Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Would there be any interest in a map US+world (sorry for the inane US-centric split here ;-P ) of where the ERE people live. I often get contacted by people via email and sometimes I can tell them that "ERE-mates" live close by. A map would certainly make it easier.

Here's the map: http://goo.gl/maps/9uxZT (click the pin icon, then plonk it down where you live or approximately where you live, and write in your forum username)

What other information would the map include besides location? Simply links to forum profiles?

Technically, I guess Google maps would be easiest, but Openstreetmap would be more ERE:)
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Deve ... ks#Webmaps
To reduce any one person's workload, it could possibly be integrated directly to get information from the location field of the forum profile. That in turn will need some geocoding done unless everyone starts defining their location with coordinates.

As an example, I guess you mean something like this?
http://automattic.com/map/

Yes, that would be of interest. No ideas on how to do it -- I'll leave that to others.

Do you mean by username and location? Or just a map showing dots where people live? If you mean the second, I've seen plug-ins on other forums that automatically plot online users by IP address.

Something like: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetup ... stache-map!/

@Chris - Yes, exactly.

jennypenny wrote:I've seen plug-ins on other forums that automatically plot online users by IP address.

That sounds creepy if it is automatic. In that case, I would use Tor or VPN to browse. Part of the cool thing is the anonimity of the internet. I can say things here I would never share with friends or neighbors. The map idea is really cool but it needs to be voluntary.

RealPerson wrote:

jennypenny wrote:I've seen plug-ins on other forums that automatically plot online users by IP address.

That sounds creepy if it is automatic. In that case, I would use Tor or VPN to browse. Part of the cool thing is the anonimity of the internet. I can say things here I would never share with friends or neighbors. The map idea is really cool but it needs to be voluntary.

I guess it is a little creepy. What's ironic is that it's used by a few invitation-only prepper forums I frequent. You'd think they would want the most privacy, but they use the IP maps to deter trolling.

Sorry, OT...

The IP option is not only creepy but confusing. First, many ISP-s protect their customers from this by masquerading. Second, people visit the forum from different IPs and in different locations. Which one would the map show? Last login location or the one most logins were made from? It'll become complicated and big-brother-like very soon. Also, it wouldn't support the objective of being able to find out about others who live nearby.

henrik wrote:The IP option is not only creepy but confusing. First, many ISP-s protect their customers from this by masquerading. Second, people visit the forum from different IPs and in different locations. Which one would the map show? Last login location or the one most logins were made from? It'll become complicated and big-brother-like very soon. Also, it wouldn't support the objective of being able to find out about others who live nearby.

Ignoring how private forums use it to keep on topic...
The plug-in I've seen marks the location of each user who logged in over a designated time frame (last hour, last day, etc). It uses the location of the IP address when the person logs in. It's doesn't display which user was at each location.

I think it might be helpful to mark where the user is logging in from because they might travel or work in a different location, and would be willing to meet with people in that area and not just where they live (for some, a work location might be preferable). What I pictured was that a user could watch the map, note if there were a lot of pings in area where they'd be willing to meet, and then start a meet thread like "Hey, I noticed there are a lot of pings in Houston during the week. Is anyone interested in a mid-week meet?" Then people can respond if they wish.

I didn't understand what jacob was looking for when I posted, but I do now that I've seen the map in Chris' link. My suggestion wouldn't work for that. I was surprised at how many users were plotted on that MMM map. I'd never participate in anything like that on a public forum. I'm not saying not to do it, it just wouldn't be something I'd do.

I would be interested (and participate) in a voluntary map like the MMM one, as long as I don't need to give an exact street address. Using city/zip code seems like a sweet spot between utility and privacy concerns. I'm no techno-sleuth, but I don't think a username and city would be enough data for anyone to find/harm you who couldn't do so already from IP, post history, etc.

Sounds like a fun idea to me

Spartan_Warrior wrote:I would be interested (and participate) in a voluntary map like the MMM one, as long as I don't need to give an exact street address. Using city/zip code seems like a sweet spot between utility and privacy concerns. I'm no techno-sleuth, but I don't think a username and city would be enough data for anyone to find/harm you who couldn't do so already from IP, post history, etc.

In Canada we use postal codes, which allow more permutations then a zip code mostly due to the addition of letters and an extra character in the code. We also have 10% of the US population therefore a Canadian postal code would have a good chance of allowing someone to know where I live (via google maps) whereas a Zip code gives you a big neighbourhood in the US. Therefore I suggest cities and states/provinces/prefectures as they are fairly standardized geographic abstractions which offer sufficient anonymity.

Made an unlisted map here: http://goo.gl/maps/9uxZT

Click EDIT and then you'll see three buttons on the map, one of which is the pin. Click the pin, find your location, pin it, add your forum username.

FWIW, I picked a random spot somewhere near my neighborhood. The pin isn't my exact location, and you don't need to pick your exact location either.

I'm not very familiar with Google's privacy policy etc, but it looks like you need to be logged in to to this, which will attach your Google username to the pin, which in turn will reveal earlier activity (directions on maps, restaurant reviews). Might not be a problem for any of you, just make sure you're comfortable associating your forum identity with your Google account.

I made an account for the purpose of placing my pin

I live under a river bridge! ERE housing problem solved by becoming homeless .

I live in a 1,400 acre park

I used to be plagued by housing costs. But now I live rent free on a highway! Thanks ERE!