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Nicaragua Raids Costa Rica, Blames Google Maps
Garabito writes "An error on Google Maps has caused an international conflict in Central America. A Nicaraguan military commander, relying on Google Maps, moved troops into an area near San Juan Lake along the border between his country and Costa Rica (Google translation of Spanish original). The troops are accused of setting up camp there, taking down a Costa Rican flag and raising the Nicaraguan flag, doing work to clean up a nearby river, and dumping the sediment in Costa Rican territory."
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before stuff like this happened. ;P
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
This is how google takes over the world! Soon there will be a very small dot somewhere in google maps called "googleland", and then over time the borders will expand. But nobody will question it, because it must be right.
how DARE they!
Just get Google Maps to incorrectly show the border, right?
Whatever did we do in the days before Google Maps? Didn't the military used to use paper maps that were actually vetted and verified?
Mark one for incompetence. If you can't afford your own territorial mapping system maybe you shouldn't be in the taking down another countries flag business.
did you forget to take your meds?
Since when there is a need for a realistic excuse, when soldier wanted to play _well_ soldier???
There is precedent for this. For example, ISO approved a standard that redefined leap year calculations to match a bug in Microsoft Excel.
we can't have nice things.
Blame your ignorant, power-hungry, paternalistic military leaders who don't do any fact checking, and don't even care!
What's worse, they destroyed forest in a protected area and dumped the waste in to the river. How stupid and destructive can these guys be?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
We stole countries with the cunning use of flags. Just sail around the world and stick a flag in. "I claim India for Britain!" They're going "You can't claim us, we live here! Five hundred million of us!" "Do you have a flag ? "What? We don't need a flag, this is our home, you bastards" "No flag, No Country, You can't have one! Those are the rules... that I just made up!...and I'm backing it up with this gun, that was lent to me from the National Rifle Association." --Eddie Izzard
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
"(Google translation of Spanish original)."
How can I trust it now?
Google Map is correct, give or take 3000 meters.
Never trust a spiritual leader who cannot dance -- Mr. Miyagi
You know, all things considered, I'm not sure I want to trust a Google translation of the Spanish news article.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Yesterday at noon, a disgruntled google employee disbanded the unit states of america, the territory was renamed to the pants of canada in google maps, rising widespread global confusion.
The white house reacted quickly to solve the problem and re-inaugured obama as the president of the pants of canada.
See, it's stuff like this that's going to give South American military juntas a bad name.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Yes. Have a problem with some people? The U.S. government's solution is to use taxpayer's money to kill them.
That's profitable for weapons investors and U.S. government contractors.
Who is commanding this chicken-shit outfit? Simons? How could they not know something was wrong when they find the wrong flag on the flagpole? "Hey! Those bastards snuck over and put up their flag on our land! This land here...that we never had before..." This sounds like a land grab, and if someone notices, blame Google for a "map error."
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
the bond film?
the bad guy is basically rupert murdoch (played by jonathan pryce)
he brings china and the uk to the brink of war by hacking the gps satellite's signals, making a british warship think it is in international territory when it has actually strayed into chinese waters. launch a few missiles... china thinks the uk is firing on them, the uk thinks china is firing on them: all in a plot to sell more newspapers (well, it is 1997, when newspapers were still relevant)
reality is beginning to resemble the plots of bond movies
i'm waiting for dr. no to become reality
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Comment removed based on user account deletion
... the Commander should maybe have used Bing Maps.
I assume that the commander has seen court martial for his stupidity?
Countries and militaries have their own official maps which they should use, and if he relies on google, then it's his neck on the line.
For a related anecdote - in USSR times *all* the civilian maps were deliberately distorting data, especially in the border areas. I still have the maps and had relatives living there - pretty much all of the sea-side roads in maps were completely wrong, but the same in all maps. Only the military topographical maps showed the true structure - now they're declassified and often used for outdoors activities due to their high resolution and quality, despite being 20 years old now (well, the forest usually doesn't change that fast).
The article looks like an advertisement to me. Just like Verizon vs Att. Here bing/yahoo vs google in the lines of Nigerian scam.
There's a map for that.
"taking down a Costa Rican flag and raising the Nicaraguan flag"
I mean come on really?
"We were just walking along and we tripped, and as we we falling grabbed onto some sort of flag to keep from falling, but it wasn't strong enough so it got ripped down.... luckily I had our own flag in my back pocket, so I thew that up the flag pole just so I wouldn't hit the ground!"
"Then we burned the other flag because it was all broken and shit."
"The we cleaned a river for some reason, and dumped all the dirt and such in another country, er I mean... ah whatever screw you Costa Rica!"
hahaha, now this wasn't marked troll but the other two were. We need moderation on the moderators.
most map makers put flaws like this in on purpose so other map makers don't steal there maps
Don't be evil, my ass!
For instance, in 2002, the UK Royal Marines accidentally invaded Spain, because of a map reading error.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1827554.stm
Hence the old joke: "What's the most dangerous thing in the British Army? -- An officer with a map."
Using Google Translate to read about a Google Maps fuckup. Irony ensues.
What's worse, they destroyed forest in a protected area and dumped the waste in to the river. How stupid and destructive can these guys be?
http://searchengineland.com/nicaragua-raids-costa-rica-blames-google-maps-54885
The troops are accused of setting up camp there, taking down a Costa Rican flag and raising the Nicaraguan flag, doing work to clean up a nearby river, and dumping the sediment in Costa Rican territory.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Today I used Google maps (instead of the official ones, with hopes no one would notice), to justify raiding neighboring land. If General finds out he's gonna be sooo pissed! FML.
- Nicaraguan commander, Eden Pastora
That border area has been under dispute for some time. I'm sure they knew exactly what they were doing.
In fact the entire Guanacaste region used to be part of Nicaragua.
Maybe the Military Commander should have used a different map?
I know the German Army used Michelin Guides when it invaded France in 1940, but google maps?
Please .... Tom Tom would have been a better alternative.
Google misidentifies 5 of the local village around Newton, MA.
It is almost qualifies as military "misinformation"
Invaders will head out to destroy the Dams on the Charles River to flood Cambridge but only find the T station and local shopping area instead.
Waiting for the T will hold up operations for days.
There is. Get an account and volunteer for metamoderation.
Hey slashdot has no right to put onerous regulation on the moderators.
Just like the US government has absolutely no right to put onerous regulation on corporations, or oil companies, or manufacturers, or the rich elite top 3%.
DO you guys see yet why regulation can be good?
Sorry I shouldnt watch pundits in the morning, gets me riled up.
...and that is how Google started World War 3.
I'm not that surprised. Here in Grenada the google maps are still in a developing state. There are roads on the map but none of them are named etc. Google is allowing edits, but the going is slow
Nicaragua did at one point own that portion of land before they gave it up to Costa Rica officially in 1958. http://www.mycostaricalink.com/blog/costa-rica/545/annexation-of-guanacaste-july-25th/
believing the big bang requires a certain amount of supernatural faith
I lived in Nicaragua (Managua) for several years, and I have to say, this doesn't surprise me all that much. Nicaragua is still considered a third-world country, and while it was on the slow up and up in the 90s, it is still a much-mismanaged place in many ways. Although I have no specific knowledge about the Nicaraguan military, I can totally see Google Maps being used both as a free/cheap option or as a justification for the action.
Like one of the first posts said... very limited resources.... combined with completely different cultural attitudes makes this event harder to understand from an outsider's perspective.
And the idea of a Nicaraguan geo-spatial intelligence wing is pretty funny!
They're nothing but trouble, aside from the benefit for the war profiteers and slave trade.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
A classic case of misinformation being worse than no information. However, Google does have a disclaimer on the service about possible errors.
Funny how the first thing that pops into some people's minds is the disclaimers, and possible lawsuits.
Regardless of the disclaimer - I do not think that any country would sue Google for misinformation which lead to a war. The claim would be astronomical... and unrealistic. :-)
It would be hilarious (and stupid) if a foreign company with a free service would be held accountable for military actions.
It shouldn't, but it amazes me how a military force from one country can take action based on information from a free service offered by a company in another country. It boggles the mind.
Typically, these countries have little budget for their military. And military commanders may say that Google maps information - although sometimes wrong - is still better than no information at all.
If you think this is bad, just wait until you hear what happened next with an inadvertent combination of autocomplete and "I'm feeling lucky". There were no survivors.
Pound! Bang! Bin! Bash! is this a shell script or a Batman comic?
"Vikings? There ain't no Vikings here, just us honest farmers. The town was burning, the villagers were dead. They didn't need those sheep anyway. That's our story and we're sticking to it."
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
The recently retired US Navy F14 Tomcat was designed pre-GPS. Those pilots and RIOs stuck with the unmodified aircraft carried commercial GPSs. Same can probably be said for all aircraft designed before 1985?, 1990?, and never retrofitted. The Navy is probably a little sloppier in this respect than the Air Force or Army. From what I saw, the philosophy was: You got 2 engines, 3 tires, and weapons? Fly the mission. Don't worry 'bout them little 'lectronicy things.
From the article:
... An error on google maps has caused an international conflict in Central America ... " ... (Note: I'm using the Google Translation of this original article) ... "
"
And "
Now is that wise given the content of the article?
America, Home of the Brave.
I would think the border in Nicaragua would be well known and would be well-surveyed by now, with accurate GPS coordinates. I don't think it requires a trillion dollars and a level of technology that on the US military can possess. Surveying and finding & marking boundaries is something people have been doing for centuries.
Even getting up to date maps to the military shouldn't be that hard -- maps with well-marked borders are probably one of the most important tools for any military, even the Nicaraguan military.
What doesn't surprise me, though, is that some Nicaraguan field commander was too ignorant/lazy to bother with paper maps.
Clearly you've thought this through.
Since actual topo maps can be COMPARED with most-recent Google photos, it's practical to get useful info FROM THE PHOTOS.
(Just take a screencap of the satellite view, I do this all the time when giving people directions.)
BUT, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use a verified military topo MAP for military ops. It's as basic as it can get.
Get map, get pics, laminate both (maps get wet), premark known points on the photos, bring all of it to the mission.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
A very brief search turns up at least two previous stories dating back to the 80's regarding this territory.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/812488.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/150087.stm
I concur. This wasn't a mistake. Map & compass has worked well for a long, long time. Soldiers were able to navigate the jungles long before the arrival of GPS, Google Maps, and checkin apps. In a country like Nicaragua that has a small military budget, land navigation training has to be part of the core training, at least for NCOs, and certainly for officers. I can't think of a single nation that has done away with land nav training; doing so would be like forgoing marksmanship training.
The only other explanation is that the guy in charge of the mission was a complete incompetent, and his subordinates either weren't paying attention or didn't have the balls to tell him he was fucking up.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
They would merge and the people of current Nicaragua would throw out their military ... completely. From what little I know of both countries, the cultures are very similar and the geography is similar, and the religious beliefs are too so the people will get along just fine.
Costa Rica has much more development, clean drinking water everywhere that I've visited and internet access in places that you wouldn't expect.
These are two of the best places to visit if you love rice and beans. I spend a few weeks in CR and honestly, I didn't eat rice or beans for 6 months after getting back home. 2 out of 3 meals a day included rice and bean. The Ticos who I met, actually thanked me for KFC and McDs which gives them exciting food choices and flavors compared to the normal diet eaten. ;)
Just a reminder - Costa Rica doesn't have a military. That is a point of pride to citizens.
Yep, the new country of Costa Nico would be a good step for the region AND the world.
Bush is kicking himself right now for not thinking of that excuse.
Table-ized A.I.
Didn't even bother to check the absolute source of truth, Wikipedia. Newbies.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
I've seen National Guard troops that are assigned to assist US Border Patrol along the U.S./Mexico border using screen-prints from Google. Sure they have access to better maps, but the user interface and ease of adding GPS points is so much easier with Google that they print their own maps and use these rather than the paper maps provided by the government.
They have official maps that both countries agree on, yet the military moron uses an unauthorized map to run his little maneuver. Something that has been standard for centuries is that countries know they have to make border agreements using same freaking maps because all the many different versions out there have conflicting info. This really isn't a new protocol the military idiot ignored, and yes, it is something the military is in on, not just the head honchos in the capital.
Ok, so now the bozos from another country camp in your territory and replace your flag, that really pisses off countries, but what did they do?
They cleaned up one of your rivers and left the trash in a pile, still in your territory. What, should they have taken the trash back to their country? Naw, you'd probably blame them for stealing your trash if they did that.
All in all, it's something that will surely infuriate the politicians and military, but other than that, it's a total meeting of the morons...
Don't they know that liquor's quicker?
Watching our local and state election campaigns unfold, I saw numerous, very negative adds on TV made by third parties. It occured to me that the negative adds were paid for by establishment types trying to protect their status quo. I'm not particularly fond of the status quo in politics right now so I decided to not vote for the lesser of two evils like the establishment wanted but for the greater of two evils! Honestly nobody can be as evil as the PAC commercials make out the other guy to be. The next person I vote for for president is going to be the kind of person that clubs baby harp seals to death, trips little old ladies as they push their walkers down the isle and eats Sweetbread and Fava beans in front of Hanable Lecter without sharing; at least according to the PACs
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
We actually run our nuclear facilities on Windows 2000 (WinNT 5) and soldiers plan faux invasions on the facilities to test the security using Google Maps beforehand. Be assured, I have personally protested on both accounts and I was told to shutup. They also refuse to use encryption, practice safe coding practices, or use strong passwords on any of their machines. By law they are not allowed to use WiFi at the facilities, but they do anyways. There are a lot of problems with how we've got it set up, and it's a ticking time bomb. In fact, there is a UAV project which used USGS maps because the U.S. military refused to give them any real ones of a little area in the middle east of some importance. It really is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, and not wanting to know really.
It does keep me up at nights sometimes.
So at first they blame google maps for putting them in the wrong area, so whats the excuse for dumping the waste over in Costa Rica then? They knew what "their side" was according to the google maps, yet they dumped the waste over in the Costa Rican side. Although had they left it, obviously its still correctly in Costa Rica, but they didnt know that at the time - or were playing dump. Why not clean up the waste?
OB: Penny Arcade:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20020819h.gif
Yep... Only pirates, criminals, and smugglers need borders
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Depending on whose maps as original source documents for Google maps was, that Google at least played a significant part in this international incident. I would kindly suggest that Google do an in depth review of their Google Maps App and in the doing of same, insure that they are using accurate original source data. In the mean time, Google would better serve the world if for a time they took down Google maps so as not to be a cause of potential cause of future incidents such as this one lest someone get injured of killed as a result unnecessarily.
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 284k members/stakeholders strong!) "Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
"I seem to be having this tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle"