Alissa Walker of Gizmodo reports on a change that various GPS and online mapping vendors have implemented. Visitors to the iconic Hollywood sign find closeup access to the sign elusive, and often crowd the tight local residential streets while trying to get a closer view. Locals contend that, aside from being annoying, the excessive congestion represents a safety hazard, potentially impeding emergency responders.
Their solution was to have the location of the sign changed in GPS vendor databases, which was accomplished through the efforts of LA City Council member Tom LaBonge. Such changes are not without precedent, according to the article:
Over at Garmin, Hysell noted that their cartographers do, in fact, take input outside of their own experiences driving the routes. "They do receive data on a regular basis from city officials, county officials, DOT websites, and so on, and of course, make updates and adjustments to the mapping accordingly," she says. "They also take reports from users, too, and apply changes as deemed worthy and verifiable."
While this sounds fairly reasonable, the article touches on the negatives, including a detailed explanation as to why the new location provides a worse view, an account of legal threats she received for posting better addresses online, and a general discussion of the ostensibly excessive NIMBY-ism of the locals.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @12:09PM
"As they were talking, a fraction of Mr. Slippery's attention was devoted to confusing and obstructing the small infantry group that had been air-dropped into the Arcata region just before the government lost all control. Their superiors had realized how easily he could countermand their orders, and so the troops were instructed to ignore all outside direction until they had destroyed a certain Roger Pollack. Fortunately they were depending on city directories and orbit-fed street maps, and he had been keeping them going in circles for some time now."
Surprise, surprise. In the Truly Real World, governments and corporations collude to confuse and obstruct citizens, instead of the way delusional writers told it in Fantasy Land.
Hello and Welcome to the Bad Future. Enjoy your Stay, MotherFuckers!
(Score: 1) by cesarb on Thursday November 27 2014, @02:10PM
If my memory isn't failing me, that is a quote from True Names [wikipedia.org], by Vernor Vinge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @02:57PM
European cities (I'm thinking of Hamburg in particular, but there are many) post signs leading to the city center - thing is, if you follow the signs, you take every bypass ever built and probably more than double your distance from the edge to the center. It is a tradition leading back to the invasion of Germany during WWII when the locals would remove the street signs, and/or post incorrect ones, to slow the Allies progress.
(Score: 1) by Gravis on Thursday November 27 2014, @12:35PM
the sign has been there for 90+ years and THEY MOVED NEAR THE SIGN. any issues they have are their own fault. if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
this "solution" isnt actually solving the problem, it's just making it dangerous elsewhere. what they should do is make it a site people can see via dedicated roadway and charge a few bucks for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:20PM
Why is everybody using bold text when commenting about THIS ISSUE?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:26PM
Because they are making bold claims, of course. ;-)
(Score: 1) by Nuke on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:31PM
Similar case in Filton (Bristol northern suburbs), location one of the principle aircraft factories in the UK (BAe, Rolls Royce etc). It has I believe the longest runway in the UK, built when in countryside. Then houses grew up around it, for aircraft workers themselves origianally. When I moved to Bristol I noticed houses there were far cheaper than equivalent elsewhere, even though there was little air traffic, being a factory and maintenance, not an airport.
But the people of Filton moaned like hell (many of them the very people who make the planes) when there was a proposal to make it into the main Bristol airport. It is an ideal place for it :- close to a major station on the main London to Bristol, London to South Wales, and Bristol to Birmingham railway lines, and close to the M4/M5 motorway interchange. You had only to glance at the map (and the house prices) to realise this was always a possiblility. Unfortunately the Filton residents got their way. The main Bristol airport remains Lulsgate, a long drive and expensive taxi fare down a secondary road, and no-where near a railway or motorway.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 28 2014, @12:43AM
Back in the '40s, Howard Hughes was so stuck on Ginger Rogers that he almost bought up the whole place.
That would have changed the story considerably.
(She dumped him first.)
All of the "vandalism" done to the sign over the years is the most interesting aspect of it.
Hollywood Sign Pranks [los-angeles-attractions.com]
That page has no accessibility features; scroll down to the list.
The area is now fenced off and patrolled, so all that cool stuff ended years ago.
...and on a clear day, you can see the sign from a 2nd-story window in Long Beach (or anywhere on the north face of Signal Hill).
That's many, many miles away.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @02:31PM
But the rich liberals are your betters. How dare you inconvenience their cushy, privileged life you worthless plebe.
(Score: 1) by RedGreen on Thursday November 27 2014, @02:43PM
While I agree with the point made that attitude is shared by all people of that type regardless of their political leanings.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @02:56PM
Drop the political correctness. This neighborhood is full of self-important, rich liberals.
(Score: 1) by RedGreen on Thursday November 27 2014, @03:58PM
And you can drop the right wing bull shit from your postings that type all do it, no matter the political leanings they support.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @06:01PM
So if everyone does it, how exactly can his assertion that liberals are doing it be considered wrong?
If everyone is doing it, then it implies that liberals are doing it, which proves that assertion to be perfectly correct.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @03:18PM
> the sign has been there for 90+ years
But the crowds (obligatory bolding) have not. The homewoners moved in when the crowds were very rare rather than a daily occurrence.
So why do you think the existence of the sign is defining moral determination and not the existence of the crowds?
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @12:46PM
So these GPS systems are, in effect, defective by design? Like GNOME 3, Firefox, and Debian systemd/Linux?
(Score: 2) by ticho on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:11PM
Time to request a strip club on location of Garmin CEO's home address being entered in the databases. If we can't rely on the data to be accurate, let's at least make it hilarious.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:38PM
Actually why not a convenience store or something. Customers can come up to the store, ask for directions because they are lost. Then they will hopefully buy something and I can profit!
Poor GPS directions.
Convenience store.
Customer asks for directions.
Customer buys something.
Profit!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @03:46PM
Let's doxx anyone who makes a decision we might disagree with! #GamerGate
(Score: 2) by ticho on Friday November 28 2014, @02:25PM
Yeah, no. Go back to 4chan or whatever cesspool the "cool kids" use nowadays, and try some reading comprehension.
(Score: 1) by Nuke on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:13PM
Councillors (in the UK at least) have always fucked with road signage. I could show you roadside direction signs that, for no obvious reason, try to send you a very indirectly way because they don't want you to down a more direct road. Perhaps it is because a councillor lives there.
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:18PM
So the GPS companies can be persuaded to change the location of, or directions to, a landmark? Could this persuasion come in the form of a company paying to send drivers past their location? A hotel, a restaurant chain, a parking facility, something else? Preying on, I mean relying on tourists for your revenue is often a "get them first or don't get them at all" business.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:31PM
Well, that gives me a business idea: Open a hotel in that area, call it "Hollywood Sign Hotel", and ask map makers to direct all people seeking the Hollywood sign to the hotel. After all, they can't complain, because they really got to the Hollywood Sign — just not the one they expected. ;-)
(Score: 1) by dlb on Thursday November 27 2014, @01:35PM
(Score: 3, Informative) by kaszz on Thursday November 27 2014, @02:51PM
This makes me wonder if ordinary (TomTom?) GPS navigators can accept mapping data that you enter yourself? and if existing mapping data is readable?
It should be possible to grab OpenStreetMap [openstreetmap.org] data and feed it into the GPS navigator device? and if you can do that, then you can also have a public database (dump) of corrections that are due to undue pressure from officials and NIMBY.
(Score: 2) by jackb_guppy on Thursday November 27 2014, @03:39PM
Look up "tail of the dragon". http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ [tailofthedragon.com]
It is a road between TN and NC that has with 318 curves in 11 miles, is America's number one motorcycle and sports car road.
It is also a "highway" on the map and mapping software. The bikers pushed main years ago to have it "removed" from truckers' GPS devices (they have bigger and better special for trucking with trip logs). Why because of the elevation changes and turns. Big Rigs would get stuck! They have been partial successful, but there are still a few old GPS or public grade.
I also worked for company that had trucks that ran to areas that do not exist on current maps (new subdivisions, way rural areas in TX and the like). Since we GPS tracking and addresses of where we were going to... mapping and GPS companies wanted to buy our "trip logs" to update their maps, since the time between a new road and on the map software as months if not years.
But i will note that Google Map software was fairly current in the area I live. With-in two days after a new bypass road was open, Google Map had it on their site and was routing cars down it. With-in a week, Big Rigs started to using it, to the dismay of the homes just next to it.
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Thursday November 27 2014, @04:39PM
Where was this? I seem to remember going down a new bypass that wasn't on the maps. But was on google maps as I use that plus experence for my truck routing. I do wish google or another map provider provide good truck routing. While there is paid providers, I have avoided them due to bad reviews. Why paid for something when the free one is better?
While the homes next to the bypass are not happy, I bet the homes in the city are now happy. Trucks cruising on the highway is much quieter then stoping and going on city streets.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @07:53PM
> Trucks cruising on the highway is much quieter then stoping and going on city streets.
Unless they are using air-brakes on the highway and regular brakes on the city streets.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @05:27PM
I remember their maps weren't that accurate either if you didn't have a need to know.
(Score: 2) by emg on Thursday November 27 2014, @06:05PM
Where I grew up in the UK, we all knew when mysterious buildings behind wire fences were important, because they didn't appear on any maps.
Clearly the Russians could see them on satellite photos and figure that out too, but going through all the maps and ensuring they were removed before printing probably kept someone in a job.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday November 27 2014, @08:37PM
Have the police arrest everyone for being a public nuisance and fine them $1000 or more (and put up a sign to that effect). I'm sure the tourists will clear out soon enough. (I have no idea what the hell's so great about a few giant letters stuck in a hill that everyone and their grandmother wants to come pay their respects to the cesspit that is the Hollywood industry.)
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @09:09PM
I have no idea what the hell's so great about a few giant letters stuck in a hill that everyone and their grandmother wants to come pay their respects to the cesspit that is the Hollywood industry.
You might want to consider that if you don't understand people's motivations you aren't going to be very good at figuring out how to change their behaviour.
(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Friday November 28 2014, @02:53AM
When I visited Los Angeles the first time some years ago with some friends we found it was indeed rather difficult to find a spot from which to take a good picture of the Hollywood sign. We didn't have the benefit of Ms. Walker's information back then, but we sure as hell would have used it if it was available. If the residents of LA want to remove information about the good spots from which to see of the sign from the Internet, tourists will just wind up causing more problems by looking for such spots randomly. Folks, your city is host to an iconic landmark, and making it difficult for tourists who visit your city to find a good spot to see it will not stop them from trying. They'll just cause more trouble that way than if you made it easy for them. The author of the article found a far better spot [awalkerinla.com] than we did driving randomly around Hollywood Hills that afternoon fifteen years ago. Maybe I'll try to go there if I ever visit LA again and have the time to go around.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.