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Wrecking Crew Demolishes Wrong Housing Duplex Following Google Maps Error (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A demolition company has leveled the wrong housing duplex after one of its employees was misled by a Google Maps error. Instead of bringing down a house destroyed by a tornado in Rowlett, Texas at 7601 Cousteau Drive, the wrecking crew demolished another home at 7601 and 7603 Calypso Drive, a block away. Owners of the second house were waiting for their house to be repaired, since it didn't suffer major damages in the tornado. The demolition company's CEO dismissed the incident as "not a big deal." The wrecking crew used Google Maps to find the house to demolish because they were brought in from a neighboring town, but failed to double-check with a neighbor before starting their work. A Google engineer confirmed that Google Maps was showing the wrong information.
Same physical street, with different street names for different sections. As an ex-taxi driver I can confirm that, regardless of the kind of map you are using, it is very easy to find the wrong address. There should have been a second, more reliable, identifier for the demolition, eg: a demolition notice pinned to the front door.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Given that it was a house with floors ripped out, parts of the ceiling and roof missing completely open to the sky I'm going to assume that anything that was still in the house probably had zero value as a result and it really was not a big deal. Providing the house gets rebuilt. The demo guys may have even done them a favour. Large scale repairs are often harder and take longer than groundup rebuilds.
But then everyone in this discussion seems to be making a lot of assumptions including TFA which claims a suit is likely because of what the CEO said instead of what the company has done.
I think you're correct, which is why in my neck of the woods you can't just roll up to a house, say, "this looks like it", and start tearing it down. You need to get a permit.
The permit application requires a photo of the house you intend to take down. You have to prove you know what you're doing, e.g., that you've had the utilities, especially gas turned off. You have to have a pest control company eradicate any rats nesting in the structure that might move onto adjacent properties. You've got to notify the police and fire department well in advance and if they determine there is a public risk or nuisance you've got to pay for a police and/or fire detail. Then you've got to notify all the abutters by certified ail and post a demolition notice on the actual structure to be demolished seven days in advance.
Yeah, it's a lot of rigamarole, and I'm sure people in much of the rest of the country can't imagine living under that much regulation. On the other hand, we can't imagine having our house demolished by mistake. And somehow developers still manage to make a living, so I don't think it's too much to ask..
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It was a Russian proverb they taught HIM.
You're right that it was a Russian proverb, but it was taught to him by one of his advisors. He would say it repeatedly whenever he met with the Russians just so they didn't get any sneaky ideas.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
There's a difference between driving a car and knowing where to go.
Currently, Google's self-driving car depends on creating a very detailed 3d map of the world. More detail here. I don't like to link to Wired, but they got an exclusive interview, and it confirms what I just wrote. So no, practically there isn't a difference.
So for a self-driving car to work, there are two choices: either figure out how to make better maps, or create a much smarter car than the one they have now. It has to work a lot better than the Google maps currently does.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."