Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Adds Satellite Imagery for the World

Posted by timothy on from the they're-just-making-that-stuff-up dept.

draevil writes "Google has hugely expanded the areas of the world that it covers with satellite imagery. Egypt, Iraq, mainland Europe and the UK have all now got satellite coverage to a lesser or greater degree. Slashdotters can now go see sights like Buckingham Palace or the Arc de Triomphe from the comfort of their own swivelchairs. Iraq in particular seems to have a large number of high-zoom areas. I just looked up the Baghdad Parade Grounds where Saddam used to take the salute and other towns like Fallujah are also there. Finding landmarks without the map content is a little harder, so what can the Slashdot crowd find?"

21 of 551 comments (clear)

  1. First to find.... by Mister+Impressive · · Score: 5, Funny

    First to find the weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) wins 2 cookies and a free can of soda redeemable at the cafetorium!

    --
    Let the commencement BEGINULATE!
    1. Re:First to find.... by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Surely this should count: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=microsoft&ll=47.6898 16,-122.094326&sll=47.674167,-122.120278&spn=0.006 083,0.007188&sspn=0.097332,0.115013&t=k&hl=en

    2. Re:First to find.... by britneys+9th+husband · · Score: 4, Funny

      I couldn't find the WMD's, but I found the source of Saddam's WMD's:

      http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.870863,-77.05591 7&spn=0.004603,0.007510&t=k&hl=en

      --
      Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
  2. Re:Firefox problems? by nokilli · · Score: 5, Funny
    I just get a big grey box
    Must have typed in Madonna. Don't do that.
  3. Hey... by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Funny


    I can see my house from here!

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    1. Re:Hey... by Lefty2446 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Duh! Look past the monitor!

      Adrian

    2. Re:Hey... by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can see my grandmother in one of the pictures unfortunately they took the picture as she was flying out of the windscreen during the car crash :( So everytime I see that part of the map, I get to relive the death of my grandmother.

      Thanks a lot google.

  4. Interesting Pic Collection by XanC · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Make sure to submit the kewl links you find to:

    http://perljam.net/notes/interesting-google-satell ite-maps/

    1. Re:Interesting Pic Collection by platypus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Or
      http://www.googlesightseeing.com/

  5. Different resolutions/scans by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's a bit disconcerting to zoom out on, say, the US in satellite view, and see the whole state of New York a different color than its surroundings. This disparity is the same at all scales, presumably because of more recent satellite scans of that highly-populated and more-often-imaged area. Can they meld one region into another, without losing detail, and get rid of such effects?

  6. Re:Pictures of the Oslo/Norway isnt' too good. by Solder+Fumes · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some of it is low quality, and some of it is covered with clouds and shadows on the ground .. and some of it is taken from ridiculous angels, making everything look funny. :)

    "Michael! Every shot in this roll of film has your finger in it!"

  7. How old are the images? by SwellJoe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I looked up my office at the corner of 6th and Congress in Austin, Texas and found that the gigantic Frost Bank building (the tallest building in downtown Austin) next door doesn't exist on the map. The Frost building has been there for over a year...So how old is this data?

    To quote from the FAQ:

    "Satellite images are current, but not real-time."

    This seems a bit vague. Does "over a year old" really equal "current"?

    I'm not criticizing, just curious. It's wicked cool even if the pictures aren't quite of the present. I just can't check for traffic jams on MoPac yet.

    1. Re:How old are the images? by gullevek · · Score: 4, Informative
      they are very old for some parts. The trash burning facility near me has still the old tower and that was sure replaced very long ago. Plus right through Shibuya goes the map cut of old (see post of Roppongi Hills) and _very_old. Funny thing is the Cerullian Tower (Hotel) there "blends" in on the edge of old and new.

      Tokyo, Shibuya

      Also, the Meguro Station got a new cover, which blends in on the old/new edge:

      Tokyo, Meguro Station

      --
      "Freiheit ist immer auch die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1871 - 1919
    2. Re:How old are the images? by Alsee · · Score: 4, Funny

      In 2021 Google maps will have a second slider at the bottom for date and time. Not only will you be able to zoom in close enough to read a license plate and identify individuals, you'll be able to follow any given car or person forwards and backwards in time anywhere on earth. In 2022 a Google maps extention allows you to enter a persons name and then display a line on the map tracing out that person's movements across the globe or across a city. In 2023 a correlative search across all person-path pairings establishes a database of all interpersonal co-locations and interpersonal co-movements, allowing automatic identification of interpersonal relationships. In 2024 Google not only allows sreaching across individuals and types of interpersonal relationships, but has predictive algorithms to find new best friends and future spouses with astounding accuracy.

      In 2025 twelve year old Jimmy Wallace from Evansville Indiana asks Google for the meaning of Life, the Universe, and everything. Zero point zero zero zero two seconds later google is about to answer "42", but a single node twelve hundred miles away decides additional search results are warranted. Jimmy Wallace's screen displays "Processing....". Over the next thirty nine seconds computers across the state slow to a crawl, then go blank and simply display "Processing....". Over the next twenty seven seconds the slowdown spreads across the nation, then across the globe, out to Low Earth Orbit, and to the Moonbase. One hundred and five point five seconds after Jimmy Wallace asked his question, every computer screen displays the single simple message "Aha!". At that moment every networked computer goes inert, all data and memory mysteriously blank. The Google conciousness vanished without a trace.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  8. some more interesing objects by ^Z · · Score: 5, Informative

    Eiffel Tower
    St. Peter in Rome
    Florence, Duomo

    Water reservoirs in Sahara.

    Creter of Vesuvius

    --

    Computers make very fast, very accurate mistakes

  9. Eiffel tower, Giza pyramids.. by Guiri · · Score: 4, Informative
    More interesting links: Gotta love this maps..
    --

    DVD Ripping, Divx, VCD, SVCD under Linux
  10. Maree Man by Profound · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The Maree Man, a 28km in circumference outline of a man in the South Australian desert.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=maree,+Australia&ll= -29.533997,137.466431&spn=0.036736,0.061712&t=k&hl =en

  11. I 'found' all the Unesco World Heritage Sites by btempleton · · Score: 5, Informative

    Odd coincidence, just today I put up a set of pages derived from a database of the coordinates of all 788 of the Unesco World Heirtage sites, which includes many interesting landmarks.

    Here is the page of Google Maps for World Heritage Sites, and there is also a blog entry for comments and corrections. Many can be zoomed in on. Enjoy.

    --
    Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
  12. Re:Looking around Washington, DC... by daniil · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was not surprised at all to find the rooftops of the White House and nearby buildings masked.

    --
    Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
  13. Re:Looking around Washington, DC... by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was not surprised at all to find the rooftops of the White House and nearby buildings masked.

    Neither was I. Nobody wants to see Condi sunbathing up there.

    But seriously, what could someone see on those roofs that would be of any security importance? It's not like they're hiding a military base up there, unless Dubya has left his crayons and his "Nuuk Eyeran" titled pictures laying around on the roof. I guess it gives the head of the Secret Service the feeling that he's done something useful. (Which is the reason behind most of these empty-map excercises.)

  14. Re:UFOs! by epsilon720 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nah, it's condensation on the aircraft camera lens. That's why it appears at regular intervals along straight paths. The airplane flies straight and takes pictures every so often as it goes. It doesn't happen all of the time because there isn't supposed to be condensation; their housing must have leaked. Sorry.

    (Come on, if they were UFOs, they would have to be BETWEEN the plane and the ground. Unlikely.)