Posted on 04/27/2015 12:02:59 AM PDT by Swordmaker
It’s not every day you open Google Maps to see a massive Android mascot peeing on the Apple logo, but that’s precisely what happened to Maps users this morning who happened to be browsing around DHA Phase 4 in Pakistan. A Google Map Maker user named Nitricboy placed a giant Android in the area, defacing an Apple logo.
Updated on 04-24-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added news that the person who made the Android has been found, and Google plans to remove his “artwork.”
He used the custom map-enhancing tool called Google Map Maker, which lets users submit changes to maps in their area on the public version of Google Maps. Nitricboy added one part of the drawing at a time, so as to not arouse suspicion, and the end result was the large Android peeing on an Apple logo. Although moderators have to approve ideas that are submitted with the tool, it seems that the moderator on duty that day either had a good sense of humor or was phenomenally lazy. He also may not have noticed the pattern, since the drawing came to his desk in segments.
And so the Android stands in Pakistan, peeing on an Apple logo with perfect aim. He even looks like he might be having a good chuckle while doing it. It’s hardly the first time we’ve caught Android in the act of raining on Apple’s parade, but it’s especially funny that the Android’s act of defiance was first spotted on the same day as the Apple Watch launch. Coincidence? I think not.
Google has yet to take down the piece of local folk art. The coordinates are 33°30’52.5″N 73°03’33.2″E, and it “stands” about 2,500 feet tall (nearly half a mile) and 2,500 feet wide, making it about 6.25 million square feet large. You could fit almost 109 American football fields in that amount of space. And for one more reference, the new 2014 Godzilla is only about 500 feet tall.
We don’t know how long the cheeky Android will be there, so you’d best check it out soon. We’ve already taken a screenshot for posterity’s sake. Google told the Next Web that it’s working to take the addition down.
A Google spokesperson said that its “sorry for this inappropriate user-created content,” adding that “the vast majority of users who edit our maps provide great contributions.”
However, enterprising Maps users often pull of stunts like this, adding clever additions to Google Maps when nobody’s watching. Not too long ago, NSA leaker Edward Snowden got his very own space at the White House, in the “Snow Den.” That particular addition was swiftly removed by Google, probably at some sort of official request. So far, the audacious Android has lasted much longer in Pakistan.
That’s cute.
LOL THATS FUNNY!!!
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You bastard! Why I ought'a ...
Next up, I’d like to see the Navteq logo get it..
At my job I always hear “whaddya mean this in’t home dee poe? My gee pee ess said so!”
Then maybe a pacman apple chasing the navteq logo..
Google apologizes for the Android robot peeing on an Apple logo in Google Maps
The Verge — By Micah Singleton — April 24, 2015 01:43 pmGoogle says the content was created by a user, not the company
In a statement to The Washington Post, Google has apologized for the image of its Android mascot urinating on an Apple logo that was pointed out by Cult of Android earlier today. "We’re sorry for this inappropriate user-created content; we’re working to remove it quickly," Google spokesperson Mara Harris told The Washington Post in a statement. "We also learn from these issues, and we’re constantly improving how we detect, prevent, and handle bad edits," Harris said.
The now removed visual was located in Pakistan near the city of Rawalpindi, and added to Google Maps through Map Maker, a feature that allows users to add content and additional information to Google Maps. A Map Maker account with the handle nitricboy looks to be the responsible party. But they are only one of many trolls that have shown off weaknesses in Google's apparently nonexistent review process of its Map Maker function, one of which made sure Google got the message.
Someone was very creative and humorous
+1
I don't know why removing the artwork would need to be planned.
A couple of years ago, I was trying to Google Fiji, and the Google description of Fiji's official government website consisted of Viagra spam ads. (The website itself was unaffected.) I put in a complaint at Google. By the time I repeated the search--less than a minute after submitting the complaint--the Google description contained the expected excerpt from the site.
BTW, we loved Fiji and are looking forward to visiting again.
“...BTW, we loved Fiji and are looking forward to visiting again.”
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Looking at the pictures of Fiji in Google, I can understand your love of it. It’s beautiful!
Figi. Can’t get any farther away before you start coming back.
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