Daily conversation: What is the worst possible answer?

[The_Ginger]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Avoid stoplights.  —  Oh, wait, that's the best answer.

Avoid cities.  —  Oh, wait, that's the second best answer.

Avoid cameras.  —  Man, I suck at this game.

Just change them to their opposite!

Maximize intersections with stoplights.  —  You don't need to be there on time.

Maximize cities.  —  Bonus points if it's during rush hour when and only one lane is open at the busiest interchange.

Maximize Flock camera sightings.  —  Flock cameras are fiiiiine. Don't listen to the propaganda!

[kphoger]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

avoid scenery

[CoreySamson]

20 AUG 2026

Propose a solution to the I-35/35E/35W mess in Dallas–Fort Worth and the Twin Cities.

Partial reroutings so each suffix has roughly the same length on each side of town.  It's all about equality!

Dallas/Fort Worth:
Northbound I-35W:

• Concurrent with eastbound I-20
• Northbound on what is now I-35E

Opposite for southbound I-35W

Northbound I-35E:

• Concurrent with westbound I-20
• Northbound on what is now I-35W

Opposite for southbound I-35E

Bonus:  Wrong-way concurrency of I-35E and I-35W with I-20

Minneapolis/St. Paul:
Northbound I-35W:

• Concurrent with eastbound I-494
• Northbound on what is now I-35E
• Concurrent with westbound I-694
• Northbound on what is I-35W

Opposite for southbound I-35W

Northbound I-35E:

• Concurrent with westtbound I-494
• Northbound on what is now I-35W
• Concurrent with eastbound I-694
• Northbound on what is I-35E

Opposite for southbound I-35E

Bonus:  Wrong-way concurrency of I-35E and I-35W with I-494, and the opposite wrong-way concurrency of I-35E and I-35W with I-694.

I like how this would mean that on each concurrency, you could choose to either get on I-35W eastbound or I-35E westbound. Not confusing at all!

[MikeTheActuary]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Borrowing from my ham radio hobby:  Go long path

[MikeTheActuary]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Find potholes

[MikeTheActuary]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Use Bing Maps.

[Scott5114]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Prefer work zones
Route toward crashes

[jeffandnicole]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Avoid gas stations

[pderocco]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Avoid my ex.

[MikeTheActuary]

August 25, 2026: Google Maps has the options "avoid tolls", "avoid highways", and "use the least fuel". What else should be an option?

Avoid my ex.

(Not directed at you Paul...but yours made me think of this)

Comply with restraining orders

[kphoger]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

[I-55]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Expert Edition: In order to reduce clutter and add more local roads, all labels are removed to make the lines clearer.

[Big John]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Business edition- sponsored businesses will prominently show up on the map, even if the cover up streets.

[hotdogPi]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Polar coordinates. The horizontal axis is bearing from Centerville IN and the vertical axis is distance from Centerville.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Fast food edition, not even showing roads, just locations of fast food restaurants.

[kphoger]

Expert Edition: In order to reduce clutter and add more local roads, all labels are removed to make the lines clearer.

And all the lines are the same color and thickness.

[GaryV]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Non-Flock edition, showing where it's safe to speed or evade capture by ICE.

[1995hoo]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

The "Shrugged Edition." Every page has the roads abruptly "jog" upwards on one side of the page and downwards on the other to reflect the shoulder movements.

[kphoger]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Artists edition.
Each map is drawn by an artist from that area.

The New York City inset is done by Julie Mehretu.
California is done by Matt Haywood.
Some maps are done by artists with disabilities, others by young children.
The Seattle inset is done in textured lines and Braille.
The Los Angeles inset is sexually provocative.

[kphoger]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

1 : 10,000 edition

Lower 48 states only.  One inch is equivalent to 0.1578 miles.  Each 9x13½-inch page covers approximately three square miles.  This comes in a 200-volume set of 500 pages each.

[Mapmikey]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

The "Shrugged Edition." Every page has the roads abruptly "jog" upwards on one side of the page and downwards on the other to reflect the shoulder movements.

Ah...the Ayn Rand McNally

[1995hoo]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Artists edition.
Each map is drawn by an artist from that area.

The New York City inset is done by Julie Mehretu.
....

I now have this mental image of Taki 183 and SEEN drawing the New York map. (I assume I am not the only person here who recalls their "work.")

[JayhawkCO]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Braille edition.

[kphoger]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Low-hanging fruit here...

The paper online edition.  Each page is just a big QR code.

[PColumbus73]

26 AUG 2026

Rand McNally publishes several versions of their road atlas in addition to the standard one:  large scale, motor carrier, easy to read, national parks, and Wal-Mart editions.

What other version should they come out with?

Old Alignments Edition: The previous alignments of numbered routes, including truncated routes, underlaid beneath the most recent routings from the inception of numbered routes in the US