Saw this on bluesky
Apple, USA:
Why does it get more embarrassing to be an American every year?
(Hypernormalization and resistance is futile)
I think now is a good moment to switch to openstreetmap.org
i’m so fucking tired
the media, including google, under a fascist regime is an outrage machine. its purpose is to manufacture consent through a mixture of frothing up the right wing base and wearing out the conscious. you are in an endurance race, not a sprint. when you are tired, it is time to rest. disengage from these media streams and do something small and meaningful to help someone
too right. i had disconnected from news completely for a while a week or two ago and the difference in my mental state was noticeable
I’m glad that you recognized it! When you think it’s time to get back into the know, go out of your way to find genuinely positive news. I usually look towards what unions are doing first and go from there
it’s a real challenge to both stay informed and to have enough energy to do anything about it
Im starting to understand John Coffey.
I’ve not read the article, but checking this, it’s actually in the Dutch version as well… Bunch of fuckers.
Here in Sweden as well. Reported an issue with “extra text after “Gulf of Mexico” that should not be there”.
Yeah, I just left a review saying I don’t want American Trump propaganda in my apps, and then just ‘deleted’ (sort of) the thing. Getting rid of Google entirely is going to be difficult, though.
Same here
So weird that they’re changing it for other countries like that since they follow local conventions in general. I hoped not to have to switch email providers but that’s the last Google bandaid to rip off. I wonder how long will it take for Apple to bow down.
From the article:
“When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too,” Google said.
Nothing exceptional is happening on Google’s end. They are following their policy on names as they have before.
It’s demonstrably not true because Maps would be a mess if they followed this policy. Unless „vary between countries” means „vary between countries as long as one of them countries is US”.
What’s an example of a place with conflicting names in different countries that handled differently?
Recent example - Poland renamed Kaliningrad (a territory it owned briefly ages ago) to Królewiec for shits and giggles similar to what Trump did with Gulf of America thing. It shows up as Królewiec in Poland and nowhere else because why would it affect anyone else?
Older example - since Russia annexed Crimea Google Maps in those countries has reflected official borders but for the rest of the world it’s just a dotted line.
You’d probably find a lot of disputed names and borders between India/Pakistan/China where similar stuff happens.
What I’m trying to say that while Google didn’t necessarily follow their own guidelines, their actual priority was to be pragmatic, unobtrusive or invisible. This change is unexpected because it’s very much „in your face” for everyone everywhere.
Collaborators.
NOAA still not “up to date” as of today:
Their days are numbered. I’ll be surprised if they last to March.
The EU needs to pass a law about it appearing in brackets in their territories.
It already does
In the German translation it still says “Golf von Mexiko (Golf von Amerika)”. But still crazy how only one American company seems to be necessary to integrate changes of that geographical magnitude. As dumb as it is, it gets done.
There are other big players for maps that are less visible to end users.
Esri is a GIS firm hired by governments at many levels for map tech.
