Student spends 500 hours mapping Kazakh hometown
With the help of Googleâs Map Maker, a graphic design student at the University of Minnesota managed to map his Kazakh hometown of Shakhtinsk. Kyril Negoda, 23, noted that the entire Kazakhstan âconsidered the ninth largest country in the worldâ had very little detail on its online map when he checked on it two years ago. âI just want to know where Iâm going when Iâm in Kazakhstan. And I wanted to give something back to the country," Negoda said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio. Using Google Map Maker âwhere citizen cartographers can edit or add mapsâ Negoda invested some 500 hours in mapping his hometown. Negoda, who loved maps as a child, initially contributed to the map using his memory as a child, then used satellite imagery and a network of volunteers inside Kazakhstan. The MPR quoted Google geospatial scientist Ed Parsons who said Googleâs Map Maker is the natural evolution of Web mapping. âIt recognizes that the experts are the people who live there," said Parsons. Meanwhile, Negoda has also turned his attention to the Twin Cities as well, adding to Google Maps the tiniest Minneapolis parks. He also mapped the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, which used to be just a blob on Google Maps. âYouâre never done mapping," he said. â TJD, GMA News