Got traffic?

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Consider the broader implications of this little exercise, like the potential to manipulate people movmt, commerce, emergency services and so on.

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Seems like another take on the exercise to block 3-4 lanes of traffic just to post a video on the 'tube...

Even scarier when connected with Dave Newtons thread on the new true fake these days on the internet.

It's scary when a city myth becomes reality:
My example, the disgruntled fired telecommunications employee and a chainsaw... Yup, saw it happen (the post results) around 2012 in Chicago.

Also, the small variation with somebody digging an utility hole and taking out a main for Comcast line, messing up for about 2 months the commercial internet traffic in the Midwest.
 
Originally Posted by pandus13
Also, the small variation with somebody digging an utility hole and taking out a main for Comcast line, messing up for about 2 months the commercial internet traffic in the Midwest.


I remember that! A few months ago somebody dug into an AT&T line around Joliet and took out the signal for a tower.
 
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People use to speed down my street in the morning which makes it dangerous for my sons bus stop with 4 kids. So every morning before walking out the door I use waze to mark a hazard. Road kill, police, ice on road (we're in Florida) un-plowed road, accident, traffic jam, its different every morning. But it works, the roadkill and animals on road mornings get people looking around when they slow down.
 
Originally Posted by 1978elcamino
People use to speed down my street in the morning which makes it dangerous for my sons bus stop with 4 kids. So every morning before walking out the door I use waze to mark a hazard. Road kill, police, ice on road (we're in Florida) un-plowed road, accident, traffic jam, its different every morning. But it works, the roadkill and animals on road mornings get people looking around when they slow down.


Reminds me of this Ohio lady that now gets to hold up her ID10T sign
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
How does a wagon full of cellphones create a fake traffic jam and why is this a problem?


Google maps records travel time via the commute time of other Google map users. So if you're on the interstate and traffic is moving at 40mph instead of 55mph, your speed is reported via the GPS on yours and other people's phones and then the line turns yellow.

What this guy did was basically take a bunch of phones with Google maps and slowly walk down the street so Google Maps thinks there's a traffic jam (99 phones going at 1mph vs. a speed limit of 35mph.)
 
Originally Posted by Pew
Originally Posted by atikovi
How does a wagon full of cellphones create a fake traffic jam and why is this a problem?


Google maps records travel time via the commute time of other Google map users. So if you're on the interstate and traffic is moving at 40mph instead of 55mph, your speed is reported via the GPS on yours and other people's phones and then the line turns yellow.

What this guy did was basically take a bunch of phones with Google maps and slowly walk down the street so Google Maps thinks there's a traffic jam (99 phones going at 1mph vs. a speed limit of 35mph.)


1) Won't the the 1,000 other cars going 35 mph overrule those 99 phones going 1 mph, or at least confuse the system enough to make it invalid?
2) If you're commuting, you already know the way so most people wouldn't be using GPS anyway.
3) Doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time? How much did 99 phones cost him?
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Pew
Originally Posted by atikovi
How does a wagon full of cellphones create a fake traffic jam and why is this a problem?


Google maps records travel time via the commute time of other Google map users. So if you're on the interstate and traffic is moving at 40mph instead of 55mph, your speed is reported via the GPS on yours and other people's phones and then the line turns yellow.

What this guy did was basically take a bunch of phones with Google maps and slowly walk down the street so Google Maps thinks there's a traffic jam (99 phones going at 1mph vs. a speed limit of 35mph.)


1) Won't the the 1,000 other cars going 35 mph overrule those 99 phones going 1 mph, or at least confuse the system enough to make it invalid?
2) If you're commuting, you already know the way so most people wouldn't be using GPS anyway.
3) Doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time? How much did 99 phones cost him?


1. It was an empty street, no other traffic.
2. I've used GPS to avoid traffic jams even though I know where I'm going. Siri will give me a heads up about traffic before I leave for work.
3. Artists can be weird, and I read in another article he rented the phones
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
1) Won't the the 1,000 other cars going 35 mph overrule those 99 phones going 1 mph, or at least confuse the system enough to make it invalid?
2) If you're commuting, you already know the way so most people wouldn't be using GPS anyway.
3) Doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time? How much did 99 phones cost him?

1) Probably... maybe?
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2) I've thought about using Waze, not because I'm lost but because I might change my route if I know traffic is bad. Or at least not be surprised. [Ok, "surprised" is probably the wrong word, but it can be nice to know the future.]
3) And...? We're all on a forum dedicated motor oil yet talking about the convergence of art and technology. I think by comparison he might be normal.
 
It is unlikely that there are "1,000" cars in that same stretch of road all using Google Maps. it's irrelevant the number of cars present, only the number that are using Maps.
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
They should count all phones within a foot of each other as a single phone


The newest standard of GPS is accurate down to 30cm, but that can be degraded by multiple factors.
 
Originally Posted by 1978elcamino
People use to speed down my street in the morning which makes it dangerous for my sons bus stop with 4 kids. So every morning before walking out the door I use waze to mark a hazard. Road kill, police, ice on road (we're in Florida) un-plowed road, accident, traffic jam, its different every morning. But it works, the roadkill and animals on road mornings get people looking around when they slow down.

Call me skeptical.... Waze uses crowd-sourcing for that type of stuff and if only (1) person reports it, I'm surprised they acknowledge it. Typically they need or expect multiple (who knows the #) before they accept it as valid and post it.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi

2) If you're commuting, you already know the way so most people wouldn't be using GPS anyway.

I use Waze almost anytime I am going somewhere and taking interstate highways to get there. I don't use Waze to tell me how to get there, I use it to tell me if there's an accident, slow traffic, police, etc.
 
Same here.


Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by atikovi

2) If you're commuting, you already know the way so most people wouldn't be using GPS anyway.

I use Waze almost anytime I am going somewhere and taking interstate highways to get there. I don't use Waze to tell me how to get there, I use it to tell me if there's an accident, slow traffic, police, etc.
 
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