Nothing Compares 2 4

September 20, 2010 11:10 AM

When I'm at the office, the Weather widget on my phone updates to show my location as "4." Huh?

Google Maps recognizes the location (here are directions from my home zip code to the booming metropolis of 4, Virginia.)

What's going on? The Google Maps location is in the same general part of the state as my office, but it's nowhere near the exact location. Is the designation of "4" as a city name a Google bug? Does 4 refer to the location of a cell tower?

posted by emelenjr to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

It's either a Google bug or a bug with the map data. Hard to tell either way. It's not a cell tower reference as they are longer than that.

You never know, it could be a deliberate bug put in by the map company so they can spot when their work is ripped off - although that is probably clutching at straws :)
posted by mr_silver at 2:06 PM on September 20, 2010

It's a bug, but it could be destiny. Have you gone there yet?
posted by 517 at 5:52 PM on September 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I got an automated message about this thread still being open, but I can't add a resolved tag because the problem is still happening. I did submit a bug report to the Google Maps team, though, and I eventually got a reply saying people were looking into the issue.
posted by emelenjr at 8:13 PM on October 20, 2010