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Re:The China GPS shift problem by TazeTSchnitzel on Sunday January 24, 2016 @08:45PM (#10965103)
China also makes it illegal to make maps of the country without authorisation. Don't get caught working on OpenStreetMap there.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by kccqzy on Sunday January 24, 2016 @11:21PM (#10965542)
And it's curious to see this in Apple maps. When I travelled to China, I generally found Apple maps to be superior to Google maps, and it works without a VPN. But as soon as I left China, the Apple map data for much of the Chinese regions simply became garbage. Even major cities are shown as empty areas without features.

EDIT: grammar

Re:The China GPS shift problem by ttflee on Sunday January 24, 2016 @11:45PM (#10965625)
Apple gets map data for users in China from contractors who have been approved to run GIS businesses, e.g. AutoNavi Software Co., Ltd. BTW, they do not seem to provide world maps so you can only browse and search locations in China when you are in China.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by mc32 on Sunday January 24, 2016 @09:56PM (#10965313)
They make the maps doubly illegal if Taiwan is shown with different colors indicating an independent country ;) never mind the Spratleys, Senkaku, etc.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by qb45 on Monday January 25, 2016 @07:31AM (#10966798)
Is this really true? Like all maps you buy in China show Taiwan as part of PRC?
Re:The China GPS shift problem by Cerium on Monday January 25, 2016 @01:43PM (#10968982)
Yes, and China is in the middle of the map.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by qb45 on Monday January 25, 2016 @05:13PM (#10970388)
Oh c'mon, I'm still not sure about parent, but you are obviously trolling.

You need to develop some subtlety to be taken seriously.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by Cerium on Monday January 25, 2016 @07:29PM (#10971106)
Actually, I am completely serious. This is the map on display in Chinese schools: http://www.miniharm.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/worldmap....
Re:The China GPS shift problem by mc32 on Monday January 25, 2016 @08:34PM (#10971346)
The map centering is quite okay. After all they'd want to highlight the home country, no big deal.

The troublesome part is coloring land not theirs as theirs in the map as well as labeling India's "hat" as disputed. There ate disputed lands, but not as large as implied.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by qb45 on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @05:26AM (#10972716)
Crap cultural shock. At least they didn't renumber meridians :)

And it seems that Taiwan is indeed same color as PRC. They really are crazy.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by rimunroe on Monday January 25, 2016 @08:25AM (#10967014)
That is the official view of China.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by qb45 on Monday January 25, 2016 @09:21AM (#10967277)
Sure, and the official view of Taiwan is (was?) that PRC are rebels within their territory.

However, it's one thing to have some "official view" and another thing to brainwash citizens into thinking that these countries really are one, as they practically aren't. I was asking about the latter.

For example, some EU regulation classifies snails as fish to make their production eligible for fishing subsidies, but in biology textbooks they still remained molluscs.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by yyhhsj0521 on Monday January 25, 2016 @08:14PM (#10971286)
Yes. In addition, all Republic of China maps you buy in Taiwan show PRC as part of ROC. lol
Re:The China GPS shift problem by maybeok on Sunday January 24, 2016 @09:18PM (#10965225)
Every inch of the earth has been mapped out by satellite and is available with perfect GPS navigation. Too late for that law.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by cjslep on Sunday January 24, 2016 @09:42PM (#10965282)
To support you, the USSR had mapped nearly the entire world (presumably with aid of satellites and GPS):

"The Soviets made far more detailed maps of some parts of the world. They mapped all of Europe, nearly all of Asia, as well as large parts of North America and northern Africa at 1:100,000 and 1:50,000 scales, which show even more features and fine-grained topography."

I sincerely doubt they have any of the China GPS offsets.

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/secret-cold-war-maps/

Re:The China GPS shift problem by TazeTSchnitzel on Sunday January 24, 2016 @10:43PM (#10965436)
Sounds like their civilian maps did, though:

> Worse, the maps for the masses were deliberately distorted with a special projection that introduced random variations. “The main goal was to crush the contents of maps so it would be impossible to recreate the real geography of a place from the map,” Postnikov tells me. Well-known landmarks like rivers and towns were depicted, but the coordinates, directions, and distances were all off, making them useless for navigation or military planning, should they fall into enemy hands. The cartographer who devised this devious scheme was awarded the State Prize by Stalin.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by rdtsc on Monday January 25, 2016 @12:19AM (#10965724)
Yes those Soviet era maps were military and classified.

They only ended up in popular circulation after a quick retreat, fuckup and corruption that happened when the Soviet forced retreated from the Baltic states.

I've heard even US militaryused(uses?) some of those maps for parts of Africa or used then initially in Afghanistan. As nobody else has bothered much to go and cross reference and built detailed maps of those regions in that much detail.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by kbart on Monday January 25, 2016 @02:00AM (#10965986)
My history teacher claimed she had seen one of these maps and accuracy was unbelievable, there were every minor remote woods path marked only known and used by locals.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by jaza on Monday January 25, 2016 @12:20AM (#10965730)
Hadn't read that Wired article before - thanks for sharing. Wow! The Soviet maps are beautiful and accurate (not something you can say about many other Soviet legacies), a real historical treasure trove.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by JorgeGT on Monday January 25, 2016 @05:32AM (#10966457)
Yes! I have one of those maps for my Spanish city, with all the names of features, neighborhoods, etc. in Cyrillic. It looks totally extracted from a dystopian parallel universe!
Re:The China GPS shift problem by TazeTSchnitzel on Sunday January 24, 2016 @09:34PM (#10965263)
Satellites have made images, but they haven't made proper street maps, which is what you actually need for navigation. Blurry textures on a globe won't tell you how to get to places unless you already know their GPS coördinates.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by ttflee on Monday January 25, 2016 @12:00AM (#10965666)
TIL, diaeresis is not umlaut.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by dkbrk on Monday January 25, 2016 @01:17AM (#10965868)
Huh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeresis_%28diacritic%29#Engl...

> The grave accent and the diaeresis are the only diacritics native to Modern English... The use of both, however, is considered to be largely archaic. The diaeresis mark is sometimes used in English personal first and last names to indicate that two adjacent vowels should be pronounced separately, rather than as a diphthong. Examples include the given names Chloë and Zoë... it is far less commonly used in words such as coöperate and reënter except in a very few publications—notably The New Yorker.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_accent#English

> The grave accent, although not commonly applied to any English words, is sometimes used in poetry and song lyrics to indicate that a vowel usually silent is to be pronounced, in order to fit the rhythm or meter. Most often, it is applied to a word ending with -ed. For instance, the word looked is usually pronounced /ˈlʊkt/ as a single syllable, with the e silent; when written as lookèd, the e is pronounced: /ˈlʊk.ɨd/ look-ed). It can also be used in this capacity to distinguish certain pairs of identically spelled words like the past tense of learn, learned /ˈlɜrnd/, from the adjective learnèd /ˈlɜrn.ɨd/ (for example, "a very learnèd man").

Re:The China GPS shift problem by TazeTSchnitzel on Monday January 25, 2016 @12:38PM (#10968546)
It might be archaic usage, but I agree with The New Yorker that coöperative is much more elegant than co-operative or cooperative.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by gbog on Sunday January 24, 2016 @10:46PM (#10965445)
Aya. Do you think "they" would send the tanks or what?

Many things are forbidden by law, and many people do them anyway, because they know it is not /that/ forbidden. And not only in China, it is the same in France for example.

So, if you are working on OpenStreetMap in China: if your product is successful, be prepared to have to "drink tea" one day with authorities. They may tell you to use another map, or to comply with some rules, or to run your service from outside, etc.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by seanmcdirmid on Monday January 25, 2016 @12:49AM (#10965802)
As a foreigner you better follow he law, because the government will make an example out of you. Only Chinese companies can drink tea with chinese officials.
Re:The China GPS shift problem by ttflee on Monday January 25, 2016 @01:58AM (#10965980)
`To drink tea` as a slang in Chinese means to be asked to talk with authority, especially the police, etc., which is generally not regarded as a good thing.

Similarly, `to check the water meter` and `to receive a post package` mean the police to come to your door, as the police are thought to be disguised as staff from tap water company/package delivery company, in both cases, you are about to open the door.

Re:The China GPS shift problem by NeutronBoy on Monday January 25, 2016 @02:13AM (#10966016)
> Many things are forbidden by law, and many people do them anyway, because they know it is not /that/ forbidden. And not only in China, it is the same in France for example.

China is not a place I'd like to test those boundaries.