Emergency request for funding help -supercharge.info

[jbcarioca]

Many of us already know that @Blushift has had to take supercharge.info off the air because of dramatic increase in operating costs. Most of us use that site almost every week, some more often.

Please make contributions now! The fund link is below. Ignore the target amount and give all you can. We really ned to help @BlueShift now or risk losing the site forever.

We all use it every day, and we need to give to support it.
(If this sounds like an NPR pitch, so be it. I would sorely miss supercharge.info. If you would too, give now!)

We all help crowdsource some of the most relevant data about Supercharger permitting, building, activation and status that @BlueShift uses. He's doing all this without much financial help from us, the beneficiaries. That must change now if the site is to go back on the air.

PLEASE give


BlueShift's Fund - Supercharge.info by Carl Saxton - GoFundMe

 

[Chuq]

it's also important to point out that the cost increase is due a change in the way Google Maps charges for API access in the last couple of months. Blueshift has said he had enough in the kitty to cover it but the real assistance he needs is with coding another mapping provider (e.g. OpenStreetMap or other) into the site. If you can help visit: Code

Also - only the map part is offline - the rest is still accessible using the links across the top of the site.

 

[BlueShift]

Wow, was amazed by the generosity when that gofundme campaign was first started in February 2015 and am amazed again today. I will use the additional $1300 that has been donated so far to re-enable the map again immediately (with some preliminary changes to reduce cost--most visible is that map is no longer the initial/landing page). Donations made so far will get things back to normal while working on a longer term solution.

As Chuq mentioned above one possibility is replacing google maps with another provider. Have played around with that a bit, and everything else seems very limited in comparison. We'll see, stay tuned. Source is now here for anyone that wants to contribute code/features going forward: kdwink/supercharge.info

 

[rohan_aus]

Wow, was amazed by the generosity when that gofundme campaign was first started in February 2015 and am amazed again today. I will use the additional $1300 that has been donated so far to re-enable the map again immediately (with some preliminary changes to reduce cost--most visible is that map is no longer the initial/landing page). Donations made so far will get things back to normal while working on a longer term solution.

As Chuq mentioned above one possibility is replacing google maps with another provider. Have played around with that a bit, and everything else seems very limited in comparison. We'll see, stay tuned. Source is now here for anyone that wants to contribute code/features going forward: kdwink/supercharge.info

Just donated a little bit to help out! Excellent website, use it all the time!

 

[4SUPER9]

I'm in.

 

[MikeBur]

@BlueShift, @ericwol did great job dealing with teslawaze is similar situation porting google maps to open street maps iirc. Might have some pointers for port.

 

[KJD]

Just donated a little bit to help out! Excellent website, use it all the time!

Same here.

 

[Pluto]

Of course I’m helping out, very glad to have the site!

 

[MP3Mike]

I would prefer that any money be spent on moving Supercharge.info off of Google maps to a different mapping platform. Google should not be rewarded for screwing over people. (Sure they should be able to charge a reasonable amount, but it doesn't seem like that is what they are doing.)

 

[jbcarioca]

I would prefer that any money be spent on moving Supercharge.info off of Google maps to a different mapping platform. Google should not be rewarded for screwing over people. (Sure they should be able to charge a reasonable amount, but it doesn't seem like that is what they are doing.)

Rather than disagree with my pitch, I think you might note Insaid nothing about whether or not Google should remain the source. Obviously GOOG thinks they can get away with higher prices. I do not know enough to have an opinion on that subject, but I’m certain that @BlueShift needs greater financial resources in order to evaluate the options and execute the best one.

 

[BlueShift]

Above is a snapshot of daily cost over time. The experiment of re-enabling the map for one day cost $19. For that $19 we got 2,220 map interactions; 1,102 directions interactions (routes); and 834 places interactions (usages of the "Search for Location" feature, or "nearby" feature).

Someone suggested adding forum links to changes page. I did that just now. Suspect that will have a big impact as a common usage pattern was: Arrive at map tab, navigate to changes tab, click on interesting change (which takes you back to the map), then click the "discuss" link on that site's info window. So two map interactions. Same can now be done with zero map interactions.

Goal is to get that blue line to a level that is clearly supportable via subscription or at least a level that isn't painful if it turns out I have to write the code for another map provider and it takes a couple months.

 

[jbcarioca]

Above is a snapshot of daily cost over time. The experiment of re-enabling the map for one day cost $19. For that $19 we got 2,220 map interactions; 1,102 directions interactions (routes); and 834 places interactions (usages of the "Search for Location" feature, or "nearby" feature).

Someone suggested adding forum links to changes page. I did that just now. Suspect that will have a big impact as a common usage pattern was: Arrive at map tab, navigate to changes tab, click on interesting change (which takes you back to the map), then click the "discuss" link on that site's info window. So two map interactions. Same can now be done with zero map interactions.

Goal is to get that blue line to a level that is clearly supportable via subscription or at least a level that isn't painful if it turns out I have to write the code for another map provider and it takes a couple months.

Thanks for that enlightening data. For me, at least, I think a modest subscription would be quite appropriate. Many users might think everything should be free, but this one is not one such, in my view. After all the primary source for some of the most valuable data is input from TMC members that is the primary reliable source of construction status reports (at least in those areas of the world where TMC members actively file their findings). As much as we might lament Google Maps price increases, it is really clever to have reduced map interactions as you have done. The raw data works fine for anybody who is accustomed to old-fashioned data presentation, and most of us probably are. Those pretty maps do allow easy visual summaries of things like: Can one travel from Chengdu to Lhasa on Superchargers alone or is the infamous I-10 gap finally gone (it is!).

Anyway @BlueShift thanks for making our lives easier and our Supercharger addictions more pleasant to manage.

Lastly, if you choose to transition to a subscription model I think it would be beneficial to expand to include Destination Chargers. So long as Supercharge.info remains accessible for free, I suspect that might be a step too far. You might even have a tiered model with some information free.

 

[MarcoRP]

Thanks blueshift this! (forum links)

 

[pkodali]

@BlueShift One more change that could let you decrease map interactions: As far as I know of, there isn;t an easy way to see the details for a supercharger in the permit or construction page without going to the map. How hard would it be to allow a click on the changes page and have some info thing slide out to give the details for the site without having to open the map

 

[tmoz]

Is it possible to save a link such that the changes tab can be bookmarked with the Region and/or Country specified?
I just changed my bookmark from the "Map" tab to the "Changes" tab. would be nice not to have to select Region/Country each time.
I don't know if that helps in anyway, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[BlueShift]

Is it possible to save a link such that the changes tab can be bookmarked with the Region and/or Country specified?
I just changed my bookmark from the "Map" tab to the "Changes" tab. would be nice not to have to select Region/Country each time.
I don't know if that helps in anyway, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

If you create an account and login your selected region and country are saved. It is only necessary to login once per computer.

 

[BlueShift]

After some additional changes the burn rate is now down to about $10/day. Better but not great. Still working as time permits.

 

[BlueShift]

@BlueShift One more change that could let you decrease map interactions: As far as I know of, there isn;t an easy way to see the details for a supercharger in the permit or construction page without going to the map. How hard would it be to allow a click on the changes page and have some info thing slide out to give the details for the site without having to open the map

Yep, still have to go to the map to see stall count, for instance. Have long wanted a page dedicated to to each site with that detail, change history, possibility to upload photos. If anyone here has JavaScript experience, and some free time for a project over the upcoming holidays, source code is now on github. Three year ago I would have just said, "hmm, let me do that tonight between 12am and 3am". Now I have responsibilities like taking the kids to a pumpkin patch tomorrow to consider.

 

[paulkva]

I wouldn't say I wrote the cleanest code, but I have a couple small enhancements working locally and will try to get a pull request submitted in the next couple days.

 

[paulkva]

@BlueShift merged the changes and deployed the code -- thanks! Note that the "gmap" links (also available on the Data page) go directly to Google Maps and shouldn't count toward supercharge.info's API usage. The downside of using those links is if you zoom out, you won't also see all the other superchargers on the same map. But I do hope the extra detail and map link further reduce the monthly fees.