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

My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

mastodon.gamedev.place

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 367 posts

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#71

Post by pavel_lishin »

NoDodgeQuestion wrote: post #29
rsynnott wrote: post #21

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

At risk of summoning an army of vibe coders, I wish map apps were more configurable and let you set "I'm happy to walk 20 min" or "someone can drive me a few miles and drop me off"

I wish I could add certain streets and routes to some sort of block list.

There are certain roads I would be willing to spend an extra 10-30 minutes driving to avoid. (And certainly would not get on them on a bike!)

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#72

Post by pavel_lishin »

iamnothere wrote: post #59
clort wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really insane? That is less than 200 per day, in a city of 15 million people.. a single gang of 20 thieves could likely manage that! The real question is, how does this compare to other cities of this size and demographics?

Why compare demographics?

I would expect a city that's mostly retirement communities to have less snatch-and-run thefts than a city where tourists make up a large part of the population at any given time.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#73

Post by teddyh »

kbrannigan wrote: post #41

Coming soon near you: - Warming up for a run: Possible agitated tweaker, possible crisis - Going for a run after midnight: Evasive solitary movement after dark - Sprinting the last block home: Flight behavior consistent with shoplifting offense - Running with a hood up in the rain: Deliberate biometric obfuscation - Two runners meeting at a corner and leaving in opposite directions: Brief contact event, possible hand…

Or even taking a walk:

https://archive.org/details/sim_reporter_1951-08-07_5_3_0/pa...>

(Alternate link: https://archive.org/details/sim_reporter_1951-08-07_5_3/page...>)

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#74

Post by TitaRusell »

ortusdux wrote: post #64
rsynnott wrote: post #21

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

I'm still astounded by how poorly Gmaps handles Seattle ferries. The time and routing calculations always assume the best case scenario. I've had it insist I take the ferry because it estimated a 5 minute time savings, when in reality there is a minimum 3hr wait for a boat. This I can work around, but the truly awful behavior is that if you pull off for gas and then get back on the highway, it will automatically reca…

Yeah at this point Google Maps has 20 years of data to work with it should work flawlessly in big cities.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#75

Post by TitaRusell »

rafram wrote: post #61
WheatMillington wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google isn't making arbitrary decisions here - it's reflecting social norms. Americans aren't big on walking. I've seen pictures of beautiful leafy suburbs that don't even have sidewalks.

This is overstated. At least as of 2017, Americans walked about 93% as much as people in France, for example, and a little more than people in Portugal or Greece. https://www.statista.com/statistics/747380/daily-step-averag...

Jogging was invented in the US. I think it is more of a class problem than a nationality problem.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#76

Post by Krasnol »

rafram wrote: post #61
WheatMillington wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google isn't making arbitrary decisions here - it's reflecting social norms. Americans aren't big on walking. I've seen pictures of beautiful leafy suburbs that don't even have sidewalks.

This is overstated. At least as of 2017, Americans walked about 93% as much as people in France, for example, and a little more than people in Portugal or Greece. https://www.statista.com/statistics/747380/daily-step-averag...

I guess it says more about people in France, Portugal and Greece.

The difference is: they COULD walk if they wanted.

You can't if there is no walkway.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#77

Post by alentred »

A good example of how a wrong assumption ruins something (in tech, products, and life in general). I love the feature idea, but the assumption that a sudden brisk run equals theft obviously ruined it. Well, easy for us to say in retrospect, but my point is: don't make assumptions, test your theories, challenge them, confirm them. Scientific method rules.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#78

Post by aliclark »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #72
iamnothere wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why compare demographics?

I would expect a city that's mostly retirement communities to have less snatch-and-run thefts than a city where tourists make up a large part of the population at any given time.

Retired people a probably quite easy targets in this scenario.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#79

Post by rsynnott »

eCa wrote: post #44
rsynnott wrote: post #21

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

Speaking of trains, that's another thing they don't do. The auto-snapping of current location consistently snaps to whatever road or goat track it can find nearby, while equally consistently refusing to snap to the railroad they have mapped. Sure, there's not much need for navigation in that situation, but if you're trying to be smart regarding where I am, maybe take into account if I'm travelling at 200 kph before p…

Oddly, it seems to be okay at that in Dublin at least.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#80

Post by iamnothere »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #72
iamnothere wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why compare demographics?

I would expect a city that's mostly retirement communities to have less snatch-and-run thefts than a city where tourists make up a large part of the population at any given time.

Interestingly, Tokyo has a much larger population than London with a very low crime rate. I can’t find specific numbers on stolen phones (only lost phone statistics are published) but robberies/muggings are 0.04 per 1,000 yearly versus London’s 2.83 per 1,000. Seoul has a similar rate to Tokyo, 0.4 to 0.5.

Also, is there even a single city of London’s size that is mostly retirement communities?

Post reply on HN