Google Earth

[David]

Wow! My house in now in the hi-resolution area not previously covered in Google Maps. I downloaded this application today, typed in my postal code to the search box and watched a satellite photograph of the earth smoothly zoom in until it showed my street. I panned up and right and then zoomed in on my house. I can clearly see my car, patio, conservatory, the kids' trampoline and climbing frame and even my patio furniture. Even more fun was when I moved the "tilt" slider to give a perspective looking down my street from about 30m in the air and then panned down the streets and into town as though I was in a hover car. It's a fake perspective because the building are still flat but still, wow!

[Barbara]

Cool.

I just poked around in England on Google Maps, picking "New Forest" as a random starting place. I ended up in Gosport, either near or part of Portsmouth, and I'm wondering what is parked on a road there.

To see what I mean, enter this query in Google Map:

Code: Select all

alder ln, gosport, england

Put it on Satellite or Hybrid. Zoom in to the max, making sure you can still see the pink semicircle just north of the pointer. The pink semicircle looks like a shadow on some pink area (sand? concrete?). On the road at the south end of the pink area is parked ... what?

[spoiler]Is it a helicopter?[/spoiler]

And what is the round green building? Are those gun turrets? Maybe; it's Military Road running north/south next to it.

[CAM]

My house is not in really high resolution. I can see the house, sort of. Appears the photo was taken in the fall -- the big tree in front is red! However, google doesn't point to our address correctly. Google claims that our address is somewhere down the block from where we are. In fact, in the satellite map, our address is in the middle of a street down the block. Still, all very interesting. I hope the photos don't get too too close.

[llizard (aka ejm)]

enter this query in Google Map:

Code: Select all

alder ln, gosport, england

Put it on Satellite or Hybrid. Zoom in to the max, making sure you can still see the pink semicircle just north of the pointer. The pink semicircle looks like a shadow on some pink area (sand? concrete?). On the road at the south end of the pink area is parked ... what?

[spoiler]Is it a helicopter?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]electronic scoreboard on a tractor with a telescoping arm?[/spoiler]

And what is the round green building? Are those gun turrets? Maybe; it's Military Road running north/south next to it.

A running track with a massive garden on the roof??

It does have a military look about it though. Perhaps it is/was a military college?

Ah, google is my friend (sort of)... according to wikipedia,

Until the last quarter of the 20th century it was a major naval and military centre associated with the defence and supply infrastructure of Portsmouth Harbour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosport

[llizard (aka ejm)]

Cool indeed!! Our house is a little difficult to make out though - there is a message that

"we don't have imagery at this zoom level for this location"

But it looks like the photo was taken in summer.

I hope the photos don't get too too close.

I was thinking the same thing about our house... what if they see that we haven't removed all the weeds from between the bricks in the patio?

Also, I have this horror that the technology used in Blade Runner isn't far behind. Yikes!! I'd better start brushing my hair and polishing my shoes....

[David]

I've just been nosing around "Area 51, USA". Lots interesting aircraft and suspicious-looking hangars. Tilting the view shows real height differences between the hills and plains.

[DataRyder]

I've just been nosing around "Area 51, USA". Lots interesting aircraft and suspicious-looking hangars. Tilting the view shows real height differences between the hills and plains.

Hi David,

Thanks for the reminder. I never thought of checking out "Area 51, USA". Wow! Imagine my surprise when my high resoulution screen was able to pick up this kind of detail. And all thanks to Google Earth. Incredible. ==> Link <==

I never knew the U.S. government was experimenting with this kind thing.

- DataRyder