u/Made-InDex

🗺️ While visiting Pride Berlin, I learned how utterly pointless Google Maps Reviews in Germany are.

⭐ Any place can simply report negative reviews for defamation or claim the person was never there and have it removed.

Users can then appeal & risk a lawsuit.

When a review is removed the removed count on Google Maps goes up (🖼️ 1)

However that count is reset after 365 days and also only goes to 250! (🖼️ 2)

Therefore companies can simply mass report negative reviews to improve their rating.

https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/16997273

https://preview.redd.it/whmztdjipyjh1.jpg?width=367&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3934e360ae42dcda501cdcc6a90328f1d87a238a

https://preview.redd.it/qc1t8f8jpyjh1.jpg?width=729&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b720dc2b1d416a62729a70b07fb0350022f13ea

So many vulnerable people are relying on Google Maps reviews & ratings to tell them where it is save to go.

Some places have only 1000-2000 reviews but >250 reviews removed in the past 365 days!

Like how bad must the situation there be?!

Absolute shame.

No simply means No, but some people really don't seem to care.

Here are some examples from my life:

1️⃣ Three guys were pushing a girl into a car, against her will, I told them to stop, they threatened me, the police came. The victim was asked next to the perpetrators, her "boyfriend" told her to shut up & everybody was just laughing at the police and having a jolly good time until they released them.

2️⃣ Two girls shouted loud for help, while surrounded by a big group of guys, apparently somebody had spit at them, maybe more, it was in a crowded area and I was the only person to stand between them, luckily there was coincidentally police around. This time they luckily separated the victims and the perps and as far as I saw before I left, they did a good old catch and release....

3️⃣ In a club, a guy chatted up a girl from my group and bought her a drink. She was friendly with him, but clearly told him that she was not interested.

He kept lurking around and followed us for like an hour, he told me "she is sooo beautiful", I asked him friendly to stop as the women in my group, especially one, were scared of him, he got aggressive, so I decided to tell security, the first time we didn't find him, but the 2nd time I saw him again, they finally got him, they talked to him and walked him out of the room, so we were relieved that he was finally gone.

I told him to "fk off" and he gave me a headbutt, and hit me in the face, luckily he didn't do too much damage, I then was able to overpower him, but bystanders kept pulling me off, which helped him escape, he then ran out of the club.

The crowd & staff came at me until the we had explained who it was & why. I truly hate violence & it's just sad that in 2026 people still behave like that. Staff told me they would remember his face & not let him in again - a real penalty for a tourist.

Just felt like putting these stories out there, as I'm repeatedly shocked how bystanders and security usually don't really seem to care, the legal system doesn't either and police is left with catch and release, with abusers and criminals laughing in their face (both of the cases - as they know not much will happen anyway).

I know of many places where the situation is way way worse. Surely as a society and humanity we can do better in protecting people from this kind of abuse.

Just when you think ZuckyZuck is finally out of ideas - to steal.

It starts to feel like even a weak LLM like MetaAI is more creative than him.

Maybe we already have created truly artificial intelligence because he is more of an SLM: a Small Language Model?

Is everyone else starting to hate FB? I just find it annoying that 90% of the content is ads, sponsored posts, and random crap I never asked to see, plus updates from people I don’t even care about. It’s become almost impossible to find posts from my actual friends without scrolling forever. Facebook should just end already.

All about the safety of the kids¹ they said,

All about the safety of users² they said,

All about the safety of the citizens³ they said,

All about the money, control & power⁴ they left unsaid.

¹ https://mastodon.social/@madeindex/116959510981643276

² https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-plans-to-exempt-sanctioned-nations-from-android-developer-verification/

³ https://mastodon.social/@madeindex/113301303081128298

⁴ https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech

https://mastodon.social/@madeindex/116503944072899687

Most “Smart” TVs use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), essentially taking snapshots every 10+ms of what you watch and hear, then forwarding & selling that data to companies for ads, etc. I now feel it’s only a matter of time before this “feature” finds its way to our ever “smarter” PC monitors.

LG with the help of Windows is already installing adware when the right Device ID is detected.

☑️ To disable ACR on TV: https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/home-entertainment/how-to-disable-acr-tv/

🌎 Humanity is truly living its best #ClimateCatch22 dream:

The hotter > The more ACs > The more Electricity consumption > The hotter

⛵ Meanwhile the rich take advantage of the rising water levels, MOVING onto superyachts & forever cruiseships (for one last journey).

⛽ Burning through a cool $1 million of diesel per refueling.