Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 160 posts

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#71

Post by nyanpasu64 »

geoka9 wrote: post #19
Maxious wrote: post #9

> “Out of an abundance of caution, we are removing user contributions like photos, videos, reviews and business information and all user-submitted places from Google Maps in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus since the invasion began, and are temporarily blocking new edits from being made,” a Google spokesperson said. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/sarahemerson/russia-goo...

It still works, I've just tried.

On Google Maps Web on Linux Firefox, when I search for фермерське господарство, I get autocomplete results. Clicking on one fills the search bar and drops a pin on the map. The search bar remains filled, but the pin disappears a second later, and the left sidebar shows a generic description rather than the label. It seems like these pins are only half-present on the Google Maps servers.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#72

Post by forum_ghost »

eitland wrote: post #36
ketralnis wrote: post #3

It feels very improbable that a government would be using google maps for this. It feels even more improbable that even if they are, removing a mark from google maps would prevent them from launching an actual air strike. Surely a target important enough to "mark" would be worth finding an alternative way to target in case a bunch of keyboard warriors figure out your nefarious plan. None of this makes sense. I know i…

Yesterday someone who had been right about other things told me on Twitter that Russia has been running their communication in cleartext at least until recently. I don't listen in to Ukrainian radio so I cannot verify but I am sure someone here knows more if they want to tell. It seems at this point it is already a very open secret.

until recently?

they suddenly found 100,000+ digital radios?

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#73

Post by kaetemi »

trhway wrote: post #64
geoka9 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, I don't know if it's true that they are marks for Russian air strikes. But I've just tried and it does look weird (farms in the middle of the city).

beside the large painted marks on the roofs/etc., on Ukranian TV 10 minutes ago they shown some marks which are kind of plastic stick-on 1 inch square with the same cross-in-circle image. The stick-on are reflective and have numbers. Some people think it is a mark of the houses with police, military residents, etc...

Those plastic reflective stickers are supposedly local tools for land measurement.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#74

Post by dboreham »

malloryerik wrote: post #45
tomek_zemla wrote: post #27

It has been noted by number of analysts that it is surprising that Ukraine still has access to Internet. Everybody expected cyber warfare to be a major part of the invasion. One of the possible explanations mentioned: Russian army and its covert operatives need it.

Is the internet and electricity being on not possibly because the invaders don't have air superiority?

Also packet switched networking was invented to tolerate enemy bombing.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#75

Post by rocqua »

tempestn wrote: post #4

Why would Russia mark airstrikes with some kind of obfuscated Google Maps entries? I hope your hometown stays safe, but I can't see how this makes sense.

Its easy for local collaborators/spies to use this kind of system for communication with the Russian army.

No special skills or tools needed, and the on-line behavior is really hard to distinguish from 'expected' behavior. Its a pretty nice, and really easy to use, covert channel.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#76

Post by mellavora »

invalidname wrote: post #6
ketralnis wrote: post #3

It feels very improbable that a government would be using google maps for this. It feels even more improbable that even if they are, removing a mark from google maps would prevent them from launching an actual air strike. Surely a target important enough to "mark" would be worth finding an alternative way to target in case a bunch of keyboard warriors figure out your nefarious plan. None of this makes sense. I know i…

As far as I understand the Russian equipment is awful and unmaintained. As a result soldiers in the field just use cell phones and Google Maps to coordinate. Yes they have the original military equipment as the source of the commands but it's much easier to communicate via cell phones. If you know Russians this makes 100% perfect sense... The solution isn't to remove it. Just move the locations slightly to an empty f…

I read something about a 40 mile long logistics convoy.... might be more interesting to put markers on that road than on an empty field.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#77

Post by rocqua »

This is an un-authenticated method of communication. It might be hard to stop people from using this, but it seems easy to overwhelm them with misinformation.

Start placing 10, or a hundred times as many of these signs around non-important objects. Drown the signal in noise.

Some consideration is needed for how to keep these symbols believable, without accidentally marking certain people for being bombed. Still, I think if you have marked 60% of roofs in a town with these signs, then some-one will realize something is wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#78

Post by mellavora »

graderjs wrote: post #13

If true, what would the debate within Google be like about closing Google services / blacklisting accounts or devices, over the affected regions? For such a thing they probably have to get approval from the state department or someone else correct?

I recall one study where the researchers (with approval) made google maps suggest a route which looped back on itself... the idea was to test if people would blindly follow google maps or if they would try to reason for themselves using GM as one source of info.

turns out many people just blindly followed.

So closing/blacklisting accounts might not be the best solution, you could just make all the route instructions take them back to Russia.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#79

Post by hgomersall »

Rastonbury wrote: post #30
graderjs wrote: post #13

If true, what would the debate within Google be like about closing Google services / blacklisting accounts or devices, over the affected regions? For such a thing they probably have to get approval from the state department or someone else correct?

I doubt it, the idea that Russian soldiers are using Maps to navigate in Ukraine is a PR disaster waiting to happen.

Right up there with invasion.

Re: Ask HN: Can you help me remove the marks for the airstrikes from Google Maps?

#80

Post by donavanm »

trhway wrote: post #64
geoka9 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, I don't know if it's true that they are marks for Russian air strikes. But I've just tried and it does look weird (farms in the middle of the city).

beside the large painted marks on the roofs/etc., on Ukranian TV 10 minutes ago they shown some marks which are kind of plastic stick-on 1 inch square with the same cross-in-circle image. The stick-on are reflective and have numbers. Some people think it is a mark of the houses with police, military residents, etc...

Do you mean survey markers/targets? Theyre used in civil construction etc to track changes relative to an established datum https://www.berntsen.com/Surveying/Smart-Targets-Datums-Refl...
Post reply on HN