I totally agree, and yes please answer these questions, as I'd be interested to know the differences in quality among the respective teams, their methods for evaluating edits and how they perceive each other.
Right now you can use Google Maps on your phone to add a missing place. This place will be approved (usually within an hour) by an Anonymous account bearing the "G" logo. Now while the POI may not display unless you are actively searching for the place or it's specific category, it will still appear on the map. This makes it even easier to crowd the map with useless information. I am sure it's an insult to those who painstakingly edit the map in MM with accurate information, only to be denied be an LE who knows nothing, and then seeing the useless entries like people's houses and spam get added immediately. What is Google's reasoning behind this?
I can't really answer the question with any insider knowledge, but from experience working with the Map Maker product and Google reviewers (those are the ones with G), they use a contracting workforce for local that has little training and high turnover. The Google Reviewers on the Map Maker team usually have better training and retention, and have higher quality standards that they adhere to, but that may be my bias working with them (they are usually quicker to fix their mistakes, and they also QC the LE reviews, frequently (100%) overturning their reviews and approving your edit on MM if the LE denies your edit. It's very frustrating and almost bipolar.
It's all fairly easy to spam Google Maps from other avenues. I've seen bulk uploads of 100's of spam listings, the Google My Business product is also easily gamed, and the LEs don't appear to closely scrutinize locations in order to ensure that the business is where it's claimed to be, even though they have access to more detailed street view imagery and presumably can just Google it. Google in general, and LEs in particular, seem to have a policy of preserving all data, no matter how bad/spammy, and approving new POIs, even if the POI is of a questionable nature and isn't supported by the facts, which, again, points to a deficit in their training in being able to identify spam features for Maps. Once you know what spam is, it's fairly easy to identify, and the actual QC checks, primarily using government licensing databases and other resources, takes about 30 seconds or less to verify listings. The hard part, at least on my end, is removing it. Google loves to hang on to spam.
The term "paper millionaire" means exactly as it sounds - someone who is a millionaire, but strictly on paper.
Most of the shares these Twitter employees have received cannot be sold until a certain amount of time. So the money is "on paper". They don't millions of dollars in their bank accounts - rather, they simply owns shares that are worth a million dollars.
To add a little perspective I live in rural England in a small thatched house that appears on a map dated 1420.
That's 30 years before Christopher Columbus was born — and Richard III; 100 years before Queen Elizabeth I was born.
It was built before chimneys were invented: one was fitted at some point, probably at the same time the upstairs floor was put in (you can't have an upstairs without a chimney). The refurbishment date is scratched into the plaster work: Feb 1722.
And I am very thankful that the undergrounds in the cities where I spent most of my time were built much later: Tunnelling techniques evolved quickly during the late 18th and early 19th century, allowing for much more ‘comfortable’ tunnel diameters – there is a reason the London Underground is called the tube, it’s difficult to stand in most of its trains.
The first underground lines were in 1863. That's the mid 19th century. The first deep level train (what's actually the Tube) was the City & South London Railway, opened in 1890 (late 19th century). Check yo fax.
> opened in 1890 (late 19th century). Check yo fax.
HN, of all communities, should be familiar with off-by-one errors. My apologies for the confusion; you are right, I was referring to the late 19th and early 20th century.
Nope - the newest lines (Victoria, Jubilee) are all smaller diameter trains. The larger, squarer cut+covers (District, Circle, Metropolitan etc) are generally older, because you can't cut a trench across London for a new Tube line any more.
It's still not hard to stand on any of the trains as long as you're not right beside the door on a Tube (unless you're extremely unusually tall, but the odds are well against that).
There are two sizes of tube trains - "deep tube" and "sub surface" trains. The deep tube trains are much smaller, and they are difficult to stand in if you're near the doors for anyone who's over 6 feet (I'm 6'4"). That said, it's not the end of the world, as you're only standing there when it's crowded, but it does happen.
Roughly 1.95m and while standing in the very middle is possible, it does feel more like an airplane rather than a train. Admittedly, I also like to have some space above my head and don’t always feel perfectly comfortable in tight spaces, so that might well contribute to a (perceived) lack of space.
London is a Roman town, much older than England (edit: and that's just name, as the poster below mentions the city has existed much longer). the queen still has to ask permission to enter the City (now called the square mile). The underground (aka the Tube) is new, but the city itself is very, very old.
Right now you can use Google Maps on your phone to add a missing place. This place will be approved (usually within an hour) by an Anonymous account bearing the "G" logo. Now while the POI may not display unless you are actively searching for the place or it's specific category, it will still appear on the map. This makes it even easier to crowd the map with useless information. I am sure it's an insult to those who painstakingly edit the map in MM with accurate information, only to be denied be an LE who knows nothing, and then seeing the useless entries like people's houses and spam get added immediately. What is Google's reasoning behind this?