Big picture musings

[coreytcallaghan]

I've been rethinking the 'download my data' approach. That is having users download their own data. Here are some thoughts.

Similar to how this guy lays it out, here: https://github.com/sebpardo/myebird.

Pros:
1.) The data is cleaner than using data from the eBird basic dataset
2.) The data has all species seen for a given user who downloads it - even ones not in eBird database
3.) The data is up to date, based on whenever it is downloaded from eBird.

Major Cons:
1.) Big picture, it would require people to download their data from eBird and then upload it to see 'results'

However, a potential major Pro:
1.) However it is downloaded is an automated process by eBird, so that would be the ideal link through which to connect with the eBird database. If they were to allow it.

@wcornwell Maybe you should download your data and upload it to the section in the repo. That would give us two datasets to play with.

[coreytcallaghan]

And, if eBird isn't interested in any of this, it still gives us an avenue to explore on our own.

It would just require to first download their data and then upload it or something to be analysed. This would inevitably turn off some users, but I think the majority of people would be willing to go through the steps to do that.

[coreytcallaghan]

Then, we create a little website with a 'donate here' button for people to donate to help support the programming (i.e., @johnWilshire ).

[coreytcallaghan]

This is followed by us analyzing ALL eBird data, and then looking at a birders' data, who uploads it, and identifying the world gaps (by species/families/etc.). Concomitantly, analyzing flight and travel data to provide birders with the best potential birding trips in which we tell them: "this is the part of the world you should go birding where you'll get the best species/dollar spent".

It is like a Moneyball approach to birdwatching! Hahaha!

Next thing you know, we are looking like this: