[OSM-newbies] Greetings

[Jacob Rau]

Hello,

I am completely new to OSM. Considering I've been using free software for quite some time, I love the idea of a free GPS.

However-and this isn't a complaint, rather an observation-much of the data, at least in Michigan, USA, is so coarse that it cannot be used for navigation, at least not in the traditional sense. Am I missing something, or is the data missing addresses entirely?

If this is the case, I am not above doing data entry, but does the new TIGER data contain these nodes? I don't honestly know what program would handle a "shapefile" and definitely have a lot of reading to do yet.

Is there a good way to see just the history of my area? When I click the History tab, I seem to see changes made way outside the region I'm in, despite the fact that I have the map zoomed into my area. How would I go about filtering down the history? I'm mostly curious to know if anyone has touched the Holly, MI area since the TIGER import. There's an entire subdivision missing.

Thank you for helping me get started.

Jacob Rau