FOSS is not the only way to make ethical software. Entities like Google could choose to not be evil, it's really not that hard, evil is a choice.
Mapquest seems to be different, but the bar is on the floor so that's not saying much.
But the idea that a pay-for-ad-free subscription is so offensive is a ridiculous purity test; the devs need to be paid somehow. Frankly I never even noticed as I have a system adblocker and Mapquest has never complained about it.
If a business chose to not be evil, it would be outcompeted by the businesses that are evil. Most of the evil we see business committing is a result of maximizing profit, and in a system where profit is the primary motive (capitalism), evil will always win. It's an illusion of choice because the non-evil business tend to stay small at best, or go out of business at worst.
FOSS is a different system where a project's existence isn't contingent on profit; the developers just want to make good software. So sure, it isn't necessarily the only way to make ethical software, but it seems to be the most consistent way, and I have a good feeling that it'll continue to catch on as enshittification continues to rear its ugly head.
None of my local flock cameras are in my OSM, I've added hundreds of entries (more than a thousand) houses/sidewalks/roads/crosswalks/intersections in my neigbor hood. I'm thinking of spinning up a new account ad adding all the flock.
I'll start doing daytrips and put all the ones in for the metropolitan area near me. wouldn't take that many of us, editing OSM to make it perfect is practicelly a Neuro-Divergent wet dream :) And their editor is very nice.
They might be using it, but they're not using it in my neighborhood. There are wrong streets all over the place and I've keept the OSM for my neighborhood meticulously clean for years. I have thousands of elements across hundreds of houses. And they're not just behind, they have roads that are under contstruction but they're not accurate and I'm the only person who's put them in on OSM, using drone footage I collected myself.
Note that OSM culture specifies that you should only add data that you have confirmed yourself, or if you go through the steps for a proper data import.
However that doesn't stop you from preparing a checklist to make it easier to verify each, and then adding the verified ones
From what I remember when this was posted on [email protected] and the UBC subreddit, they ARE automatic license plate readers, but they are likely not connected to a wider network.
UBC uses them for parking enforcement, where if you park too long then you'll get a ticket in the mail. I feel like they've been in use for many years now, but I can't confirm that.
I'd support a review of the cameras regardless, in case they ARE sharing data, storing it too long, using it for some other purpose, capturing more than they need to, etc
However, I'm not as concerned about these ones compared to something like Flock potentially setting up on our public roads
I mean makes sense there are standalone LPR cameras that work locally. Not so much of an issue with those as the data is not uploaded anywhere and can't be used to track people.
My HD and Lowes both have them. The lowes, in an ultimate dick move, doesn't just track you coming to their entrances, they put them where they can see the intersection of the whole fucking mall, both ways. They're getting thousands of cars.
I’ve just checked my area… the distribution doesn’t really make sense. Some of them I already knew about, but there’s a few where roads don’t even exist.
I do think it’s the start of a fun game though; get from point A to point B without passing a security camera. You could gamify it further by requiring driving within the speed limit and penalizing 30 minutes for every surveillance camera passed.
Distributions are definitely odd. I've started seeing fewer of them in my city, but I do recall there being one on a remote side road, not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but definitely off the normal road.
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Protest tech for the people. That is refreshing!
I stopped and uninstalled once I saw the subscription model, fuck that. Let's just tag them in OSM and use FOSS
I'm torn.
On the one hand, FOSS all the way.
On the flip side, mapquest is fucking based. Straight up "lol no" to trump renames" and now this.
FOSS is not the only way to make ethical software. Entities like Google could choose to not be evil, it's really not that hard, evil is a choice.
Mapquest seems to be different, but the bar is on the floor so that's not saying much.
But the idea that a pay-for-ad-free subscription is so offensive is a ridiculous purity test; the devs need to be paid somehow. Frankly I never even noticed as I have a system adblocker and Mapquest has never complained about it.
If a business chose to not be evil, it would be outcompeted by the businesses that are evil. Most of the evil we see business committing is a result of maximizing profit, and in a system where profit is the primary motive (capitalism), evil will always win. It's an illusion of choice because the non-evil business tend to stay small at best, or go out of business at worst.
FOSS is a different system where a project's existence isn't contingent on profit; the developers just want to make good software. So sure, it isn't necessarily the only way to make ethical software, but it seems to be the most consistent way, and I have a good feeling that it'll continue to catch on as enshittification continues to rear its ugly head.
Aren't the data already coming from OSM?
None of my local flock cameras are in my OSM, I've added hundreds of entries (more than a thousand) houses/sidewalks/roads/crosswalks/intersections in my neigbor hood. I'm thinking of spinning up a new account ad adding all the flock.
I'd gladly chip in for part of sub so we can export/import en masse to osm in an automated way.
Please don't.
I'll start doing daytrips and put all the ones in for the metropolitan area near me. wouldn't take that many of us, editing OSM to make it perfect is practicelly a Neuro-Divergent wet dream :) And their editor is very nice.
MapQuest uses OSM.
They might be using it, but they're not using it in my neighborhood. There are wrong streets all over the place and I've keept the OSM for my neighborhood meticulously clean for years. I have thousands of elements across hundreds of houses. And they're not just behind, they have roads that are under contstruction but they're not accurate and I'm the only person who's put them in on OSM, using drone footage I collected myself.
Note that OSM culture specifies that you should only add data that you have confirmed yourself, or if you go through the steps for a proper data import.
However that doesn't stop you from preparing a checklist to make it easier to verify each, and then adding the verified ones
Ah, that makes sense.
Now do Axon, Motorola.
Fuck the toronto police btw.
I wonder how many are home Depot parking lots...
I kid you not, outside of Ontario and Montreal, most are at the two ubc campuses.
From what I remember when this was posted on [email protected] and the UBC subreddit, they ARE automatic license plate readers, but they are likely not connected to a wider network.
UBC uses them for parking enforcement, where if you park too long then you'll get a ticket in the mail. I feel like they've been in use for many years now, but I can't confirm that.
I'd support a review of the cameras regardless, in case they ARE sharing data, storing it too long, using it for some other purpose, capturing more than they need to, etc
However, I'm not as concerned about these ones compared to something like Flock potentially setting up on our public roads
edit, sources from another thread:
I mean makes sense there are standalone LPR cameras that work locally. Not so much of an issue with those as the data is not uploaded anywhere and can't be used to track people.
I haven't caught any at our HD, but our Lowe's has 4 of the fuckers checking 2 entrances.
My HD and Lowes both have them. The lowes, in an ultimate dick move, doesn't just track you coming to their entrances, they put them where they can see the intersection of the whole fucking mall, both ways. They're getting thousands of cars.
I’ve just checked my area… the distribution doesn’t really make sense. Some of them I already knew about, but there’s a few where roads don’t even exist.
I do think it’s the start of a fun game though; get from point A to point B without passing a security camera. You could gamify it further by requiring driving within the speed limit and penalizing 30 minutes for every surveillance camera passed.
Quite odd, for cameras that are supposedly only recording car license plates...
Distributions are definitely odd. I've started seeing fewer of them in my city, but I do recall there being one on a remote side road, not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but definitely off the normal road.
Yep, that can happen sometimes.
https://www.gadgetreview.com/that-dirt-path-next-to-the-cornfield-has-a-flock-camera-so-does-everywhere-else
Is this only in the app? I haven't found it in the browser version (though I may well be overlooking something).
I got the iphone app a few days ago. I cannot see where you turn on the cameras. Went through all the settings in the app to no avail.
It’s a layer like satellite or traffic. Right under the “centre on my location” button
Thank you, for some reason I thought it was in settings.
Where did they get this sort of information from? I want to know how to see what cameras and where are surveiling.
I definitely prefer how Google maps looks, find MapQuest doesn't highlight local vs highways, but fuck google