomed in beyond a 1:1 scale. Today, I found the answer to my question! A question, it turns out, that I didn't need to worry about in the first place.

The explanation I found for this issue is summed up as follows:
"Viewing linework at a viewing scale of less than 1:1 will show apparent offsets that are not real - i.e. they are not really what is going on. The polygons could be totally coincident, but below 1:1 look off. So some visually-seen disconcerting gaps/overlaps are actually not issues."

Here's ESRI Supports explanation:
"As per our phone interaction, a map scale past 1:1 is a known limitation of our software because at a scale of 1:1, the screen display is equal to the actual distance of objects on the earth's surface (i.e. an inch on your screen is equal to an inch on the ground). When you go past that scale, it may appear that features are overlapping (when in reality) what you are seeing is the actual software resolution tolerance pushed past it's maximum threshold. In essence, the entire screen is only one point (at a map scale of 1:0), which is why your work flow is producing inaccurate results."

Original Thread Here: https://community.esri.com/thread/180322

In other words, don't be fooled by the illusion beyond a 1:1 scale! Everything is Fine.....probably. Maybe set up a few topology rules to ease your worries for good?