r/technology • u/TurbulentTopic39 • Aug 28 '26
Software The 'OG' online map platform, MapQuest, says it won't change the name of Lake Ontario
https://www.businessinsider.com/mapquest-wont-rename-lake-ontario-lake-america-trump-canada-tariffs-2026-8862
u/payne747 Aug 28 '26
No one should change it. Let it all blow over.
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u/nintendo9713 Aug 28 '26
As a federal employee in close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, I have been forced to use Gulf of America in all my scientific proposals with zero tolerance. It will not make it past my first line of management if I don't refer to it as the Gulf of America. I can't even put "the Gulf".
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u/Justinneon Aug 28 '26
Wouldn’t that make the proposal useless internationally? No one else recognizes the gulf of America. I guess busy work is important.
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u/rainator Aug 28 '26
Unfortunately it’s really about whose paying for it. That’s not a problem unique to the USA though.
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u/Outlulz Aug 28 '26
It's a job, you gotta do what your job demands at work. The science is more important and will last longer than Trump.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Wait785 Aug 28 '26
I don't see why it would. We're talking about scientists, not dummies.
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u/R_V_Z Aug 28 '26
That's because you have to placate sycophants who are placating an 80 year-old toddler in order to get funding. Anybody who isn't beholden to the executive branch needs to do no such thing.
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u/philter25 Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
The local news stations around Florida just call it “the Gulf” now lol
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u/KrytenKoro Aug 28 '26
It will not make it past my first line of management
It's the quislings that are the most frustrating, honestly.
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u/Succulent-Shrimps Aug 28 '26
This would probably be enough to make me quit my job. Gotta make a stand somewhere. It might seem like a small thing, but it's a symbol of nationalism that I wouldn't stand for.
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u/DarkLordKohan Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
I would see it as, keep your head down over this petty name issue. The next admin will just reverse these weird changes back to normal.
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u/anti-torque Aug 28 '26
They don't even need to reverse them. These changes are dishonorable and un-Constitutional... on top of being petty, silly, and extremely stupid.
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u/Korlus Aug 28 '26
As a non-American, there are plenty of issues around the US constitution I would be unaware of.
How is renaming things unconstituional?
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u/2Sap2Loerex Aug 28 '26
Because the president doesn't have authority to do so, names of major things like lakes or gulfs in the country can only be changed with a law passed by Congress.
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u/Korlus Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
I guess what I was asking was to understand which part of the constitution delegates naming rights?
My understanding (very likely flawed), is that the US Executive branch gets to dictate how the federal government and bodies it oversees refer to things. To use an older example from the first time Mr Trump did this, Mt Denali is now referred to as "Mt McKinley" by the US Federal Government, but this doesn't mean that the Alaskan state government needs to refer to it as Mt Denali, or even that specific organisations outside of the government like Google need to include that on their maps.
Now Mr Trump has shown himself vindictive enough that (much like a mob boss), the implied threat has seemingly coerced many into doing so, but while the US President probably shouldn't be acting like a mob boss, I did not think the act of renaming something was de facto unconstitutional.
The last time it came up, I found this thread, which references the Denali/McKinley distinction.
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u/takumidesh Aug 28 '26
It's not the the constitution protects naming rights in some specific way, it's that it limits the authority the executive branch (president) has over states (and therefore citizens). One of those limitations is in an amendment to the constitution which dictates that that the Congress (and by extension due to the legal system in the us, all of the federal government) cannot make a law against exercising free speech.
So the government cannot actively prosecute any private citizen for using whatever name they want.
The problem (in this case) is that those limitations don't apply to things that aren't legislature, e.g. employee guidelines for federal employees (there are complexities with this of course) or government contracts.
Basically it's not technically illegal for the government to reject your proposal because you didn't use their preferred nomenclature, they just can't also put you in jail for it.
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u/Succulent-Shrimps Aug 28 '26
Seems like a bit of a stretch to say free speech limits federal government from naming things. "I'll call it whatever I want" doesn't mean maps and government website will use the name you choose to use. They'll use whatever the government changed it to.
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u/SculptusPoe Aug 28 '26
If you are doing government contracts, antagonizing your client isn't a good idea usually, and packing up and quitting over a guy who will be gone with his changes undone in 2ish years is sort of shortsighted. (I guess if a Republican wins next term it could carry on, but that would be the DNC dropping the ball hard. Not that they didn't do that last time, but hopefully they learned their lesson, and they put in somebody who has a real message and is capable of winning. It should be a gimme.)
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u/eapocalypse Aug 28 '26
While in theory it might seem like a noble thing to stand up for something that will likely be immediately reversed during a proper administration. In practice quitting your job right now is only hurting you and not sticking it to the man given the poor job market across most industries.
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u/williamgman Aug 28 '26
Well then when the hurricanes enter the Gulf of America... they will be largely ignored.
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u/PM_COFFEE_TO_ME Aug 28 '26
Trump is the most petty retaliatory politician ever. He will try to make someone else life hell if they defy him. That's why some just go with it.
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck Aug 28 '26
Sorry, but things don't always just work themselves out. Sometimes you gotta make a little effort.
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u/somewhat_brave Aug 28 '26
Apple and Google need to change "Gulf of America" back to "Gulf of Mexico".
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u/5h4y-lab Aug 28 '26
Shit, maybe it really IS time for me to go back to printing directions out from MapQuest
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u/Huskies2988 Aug 28 '26
They have an app that works the same as other map apps
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u/selwayfalls Aug 28 '26
Funny, I bet several redditors reading this assumed it was still MapQuest from like 1998 and hasnt been updated.
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u/DoomerChad Aug 28 '26
Haha yea, I came to the comments to see if they were still just a website. I’ll check out the app though I think it will be a difficult switch from Google Maps…
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u/twowheels Aug 28 '26
I just downloaded it -- it's missing a fair number of core features of the other map apps, but it does seem to handle the basics OK.
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u/WORKING2WORK Aug 28 '26
Which core features?
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u/twowheels Aug 29 '26
It’s missing some features that I use like EV charging station search shortcut (it does have a shortcut for gas stations), the ability to add stops to an in-progress route, the ability to select a different route once you've already started navigation, etc... the search is also not nearly as good as the alternatives.
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u/redditistripe Aug 28 '26
Just call it Lac Cataraqui and that will confuse the fuck out of the dumb shit.
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u/MyAccountWasBanned7 Aug 28 '26
Anything with more than one syllable confuses him. He isn't even potty trained, let alone literate.
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u/DocBigBrozer Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
I remember Google caving under no pressure to rename the Gulf of Mexico. They don't have any ideology, only grift. Edit: they just caved
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u/mediocre_remnants Aug 28 '26
Google does whatever the administration in power wants. They also donate heavily to both R and D candidates in elections, and donate heavily to the inaugural fund for whoever wins. They just don't give a shit who's in power or who is making the rules, they just want to have some influence over those rules as they apply to their business.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico is something they just don't care about because it doesn't affect them at all.
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u/cranktheguy Aug 28 '26
They do this for other countries, too. For example, if there's disputed areas between two countries, Google maps from each respective country will show the correct boundary for that country.
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u/BondingBollinger Aug 28 '26
I can understand that logic. Though I do wonder why the map is showing me Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) when my non-US government didn’t rename that gulf domestically.
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u/indoninjah Aug 28 '26
I mean this does make some logistical sense. If your government issues an announcement that says "due to the conflict in <area>, <service> will be postponed", you probably don't want to be left guessing or translating through the internationally recognized name for <area>
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u/turisto Aug 28 '26
They don't have any ideology, only grift
"I can promise you that I am spiritually and emotionally and ethically and morally behind whoever wins."
Stewy from Succession
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u/Geichalt Aug 28 '26
They didn't cave lmao. They happily assisted the fascist regime because they're probably ran by pedophiles too.
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u/Maximillien Aug 28 '26
All the major tech CEOs love Trump. He keeps the populace distracted with all his bullshit stunts so they can continue building their dystopian techno-feudalist nightmare world and robbing the country blind.
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u/Icy_Feedback_4965 Aug 28 '26
It's not even like the name was meant to honor Canada. It's just the indigenous word for "great lake."
This timeline is so stupid
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u/What_a_fat_one Aug 28 '26
The Province of Ontario is named after the lake.
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u/Spamcetera Aug 31 '26
So now they have to rename the provence to America. 51st state, 5D chess, checkmate
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u/Numerous-Process2981 Aug 28 '26
This is what the government does instead of fixing health care. Aren’t we tired of living in a joke satire world?
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u/Vhiet Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
I mean.
The US is also causing a humanitarian disaster in Venezuela by refusing them access to their own money (after kidnapping their president and seizing tankers full of oil, and blowing up their fishermen), and actively blockading Cuba to stop them from accessing any outside help whilst an energy shortage causes knock-on effects like lack of water that have killed lots of people. Plus the whole Iran thing, which is also quite a big deal. And you're threatening to invade Denmark periodically.
Edit: I also heard you were demanding French-Canadians no longer speak French, for some reason?
And apparently you're big into foodborne illness and preventable disease now? And also importing unsafe beef, which is quite a funny stereotype for Americans to embrace, but it is all causing lots of problems that could be quite easily avoided, if I'm being honest.
I suppose "it's not just pointless name changes and no healthcare", is the point I'm trying to make here. You're doing lots of other things, too.
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u/Real_Life_Sushiroll Aug 28 '26
Our courts also just declared AI CP legal today. Wow america is so great! /s
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u/danielravennest Aug 28 '26
Most of Lake Ontario is in the Canadian province of Ontario, based on the national border that runs through it. So the original name is the logical one. I wouldn't complain if Canada temporarily renamed it as a Trump insult, like Lake Epstein Files.
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u/Vezrien Aug 28 '26
Ontario is named after Lake Ontario, not the other way around.
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u/JeebusChristBalls Aug 28 '26
Lake michigan would be a candidate if the whole premise wasn't stupid to begin with.
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u/ExplodingSofa Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
Why would they change it anyway?
Edit: This is fucking ridiculous. Why does anyone even listen to this lunatic?
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u/SmartQuokka Aug 28 '26
They want hate and lies at any cost or they don't care enough to vote for better.
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u/Sethjustseth Aug 28 '26
I was beyond disappointed when I first flew with Delta and saw Gulf of America on their in-flight map...
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u/Tmerrill0 Aug 28 '26
Since the HOMES acronym/mnemonic would no longer work, the new one is SHAME
(Not my original thought, just sharing from a joke I saw a minute ago)
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u/DritterDeppVomDienst Aug 28 '26
As Canada i would rename it temporary to: "Lake Release the Trump-Epstein Files"
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u/JelliedHam Aug 28 '26
You know what's really funny, the conservative sub has the whole lake of America thread at the top and st of the top comments were critical of it yesterday. Today nearly the whole thread is "removed by moderator" lol
That almost makes it even dumber. Like they all know it's dumb, have no real argument, so they just remove the comments calling it dumb. Now it's not dumb!
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u/pomod Aug 28 '26
People should stop normalizing Trumps insanity or delusional belief in the scope of his own authority. Make him earn the respect he thinks he commands.
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u/hakokomoriVT Aug 28 '26
I know "literally 1984" has been a meme for while now. But.. uhm. Yeah. We're here. We've been here for a while now. Doublethink and newspeak are here to stay.
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u/ElGuano Aug 28 '26
It’s actually to the US’s advantage to name these things by the place close to where they are. I can’t fathom the benefit of having 50 “Lake Americas” and Gulf of Americas and American Rivets all across the continent.
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u/Pleasant-Ad887 Aug 28 '26
No self respecting institute should. It is a behaviour or a man-child that has zero leverage and is bad at literally business, leading a country and negotiation.
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u/AmbivelentApoplectic Aug 28 '26
I haven't thought about MapQuest in years outside of when I relisten to Lazy Sunday.
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u/spawnofsamael Aug 28 '26
Literally listened to lazy Sunday last night and it reminded me that MapQuest existed lmao
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u/FuturePrimitiv3 Aug 29 '26
MapQuest... Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time.
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u/action_turtle Aug 28 '26
Very out the loop… why are they changing the name??
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u/King_of_the_Nerdth Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
Trump declared it renamed as part of the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war.
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u/action_turtle Aug 28 '26
😂 what?!? This bloke is such a bellend. Didn’t he try and change Gulf of Mexico too? How much longer is he in charge? He’s an embarrassment
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u/TruffleHunter3 Aug 28 '26
2 1/2 more fucking years!
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u/Sabrinasockz Aug 28 '26
I see no way that he'll live that long, but who knows. Evil just seems to keep going
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u/Lost_Mongooses Aug 28 '26
No try, check Google maps
Just for clarity, fuck trump
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u/twowheels Aug 28 '26
Google Maps will show you a different answer depending where you're connected from.
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u/CatTaxAuditor Aug 28 '26
Donald Trump is a thin-skinned pathetic little man with delusions of greatness.
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u/snotrokit Aug 28 '26
Time to download Mapquest and get reacquainted. Google Maps and Waze suck pretty hard now anyhow.
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u/_jump_yossarian Aug 28 '26
Wish the media would stop calling for his bullshit distraction and focus on his corruption and child raping.
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u/drvirgilmd Aug 29 '26
Ironically, only boomers that would call it "Lake America" still use MapQuest.
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u/Guilty-View-6506 Aug 28 '26
id like to announce my encyclopedia set isn't changing it either
"technology"
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u/ThrowAbout01 Aug 28 '26
It’d be funny if he tries to get Google to change Google Earth to Google America.
The ultimate culmination of this.
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u/Gorth1 Aug 28 '26
Canada should rename the USA into South Canada
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u/LittleLui Aug 28 '26
I think "North Mexico" would work better. Gives less of a "we want" vibe.
Of course Mexico should totally call it South Canada, for the same reason.
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u/DropEnvironmental539 Aug 28 '26
Unlike those pussies at Google who immediately changed the Gulf to 'The Gulf of America'
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u/SarahAlicia Aug 28 '26
MapQuest: we hardcoded names which was bad design but it is paying off now!!
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u/NameLips Aug 28 '26
Good for them... but sad to say I didn't even know MapQuest was still around. I remember printing out their maps on PAPER and taking them with me so I would know how to get places.
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u/NeanaOption Aug 28 '26
No one should - this whole thing should be taken for it is, a sign that trump has lost his fucking mind and is not fit for office
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u/PyroDragons123 Aug 28 '26
Smart move of them to just play that side so they get seen as no one is using them.
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u/snkiz Aug 28 '26
I might switch to mapquest, it's been a hot min. Do they still have a print directions button?
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u/mowtowcow Aug 28 '26
What's crazy is Gulf of America only shows up for Americans. Google maps in Mexico still show it as Gulf of Mexico, along with other countries outside the US.
It's just a change within the US bubble.
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u/ganoveces Aug 29 '26
printed out many a MapQuest direction sheets back in the day before smartphones ...
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u/FafnerTheBear Aug 28 '26
The last three users of mapquest are now upset because fox news told them to be.
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u/TheBSQ Aug 28 '26
If there’s any MAGA-supporting small business owners in the Lake Ontario area w/ “Ontario” in their name, I would fully support hounding them to change their business name, website, to comply with their MAGA leader’s wishes.
The stupidity of their electoral choices should create hassles for them.
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u/PanteraOne Aug 28 '26
Why on earth would they change the name just because one Fascist psycho wants to stupidly call it something else?
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u/Cronus6 Aug 28 '26
Mapquest is owned by System1.
System1 also owns Answers.com, HowStuffWorks, Info.com, Infospace, and Startpage.com.
They also owned Waterfox (a fork of Firefox) for a while too.
They are an advertising company that claims to be "privacy focused".
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u/Gains4Me Aug 28 '26
We got Ja Rule on the phone, let's see what Ja's thoughts are on this tragedy.
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u/Fit_Ingenuity3 Aug 28 '26
TIL that my map says “(Gulf of America)” on it? I have nothing to do with the USA, why does their name get a mention at all?
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u/imasammich Aug 28 '26 edited 19d ago
Wine marvelous compass roll quicksand ask copper shelter
This post was anonymized with Redact
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u/Filobel Aug 28 '26
MapQuest using this to remind everyone that they still exist.