Wow! It's so amazing how many creations are made in 30 secs. I see on my Map about 1-3 seconds a creation been made.

I think I know why you can't zoom in on the creators location can you guess!

Any chance this tool is going to be improved ? Like showing buildings, vehicles, adventures etc. or showing creations coming from a certain country or continent.

wretlind wrote:I think I know why you can't zoom in on the creators location can you guess!

To prevent peapole finding your excact location.

JoJoMonkeyball wrote:

wretlind wrote:I think I know why you can't zoom in on the creators location can you guess!

To prevent peapole finding your excact location.

I felt like a stalker untill I found out i couldn't do that.

I'm glad to see all the enthusiasm about this feature. One of our server engineers put it together largely on his own time, and we liked it so much we wanted to share it with you. We find it mesmerizing to watch.

I can address some of the concerns people have.

First of all, we don't know where you live. The map uses the IP address sent with the creation. That IP address can map to a very large geographic area, because it's assigned arbitrarily by your internet service provider. The IP->geography database knows where your ISP is, but that's it. For instance, my home location, according to this mapping, is in San Ramon, California, which is a) in a different county and b) about 45 minutes away by car.

As for the problem where just-uploaded creations don't show up on the map, this system runs off the Newest view in Sporepedia. That view actually updates only once every five minutes. So this tool shows you roughly 20 creations out of the many, many items that were uploaded in that time interval. The odds of having your creation show up while you watch are quite low.

Jomeaga wrote:Too bad you can't search for creations and creators.
It gets kind of boring watching the really terrible in game creatures pop up

Yeah...

blaster97337 wrote:...all this really does is show what city you're in, I can think of very few things that somebody could do just by knowing what city your in...

Treb2466 wrote:But, is it even really showing what city you are in? Or is that just where your local internet service provider is located?

I my case, that local IP is in another large city nearby. That info is of little use to someone trying to find me -- furthermore, they would have to know my real name, not my user name.

MaxisPuzzle wrote:...First of all, we don't know where you live. The map uses the IP address sent with the creation. That IP address can map to a very large geographic area, because it's assigned by your internet service provider. The IP->geography database knows where your ISP is, but that's it.

Thank you for confirming my early statement. If people would have thought a bit they'd realize that their personal location is NOT available to Maxis.

Hopefully that ends the paranoid "stalking" worries concerning this cute feature. Now just enjoy it!
.

Treb2466 wrote:Thank you for confirming my early statement. If people would have thought a bit they'd realize that their personal location is NOT available to Maxis.

Hopefully that ends the paranoid "stalking" worries concerning this cute feature. Now just enjoy it!

It's not about that. DrGravitas said it best ....

DrGravitas wrote:Its not about being paranoid; I don't think anyone's interested in finding me or even cares who I am. I merely enjoy maintaining a certain level of anonymity, regardless of importance, and this service violates my comfort.

I think it is important that a service such as this, no matter how vague in identifying location or other personal details it reveals, provide the option for users to opt-out. It simply boils down to respect for your customer's privacy. There's nothing wrong with the service, in fact it's kind of charming; I just do not wish to participate.

DrGravitas wrote:Its not about being paranoid (of being stalked). I don't think anyone's interested in finding me or even cares who I am. I merely enjoy maintaining a certain level of anonymity, regardless of importance, and this service violates my comfort.

Don't you (and others) realize that when you are on a public website, that there are user software applications readily available to anyone that can gleam the same information that Maxis is showing in the Location Map?

Not only can people find out the name of your Internet Provider Service (which Maxis only showed the location of), but also more personal things like which Web Browser you are using, your brand of computer and even your Internet Client ID number!

Maxis is NOT showing any new information that others could also find out if they wanted. 'DrGravitas' believes this little info on the map "violates his comfort (of secrecy)"? No, it was gone long before Maxis made this available.

I like the Location Map, it is a harmless display of some Spore creations within vague areas of the world -- nothing more. So, enjoy it or, if you prefer, ignore it.

Yes, Dr Gravitas, no doubt knows about those tools, which incidentally are part of the routing information provided by the browser and transport protocols and not any special "tools". They are resident in the request, so that the servers along the route know where to ship information.

The issue is not whether the information is publicly available, but how it is used.

Every script kiddy knows how to put little gadgets in his siggie that make him feel all "h4x0r-ish" by disclosing the same information.

It's not "elitist" knowledge.

The difference is, do you want it publicly displayed where you didn'tn expect it by an implied subscription service that did not tell you it was a possiblity, and didn't give you an opt out.

It doesn't matter what YOUR personal comfort level is -- it matters that it is different to each one of us, and each of us very probably is protected by law on this matter because there is a user ID connected to the display.

I have worked on applications that support services for the publishing industry for many years. There are many, many levels of opt in and outs implied and or explicitly supported by law where personally identifiable information is supplied. This typically (for the services I supported) included user id.

Here I must caution you not to think you know what my personal stand or belief is. I just know the industry.

It has nothing to do with "cute" or "picky". It has to so with information and disclosure acts.

And at this point the industry makes not just corporate officers liable, it is now holding mid level management liable as well. We are talking very real federal jail time and hefty fines.

Most service providers and publishers are taking it seriously and it's certainly NOT bad behaviour on a user's part to wish for this type of clarity.

SOX enforcement is taken seriously in many areas where that thought they were immune to enforcement a couple years ago.

There are many people on this board, myself included, as well as people who work in academic positions, who are extremely knowledgeable about web services and protocols (and I don't mean "niceties"). It's all right for us to disagree, but none of us should ever underestimate the knowledge or experience the rest of us possess.

And it costs no blood or skin to be respectful of another person's discomfort.

Perhaps simply removing the user id from the display would solve the whole issue?

I too think it's an interesting app, it reminds me, rather of the pokemon GTS global website display that shows trades in progress.

A creation just popped up on the edge of Antarctica.
Weird...

Rodgers5 wrote: A creation just popped up on the edge of Antarctica.
Weird...

There are several stations down there and some docks. Which other continent was it near?

From FInland

From the USA

From Germany

MaxisPuzzle wrote:I'm glad to see all the enthusiasm about this feature. One of our server engineers put it together largely on his own time, and we liked it so much we wanted to share it with you. We find it mesmerizing to watch.

I can address some of the concerns people have.

First of all, we don't know where you live. The map uses the IP address sent with the creation. That IP address can map to a very large geographic area, because it's assigned arbitrarily by your internet service provider. The IP->geography database knows where your ISP is, but that's it. For instance, my home location, according to this mapping, is in San Ramon, California, which is a) in a different county and b) about 45 minutes away by car.

As for the problem where just-uploaded creations don't show up on the map, this system runs off the Newest view in Sporepedia. That view actually updates only once every five minutes. So this tool shows you roughly 20 creations out of the many, many items that were uploaded in that time interval. The odds of having your creation show up while you watch are quite low.

thanks for making it available.

it seems that the asymmetry ability is popular.

i can see myself sitting and watching it for ideas for new creatures/buildings/vehicles.


---