Copyright and License

[Will Ware]

Bernhard Reiter (breiter at usf.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE) wrote:
> >> The FreeGIS Project	            (freegis.org)
> > Yikes! I hope there isn't somebody out there working on an
> > open-source Regis-Philbin-bot.
> I don't get it.
> Please explain.
> 	Bernhard

I don't know anything about your FreeGIS project, and had no
intention of disparaging it. It sounded a little like "Free
Regis". Regis Philbin is a television celebrity in the US,
currently hosting a game show, and generally spending much
more time on my TV screen than I would like. I hope you will
forgive my half-witted joke.

Now I've looked at the website, and it is obviously a good
and valuable thing. For anybody else as ignorant as I was, it
is a collection of free software and data sets of geography
and cartography. As GPS receivers become more common and
capable, and as cars begin to have more navigational-help
systems, this data will be very helpful.

I had an idea a week or two ago that was a little bit related.
It would be interesting to set up a website that accepted
digital micropayments from visitors, assigned to geographic
regions, and when there was enough money, the website would
pay one of these meter-resolution satellite photo outfits to
take a picture of that region. This would allow concerned people
to watch political hotspots. When the interest in a region was
very high, a lot of money would make sure that the photo of that
region was updated quite frequently. I don't have the knowledge
or time to set up such a website myself, but anybody who wants
to do this has my permission. The entry portal could be a Java
applet of a rotatable globe with some zoom control, and there
should be discussion boards that allow people to agree on where
to focus their attention.
-- 
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Resistance is futile. Capacitance is efficacious.
Will Ware	email:    wware @ world.std.com