MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood(www.engadget.com)
205 pointsby bookofjoe8 hours ago14 comments
  • K2h4 hours ago
    This shows the license plate readers i added last week on openstreetmap so we know where the data comes from. Nice render on their map - even shows camera direction

    i added generic LPR’s - and they show on mapquest, so be aware its not just flock on their map.

    To enable the view on mapquest, i could not figure it out on web, used ios app; layers / surveillance

    Ios app; https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mapquest-gps-navigation-maps/i...

    • VorpalWay2 hours ago
      I believe they have used OSM for a long time yes (over a decade at least), not exactly a secret.
      • ErroneousBosh2 hours ago
        They use OSM and they provide the "free use as much as you like" tileservers for OSM.
  • emig6474 hours ago
    This is how you start getting the users back. The Lake Ontario naming situation pushed me to using them. It has been working great in CarPlay. My wife loved the unicorn. I get to avoid (or hunt) Flock cameras. Everyone wins.
    • jrmg4 hours ago
      Mapquest is reliable for you in CarPlay? I tried it out after the Lake Ontario incident, and it was hanging and crashing left and right.
      • pkthunder2 hours ago
        Just tried it on mine - worked fine. I can’t see a way to end the trip via CarPlay though.
    • chuckadams4 hours ago
      [flagged]
      • nilamo3 hours ago
        The proposed rename breaks the HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Eerie, Superior) acronym all of us in Michigan learned, and is thus doomed to failure. Because SHAME is a much worse acronym.
      • 3 hours ago
        undefined
      • rdiddly4 hours ago
        What "official channels" exist for renaming things that aren't even within your borders? It's less like renaming McKinley to Denali and more like "renaming" the Atlantic Ocean to the America Ocean. It's blatantly stupid, not acknowledged by most human beings, and won't last five minutes in history, and all of these facts are obvious to anyone who isn't stupid or corrupt, so what is the big mystery? What are they supposed to do besides what? You either adopt a frivolous rename or you don't.
  • willmeyers4 hours ago
    This data all stored in OpenStreetMap via DeFlock and other apps. One thing that should be said is that anyone can plot a camera via these apps whether or not one is actually there or not. I know that OSM community has been dealing with a lot Flock related vandalism because of these apps.
    • ErroneousBoshan hour ago
      The full export of OSM is about 2TB but the US is only around 100GB even if you go to insane levels. It's disproportionately large because there are a hell of a lot of OSM-ers in the US ;-)

      Anyway what we should do is keep a few clean snapshots of the US as a backup, on hosting safely outside the US - or US-owned companies.

      • Symbiotean hour ago
        The OpenStreetMap project/foundation is based in the Netherlands and UK last I checked.
  • yborisan hour ago
    Halloween is National DeFlock Day -- just spreading the good meme ;)
  • talon8635an hour ago
    I had no idea MapQuest still existed. How have they survived the past 15 years?
    • tarellelan hour ago
      I’d say the majority of their users are probably older. People who started using it based on familiarity from when they first used it a decade ago (or more). I do know my in-laws refuse to use Google/Apple Maps, because it’s “what they know”.
  • BorisMelnik2 hours ago
    dam Mapquest? if they make a project that shows me directions, not photos of food at restaurants, ads for fast food, etc ill start using them
    • phyzix576143 minutes ago
      Would you pay for it or how else do you suppose they could make money?
  • herfan hour ago
    Great idea - it's your "driving directions" app that decides if you drive by these cameras, or not!
  • mediaeater34 minutes ago
    This is how you normalize it.
  • user3939382an hour ago
    Countdown til Flock’s PR firm resets the controversy movement by renaming the company and it takes the public 5+ years to catch on again.
  • amelius2 hours ago
    Anything similar for meta glasses?
    • x3roan hour ago
      You are using Meta glasses and worrying about surveillance? I don’t want to be mean, but if you run around with one of those, I would want to be alerted of _your_ presence..
  • kogasa240pan hour ago
    Very cool to see, and I'm curious if they'll start logging where Axion cams are next (if DeFlock doesn't already have Axion cameras logged). Also like how MapQuest doesn't lock multiple destinations behind needing an account, at least for the desktop version.
  • topkai222 hours ago
    TIL that there is a surveillance tech company named Axis Communications and it remains true that our societal self awareness is terrible.
  • alterom3 hours ago
    Wow. This is one unexpected comeback.

    And as a former Google Maps employee... I'm loving it.

  • Noaidi2 hours ago
    MapQuest is acting like Democrats should be acting.
    • nxman hour ago
      Woke?