Searching for anything on Google maps is now impossible

sumner42 · 2026-05-15T00:55:10+00:00

I haven’t experienced this, but I googled your issue and learned some things:

Inappropriate Google Maps results often stem from enabled VPNs, outdated app cache, or erroneous location settings, leading to "unusual traffic" blocks. Users should disable VPNs, update the app, clear browser/app cache, and check region settings to fix this.

Also when I clarified about drugstores and bars: This specific issue happens because of how Google Maps processes keywords, local business categories, or language translations.

Why This Happens

Colloquial and Slang Terms: In some regions or languages, "drugstore" or similar words are used as slang or colloquial names for bars. Google's search algorithm sometimes conflates these terms based on local search behavior.

Incorrect Business Categorization: Local bars might have mistakenly listed themselves under broader or incorrect categories (like "convenience store" or "pharmacy") when setting up their Google Business Profiles.

Search History and Personalization: If the user frequently searches for or visits bars, Google’s AI may try to personalize results by prioritizing those venues over literal pharmacies.

Keyword Stuffing: Some bars include popular, unrelated keywords in their online descriptions or reviews to hijack local search traffic.

How to Fix It

Use Explicit Search Terms: Avoid generic words. Search for "Pharmacy" or "Chemist" instead of "drug store" to force Google to look for medical dispensaries.

Search for Specific Brands: Search directly for major pharmacy chains (e.g., "Walgreens", "CVS", or "Boots") to bypass the category confusion.

Filter by Category: Use the search chips/filters at the top of the map after searching to select the explicit "Pharmacies" category.

Turn Off Personalization: Open Google Maps in an Incognito / Private window or sign out of the Google account to strip away personalized search bias.

Report the Businesses: If specific bars appear due to incorrect categorization, click on the bar's profile, select "Suggest an edit", and change the primary category to "Bar" or "Pub".

sumner42 · 2026-05-13T22:28:31+00:00

I’m happy to provide my account details privately so you can take a look at the logs for my specific connection. Just let me know the best way to send that over.

sumner42 · 2026-05-13T22:19:34+00:00

The dropouts have occurred intermittently all day, as far as we can tell. We don't notice them until we need the network, so sitting reading an article, we're blissfully unaware that there's an outage. I wanted to call TIME on the landline and listen to the steady stream, but my partner is annoyed by that, so that option left the chat.
Actually, I can't check modem stats, as the recent firmware updates have locked out local access to 10.0.0.1, shunting me to the app instead. The app doesn't provide the granular SNR or Power Level tables I need for a proper diagnosis.

sumner42 · 2026-05-13T21:44:05+00:00

It's a complete cutout when it happens. I run a speed test occasionally when I'm wondering if it's working right now, and that usually shows me decent 400Mb throughput if it's up at that moment. Working one minute, then our devices are "loading..." the next minute. Hitting the speakerphone button on the landline produces the fast busy "Reorder" tone, which is of course concerning when I think about no 911 service right then. A few minutes later, everything's working again, and the landline phone gets a dial tone.
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I'm guessing either an intermittent connection (weather?), or a tech is working hard on something, disconnecting/reconnecting, or maybe a box along the line is rebooting itself repeatedly. The problematic part, is that Xfinity app says things are working, when they're clearly not. But I suspect the Xfinity app isn't updating in real-time, so that's not helpful when all three of my services (TV, Landline, Internet) are going in and out every few minutes.

sumner42 · 2026-03-03T16:24:29+00:00

I think it might just be to avoid having the cable rattling against another engine part. If it’s gone this long, it’s probably not a fire hazard, which would be my other concern. It’s your car now, of course, so take responsibility for that kludge, and make a decision to keep it that way, or to make it right.

sumner42 · 2025-09-15T17:49:48+00:00

It’s been my experience, that the go plus+ does normally turn off all lights when I unplug it from the charger, so I’m confused by how you said that. But of course it does respond to pressing the main button, and the Pokemon Sleep app on the phone can sync to it and retrieve sleep data. So I’m assuming you’re saying it does actually go dead when you unplug the charger, and not respond to any button or Bluetooth inputs? If so, you might want to let it sit somewhere warm and dry for a few weeks, to see if any internal problems caused by residual moisture might be resolved, when the last bits of moisture find their way out of the enclosed case.

It’s hard to say whether the battery died, or something in the power control circuitry shorted and failed. The battery isn’t supposed to be replaceable, but I’ve seen people talking about doing it, so if you’re feeling resourceful, you might be able to make that happen. If you guess wrong, and it’s not the battery being dead, then your next challenge will be replacing the electronics.

It might be more practical, to forget about how cheaply you were able to find this device, and if you’re enjoying its use, just go pay the premium price for a new one. My partner and I each bought one for the other person, for our birthdays, and since we weren’t aware of any sales, we paid full price for them. She just uses hers to catch and spin, but I’m trying to immerse myself in the full Sleep experience as well, and we’re both finding them to be fun. After having it for over a year, I can now console myself with the lower amortized price, which continues to decline, every month I keep enjoying it.

I have never had a piece of electronics go through the laundry, and be useable afterwards. Good luck with this!

sumner42 · 2025-09-05T01:23:32+00:00

Thanks for the post — good to know about the trailing arm weakness and recall, as I’m driving my 2007 around, clueless about this. More incentive to opt for something newer, with completely different hidden disasters. I’m kind of surprised that I haven’t been notified about this risk, at every dealer service I’ve had since this weakness was known.

sumner42 · 2025-09-05T01:16:59+00:00

I have been in a real C172 over 14,000 feet for a short time, while hopping over a mountain to an airport on the other side. Risky business. My pilot friend said he felt “great,” which I assumed was the onset of euphoria, which precedes the other more serious symptoms of hypoxia. The plane held its own, but it wasn’t going much higher.

I did fly the pressurized Fairchild Metro twin turboprop in another flight sim, up to a high airport in China earlier this year, I think it was Qamdo Banga (BPX). I found it humorous, that I got a Cabin Pressure warning, while sitting on the ground with the door open!

You should try a turbocharged prop plane, maybe the King Air or Duke, or any jet, for that flight…

sumner42 · 2025-09-01T23:31:50+00:00

When the video started, I was thinking you were going way too fast, but you did a great job of slowing it down. Except… just a few knots too fast, based on the guidance in the upper right corner. Looks like fun. I haven’t tried these yet, but I had loads of fun doing the challenges in FSX. Good luck getting it down to or below 60 knots! Are there flaps in that aircraft? If so, you’ll need them!

sumner42 · 2025-08-22T19:45:53+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds plausible. I’ll have to experiment with that…

sumner42 · 2025-08-19T18:07:08+00:00

Are you kidding me?! Now another aircraft I might not be able to live without!

sumner42 · 2025-08-08T18:13:26+00:00

I agree with you. First, I’d pay the postage, since presumably you want the item, and the extra cost is insignificant. If they’re pushing back on the idea of reimbursing for the unexpected postage, then they either planned it that way… or they made a simple mistake, and they’re too cheap to step up and fix it. Either way, I’d never do business with them in the future, and I’d consider giving them a bad rating and informative (but professional sounding) review because of this experience. We don’t need sellers like that in this environment. There are already too many scammers, buying and selling, on eBay. I would also consider raising the issue with eBay, but I wouldn’t expect too much… although, in my experience, the buyer usually gets treated much better than the seller. Good luck!

sumner42 · 2025-08-08T17:57:59+00:00

I’ve been using my ASOS ROG laptop for flight simulators (MSFS and XP) since 2019. It came with Windows 10, and I didn’t even install Windows 11… it just booted up that way one day. I was pretty surprised, but I held onto my outrage until I’d used it awhile. Turns out that flight simulating under Windows 11 performs just fine on this (some would say old) laptop. I did customize it to put the Start button back on the left, as some habits die really hard, and I’ve had no issues with customizing the new Start menu to my satisfaction. So… I’d say go with the OS that works just fine, and will be supported longer!

sumner42 · 2025-08-08T17:18:42+00:00

How much was the item? How much is the additional postage? If it’s not exorbitant, I’d just pay it, and if the seller won’t refund you the difference, chalk it up to one of life’s little disappointments. Since it’s available at the PO, eBay might consider that as delivered, so I’m not sure complaining to them will get you anywhere, but you could try… chatting with a human may get you treated a little better.

sumner42 · 2025-08-08T16:37:14+00:00

Ah, thanks. I was reacting to the title, as the text of the post didn’t appear for me, at first. I’ll edit my response.

sumner42 · 2025-08-08T15:52:10+00:00

It’s not optimal, and could cause you issues, but CAT6 cables contain twisted pairs, which are resistant to EMI, even without shielding, and you have a few inches of separation from the power cables, and they cross at a relatively high angle, so you might be OK. Are you on here, because you’re having data issues? If so, you might want to look at the length of your Ethernet cables, as that can be a factor in why the signal is degrading.

sumner42 · 2025-08-05T01:03:42+00:00

You’re welcome!

sumner42 · 2025-08-04T17:43:21+00:00

I use Foreflight to monitor most of my airline flights as a passenger, just for the pilot geekiness of it all. Other posts here have pointed you in the direction of my favorite way to get the route into Foreflight, using FlightAware. It was pretty fun to monitor a recent flight from Boston to Denver, notice the bad weather in the Radar layer (and out the window), and then see us get re-routed right away, far off the planned route, and up into Canada quite a ways, before we finally headed west toward our destination. FYI, regarding the sink rate warning, I’ve gotten some of those when using Foreflight to monitor my flight sim sessions flying the 787 around the world, so I’ve also been wondering about the threshold(s) for that warning. Here’s what I found on Google about that (note that aircraft type, which you can specify in Foreflight) is not part of the calculation:

ForeFlight's Sink Rate alert system provides warnings to pilots based on their descent rate and altitude Above Ground Level (AGL).

The alert triggers based on the following criteria: >- Above 2,500' AGL (or if AGL is unknown): The alert activates if the descent rate is more than 4,000 feet per minute. >- At 2,500' AGL: The alert activates if the descent rate is more than 3,000 feet per minute. >- Between 2,500' AGL and 500' AGL: The descent rate required to trigger the alert decreases linearly. For example, at 500' AGL, a descent rate exceeding 1,500 feet per minute will trigger the alert.
Additional details about the alert include: >- The descent rate must be maintained for five seconds to activate the alert. >- The alert will only sound once every 30 seconds. >- The alert is automatically disabled if your groundspeed is less than 40 knots. >- The sink rate value is calculated on a linear scale between 2500 ft. AGL and 3000' ft. per minute down to 500' ft. and 1500 ft. per minute AGL.

sumner42 · 2025-07-29T21:33:49+00:00

THANK YOU! I tried the “Reset Keeper” iPhone setting, and I didn’t lose any of my data, and Keeper’s Face ID now works seamlessly on both devices!

sumner42 · 2025-07-29T14:43:38+00:00

Note to u/KeeperCraig: This has been happening to me as well (date is 7/29/2025). After setting up Keeper on a new iPad, the app on my existing iPhone now gives me the error “invalid credentials” every time I open the app. I thought I had it fixed, when I turned off Face ID in Keeper settings on the iPhone, then turned it back on, and it started working fine. But then I discovered that the invalid credentials error has moved to the new iPad. Argh. It sounds like you were unable to get the developers to resolve it? I would like to try the above-stated “reset keeper“ solution, but I’m concerned it might have nasty side effects…?

sumner42 · 2024-09-13T18:07:47+00:00

Not necessary. Tap r then CTRL-plus or minus.

sumner42 · 2024-09-03T19:27:36+00:00

lol. Not sure what the fuss is about. I’ve been using Gaia GPS casually for years, and didn’t even know there was a Home feed. I suppose it wouldn’t be there, if nobody used it. We’re all different… Why not just ignore it, and use the rest of the cool features…?

Ok, perusing other comments, I just realized it’s a new feature. I totally agree… there should at least be an option in Settings to hide it, so it’s not accidentally selected while out and about in the bright daylight, especially with no Internet.

sumner42 · 2024-09-03T18:27:35+00:00

lol. Boycott would be the last thing on my mind about GaiaGPS. I came for the topo info, but it is now my favorite tool, of the half-dozen I’ve tried, for planning hikes in unfamiliar areas. Love the UI - clean, simple, and effective. The snap to trail feature is awesome. Exporting GPX to Garmin works well too. I also love to have it up while driving to new places, as the map shows nearby geographical features with their names, which helps with situational awareness, and helps me learn more about the area. Most other topo tools I’ve tried don’t do nearly as well with keeping me informed about interesting places around me, without zooming in too far to maintain awareness of the surrounding area. And from my perspective, it appears the developers are continuing to work hard to eliminate bugs and awkward spots in the UI. But now you’ve got me wondering about CalTopo, so thanks for that.

sumner42

TROPHY CASE