Microsoft's "Avoid-the-ghetto" GPS patent
 

The joy of Microsoft's 'avoid ghetto' GPS patent

Indeed, not so long ago, one lady sued Google because the directions its map offered led her (she believed) to be struck by a car.
Now Microsoft has been granted a patent that is designed to make its maps more pedestrian-friendly.
Somehow, this patent has immediately been dubbed the "avoid ghetto" feature.

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/201..._z_610x408.jpg

The gist of it seems to be that Microsoft's GPS--which will reportedly be inserted into Windows Phones in the future--will use input from more varied and up-to-date sources in order to create suggested routes.
Among these sources are crime statistics. Which has led some to the thought that this will somehow be an insult to poor neighborhoods.
What is unclear, at least from my reading of the patent--which isn't written by anything resembling a human hand or mind--is what kind of crime statistics the GPS might choose to use.
It's one thing to avoid areas where there might have occurred physical assaults and gunfire. It's another to avoid, say, places where burglaries are popular, as one suspects quite a few allegedly nice areas are subject to burglars' desires.
With some areas, past performance isn't a guarantee of future results. What if someone using a route from this system does get mugged, shot, assaulted, or robbed? Would they feel entitled to sue Microsoft because the route was supposed to be "ghetto-free"?
The patent talks about the quality of the information. But quality is a subjective notion, so one wonders just whose assessment of quality will be deemed significant.
The patent also holds within it some other little gems. It seeks to help the pedestrian avoid "harsh temperatures." Some people like harsh temperatures, but this system will also store people's pedestrian information to offer, one assumes, a more personalized heat-level for the route.
How personalized should it be, though? My eyes perform slightly odd twitches when I read this sentence from the patent: "Various features can integrate with route presentment, such as integrating an advertisement targeted to a pedestrian with a direction set."
Is this suggesting that Windows Phones will give pedestrians a route that will take them past specific ads? What a curious and slightly mind-altering thought.
One wonders whether those who use the system might also be offered an "avoid ads" option.

The joy of Microsoft's 'avoid ghetto' GPS patent | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

:suspicious:








:fuckthatshit:

Harold and Kumar should of have this feature in Guantanamo bay :lol

the most intriguing thing about this is that a woman sued google because she got hit by a car.................

:seriously::suspicious::fulloffuck:

:fuckthatshit: crazy bitch

technology these days......

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lojul1hoB91qgzuxc.jpg

Would be a good idea for anyone living in the States. Quick press of the button and you can see how much time you can save if you suck it up and drive down a street where you're 60% more likely to be murdered.

Plus...realistically, what are the poor neighborhoods going to do about their besmirched honor? I mean...they're poor. :fuckthatshit:

So there is just going to be a big "no-drive zone" over Surrey?

all routes leading to Surrey will prompt a U-turn command :troll:

they should also include a C-lai density patent that takes vehicle collision statistics of Richmond :joy:

:lol

This would be useful on roadtrips through unfamiliar cities.

Oh, thank God I can grow a beard and am uninterested in picking up other men on message forums!

I checked the map in the first post, it is of Youngstown Ohio

Windows phone? :fuckthatshit:

rofl i wud pay very much for a clai density sensor of some kind
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Satellite photos tracking their face shields through their car windshields!

Very. I got off the freeway in LA only to see a burned out car and another car on cement blocks. I quickly U-turned and got back on the freeway.

that last bit is interesting.

i foresee shops paying the GPS program to route pedestrians passed their shop as a form of advertizing.

success and failure for a store front can be as simple as being one block over from the main street. imagine being able to pay a GPS program to route pedestrians to your street.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/276946/discrimi_nav_gps/

Actually, the exact same thing happened to us in LA when I was a kid. It was the memory I was thinking of when I posted.

We rented a car and got a little lost. One wrong turn and it was the shadiest place I could ever imagine.

LMAO gg surrey
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