Waze Thinks You're Cheating If You Drive Too Much

"Brian Silvestro" (BrianSilvestro) 01/17/2016 at 16:13 • Filed to: waze, navigation, apps, roadtrip, google maps

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If you drive enough miles in a short amount of time, Waze will take you off their scoreboard and strip you of your rank. It happened to me just last month, after logging over 3500 miles in the span of about four days.

My co-driver !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a shit-ton. Our starting point was New York, the morning of Christmas eve, and we had traveled all the way to Monterey, CA, arriving sometime the next evening.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

After a long weekend of exploring Northern California, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and throwing even more miles at my Fiesta ST so we could get to Los Angeles, I found a little surprise waiting for me in my email inbox:

I used the enclosed link to contact Waze in hopes of getting some kind of explanation for this error, but have since received no replies.

Luckily for me, I can still use the app to navigate and report things on the road. However, I cannot make map edits, my rank is displayed as zero, and I can’t compare my score to friends on the scoreboard.

Waze, if you’re reading this, please reinstate my shit.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:25

22

That’s a lot of miles.

Cherry_man1 > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:26

1

well then, hopefully they will get back to you

zeontestpilot > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:28

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They are just jealous of your miles.

Iheartmy365kHonda - Car enthusiasts do like FWD > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:33

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To the founders of Waze...just realize this guy loves driving more than you love you significant others.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:33

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How would one “fake” a drive? Are there people that do that? Seems kind of a trivial thing to be cheating at

Brian Silvestro > Iheartmy365kHonda - Car enthusiasts do like FWD 01/19/2016 at 10:34

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^^^^^^^^^^

Brian Silvestro > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 10:36

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Still trying to figure that one out. Seems pretty absurd.

AndyG_UK > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:38

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I’m curious as to how they think your cheating, do they think you’ve mailed your powered up phone to these places (unlikely as nothing sucks a battery dry like Waze), given it other people to take with them, hacked the app to inject false data?? Also what about people who drive long distances for a living, truck drivers and traveling sales persona etc? We expect an update when\id they get back to you!

TheRealBicycleBuck > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:38

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Since you are an editor, contact either an area manager or a country manager. I’ve worked with karlcr9911 in the past and he’s a nice guy who is easy to work with.

You will find a listing of managers for the New York area here: https://wiki.waze.com/wiki/New_York

Justin Hughes > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:44

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Dang. I think back to my days as a delivery driver, where I’d regularly rack up hundreds of miles a day, all day, every day. Waze didn’t exist then. If it did, I’d be running it constantly, because it’s awesome. Would I suffer this fate as well?

And, as has been stated, how does running Waze a lot fake the system? I can understand if I run it on an airplane doing 620mph across the country, but that’s easy to spot. The fakers are the people who falsely report traffic, construction, or closures on their side roads to fool Wazers into not taking the shortcut down their streets. I don’t see what lots of miles has to do with that.

Brian Silvestro > AndyG_UK 01/19/2016 at 10:44

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It’s not really an issue for people that drive for a living, because they usually don’t log that many miles in such a short time.

davedave1111 > AndyG_UK 01/19/2016 at 10:46

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I don’t know exactly how Waze works, but I suspect it’s easy to send it spoofed reports.

As for professional drivers, I’d imagine they look at patterns of use to decide if people are doing the same thing as normal or something different.

not for canada - australian in disguise > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:48

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TIL: Alyssa Walker is in charge of Waze.

Joshua Rollins > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:50

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HA That makes so much sense! I did 5000 miles in a week due to moving and I noticed it went to 0. how does this get fixed.

Brian Silvestro > Joshua Rollins 01/19/2016 at 10:51

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I guess it doesn’t, fellow cheater.

Ash78, voting early and often > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:52

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Shalom, Waze,

You do realize that a lot of the Torah seems to make little sense, as well, right? But we must have faith or perish.

CC: Google

Dear Google, Chthulu gave me a ride.

Joshua Rollins > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 10:52

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Thats bullshit! I didnt realize thats what happened

AndyG_UK > davedave1111 01/19/2016 at 10:55

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Hmmm, I guess so, still not right though is it, they should have a "I'm going on a road trip" option!

Mattbob > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 10:55

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Maybe ship your phone? With a big backup battery all plugged in.

zeontestpilot > Joshua Rollins 01/19/2016 at 11:01

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It’s your punishment for moving. Shame on you for driving over the expected amount for any reason other than commutting.

Brian, The Life of > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:02

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So do they do this to all the long-haul truckers that make up the top of the ranks? There is no way people have the points they do without regularly logging the same miles you did. At least you’re still a “royal” ;)

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 11:03

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GPS spoofing I would think, although I don’t know of any off the shelf tools to mimic travel by driving.

zeontestpilot > not for canada - australian in disguise 01/19/2016 at 11:05

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That can’t be true, because then I would get penalized for driving a non-electric car.

Joshua Rollins > zeontestpilot 01/19/2016 at 11:06

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My other question is how the hell do you cheat? hahahaha

Garrett Davis > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:07

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I guess you’ll have to find other Waze around.

Doug DeMuro > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:07

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This is hilarious! But I have to admit that I didn’t know there was a scoreboard and I didn’t know they had “ranks.” I just use it to scout for cops.

CrymeLord > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 11:09

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If there is a leaderboard there will be fakes. This goes to show you that they don’t track GPS history. Otherwise they’d know it wasn’t fake.

Wyze_Rabbit > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 11:09

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Flights with the app on is my guess.

JayQC > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:11

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You drive too much, take a break.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:12

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That is a long way to go just to see a mistress.

davedave1111 > AndyG_UK 01/19/2016 at 11:13

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Looks like that option involves clicking the linky at the bottom of their email.

DriveItLikeYouOwnIt > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:14

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Future next gen S2000 owner > Wyze_Rabbit 01/19/2016 at 11:14

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Wouldn’t traveling 500 mph trigger some bells for cheating?

davedave1111 > Brian, The Life of 01/19/2016 at 11:15

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Obviously, they’ve identified an atypical pattern of usage for this user.

jimz > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:16

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I wanted to like Waze, but Google decided to be a big(ger) bag of dicks and pulled it from the Windows Phone store just as I started using it.

BobWellington > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:16

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I wish google never bought Waze. They always find ways to screw good things up (like YouTube). A few months before Waze was bought by google they developed an app for Windows Phone. I was even part of the beta testing. But after google bought Waze all development was halted for WP. google is a company with jerks heading it. They’re doing all they can to stifle the success of Windows Phone. The only google product I want is Waze, but since they own it I won’t use it.

MrMcQueen21v2 > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:16

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That’s really not that difficult, It’s 866 miles per day. Not a casual jaunt, but not unreachable either. 12 hours of driving at 70 mph is 840 miles.

Blake307 > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:17

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I did 5,000 over the course of about 6 days with the waze app and I had no issuses.

Brian, The Life of > davedave1111 01/19/2016 at 11:18

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Yup, obviously.

zetec duratec ECOTEC > Ash78, voting early and often 01/19/2016 at 11:19

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uh... what?

Jerk Dently > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:19

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Making a scoreboard encourages competition, which means there is going to be some asshat who feels the need to cheat and ruin the fun for everyone else. It’s why we can’t have nice things.

zeontestpilot > Joshua Rollins 01/19/2016 at 11:20

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They can’t be going over the data with a fine-comb, it has to be alerted if you exceeded X amount of miles in a short time; like a rule that says “if [user] mileage is greater than 5000 miles a week, give a warning”.

So it could be they never expected that amount to ever be achieve within a set period of time, or it calculates what your average is and if you exceed it, it then throws a warning.

Regardless, it’s a silly rule that doesn’t take into account people who drive their car a lot, or for enjoyment.

It also makes me wonder, what is the magic number/mileage that you have to pass to receive a warning?

~a programmer

drdude > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 11:20

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You can have your phone report a fake GPS signal.. its useful for testing and writing software. However it can also be used to cheat and say you are places that you are not. Its not hard to make it think you drove from point A to point B. when you did not ever go to either place.

PhilP > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:21

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What, does nobody at Google/Waze take long road trips? They do realize that’s where the greatest value for this product actually lies, right?

For Sweden > Doug DeMuro 01/19/2016 at 11:22

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Doug DeMuro the kind of guy who uses Waze to find cops so he can snitch to those cops.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > drdude 01/19/2016 at 11:23

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Neat-o. Still a trivial thing to cheat at, but as someone else pointed out, if there’s a leader board, there will be cheaters

iofo61 > For Sweden 01/19/2016 at 11:23

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I think it’s more likely that he finds the cops to ask them to call for a tow truck.

Think! aka anotherburner111122223333 > Doug DeMuro 01/19/2016 at 11:24

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You would have known if you were following Brian on Twitter.

#ihadto

MotorcycleRider > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:26

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I can only think of three ways to fake miles on Waze. 1. Get a really slow and low flying plane and cruise around in that. 2. Spoof the GPS in your phone to make the phone think it’s moving. 3. Crack Waze in some way that makes the system think you’re moving. I feel like all of these would be far more effort than it would be worth. Is this seriously a problem that Waze has?

CalzoneGolem > zetec duratec ECOTEC 01/19/2016 at 11:26

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The proper response to Ash.

jepawa > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:26

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WTF is waze or are we suppose to be all knowing technology gurus. A little back ground of what it is may help some of us readers that don't have it. just saying.

Joshua Rollins > zeontestpilot 01/19/2016 at 11:26

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I drive for work, its not uncommon for me to drive 1000 miles a week, or 4000 miles a month. I totally agree that its an algorythem that picks up abnormalities, but I’m sure truck drivers use WAZE and they drive a couple thousand miles a week. I checked the waze forum and couldn’t find anything, oh well I like the product and the social things was just a side perk. Still the best free app I have, saved me from a few tickets.

Wyze_Rabbit > Future next gen S2000 owner 01/19/2016 at 11:27

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Definitely would, also the fact that you aren’t traveling on roads anymore. I don’t use Waze anymore since I don’t like how some of the short routes take you on some odd roads. I just tried to pair up how I used to use google maps on airplanes and i thought it was funny how the app always tried to reroute you to the nearest road.

Chariotoflove > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:27

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Wait, let me get this straight. You installed an app that has a company track your movements and pass judgement on you? On purpose?

Voluntarily contributing to a community-sourced database is one thing, but this does not sound appealling at all.

ex.saint > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:28

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I don’t use Waze so I’m not familiar with it, but what possible benefit would come of “cheating”. For that matter, what’s the benefit (from the app) in driving more?

OUScooby > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:29

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There is a scoreboard for waze???It’s still early but I'm pretty sure this will be the stupidest thing i hear today. WTF is it keeping score of?

I am the Silent One > not for canada - australian in disguise 01/19/2016 at 11:34

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Huh?

borkborkborkbork69 > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:35

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if I used Waze, this would have burned me too as I drove from boston to Vancouver and back (6400+ miles) in 8 days

Derel1cte > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:37

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Let me know when Waze updates their app so that it doesn’t look like a child’s game. Until then, I’ll stick with google maps.

zeontestpilot > Joshua Rollins 01/19/2016 at 11:37

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So the threshold number is probably higher then 1000, but lower than 1300. Huh.

The forums say cheating is false reporting, and as long as that didn’t happen, they probably find the mileage suspicious. Which is weird....

AndyG_UK > jimz 01/19/2016 at 11:39

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I've actually just installed it today on my Lumia 930, from the Windows store, my partner uses it all the time but I always forget about it, this Oppopost reminded me to install it.

BryanGx > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:40

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Since I assume the quality of Waze’s service depends upon as many people as possible turning on the app as much as possible every time they get into a car, this seems like a real shitty thing to do to a “contributor.”

That being said, Waze, Shmaze. I tried using it for about 3-4 months, and iI found it completely and utterly worthless. The auto-zoom is too annoying and uncontrollable for local driving, and it never saw fit to warn me about upcoming traffic jams on the highways.

Ayyyyzhxb > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:55

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Just for my information, what is this waze points thing? I drive 40-48k mpy in my personal vehicles. Is there like a prize for driving or something?

I'm Abe Froman > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:58

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They weren't shy about their assumption.

Kiddy > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:58

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What in the hell is fake driving and how does one fake drive? I'm curious to know...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 11:59

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So lame. Hope they get you reinstated soon and you get an appropriate apology.

Do you think they consider using multiple drivers on one account on a long drive “cheating”? If so, that’s just dumb.

MotorcycleRider > Chariotoflove 01/19/2016 at 12:00

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He thinks Google or Apple or Microsoft doesn’t do the same thing with his phone regardless of what apps he has installed lmao

STIKleinWagon > Joshua Rollins 01/19/2016 at 12:02

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Multiple devices signed into the same account?

STIKleinWagon > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 12:03

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Multiple phones / devices signed in at the same time?

Mixeddrinks > Future next gen S2000 owner 01/19/2016 at 12:04

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I would laugh... but I just made a few far road trip this year.

52ndstate > OUScooby 01/19/2016 at 12:05

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Many things, but the most points seem to come from how much you contribute things like accurate road reports, map corrections, location photos, etc. Some are convinced having a higher rank gives them “better” routes, but I doubt it. If nothing else, it helps pass the time on longer trips.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > jimz 01/19/2016 at 12:06

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You mean Microsoft?

Joshua Rollins > STIKleinWagon 01/19/2016 at 12:06

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nope just my iphone - that makes sense how someone can cheat though

William T > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:06

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I ditched Waze when Google Maps went through its last redesign and haven’t looked back since. The UI is a mess.

Mosqvich > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:08

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I don’t email Waze, I tweet them and they respond. I tweeted your article. Maybe you’ll get a response.

timgray > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/19/2016 at 12:08

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developer mode, then feed it simulated GPS data. done all the time for app developers.

Chariotoflove > MotorcycleRider 01/19/2016 at 12:10

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Well, if you are a conspiracy theorist who thinks Big Brother(s) is/are cataloging your every move through your phone software, then I would think you would not want to help them do it.

jimz > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/19/2016 at 12:13

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No, I mean Google.

dogisbadob > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:15

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz runs Waze

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > jimz 01/19/2016 at 12:16

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Oh. I didn’t know it was a Google app.

Fleetwood T. Brougham > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:18

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TIL that there are people who care about their Waze score.

Dangerous > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:19

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Waze is obviously run by a 12 year old gamer. GLITCHER! HACKER! TRY-HARD!

kicked and banned

Fritz O' The Ham > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:19

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I’ve never had this particular problem... I used to be heavy into editing the maps for my area, but I found the editor community to be full of the most pedantic, snobby, and unwelcoming people that I simply stopped... I’ve only recently started using the app again as my commute has changed and is much longer... I probably won’t go back to map editing.

ramajastang > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:24

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We’re going to have to hold a klingon discommendation ceremony for you.

crustyjoe > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:26

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How do you fake drives? Is this a huge problem for Waze?

leelze > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:29

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How does it even matter if you are “cheating”? I’ve only used that app a few times, but I don’t remember any sort of rewards program with free swag.

And how would you go about cheating in a manner that’s not obvious?

Stygian Blue > Brian, The Life of 01/19/2016 at 12:30

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What? I'm in the top 1% of my state, and I'm not a long-haul trucker. I just have a somewhat long commute.

leelze > Future next gen S2000 owner 01/19/2016 at 12:30

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Just because your car can’t cruise at 500 mph doesn’t mean the rest of us can't.

Brian Silvestro > Garrett Davis 01/19/2016 at 12:32

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LOL

bubbajoe123456 > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/19/2016 at 12:32

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Yup.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/11/its…

mastawyrm > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/19/2016 at 12:32

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It is but it’s not ridiculous. Does waze have zero long haul trucker users?

bubbajoe123456 > zetec duratec ECOTEC 01/19/2016 at 12:32

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Waze is an Israeli company.

Brian Silvestro > Think! aka anotherburner111122223333 01/19/2016 at 12:33

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He does follow me on Twitter

jimz > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/19/2016 at 12:34

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Google bought Waze, and then more or less immediately killed any future development of the WinPhone app. dick moves like that are why I have no intention of using Android ever again.

Brian Silvestro > JayQC 01/19/2016 at 12:34

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no

jimz > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:37

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is “treating your users like shit” part of the curriculum when people go to learn programming/software development?

Brian > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:37

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Thats like in the early days I had my Fusion Energi, logging my fill ups in Fuelly resulted in errors as it didnt beleive I was getting 80-108 mpg per fill up. Sorry Fuelly, your wrong, I really am getting that MPG.

Since it has been fixed.

My X-Runner carries bikes > I am the Silent One 01/19/2016 at 12:37

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She’s an out of touch city dweller, who writes for Gawker, and wrote this article about something she clearly doesn’t truly understand:

http://gizmodo.com/ban-cars-17376…

Brian Silvestro > MrMcQueen21v2 01/19/2016 at 12:40

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we did most of that number well within the first two days

oldirtybootz > Brian Silvestro 01/19/2016 at 12:41

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The other day, my friend asked me how my Snapchat score was higher than his since I rarely use it. I didn’t even know Snapchat had a score or that it was even the sort of thing you could attach a score to.

Similarly, I only sort of knew Waze had a scoring system. I’ve used it a handful of times for navigation and preferred it to other nav apps because of the fact that it shows you cops, but I can’t imagine caring about my score on it, or why you would even need a score.