I made some good use of HappyCow.net to find a vegan meal in a hurry when traveling overseas. I've even used it sometimes when out and about around Aotearoa, where I'm more familiar with the options. But I'm trying to use it today and finding it somewhat awkward.
For one thing, tapping on a listing opens a new tab, then doesn't return to the list when I press the back button. Which is hardly a dealbreaker, but it's not great UX.
(1/?)
HappyCow.net seems to have dependencies on Goggle Maps too. Which is weird, because on the pages listing the details of eateries, it seems to use Leaflet to display data from OpenStreetMap.
Maybe what I'm seeing is the artifacts of legacy code that only shows up on FF-based browsers or something? But I feel a bit ambushed every time I see it try to pull JavaScript from Goggle.
(2/?)
The HappyCow.net site promotes their app, which is probably proprietary, and certainly not available in F-Droid. Which is a shame.
I'm curious to know if it's just the typical companion app for most websites; a dumb browser that can only open one site. If so, a PWA would do the job.
It would be much more useful if it stores the database of eateries locally, updating it when it can (with a choice of WiFi updates only), enabling searches where there's no net connection.
(3/3)
@strypey
i just made a #leaflet-based map of diet:vegan=only places if you'd like to try.
https://theliberationpledge.com/map
i tried some of the other ones, but they were so heavy they crashed my browser, even viewing just one country, so i tried to make this one more snappy.
@strypey
yes, it's just the places tagged diet:vegan=only on openstreetmap.
open source javascript, open data. so you can edit with vespucci or streetcomplete, etc.
but i cache the data to not overload the overpass server, and to make it faster.
the json with all vegan places in the world is just 2MB so it's all just included in the page, rather than sending server queries for map regions like happycow does.
@pelle
> just the places tagged diet:vegan=only on openstreetmap
Brilliant!
> the json with all vegan places in the world is just 2MB so it's all just included in the page
Seems sensible.
> rather than sending server queries for map regions like happycow does
HC seems to be yet another example of well-meaning not-for-profits hiring marketing pod people instead of hacktivists to build their tech : (
Attached: 2 images 💚🐮 På #HappyCow kan du let se hvilke dyrplagerrestauranter, der også har #veganske valgmuligheder. 💢🐷 Men har du givet #AngryPig et kig? Et verdenskort over helt #veganske steder. Et #OpenSource kort baseret på #OpenStreetMap. https://theliberationpledge.com/map/ 🌱💳 Det er vigtigt at støtte #veganske virksomheder, hvor #veganere kan arbejde uden at skulle stege lig på bestilling. 🍴🍖 Tag #LiberationPledge i dag og sig #nej til spisebord fyldt med #dyremishandling.
Strypey
brainwashed by lentils