Monday, May 29, 2017
Old forgotten roads
Listening to a '30s novelty song about ghosts and such. The song includes a wonderfully evocative line:
...On an old forgotten road....
First thought: Hey! Is that possible now? In the era of total satellite mapping, are there any forgotten roads? Is there anything anywhere that isn't fully recorded?
Second thought: No, that's the wrong question. Ever since airplanes became practical, official maps have included 'casual' and unofficial roads. Full recording is nothing new.
This 1950 USGS map of an area I've discussed before includes lots of forgotten roads.
The right question is:
Who does the forgetting?
In the era of paper maps you could buy a map from USGS and OWN the map. You could use it for exploration; you could make corrections or add houses that weren't on the map.
In the era of DMCA restrictions and 'cloud' storage, you can't OWN any information. Everything is RENTED, and everything must be used exactly as the author created it. When Googlemaps decides that a place doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. You may have printed off an earlier version of the map, but your printed version doesn't count. Only the version in the cloud counts.
In the last three years the information in online maps has been diminishing. The official Spokane GIS map formerly had an overlay showing a 1958 aerial map. Now it's gone. Even on the part that remains, information about each property no longer includes the date of construction. A paper map or paper book that you OWN can't be forcibly diminished. You can tear out pages or burn the book, but the PUBLISHER has no power over the book.
The answer then: Deepstate does the forgetting. The past is illegal.
First thought: Hey! Is that possible now? In the era of total satellite mapping, are there any forgotten roads? Is there anything anywhere that isn't fully recorded?
Second thought: No, that's the wrong question. Ever since airplanes became practical, official maps have included 'casual' and unofficial roads. Full recording is nothing new.
This 1950 USGS map of an area I've discussed before includes lots of forgotten roads.
The right question is:
Who does the forgetting?
In the era of paper maps you could buy a map from USGS and OWN the map. You could use it for exploration; you could make corrections or add houses that weren't on the map.
In the era of DMCA restrictions and 'cloud' storage, you can't OWN any information. Everything is RENTED, and everything must be used exactly as the author created it. When Googlemaps decides that a place doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. You may have printed off an earlier version of the map, but your printed version doesn't count. Only the version in the cloud counts.
In the last three years the information in online maps has been diminishing. The official Spokane GIS map formerly had an overlay showing a 1958 aerial map. Now it's gone. Even on the part that remains, information about each property no longer includes the date of construction. A paper map or paper book that you OWN can't be forcibly diminished. You can tear out pages or burn the book, but the PUBLISHER has no power over the book.
The answer then: Deepstate does the forgetting. The past is illegal.Labels: Patient things
¶ 1:27 AM
