Google officially changes the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Maps
After announcing it would be renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, Google has officially changed on its Maps application.
This whole thing is extremely cringe. There isn’t any other way to put it. Trump. His executive order. The compliance. It’s all cringe.
Though to be fair cringe is like right in the very blood to Google anyway so what would you expect...
I mean, just look at how they often respond on their bug tracker platform of most of their products and how they try to justify their endless streams of questionable design decisions, that seems to be characteristic of them at this point lol
Next president, assuming there is one, will just change it back to repair relations with our allies.
Even if it never gets changed back, it'll be a generation before people actually start calling it that. No one alive now is going to give a fuck about the Gulf of America or call it that.
Hey conservatives, not that you're intelligent enough to figure out how to get on Lemmy, but if by some miracle one of you reads this, why is Trump doing this and floating invading our allies and annexing their territories instead of lowering the price of groceries as promised on day 1?
You eat your Freedom Fries and you like it
What a great time to download Organic maps
It’s a massive upgrade in terms of aesthetics and privacy!
How does it compare to OsmAnd?
OsmAnd is the Swiss army knife of Open Street Map frontends, but as I'm sure you'll agree on (if you've used it), it can be a bit of a headache setting it up, as well as getting familiar with it.
Organic Maps caters more to people seeking a pure alternative to Google/Apple Maps. It's the layman's alternative.
If you're a poweruser, and already familiar with OsmAnd, there's no point in switching. But in terms of getting other, non tech savvy, people to switch, it's a great recommendation!
Organic Maps has fewer features and settings, a more stripped-down user interface, and concentrates on what most people use the most (find an address, navigate to it).
It is also much, much faster than OsmAnd.
Personally, I find OsmAnd too slow and clunky, and Organic Maps a bit too basic.
But I prefer Organic Maps 95% of the time.
Also a great choice. I prefer organic maps for a variety of reasons (like ability to contribute to the maps), but a lot of people prefer OsmAnd. They are both very good.
I love that it's not google, and the UI is nice, but the lack of realtime traffic info is a real blocker for me
You might be interested in Magic Earth it is also built on OpenStreetMap but includes crowdsourced traffic data. If you are in a big city then it's likely they have good data for your area.
Time for a repeat comment: Organic Maps does everything Google Maps does (except traffic conditions), and is FOSS. Please encourage places to contribute business information to Open Street Maps.
I just tried it and found three dealbreakers instantly.
The traffic conditions is huge tho
Just last week, that philly plane crash, I saw exactly where the roads are closed and which roads are congested.
Just swapped apps. Thanks for the suggestion!
I use Google maps mostly to find out where things are, and unfortunately OSM does not have as many places as Google Maps. I can add one or two places I notice are missing (even though the phone interface isn't that easy) but Google Maps consistently has better information, so I mostly use organic maps for when I already know the address or already know the location is in its database.
That's a weird flex by South Canada.
What a bunch of cucks! The billionaires have fully taken over!
They took it over from the millionaires!
and the trillionaires will soon take over!
For them to not exist and to stop it they need to be cleaned over regularly. Some countries had that figured out.
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
This is the way.
Bingo.
Imagine getting every "alpha male" 2A nutjob violent conservative to realize who their actual enemy is.
We'd get some actual positive change in an extremely short period of time.
Interesting discussion about this on the OpenStreetMap forums.
The resolution is introducing "official_name" tags, referencing "en_us", because "en" is not just the U.S.:
https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/gulf-of-america-gulf-of-mexico/124571/11
So when OsmAnd or OrganicMaps start to support them, maybe your locale settings will change the displayed name there as well.
Current description of that node: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/305639190/history/80
So maybe that could be a reason for everyone around the world to stop using en_US locale settings. XD
Using google maps from Australia it's labelled like "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)"
I think the Australian government should call it "gulf of not Australia" and see if google adds another title.
Also, report an error to google maps:
It reads: I read "Gulf of America". That must be a mistake.
I can't seem to do this from the phone app
Obviously that's not going to make one iota of difference. They're an American company and they have been ordered by the president of the country to do this. They already do similar things in other authoritarian countries like China and Turkey, because anything else would risk the safety of Google employees.
If you don't like it, change to a non-American product and/or vote for a different president.
I somehow have a feeling that being president of the USA does not mean you can do whatever you want and people have to follow... Google Map, for one, is a product of a private company, not a Federal Service of the USA - so if they want to call it "Gulf of Google", they could!
Then you're right, they already protect/black out places and some places' names, however the Gulf of America, like the Channel of Washington are just bs that in the worst case scenario will live 4 years. So it's a joke and I like joking too
The American president can only order so much. As of yesterday, the BGN has changed the name, but this affects Federal Government usage. Google as a private company could continue to use the common name if they wanted to.
This is why Open Street Maps has a "name" field and "official name" field, for where these two aren't the same. This is already the case for the English names "Saigon" and "Ho Chi Minh City" which refer to the same place in Vietnam.
(viewed from Canada)
Same in Europe
Same in a little bit to your west Europe.
Same, but in Japan.
If you zoom in does it change? Mine does. I'm in the us
No
The change reflects Google's policy of adhering to official government names for geographical locations.
OK, so why am I seeing Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) from Canada?
Same here in Europe.
This is highly irregular for several reasons:
Google adheres to official government positions, yes, but as far as I'm aware the American government hasn't made the name change official yet. Members of the government have said that they'd do this, but I don't think this idea has passed any process yet. So then why is Google "updated" their maps?
When Google adheres to official government positions, they are local. In example, when you're in China and look up Taiwan, it'll appear as part of China. In other countries it'll appear as either an independent country or a disputed territory, depending on that government's official position on the matter. What we DON'T see is something like "Taiwan (China)", as Google supposedly has no intention on forcing the policies of one government upon another government, and as far as I'm aware the rest of the world hasn't agreed to changing The Gulf of Mexico to The Gulf of America.
If anyone's interested, here's what it looks like in Europe. The good news: this is the first time I've had to use Google Maps in a loooong time (ignoring embedded maps in other sites). OpenStreetMap is wonderful and there are some superb apps powered by it, including the ever-excellent Organic Maps.
If Justin Trudeau gets active on this, you can probably get it to Gulf of Canada (Gulf of Mexico) (Gulf of America).
From the Wikipedia for Gulf of Mexico:
While the Interior Department confirmed that the Gulf of America name was effective for U.S. federal agencies, on January 24, the change does not apply in an international context.
What's that sucking sound?
What the fuck is this shit?
A born rich low IQ loser jerking himself off while we're all forced to watch, courtesy of the average low IQ American voter.
Well. O. K. Then it's my not the 'USA" that did this anymore. It's to be called "North Mexico" now. Fair's fair.
Had to check.
Slowly working towards a viable OpenStreetMap in my area. If you want to help, you can make a free account and begin editing: https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/new
You can also contribute on mobile by using Street Complete or any number of great mobile apps that allow limited editing and full map features like Organic Maps
Edit: I didn't know about Vespucci, which is a full-featured OSM editor for Android. Thanks, @onyxjet@lemmy.world
Also be sure to check out !open_street_maps@lemmy.world
Did the same in my area. The roads are good, but the businesses are either missing or outdated. I probably added 100 over the last few months.
It's kinds fun! When I go out, I check OM and see what's missing, take some pictures, and then go edit a bunch of stuff that night. It doesn't take long, and I feel like it's worth my time.
Did not know about Street Complete. Thanks for the recommendation!
Vespucci is also full editor for android.
There is also Go Map! A primary editor for IOS.
Every door is a mobile editor that allows you to add new things and edit existing ones.
ID is the main OpenStreetMap website editor.
Rapid, essentially just ID but with a special edition of automatic building suggestions and such or what they call mapwithai.
JOSM a full on editor for desktop, does everything ID or Rapid can do and a whole lot more. Its more of an advanced editor.
Street Complete is amazing! Perfect for people who find going on a walk too boring, like me
Recently began contributing to OpenStreetMap. Information on my place is quite outdated, lots of work to do!
Thanks for providing that link. I knew about OSM, but didn't fully grasp that (duh) it's open which means I can help with the data. Time to get busy! :)
Huh, do they really change names of international things when only one party says so?
Denali/McKinely is one thing, it's part of the US. But the Gulf of Mexico is a mix of US, Mexico, Cuba, and international waters. I wonder what they show Google Maps users who are in Mexico.
They have clear rules for contested areas... that they follow in an as clear way as their user support rules.
That's reassuring. We all know that google is the best at user support.
I found this paragraph...
Can Trump change the name of the Gulf of Mexico? Maybe, but it’s not a unilateral decision, and other countries don’t have to go along. The International Hydrographic Organization — of which both the US and Mexico are members — works to ensure all the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly, and also names some of them. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation.
From this webpage... https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/can-trump-change-the-name-of-the-gulf-of-mexico-to-gulf-of-america
Naming things is complicated.
It's not really a case where some organisation has the authority to name something. Rather people just call something a name, and organisations adopt that name.
Apple Maps currently shows it as Gulf of Mexico, fwiw.
I’m in the process of migrating my saved locations and addresses to Organic Maps. Bye Google.
Send a complaint through the site. Flood them with complaints about how they are an evil corporation licking Trump's boot and that it's the Gulf of Mexico.
Don't let these damn corporations win.
You do you, but that is literally yelling at a cloud.
Stop using Google services altogether, delete your accounts. Block ads. That's the only way to cost them some pennies.
Cool.
In not at all related news disabling Google maps on your Android device can often be a source of delight! I never knew how capable organic maps was and it has a very nice auto integration.
Would be shame if google are snowed under with reports the name is wrong :-)
Just tried: the 'report an issue'/'suggest an edit' button doesn't appear when The Gulf of Mexico is selected.
It does for other locations, but not for the Gulf.
Report an issue through the base report feature
Open maps > your profile picture > last option on the list
You can directly reference and include a screenshot of the map
It's because people already Mass reported it so they disabled the ability for it
I mean Google's a huge pushover anyway. Who cares what they think.
Apple still has it as Gulf of Mexico.
Genuinely curious... How does Google handle other oceanic naming that isn't agreed upon Worldwide?
Generally, Google shows the appropriate name based upon where you are located. So for everyone outside of 'murica, it's still the Gulf of Mexico.
They said that but it’s a fat lie.
They did say both names, but this is a complete cop out.
Google can officially gargle deez nutz
bing still shows correctly for me.
This is stupid! I see both names displayed, at least. But still stupid.
Hum... Did they change the name of the North-America's South-West like the Mexico president requested too?
Cancun Texas! Have you guys been? Its beautiful! Just a short flight across the golf of America and located in southflorida...Flucatan.
They are coming for our freedom fries next.
And you'll see Amerida right at the bottom of the picture, that's the capital of Floricatan in the country of America..... Have you guys noticed how our country's name is not America? I would be a fucking retard if I named something "of America" when my country's name isn't America. As an example, all Mexican coins say "estados unidos mexicanos" or something like that. But the country is Mexico. Mexico is in America, but they don't say "mexico of America", because they are not fucking retarded.
I don't honestly see a big issue with this. First of all: It's called Gulf of America, not Gulf of USA. Considering it's a gulf between south and north American continents it's actually a more fitting name and in no way excludes Mexico.
And secondly, you can just move on with your life and keep calling it the Gulf of Mexico and everyone will perfectly understand what you mean. Nobody is holding a gun to your head and telling you to adopt the new name. Same applies to Twitter and Facebook too for example.
The "big issue" with this it that it is being done entirely to appease the vain whims of an egocentric wannabe dictator, and for no other reason.
Nobody is holding a gun to your head
Give them a few months
Allright. Let's revisit this in 6 months to see what happened - or didn't.
+1. Couldn't care less. My life will go on. I'm not going to use GMaps anyway.
