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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday October 18 2017, @06:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the what-kind-of-cupcakes dept.

These cupcakes are making me hangry:

In what is probably the only example ever of tiny, frosted cakes sparking mass outrage, strong negative feedback has prompted Google to remove a cupcake calorie counter from its iOS Maps app, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Google recently added the cutesy — and possibly half-baked — feature as an experiment. With the new feature, users saw a pink cupcake icon that automatically showed them how many calories they would burn if they walked to their destination. The app also translated that calorie count into mini cupcakes, telling walkers how many of the tiny treats they would burn if they walked from point A to point B.

But complaints soon started raining down like sprinkles.

Critics accused the cartoon cupcake counter of being patronizing, promoting body-shaming, and possibly triggering unhealthy behavior in people who have struggled with eating disorders or over-exercise, BBC reports. There's no way to turn the feature off, critics pointed out.

"Do they realize how extremely triggering something like this is for ppl who have had eating disorders? Not to mention just generally shamey," a user named Taylor Lorenz tweeted. She added: "Also it looks like there's no way to turn this feature off what the hell."

Google Maps has instead added 12 "worlds" for users to explore, including Venus, Pluto, Europa, Ganymede, Rhea, and Mimas. Google Maps users would in fact weigh less if they were on these bodies.

Also at The Verge, SFGate, TechCrunch, and Buzzfeed.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:22AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:22AM (#583874)

    Alright, people, I can understand the eating disorder thing, sort of. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but in a warped kind of way, it does. Not every fatso is a true glutton, I suppose.

    But, WTF is "over-exercise"? People have exercise disorders too? Seriously? It certainly isn't common in the west. If such a disorder were common, the US and UK wouldn't be the lard ass champions of the world, now would they?

    Over exercise, to me, is what happens when the boss demands that the crew works twelve hours or more, to meet a deadline. And, no, that wouldn't include sedentary people sitting at desks - they may be tired, but they're not exercising.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:31AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:31AM (#583880) Journal

    Here's a story that came out just yesterday:

    White Men Who Exercise Too Much At Higher Risk Of Death According To Study [cbslocal.com]

    Anorexia [wikipedia.org] is a disorder that can be associated with over exercise. It's more common among athletes, models, etc.

    Globally, anorexia is estimated to affect 2.9 million people as of 2015. It is estimated to occur in 0.9% to 4.3% of women and 0.2% to 0.3% of men in Western countries at some point in their life. About 0.4% of young women are affected in a given year and it is estimated to occur ten times less commonly in men.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:44AM (4 children)

    by looorg (578) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:44AM (#583884)

    Been to a gym lately or in the last say 2-3 decades? The over-exerceisers are mostly "dudes" who go to the gym to pump at least once or twice per day, preferably more. They tend to make sounds that could only come from the most hardcore of gay p0rn as they grunt and huff lifting their weights, while simultaneously checking themselves out in the giant mirror-wall. They body shape is as weird as the people that are so fat that they waddle around like penguins -- usually giant upper bodies and tiny little legs. They look more like Belgian Blues then humans. What they are doing is probably not considered as healthy exercise, not to mention all the diet- and training supplements they take so they can train even more. The muscles they build are clearly more for show then for usage. There are usually a few over-exercising ladies to but they are probably more into taking spinning classes or doing aerobic training way to much, then they cry about why they have the body shape of a small boy instead of a woman.

    So there is room for being both the lardiest of lard ass champions and the, borderline, narcissistic over-exercisers.

    That said regarding the actual story I find it amusing how someone can be fat triggered by seeing a cupcake. They clearly have issues. They should see someone about it, preferably not someone that serves them more cupcakes.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 18 2017, @07:58PM (3 children)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @07:58PM (#584097) Journal

      "They tend to make sounds that could only come from the most hardcore of gay p0rn as they grunt and huff lifting their weights"

      And you would know that how?

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by looorg on Wednesday October 18 2017, @08:08PM (2 children)

        by looorg (578) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @08:08PM (#584107)

        Research, for science. I know what normal people and barnyard animals sound like. This is so much worse.

        • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 18 2017, @08:34PM (1 child)

          by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @08:34PM (#584118) Journal

          Suuure, "research."

          I'm messing with you.

          --
          Washington DC delenda est.
          • (Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Wednesday October 18 2017, @09:08PM

            by Fluffeh (954) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @09:08PM (#584132) Journal

            Suuure, "research."

            David Attenborough Voice: Observe the Phoenix666 in its natural environment, casually unaware of the giant WHOOOOSH sound above its head. Perhaps one day in the future, it will look back and smirk at the joke it missed today.