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Show HN: A map that tells you if a NYC cafe has WiFi, a restroom, and an outlet
I am slowly adding more locations now. This is intended to be a crowdsourced map. Everyone is welcome to add more locations and provide comments/votes here.
Free people from going to a cafe for work only to leave because there's no wifi, restroom, or outlet!!
Demo:
https://x.com/KSeisai/status/1708273554041504028?s=20 https://x.com/KSeisai/status/1708273554041504028?s=20
- parker_mountain 3y agoMy Macbook has 18 hours of battery, my phone has unlimited tethering. Just make a bathroom map lol.
- Kevcmk 3y agoBad take
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Larrikin 3y agohttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=toilet.samruston.com.toilet https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=toilet.samrust... I have had it on my phone for years and has been accurate when I used it. The biggest issue is forgetting it is on my phone when I am in a rush to find a bathroom.
- lucb1e 3y agoThe description doesn't say, do you know where that app gets its data from? The map background and routing instructions from screenshots are from Google, but I'd be surprised if Google collects toilet data, lets you query that via an API, yet doesn't show that in their own app. Does this app have its own database, or is there some third party that collects an overview of these? Based on the properties it shows for a toilet in a screenshot, it could be OSM, but then some reviews complain that there is no field for "last checked" yet OSM supports that (check_date=YYYY-MM-DD) so either that's not it or they don't parse/show that field
- asimova 3y agohere you go ;) http://m3.mappler.net/nyrestroom/ http://m3.mappler.net/nyrestroom/
- willsmith72 3y ago18 hours doing what?
- saagarjha 3y agoPosting on Hacker News of course
- parker_mountain 3y agoHonestly, whatever the heck I want! If I really tax it, i can maybe bring it down to 12 hours.
- mahogany 3y agoTry running Docker Desktop, it’ll be gone in no time!
- willsmith72 3y agoToo true
- bdcravens 3y agoPerhaps I'm naive, but I trust my tethering more than public wifi.
- scubbo 3y agoGood God, I've wanted this for the Bay Area for years. How can I help make that happen? EDIT: oh, it's not just NYC-specific, it's possible to add locations elsewhere. Awesome - I've bookmarked it, and will start contributing next time I'm out-and-about!
- asimova 3y agoI just made one for SF! https://www.octobrain.one/maps/IXoBBQDnBYXpTa3iN7G4 https://www.octobrain.one/maps/IXoBBQDnBYXpTa3iN7G4
- asimova 3y agoJust added to this map! If enough Bay Area cafes (more than 5) get added to this map, I'll change the title to 'NYC + Bay Area Trigood Cafe' ;D Reply to Edit: Yeahhhhhh
- School-Cotton 3y agoYou can’t change titles on HM, @dang or another moderator has to manually intervene.
- tjbiddle 3y agoI expect very simply! Looks like you could add locations anywhere in the world to the 'NYC' map should you really want. It'd be up to OP to split that up into different cities. Personally, I feel just having it be global and allowing people to zoom in is best.
- asimova 3y agofor sure, technically you can click the zoom out button on top right of the map to view the entire map. I'll let people to create their own maps in the future if there's enough interest.
- SushiHippie 3y agoFor example, San Francisco also already has many cafés listed with internet access on OpenStreetMap: https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1BeS https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1BeS
- generalpf 3y agoThis would be really useful for the homeless. Nice job!
- networkchad 3y ago[dead]
- anaganisk 3y agoIf thats sarcasm, Homeless are not human?
- LeoPanthera 3y agoWouldn't this be better suited as metadata for OpenStreetMap? I'm sure at least some of these things are already metadata fields there.
- asimova 3y agoCertainly, I'm just trying to use this feature to indirectly promote my app lol (also would like to have full control over UI/UX I guess...)
- LeoPanthera 3y agoWhy don’t you use the OpenStreetMap data as the backend for your app? You could then submit updates back to OSM.
- asimova 3y agoWhy would OpenStreetMap be a better solution than using Google Map apis?
- SushiHippie 3y ago1. Everyone can contribute, like wikipedia (except no edits without account like wikipedia has, we can't have nice things) 2. Way more metadata about places, something you'll never find on google. 3. It's free 4. You can get complete data dumps if you want to. 5. It's not from an ad company/No tracking
- SushiHippie 3y agoAlso, if you contribute the data back to OpenStreetMap, many more people will benefit from it, even if they don't know your app. There are so many applications/APIs/services which use OpenStreetMap, which would benefit from more people updating/contributing data to OpenStreetMap.
- lucb1e 3y ago
- SushiHippie 3y agoWhy did you create something custom instead of contributing to open streetmaps and using the data from there? https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:internet_access https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:internet_access Checked on overpass turbo and there is already a large amount of cafes listed with internet access: https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1BeP https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1BeP
- asimova 3y agoUI/UX, the ease of use + aesthetically pleasing to look at. :D
- DanAtC 3y agoYou can still provide all this while contributing to and using the data
- kyawzazaw 3y agoSome people just want to make one of their own and I think it’s good
- neilv 3y agoAdditional OpenStreetMap Tags&Keys: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity%3Dcafe https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity%3Dcafe https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity%3Dtoilets https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity%3Dtoilets https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:power_supply https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:power_supply One can always make creative frontends for OpenStreetMap data, while participating in the shared crowdsourcing.
- 0x008 3y agoOverpass is great, thanks for sharing that.
- jbotdev 3y agoAnecdotally, I’ve noticed most cafes in NYC with more than a handful of seats have a bathroom (even if they hide it) and WiFi. Outlets are pretty much everywhere, it’s more a matter of whether you can get a seat next to one.
- benguild 3y agoa friend and I tried to launch a startup around this a number of years back with really nice mobile apps, and he has a web/Git-based incarnation of something similar going here now: https://cafeandcowork.com https://cafeandcowork.com
- seltzered_ 3y agoVaguely remember one called 'coffee & power': https://alternativeto.net/software/coffee-and-power/about/ https://alternativeto.net/software/coffee-and-power/about/
- benguild 3y agoyeah there have been a few of these. ours was https://cafewifi.com https://cafewifi.com … these projects require a lot of effort and we tried a bunch of ideas, but ultimately had to call it quits after a while on that one
- greenSunglass 3y agoI use that one everyday
- kazinator 3y agoHow about: free cafes from people sitting there, working.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y agoPresumably you mean cafes free from leeches taking up all the seating, after buying one coffee per day. +1 for that
- kyriakos 3y agoI find it surprising that there are cafés without restrooms. In many countries if you have at least one table you are required to have a restroom to be given a license to operate your business.
- rcstank 3y agoWhy is it a requirement?
- Scoundreller 3y agoHaving a place to wash your hands is one stated idea of why they're usually required in Canada. I'm sure governments like the idea of not having to build-out public bathroom infrastructure (which gets a lot harder in places that freeze).
- kalleboo 3y ago> Having a place to wash your hands Here (Japan) places that need hand-washing but don't have a toilet will just have a small sink. E.g. a fast food place in a mall where they don't have their own toilets: https://saga-style.jp/images/2573/files/251552529081.JPG https://saga-style.jp/images/2573/files/251552529081.JPG Convenience store: https://blog-imgs-65.fc2.com/d/a/i/daiwariki/20140731_2.jpg https://blog-imgs-65.fc2.com/d/a/i/daiwariki/20140731_2.jpg https://uttan.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0332.jpg https://uttan.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0332.jpg https://chie-pctr.c.yimg.jp/dk/iwiz-chie/que-1087926330?w=200&h=200&up=0 https://chie-pctr.c.yimg.jp/dk/iwiz-chie/que-1087926330?w=20...
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago>Having a place to wash your hands My favorite regional 'fast food joint' is "Cookout" (NC/Tenn). Not only is the Big Double Tray a fantastic & delicious value... they have a hand-washing sink immediately next to the ordering line (so you can wash your hands while waiting). More places need such accessible facilities.
- 3y ago
- vlz 3y agoCool project, I wanted to contribute for my city but clicking on Sign In. "Continue with Google" seems to be the only option. That made me sad and leave. I know implementing auth is a hassle and might well take more time than adding the map, but it would be nice to have some option beside "Login with Advertising Giant account"
- asimova 3y agototally a valid point, was focusing on building the product so didn't think too much about the email signup, will allow regular email sign ups soon!
- Exoristos 3y agoThe homeless are getting pretty tech-savvy huh?
- kjgarza 3y agoThe iToilet?
- ShadowBanThis01 3y agohttps://www.theonion.com/new-e-toilet-to-revolutionize-online-shitting-1819565332 https://www.theonion.com/new-e-toilet-to-revolutionize-onlin...
- ShadowBanThis01 3y agoCall it E-Hobo.
- MarcusE1W 3y agoA stupid question from a non native English speaker. What’s an outlet with regards to a Café?
- mlex 3y agoPower outlets so you can charge your laptop/phone.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fifilura 3y agoIs public WiFi a thing in NY these days? In Sweden you'd just sit down and use your phone as a proxy. It is usually much faster, and also much safer. I live in a smaller town. Maybe the crowdiness of Manhattan is the issue?
- jrmg 3y agoThe issue is the lack of cheap phone plans that allow tethering. And even the more expensive ones that do often have low data caps.
- f1refly 3y agoWhy would a provider forbid tethering? And besides the why, how would they even know you're doing that? If I turn on my phones hotspot, doesn't that look exactly like my phone is doing something™ requiring a high bandwidth?
- eloisant 3y agoBecause they want to charge you for the expensive "tethering" option. I know, that's fucked up but the US are not very good at forcing consumer-friendliness on their companies. On the "how they detect it", unless you're using a VPN they can look at the traffic and easy distinguish "computer traffic" from regular "phone traffic".
- inemesitaffia 3y agoTTL, traffic use amounts. Domains not available to mobile apps. your phone tells the network and sometimes implements the restrictions itself
- __jonas 3y agoVery annoyingly, the iPhone also has a way for the carrier to somehow disable the mobile hotspot feature of the phone for their sim. On the mobile hotspot settings page it will just show a message with a link to the carriers website instead of the toggle to enable it, I find it really annoying since as you said I don't understand how there would be a difference in what the usage would look like to the carrier and it feels like Apple is imposing a restriction just for the benefit of the carrier that makes the phone less usable.
- JSavageOne 3y agoI started building something like this last year, but eventually stopped working on it https://nomadz.app/ https://nomadz.app/ I still like the concept. But it feels tough to compete with Google Maps in the geo-information / review space. If Google Maps just added a more robust reviewing feature (eg. wifi speed) and metadata (outlets), then there wouldn't be a need for our projects. Also individually there is inherently no incentive to share some gem of a coffee shop you found with limited seating capacity to strangers on the internet. I had some ideas to work around that, but it's something that really needs to be addressed. It's amazing anyone even bothers to write reviews for any sites (except as a favor to a nice person, or out of revenge for terrible service) given that none of the platforms really incentivize it, which is a shame. As much flack as social media sites get, I do believe there is space for it in this domain - which I guess Google Maps is sort of starting to adopt but Google is just horrendously terrible at trying to do anything in the social media space or UI/UX-related (eg. like a bunch of CS nerds trying to create a women's fashion blog).
- pietervdvn 3y agoSuch a niche map is something that is very hard to pull of. You need a community of millions to contribute geodata, so if such a map is not based on OpenStreetMap, it is destined to whither after a few years. But, don't fret. This is precisely why I made https://mapcomplete.org https://mapcomplete.org, where you can create niche maps based on OpenStreetMap. This jumpstarts general information but has the possibility to add very niche questions. The added bonus is that, when you add e.g. a cafe, it'll be available in all other maps as well. For this topic, I've added a filter to filter on 'has internet access'. I also added the question if a cafe offers electricity, but those haven't been marked in NYC yet; so here is a map with all cafes offering internet access: https://mapcomplete.org/cafes_and_pubs.html?z=9.8&lat=40.69748&lon=-73.9793&filter-cafe_pub-has_internet=true# https://mapcomplete.org/cafes_and_pubs.html?z=9.8&lat=40.697... Browsing can be done without an account, contributing requires an OSM-account.
- DonHopkins 3y agoEver since getting an M1 Macbook Pro, I don't care if there aren't any outlets, because the battery life is so great! Now I can sit anywhere I want, including outside in a park under a tree. And I just plug in my phone via usb and keep it charged while using its flat rate unlimited data for internet. Works just fine! And anyway, now most of the coffeeshops in Amsterdam lock up their plugs and have pay stations for recharging phones (for those damn instagramming tourists).
- mike503 3y agoJohn Wilson would have loved this!
- gorenb 3y agoSomeone should do this for the boston area.
- sourcegrift 3y agoOn that note, what is the fastest way to make an app that just allows multiple signed in users to mark something on the map? I'd like to make an app that marks all public hand-pumps in India. My hope is that this would increase the hygiene in my country.
- asimova 3y agoI build it in about 2 days with ChatGPT, totally doable. tech stack Nextjs + Typescript + Google Map Api (I use react-google-maps/api package which is much more user friendly).
- 1970-01-01 3y agoIf George Costanza made an app, this would be it.