Sunday, November 7, 2010

War nearly breaks out over Google Maps

Came across this story here, which in hindsight now is amusing but could've ended up far more serious. Basically what went down was a Nicaraguan military commander was attempting to utilize his Google-fu to discern where the borders of his country were.

Nicaraguan troops are accused of crossing the (hotly disputed) border into Costa Rica and setting up camp for the night. But the commander says it was all a mistake caused by shoddy Google Maps.


Turns out, the error was caused by incorrect border data from the State Department. In a blog post, Google says they've now corrected the error.

While I've lost track of the amount of times Google Maps have saved me from getting lost on trips, I have to say I would probably double check with other sources if my route could essentially lead me to WAR.

19 comments:

  1. This is a reminder that technology, no matter how advanced, is prone to failure. Good thing this incident did not spiral out of control.

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  2. hahaha, wow, come on google! lol

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  3. damn technology...:/

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  4. costa rica does not have an army. there would be no war.

    and trust me, as a tourist, it is a huge hassle to cross the costa rica/nicaragua border on foot. especially if you are white, and holding a huge heavy surfboard bag.

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  5. oh technology, the problems you create

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  6. Hehe, they just amde camp in a different country .

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  7. i hope major military dont use google maps wtf lol...

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  8. lol that's actually pretty funny. Great blog, you got a new follower!

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  9. What kind of army trusts in what Google Maps says?

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  10. google has been in the news alot lately lol at tha Nicaraguan military using google maps nice post

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  11. i hope will google buy the world

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  12. lol that an army would rely on google maps

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