Google freaks me out sometimes

[boredsilly]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Nope. Lancaster, CA. Nothing but meth and Northrop

...and crime.

...and the singing road

Apparently, MapQuest is trying to kill you. I'm glad you made it out of there alive considering that areas crime rate. I lived there for most of my life and finally escaped last year to the mid-west.

Once MapQuest sent me to the middle of nowhere just outside of Lancaster. It was trying to get me to a testing center at a small airport but instead it indicated I needed to go down a dirt road for a mile. Since I had enough time and didn't know where else to go, I decided to do it. It ended up being a small farm house where the old guy knew exactly where the testing center was. MapQuest was off by over a freakin mile. Thankfully, Google Maps has been pretty accurate or I'd need to get a GPS.

[IamReck]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

I wish Google had an Incognito mode, just like Chrome.

If you use that URL for searching they don't store any information on you your search. Even though you can manage your Web History settings. They add lots of basically pointless cool stuff why not that?

[Greyhatter]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Scrapple and Root Bier.

I wondered how that was spelt in Lancastershire.

[Mr.Shadow]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Google built a new data server place near where I live.It looks very intresting I say.

[SarperDomain]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

On the same note.. does anyone have any company policies about using gmail/Google Calendar, or any of the other Google apps for company data?

I work for a government agency (that will remain nameless), and when I helped write the Security Policies manual we unanimously decided to make it unlawful to access or use Google, MSN, Yahoo, or any other personal ISP at work. Searches are done through a secure Government search portal provided by the DoD. Email is also provided by the DoD.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

i, too, am a Google Maps fan (when i'm not using MapPoint on my laptop in the car with no internet available) and have found it more reliable than mapquest.

the only times things have been sort of "off" tended to be on rural roads where the "blocks" are nonexistent and a certain numerical address is maybe an extra mile along further than Google thought. i've never wound up in a totally wrong place, however.

One other thing that Google does really well (at least for me) is interpret the "vanity" names of certain towns and neighborhoods. Like, if someone says they live in Evesham, NJ... that's technically not a town at all, just some bullshit municipal sub-division of a place that writes awful traffic tickets (it's an infamous part of south jersey)

Now, the postal service might honor "Evesham" but some mapping tools don't. Google will take a half-decent stab at what the person meant and often get it right on addresses like that.

[YenTheFirst]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

I usually use google maps. The only time I've had trouble with it, It thought an Olive Garden was in the middle of some subdivision. (Perhaps the street name was the same?). Using the satellite view, however, I was able to tell, before any driving happened. We just called and asked for directions.

[noid]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Nope. Lancaster, CA. Nothing but meth and Northrop

[streaker69]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Last time I used MapQuest, I ended up in the desert outside of Lancaster, CA looking for a community college that was on the other side of the valley. By the time i realized I was fooked, I was a good 30 miles off course. Luckily I was billing for my travel or the whole thing would have sucked.

Too bad it didn't direct ya to Lancaster, PA you could have stopped by here for some Scrapple and Root Bier.

[noid]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

You mean Mapquest actually got directions correct? I have yet to actually see that. Every single time I've seen directions from them they've had at least 1 turn wrong, and that 1 turn is normally so far from your start point that there's no way you'd know it was wrong.

Last time I used MapQuest, I ended up in the desert outside of Lancaster, CA looking for a community college that was on the other side of the valley. By the time i realized I was fooked, I was a good 30 miles off course. Luckily I was billing for my travel or the whole thing would have sucked.

[Greyhatter]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

You mean Mapquest actually got directions correct? I have yet to actually see that. Every single time I've seen directions from them they've had at least 1 turn wrong, and that 1 turn is normally so far from your start point that there's no way you'd know it was wrong.

I've done well with it but I've only used it for the hard ones. Most of the time a regular map suffices. I was using Map Quest last year in the mid summer when the usual map could not approach the detail I needed to get to my destination in a real dead man's land. I wonder if they have upgraded to GPS mapping on searches which may explain improvements?

[streaker69]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Map Quest is freaky too. To locate a school buddy living so far out in the sticks I had to use Map Quest. His directions were good but too many veer left, veer right 60 ft past the red barn and tall maple. I just plugged in his mailing address and Map Quest outputs distance, time, direction, feet and miles to next turn and of course the fastest direct route right to his driveway.

My sticks buddy was in shock when I showed him the MQ printouts and right on the spot he said "That's scary.. I don't want people to be able to find me that easily". Ain't dat the case!

You mean Mapquest actually got directions correct? I have yet to actually see that. Every single time I've seen directions from them they've had at least 1 turn wrong, and that 1 turn is normally so far from your start point that there's no way you'd know it was wrong.

[bascule]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

http://www.google.com/psearch

not quite exactly what you were saying, but pretty close.

This looks like what I was looking for:

http://www.google.com/ig/directory?u...ting_items.xml

[Greyhatter]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

Map Quest is freaky too. To locate a school buddy living so far out in the sticks I had to use Map Quest. His directions were good but too many veer left, veer right 60 ft past the red barn and tall maple. I just plugged in his mailing address and Map Quest outputs distance, time, direction, feet and miles to next turn and of course the fastest direct route right to his driveway.

My sticks buddy was in shock when I showed him the MQ printouts and right on the spot he said "That's scary.. I don't want people to be able to find me that easily". Ain't dat the case!

[YenTheFirst]

Re: Google freaks me out sometimes

I wonder if Google will ever digest your search history and spit out a complete personality profile,

http://www.google.com/history/trends

or perhaps start recommending you web sites you might be interested in.

http://www.google.com/psearch

not quite exactly what you were saying, but pretty close.

That said, the enormous downside of it, beyond Google knowing that much about you, is if anyone ever got illicit access to it and used it maliciously.

The fundamental problem with databases in our society, in general. I remember reading once, one guy had a theory that up until now, society had a certain 'forgetfulness' of details and past wrongdoings and a certain degree of forgetfulness is requisite for society to function. Obviously, a database that can last a lifetime has very little 'forgetfulness'.

On the other hand, I think I remember Google announcing that they would begin anonymizing their records after 18 months or so...?