[OSM-talk-be] announcement of a workshop in Brussels talking about OSM-mapnik

[Linusable]

Hi,

FYI, today, i received the following text concerning a workshop to be 
held in Brussels next month, on a subject related to OpenStreetMap (and 
the graphical engine Mapnik). I surprisingly read within the 
contribution list the name of : "Open Streetmap (BE/FR) 
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Belgium !"

Is somebody from the present list involved in this organization ?

Regards,

Didier|Linusable

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Collision 1: Badness and Conflict
Maps, schematics and books are complex graphic surfaces where meaningful 
elements fight for space in
different dimensions. The potential for elements to collide grows 
exponentially whenever their semantic, visual
or functional links are stronger. If we consider typographic and 
cartographic objects as “spatial arrangement of
texts and other graphical elements”, than their design is essentially 
the work of organising collisions. In a
conventional design practice, many systems are at work to prevent 
accidents from happening. Tension is deflated
through erasure, simplification and filtering. What would be ways to 
articulate collisions, instead of avoiding
them?
This first workshop in this series is inspired by particular practices 
of ‘conflict’ and ‘badness’. ‘Badness’ is a
curious concept introduced by computer scientist Donald Knuth to denote 
the level by which an automatically
generated lay-out would stray from the ‘most globally pleasing’ form of 
text-justification. It refers to the way a
system can dynamically decide a cut-off point and parametricises 
decisions. This process is called ‘optimisation’
when industrial quantities are implied. It might be a bit more complex 
when aesthetic and political criteria enter
as decision makers.
Knuths’ confidence in an absolute typographic truth contrasts with the 
way a ‘conflict’ is detected and resolved
in software for collaborative code development. Versioning tools such as 
SVN or git consider any difference as a
potential for conflict, and blocks the process until the issue is 
resolved outside the realm of the software itself.
While collaboration is all about working with tension constructively, 
how can such processes be supported by
collaborative tools?
Mapnik, the graphical engine that generates the digital maps in Open 
Street Map will be used as a case-study. It
has surprisingly little technical protocols in place for conflict 
resolution. If a streetname doesn’t fit, it disappears
from the map; if there is a conflict, contributors are advised that it 
all comes down to a simple choice: “yours or
mine”. How can we enrich the way maps are automatically laid out, 
specifically when there is a conflict of
space, language, direction? How can we develop visual and typographic 
proposals for a kind of cartography that
does not evade the tensions that underly them?
This three day workshop will be a mix of games, exercises, prototyping 
and project presentations. We have
invited participants and international guests with backgrounds in 
typography, architecture, cartography, art,
collaborative writing, software development and activism. Together we 
will explore the potential of collision
through combining computational and physical actions.
With contributions from:
• Lafkon (DE) http://www.lafkon.net/
• The People Speak (UK) http://www.thepeoplespeak.com/
• Open Streetmap (BE/FR) 
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Belgium
• OSP (BE) http://ospwork.constantvzw.org/work
• stdin (BE) http://stdin.fr
Practical info
Address: Constant Variable, Rue Gallaitstraat 80, Brussels
Dates: 21-23 February 2013, 10:00-18:00
Maximum 20 participants
Participation is free, but you need to sign up by sending an e-mail to 
pierre at speculoos.com
The Collision-workshops are an initiative of Pierre Huyghebaert in 
collaboration with http://lgru.net and
Constant. Made possible with support from the Flemish Community.