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Nicaragua invades Costa Rica due to Google Maps error
"Look at Google's satellite photo and there you can see the border," Pastora told La Nacion (Spanish translation), the largest newspaper in Costa Rica. "In the last 3,000 meters, the two sides (of the river) are Nicaraguan. Then from there to El Castillo, the border is the right riverbank, it's clear."
Apparently Google Maps isn't always right. The official maps used by both the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican governments show the border continuing on the right bank of the San Juan River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. As you can see in the image above, Bing Maps shows the border more accurately. If Pastora is going to ignore the official maps and insists on using an online mapping service, maybe Costa Rica should tell him to just Bing it next time.
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User Comments (132)
Post a comment|
speeedy6
on November 5, 2010 12:48 AM |
Lol I find this hilarious! |
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hassaan
on November 5, 2010 1:04 AM |
This is so absurd, I mean what the heck!! I'm actually short of words here. =/ |
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St1ckM4n
on November 5, 2010 1:19 AM |
Oh wow this is ridiculously funny. |
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red1776
on November 5, 2010 1:29 AM |
...oh I see what happened here. The Nicaraguan army Didn't stay "slightly right "at Rio San Juan. oooppsy daisy! |
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Guest
on November 5, 2010 3:31 AM |
hahahahahaha todays big fail |
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Burty117
on November 5, 2010 3:48 AM |
Agreed with Guest, What a FAIL this is :P |
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Recipe7
on November 5, 2010 3:54 AM |
This must be a joke... a government let this happen? What a FAILURE. |
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Serag
on November 5, 2010 3:59 AM |
Wow this is funny in a ridiculous way, furthermore I think the military decided to use Google maps instead of the official map because they thought it'd be more accurate and up to date, I'm just saying. |
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gwailo247
on November 5, 2010 4:35 AM |
Why did they destroy the forest preserve? I don't get that part. Are they trying to lower the number of specialists in the nearby Costa Rican town? Too bad Microsoft probably doesn't want to piss of the Nicaraguan government, this would make one hell of an advertising campaign. Maybe someone in their military read the article about US special forces using Android phones, so they figured why not be like the Americans and also use Google to aid their military. Will Google now need to put a disclaimer on Google Maps, "For non-military use only"? |
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Julio Franco
on November 5, 2010 4:48 AM |
Or the other way around, promote it saying "Google Maps: Even the military uses it" |
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kaonis92
on November 5, 2010 4:53 AM |
What a serious government! |
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Arris
on November 5, 2010 4:59 AM |
Sounds like they were just using Google as a scapegoat, an excuse to mess with Costa Rica. I'm sure if you'd just reclaimed part of your country from a neighbouring one the first action wouldn't have been to destroy your own forest land... |
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thebluemeaner
on November 5, 2010 5:41 AM |
the note says that they took down a costa rican flag, apparently costa rica had taken the land for themselves... |
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bioflex
on November 5, 2010 6:03 AM |
now this is soo hilarious....come on, how could they base their actions on google maps when they already had real maps which they had been using for soo long?.... |
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Guest
on November 5, 2010 6:24 AM |
Governments love to look as gods on earth and morally superior to justify their forceful actions on peaceful people. I love how stories like this show how amateur they really are. Wake up, we are ruled by morons who just happen to be good at fooling us into obedience. It's all a show. |
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Benny26
on November 5, 2010 6:37 AM |
You just can't make this stuff up can you.... |
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bugejakurt
on November 5, 2010 6:51 AM |
This military commander Eden Pastora is just soooo foolish to do this act! Why didn't he called up Google and told them about the problem? WTF?! |
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Archean
on November 5, 2010 6:52 AM |
Or, ---> Google Maps: Serve you best when you are in mood of invading and looting any of your neighbors But after this incidence, another probability can come into play i.e. they may force likes of google to use maps they approve of. |
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Bluemagma
on November 5, 2010 6:55 AM |
Eden Pastora says, " I wonder if I can see my kingdom on google maps!, here's my house, heres my mothers house....." click click click.. click....click....CLICK.... CLLLIIICCCKKK. "OH HELL NO!, GATHER THE TROOPS! THEY TOOK THIS FROM UNDER OUR NOSE!" Costa Rica says, "?" Eden Pastora says, "ATTAAAAAAACK!!!!" Costa Rica says "Do we even have an army?" Eden Pastora says, "Enrique Call google immediately about our conquest. Tell them to send a team down for new images" Costa Rica says, " Seriously WTF?" Eden Pastora says, "AH HAAAAH my first true victory! |
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sMILEY4ever
on November 5, 2010 7:05 AM |
Julio said: Or the other way around, promote it saying "Google Maps: Even the military uses it" ...and fails by doing so. |
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LinkedKube
on November 5, 2010 7:12 AM |
Are we being punk'd? |
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Guest
on November 5, 2010 7:14 AM |
This is positively the biggest fail in military history. |
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urluckee
on November 5, 2010 7:28 AM |
and who relies on google maps? |
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Burty117
on November 5, 2010 7:30 AM |
bluemagma said: Eden Pastora says, " I wonder if I can see my kingdom on google maps!, here's my house, heres my mothers house....." click click click.. click....click....CLICK.... CLLLIIICCCKKK. "OH HELL NO!, GATHER THE TROOPS! THEY TOOK THIS FROM UNDER OUR NOSE!" Costa Rica says, "?" Eden Pastora says, "ATTAAAAAAACK!!!!" Costa Rica says "Do we even have an army?" Eden Pastora says, "Enrique Call google immediately about our conquest. Tell them to send a team down for new images" Costa Rica says, " Seriously WTF?" Eden Pastora says, "AH HAAAAH my first true victory! this actually brightened up my day! shit day at work, thought i'm jump on techspot to see possibly the funnyest comment i've ever read |
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urluckee
on November 5, 2010 7:33 AM |
too funny |
The military using Google.. we're doomed!
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