Google, ya dun goof'd

[superbatranger]

Over the past few days, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have been in a border dispute over an island in the San Juan River. I know what you're thinking. What does that have to do with Google, you say. Well, a Nicaraguan commander by the name of Eden Pastora justified the incursion of his troops into Costa Rican territory because an error in Google Maps showed the island in question as being part of Nicaragua. Here's the kicker. The official maps of both countries show the island as being part of Costa Rica. Yet, the commander marched his men to the island, set up base, took down the Costa Rican flag, and raised the Nicaraguan flag. Keep in mind that Costa Rica has no formal military. A spokesperson for Google told the Costa Rican newspaper, La Nacion, that they didn't know the source of the errors. But, apparently Bing Maps shows the border exactly the same as it is shown in the official maps of both countries.

This is just...I mean...wow. Oh, here are 3 different sources so you can read up on this, laugh, and ultimately facepalm.

Original Source(in Spanish): http://www.nacion.com/2010-11-04/ElPais/NotasSecundarias/ElPais2577867.aspx

Secondary Source: http://searchengineland.com/nicaragua-raids-costa-rica-blames-google-maps-54885

Tertiary Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11...ids-costa-rica-blames-google-maps/#more-42455

 

[thiosk]

Costa rica should respond with nuclear weapons and smallpox. This is not google's fault, this is the overzealous and probably facist nicaraguan regime which is probably responsible for all of the worlds ills. Down with the leftist paramilitary ultraconservestites who hold all of nicaragua in their tungesten grip of terror!

 

[zombiesinc]

Pfft, that's not Google's fault! It's the guys fault for trusting Google maps as a legitimate resource to make such an important decision upon.

 

[superbatranger]

Pfft, that's not Google's fault! It's the guys fault for trusting Google maps as a legitimate resource to make such an important decision upon.

Well, in a way, it was Nicaragua and Google's fault. Google's because of the error on Google Maps, and Nicaragua's because the guy trusted Google Maps as you said. If there was never an error, this might not have happened.