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Apple Campus Missing From MSN Earth
webguru4god writes "The Register has an article detailing a significant omission from Microsoft's new Virtual Earth application. Apparently the satellite image view of 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA shows a large empty lot, whereas Google Maps shows the sprawling Apple campus. Hmmm, I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?"
The Microsoft picture is from pre-1994 as County Highway 85 does not exist south of Steven Creek Blvd. This part of the highway was opened in 1994. If you look closely, you can see that most of the land for the highway has been cleared, but none of it is paved.
Before Apple, the campus was the HQ of the now-defunct Four Phase Systems. The buidling was sufficiently damaged in the earthquake on 17 Oct 1989, that it was abandoned and eventually razed.
So much for conspiracy theories.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Like anything else in the technology world, Microsoft is behind the times a bit eh? :-) Either that, or Apple is testing a new version of their Reality Distortion Field that possesses visual enhancements on an entirely new level. I always knew that Apple has some great technology.
Seriously though, Microsoft's effort is still in development and what mattered to them was not the data per se, but the codebase behind the data as Microsoft is not interested (historically) in providing people with data or resources as much as they are interested in making money. Once the infrastructure is in place, Microsoft will wrap their map technology into other bits of software to sell GIS functionality in their handheld OS and other applications. It is an entirely different way of business than Google's model which wants to deliver information to people and make their product easy to use and informative even during development. They are smart enough to realize this approach builds a customer base much more effectively than if they were to get access to free, or almost free (and therefore less useful) data with which to populate their databases. It is an investment that has paid off along with their easy to use and intuitive interfaces deliver.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
Apple opened 1 Infinite Loop in 1991 - I remember the building went up very quickly but I don't think it took less than 2 yrs. Highway 85 from 280 to down to 101 opened in 1994 - major sections of it were paved and complete for almost a year before it opened though. If you zoom in on the area around Rainbow Drive you can see some sport where they've barely begun excavation - I think it was around 1987 when they "eminent domained" the last few nearby properties out of there.
Scrolling around the map you can also see some condo complexes completely missing, which were build around that time.
Based on these landmarks (and more) you can tell that MSN's data for cupertino and its surrounding area is over 15 years old! Pitiful!
Hmm... could it possibly just be an old photo, seeing as there are constuction portables in the northeast corner and a now-nonexistant building in the south of the lot?
- G
Start a happiness pandemic
I know that most of you don't run IE but for those of us that do, Apple's HQ didn't appear as an empty lot, instead it looked like a fiery inferno with Jobs sitting on a throne of iPods!
I tried to find Google's campus on the map but all I could find was a serpent and a tree holding the most succulent fruit. Strange, I didn't think that their campus looked anything like that...
Microsoft's HQ, OTOH, was the Garden of Eden with little rabbits and naked nymphs running around. Bill was sitting there laughing because another person bought a copy of Windows and the fire grew brighter where Apple's HQ was supposed to be.
I was thinking God, I really need to switch to another browser, these exploits are of Biblical proportions and then I watched as Bill reached out from MSN Maps, grabbed me by the throat and said, "THEY AREN'T EXPLOITS!"
Scary!
I'm afraid that Microsoft didn't "delete" Apple, they just used data that's older than they are. My understanding is that Microsoft is using the USGS Topographical data, which tends to get updated whenever the USGS feels like it. Google, OTOH, uses proprietary data which is only a couple of years out of date (as opposed to decades).
:-)
Nice conspiracy theory guys, but I'm afraid that the Register is just having fun getting you all worked up.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Yeah, well, the MSN maps are much older (I think the USGS ones from the mid-early 1990s) than the Google ones. For instance, it shows Carnegie Mellon's campus without many of its current buildings.
Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.
How suiting...Anyway, aren't the MSN pics pretty old compared to google's anyway?
Dangit, I told Bill not to outsource this project to those workers from that alternate universe!
Digg had this hours ago. Slashdot will have it now and hours later.
How about Yahoo's campus?
A large Borg cube moving away from the blast crater.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
MSN's map
Google's Map
I wonder whats next...
If you look at the area around the apple head quarters you can see a lot of undeveloped areas. There's a bunch of roads to the north which look like a housing development. In the MSN map, it's dirt, in the google map it's a bunch of houses.
:)
So MSN's map service sucks apparently
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
"Apple's campus missing? I had not scheduled phase 3 of the plant to begin until November. SMITHERS, you idiot, we have tipped our hand again!"
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Why doesn't the apple campus have those lawns in the center shaped like apples?
God should have thought of this.
My theory is that this wasn't done on purpose, but it demonstrates that Google's sources are more "up to date" than Microsoft's.
As least, I hope so. Either way, it only erodes any kind of trust I'd have in a Microsoft solution for encyclopedias, maps, and so on. If they did it on purpose, then why should I trust them for anything? And if done in ignorance - then that means that their competitor has more accurate information.
Either way, it doesn't make Microsoft look good. Which, in a weird way, I almost feel bad about. I'd love to see Google with a real competitor if only because I like seeing competition, because it usually benefits me (the customer (but not consumer)) - but if Microsoft is only going to make a half-assed shot at it, then they may as well stay out of the game.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
how old are the msn earth photos vs the age of the apple campus?
the infinite loop campus has been around for at least 5 years, so msn must have some really old satellie images.
"Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence" (or in this case, outdated photos)
Whenever I look at maps from Google Earth, I see they've laser-etched "Google" all over the Earth's surface from space. I mean, they even charred my roof with the upper part of the L ferchrissake!
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
If Microsoft deleted Apple, it's an evil conspiracy. If someone else deleted Microsoft (C'mon Google! DOOOOO EEEEEET!) it'd be funny. Just 'cause Billy is a Borg doesn't mean that everyone at Microsoft is humorless.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
freudian intent?
Get a clue plz kthx.
Then maybe your campus will be noticable from the top, you need a huge object.
It's child-like behavior to blot out the competition. Funny, cause it really only ends up hurting MSFT in the long term.
No, it's just that Microsoft used really old USGS maps, and *you* really only end up looking like a giant roll of tinfoil...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
"Microsoft's Earth deletes Apple HQ"
:-p
"Even more disturbing MSN's Virtual Earth still shows the twin towers of the World Trade Center in all their pre-9/11 glory."
Gee, I wonder if there's a relationship here...
The Register sure have some l337 journalist and conclusion skillz.
They lie too, because AFAIK, they have no evidence Microsoft have "deleted" anything. A very strange choice of words if it's about looking on an outdated map.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
...the World Trade Center is still looming over Manhattan.
OK, I know they were panicked about Google Earth etc, but couldn't they have paid for better, more recent imagery?
Compared to Google Maps, this seems like a particularly half-assed effort.
m-
You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
Bloody Loonies!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Hmmm, I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?
Google now occupies the SGI Shoreline campus. Not sure when that was built though.....
lets see
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+campus
This usually refers to the buildings and surroundings of a university where the university is the principal or sole occupier of an area. Many of the Universities founded in the 1960's and built outside towns and cities are called "Campus Universities" eg Lancaster, York. Universities where the buildings are more integrated with the city or town such as Liverpool and Manchester do not have readily definable "campuses"
nope no mention of a corporate headquarters/office there
ok lets try the dictionary
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=campus
nope no mention of a company there either
so please dont use the word "Campus" in respect to company property because its about as wrong as it gets.
Hmmm, I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?
Why don't you check so we don't have to? This is not a philosophical hypothetical like so much of the dumb commentary on slashdot! It's a simple thing to look up!
(Yes, I see the irony of me not saying whether it's on there. I don't care whether it is or not. My point is that it's a stupid ponderance that doesn't belong in the summary.)
I completely agree - the real headline should be something like "Microsoft Virtual Earth Horribly out of Date"
...the iCloak.
Steal someone's idea, and do a halfassed job...
I'm sure it's not on purpose, it's just the way MS does things.
I've also read in the Register that the Twin Towers from WTC are still there.
I mean, wouldn't one of the beta testers check for that?
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
Just ancient. MSN shows a detailed photo of my city from probably 20+ years ago, while Google shows a very low resolution, but recent photo.
now that we got those buildings out of the way.
These are some of the things molecules do...... given 4 billion years -Carl Sagan
have a look for yourself. Somewhere, Osama Bin Laden is looking at this map being very confused. "Wait a minute, is that...? Achmed, what the #%^@% are we doing in this cave?"
"I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?"
As kevcol pointed out, you can clearly see their campus - in fact, arguably it's more clear that Google's own version of the same spot.
My entire neighborhood doesn't exist. Jesus! My office is gone, my apartment, all the businesses in the area...
These must be the same maps that MS had with TerraServer back in '97. That's the only way to explain it. They were black and white as well.
OSDL is missing
There is a weird penquin shaped part out of Finland
The Netherlands (will follow in about a year, they are always a year behind).
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
I found that MSN Virtual Earth fails to register your mouse button release. If you leave the map area with your mouse button clicked
ex:
Moving your cursor to the Tool bar in Mozilla/Firefox
Or to a different monitor if you are using IE...
When you return your cursor to the map, it will move without having to click your mouse...
Sweet.
There is no
Steve Jobs's penchant for high absorptivity wardrobe combined with his obsession for personal privacy probably explains why MS sees nothing.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
wasn't a while ago that if u search "search engines" on MSN, google.com is not even in Top 5 ?
http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=37.355 961|-115.752596&style=h&lvl=11&v=1
6 61&spn=0.124348,0.240704&t=h&hl=en
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.256293,-115.810
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=virtual states "Virtual" as "Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination."
Hmmm, I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?
Well it is missing from Google maps itself (search for 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. If google doesn't have it then I doubt Microsoft would have it.
It wants its joke back!
MSN version works fine with my trusty K-Meleon http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/ but GoogleEarth just gives the top bar. M$ secretly supporting Windows only mozilla browser?
Draconian 'd'RM: Achtung! You vill sit in ze CHAIR ven you read my book, NOT ON ZE COUCH!!! -AC-
Wow, I just tried out the MSN maps thing for the first time, and I gotta say, it kicks ass! The way you can click-and-drag the map around is spectacular. And the way you can switch between the satellite view and the regular map is sweeeeeet!! Holy cow, you can even search for local businesses right on the map! WOW! Try it out -- just type in anything, like "hotels near lax" or "pizza" and prepare to be amazed!
See people, you guys badmouth Microsoft all the time, but these guys obviously know how to innovate! All you slashdot trolls just got PWNED by Microsoft, baby. WOOT!!1
</sarcasm>
to hold stories of this nature, which wildly jump to erroneous conclusions.
Microsoft was apparently too cheap to purchase more recent satellite imagery so they got old, crappy data. Google's is more recent.
Nothing here to see folks except a few people with short attention spans that don't do adequate research.
The mods are to be blamed for this. Just today I had a story rejected that had more information than the one published, but it wasn't as pointed in its title.
And it is a great empty box on MSN. But you can find it on MSN Virtual Earth at Groom, NV which isn't available from Google. But Google has a much better sat photo here, easily found just west of Alamo, NV. Oh, wait, that isn't there.
clicking between the two browser tabs to see which would win the download race.
Sad, I know.
PS, neither won and, if you're really nerdy, I have a 2.5Mb connection.
No, I didn't measure it beyond that. Who on earth would bother? For Christ's sake, get some perspective! It's a couple of maps that have zero meaning to the majority of people. The fact that two companies are looking to screw everyone and each other over is moot! Hell, if you w^^^^^NO CARRIER
**sounds of head being blugeoned by a Russian**
With IE 5.0 I can't see anything, just the upper frame. And I got an error message...
No problem with FF...
May I point out that the rest of the bay area as far as I can tell is all imaged with much more recent and hi rez images. In fact, it appears that it is just that one quadrant of Cupertino that is missing, and all the rest of the pictures of the bay area are of much much higher quality in terms of resolution than google maps.
Whoever working at Microsoft must have known that they were blocking out 1 Infinite Loop. I mean, the entire rest of Silicon Valley is there, why would Apple be the only
It was a pretty good prank/joke though. I still think it would be funny if google blocked out Redmond.
You haven't even seen Google's Mr-Burns-like plans to turn day into night and force everyone to live by the bright white screen of google! You can see the shocking progress here as they begin thier sweep of the less populated parts of California!
It's a map... FROM THE FUTURE!!1
*disappears in a puff of smoke*
not missing.. its just old geographic data.. the satelite images msn uses are fuckin old as shit in comparison to the ones from google maps, which were taken approximately 5 years ago.. even google's is old time shit.. they all need to get new images.. it just costs a shit load of money.. heh
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
The fact that MSN's database is older (and less colorful!) than Google's is interesting. But more interesting is the arms race this is generating. Has anyone noticed that Google Maps now has a "hybrid" view in addition to the "map" and "satellite" option? As far as I can tell, this was implemented within the last couple of days (based on the last time I remember using google maps). I suspect that they had this feature ready a while ago, and released it now because of the recent release of Microsoft's Virtual Earth. Google noticed that MS had implemented a feature that google maps didn't have yet, so they promptly made it available!
I like this competition, because it is forcing everyone to come up with fantastic products. Google is purposefully pushing barriers, forcing other companies to constantly catch up.
There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... There is no apple campus... ... And if you don't believe us.. .. then you're with the terrorists... -.-
_Vishal www.squad9.com
I hear he can also fold space, but that might just be a rumour started by anti-Spacing Guild propagandists.
There are holes in everything Microsoft does.
TerraServer's web satellite imagery server came out in the late 90's, with all the early 90's imagery from the USGS. The interface was similar to both of these map sites. And then Microsoft bought and took over TerraServer a year or so later. So, that's probably what's here. Rather than spend time getting data sources updated, perhaps they spent time rewriting all the image server software in .NET.
Seriously, though, Microsoft did the usual overkill, attempting to put too much into the user interface. Hence odd mouse controls, unnecessary zomming animation when a simple quick redraw at the new zoom level is preferred, etc.. More time spent on glitz than substance.
"microsoft in redmond, washington" didn't work, but once I looked it up on MSN I was able to find the same spot in Google Maps... the closest hit was "MSNBC on the Internet".
Priorities, gentlemen.
http://tinyurl.com/8k3cn
(Yes, this tinyurl really *is* a Google Maps URL, not anything heinous. Guaranteed safe for work.)
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I mean really, with all that money MS could not afford current photographs? Do we need anymore evidence that MS cannot innovate at all. They probably heard about google maps, said we got to get us one of those thingy's, and cobbled it together overnight using images locked in someone basement on cassette tape. Kudos for being able to hack together some almost working code quickly(though MS maps took about 10X as much time to load as google maps), but lose a million points for being so cheap as to buy outdated maps. Of course, MS will still figure out some way to make getting to google from vista so hard that we will have the whole netscape thing over again. Even with vastly inferior products. And don't tell me MS didn't. I was around. I coded. I saw.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
MSN doesn't show Groom Lake. Google does but I suspect this is because MSN is using more flyover photography when you zoom in.
:)
Or it could be that they can claim they are trying to obey the US Govt. Maybe they had a picture of a Flying Saucer
What if MSN only gave results from webpages in 1990.
Ancient maps are pretty much useless for this perpose. (except maybe for nostalgia)
Why does the US map say "United Gates Of America"?
Is there a way to moderate the story that is posted? Not the comments, the actual stories?
This one should be moded down in some harsh way. Next thing you know they will post a story about gas prices going up or down or something.
Google Groups USENET archives and Google Cache can be Very Good Things.
So can out of date satelite photos, if labeled as such.
Microsoft dropped the ball by not advertising their maps as historical.
Personally, I think it would be cool to watch a birds-eye view of the changes of major cities over time.
OK, who is going to be first with "animated maps?"
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I'm in NJ and our complex was built about 5 years ago - google shows everything fine, but MS shows an empty lot.
The data of the same picture states that it was taken October 30, 1991
Google has their own satellite to take pics with, MS doesn't.
If you like what I've said here, and want to read more, go to http://www.krillrblog.com
Google maps uses a blending/fade from one set of images to another. My area is full of these seams - they line up pretty good but some of them show views during the summer and others were taken in the winter or fall time.
Terraserver, when they went from simply demonstrating the capabilities of SQL7 to actually maintaining it, they added new images. When they did this, they basically just plopped them in - there's obvious cuts in the map where the two sets line up. I haven't used the MSN images thing yet but when I used Terraserver back in '99 it was all black and white. They may have improved it since then.
The images look great in color on Google maps though, especially the summertime sets.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Dude, when did google get click-n-drag capability? It used to be that little scrolly thing, but now they have it, a few days after microsoft! Talk about feature theft... but that's some assimilation i can really respect
In my home area, it appears to be recent.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
The huge popularity of Google Maps convinced them it was worth it, so now they are playing "catch up".
You can expect them to proceed to buy up the newest and most accurate sat pictures and replace most of the USGS data.
Expect the picture quality to exceed the fuzzy crap that Google has everywhere except the inner city maps.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
If you zoom ALL THE WAY IN on Microsoft headquarters, you can see that Microsoft is full of holes...like swiss cheese.
I see that you can't even zoom in to any city in Canada in Microsoft's "earth" (in satellite mode). In contrast, google maps covers pretty much all major cities in Canada! Good job, Microsoft, I guess USA is the only "earth" you know of. Not to mention the "beautiful" black/white images.
That's pretty funny. When you learn basic Windows coding, that's the sort of mistake you quit making about 1/4 of the way through the Petzold book.
Google does the same thing. It's a DHTML/Javascript limitation.
...and make sure that the Albuquerque PD is on the map, and also the house of the cop who arrested Bill back in 1975 for not paying his traffic tickets.
"to hold stories of this nature, which wildly jump to erroneous conclusions."
Journalism at it's finest.
Apple is the brand of machine produced by M$ to test out new ideas and OS features before they are used in the next major Windows release.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
I look around and see that everything just north of El Camino Real is in full color and far more recent.
3 7.404606%7C-122.027749&style=h&lvl=18&v=1
A smidge west of and everything east of Lawrence Expressway and you see the same thing, far newer coverage...
Everything south and west of and including Cupertino appears to be from at least 1989... with Los Gatos and south of Los Gatos appears to be even older than the 1989'ish maps of Cupertino.
It could be that Cupertino and Los Gatos got lumped in with the little changing mountainous areas south and south-west of the Valley in general, but that's really queer (as in, the original meaning of queer).
The newer things appear to be in the whole Mountain View area and up near Moffett Field. That would make sense because there were probably some cash outlays to get the most recent data for that area - what with everything up there changing so much near (former) Onizuka Air Force Base and it being pretty much all given over to Lockheed Martin (blech).
You can even see the infamous "blue cube" building, who's contents will not be spoken of here.http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=
Geesh - even the SJ Airport is not anywhere near what it is today.
While one could argue for "selective" oudatenedness, it appears as though its just a random hodgepodge of outdatedness, looking at the whole area.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
I fail to see how this is news.
Microsoft software has always been closed source.
So why should anyone expect Microsoft to suddenly make public their source of innovation? Especially when Windows Ti^H^H^H Vista is so close to going gold!
However, per Department of Justice guidelines, select Microsoft Development Partners may opt in and license the map for 1 Infinite Loop at a nominal licensing fee after signing an NDA.
We all know this error and the general out-of-date-ness of these photos are clever features, not bugs, in MSN Earth.
What you'll notice if you use both map sites is that the photo-maps are piecemeal quilts from seemingly various data sources taken at different days/times.
Google Maps has outdated/missing sections just like MSN does, but no one criticises them for dropping the ball?
"MSN Virtual Earth" incorporates, to a degree, data from their Microsoft Terraserver project which debuted in 1997, which is nearly a decade before Google ever got into the map business. The background is sort of interesting, even.
Can Google do no wrong? What the fuck?
Do you see the little foot, the one displayed next to the headline?
It means something.
I'm actually finding this whole thing amusing because I last week was looking around on google maps trying to find specific things, and one of the things I decided to specifically look for was the WTC site. Sure enough, it's just a flat construction site. So for me this article is a "hey, I was just looking at that" sort of thing. What I really found interesting at the time though was once I found the WTC site I started zooming out... the little beige hole in the middle of Manhattan where the WTC used to be is still clearly visible all the way out until you've zoomed out past the entire state of New Jersey...
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
Not saying there isn't some reason for it (don't know what it would be), but the IBM plant in Endicott, NY shows up as a big blurry blob in Google Earth...
Hmm, with all the info you just gave, maybe a little Google Hacking is in order.
Bwuhahahahahahaha
Remember, in Soviet Russia, old photos erase you.
Judging from the info returned by terraserver.microsoft.com for 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA::
Urban Areas 2/27/2004
Aerial Photo 10/30/1991
Topo Map 7/1/1982
The "urban area" photo (a more recent set of aerial photos) for 1 Infinite Loop is not available. However, the photos of my former house on Laurel Way in Mountain View are dated the same, and the "urban area" photo is available.
If you zoom out and then scroll, you will switch to a color view. Zoom back in and you will see a splice between the 2004 data (color) and 1991 data (black and white).
These are public domain aerial photo series from USGS and there are lots of reasons the new photos would not be available.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Maybe Microsoft is just doing this so that it won't have to update the map in five years.
Interesting though, if you zoom in all the way all Apple is is just Cheese!
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=07458&ll=41.053207,- 74.096603&spn=0.005488,0.010131&t=k&hl=en
This is northern NJ
The MSN Earth photos are the same as TerraServerUSA, which says that the dataset in question was captured on October 30, 1991.
to be fair, Google maps are not entirely recent either. BJs Brewhouse to the left of Apple is still under construction in the Map, while in reality, it has been open for about 2 years now.
ignore the large complex of buildings you see before you, they are not on MSFT's radar ... or Google's ...
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Personally, I prefer looking at old Sat. pictures of the area I live in, you can see what it was like before it got over-developed and 100's of acres of farmland got turned into Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid, etc.. and every other fast food vendor and gas station started popping up..only to close down and leave thier ugly mark on the landscape.
I'm all for progress, but Wal-Mart is progress? Not in my opinion.
Google now occupies the SGI Shoreline campus. Not sure when that was built though.....
Google indeed occupies the four funky looking fromer Silicon Graphics Inc buildings on Shoreline Drive. These were built in the late 1990s. Right across the street to the south is the former home of Adobe (and occupied by Sun at one time too). SGI's first funky looking building is right off of 101 and was built in 1995, it's now home of the Computer History Museum. At one time SGI had almost 20 buildings in that area, some built in the early 1980s. SGI now lives in three newer buildings a few blocks away on Crittenden Drive built in about 2002. The whole shoreline area is a mix of buildings ranging from 1 to 25 years old.
http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?ss=World% 20Trade%20Center&cp=40.7125|-74.011994&style=h&lvl =17&sp=adr.7609%2010th%20Ave%2C%20Brooklyn%2C%20NY %2011228&v=1
I still like google's interface better, seems a little cleaner.
I checked where I used to live in Austin and where I now live in Houston, and on MSN maps, the map and sattelite images deviate by as much two whole blocks! And not just by an offset, either. In some cases, the two roads (map and sattelite) were prefectly on top of each other for a few blocks, and then they went seperate ways. Google maps, on the other hand, has done a superb job of seamlessly overlaying their map and sattelite images.
All your campus are belong to Google, you have no chance to MSN, make your time! HA-HA-HA
I8-D
These days, typical fifteen year old technology finds more use inside a cardboard box in a basement than it does on a brand new software application.
I think it's safe to say that most people had not experienced much satellite imagery until Google/Microsoft publicized its service (I'm one). And in light of this, I find it very cool cool that despite imagery being tens of years old, it still provides equal amount of detail as imagery taken today.
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
I could not replicate this with google maps, what did you do?
There is no
you misspelled BALLMER
Oh shit, my house doesnt exist either! Is MS out to get me? No, just old fucking maps. They didnt 'delete' me or crApple. dumbasses. WTF did you think it was a live picture or something douchebags?
Maxis did everyone better. Not only do you get a zoomable interface to the planet. You can destroy parts of it via remote control. As well as build it all right back up. You can even create new life.
Let's see Google, or Microsoft try that?
Except it's JS, not "basic Windows coding".
When I map Baptist Road near Monument, CO with MSN Virtual Earth the road names and highlights are way off. I'm wondering if there is some mis-matching of coordinates with images because of the altitude (>6000ft) and angle the pictures were taken.
Regardless of the cause/excuse...this is pretty poor.
First Yahoo! buys Konfabulator and now Microsoft deliberately uses ancient aerial photography to confuse those seeking the Apple HQ.
This is turning out to be one bad Apple day.
Mozilla stole tabs from NetCaptor. So what? Right?
That's not the past! Microsoft is seeing into the future! BASTARDS!!!
That's just how the Earth actually looks, through Microsoft's "Total Perspective Vortex", where Bill Gates actually invented Windows, and Steve Jobs is just a little surfer dot off the Santa Cruz coastline.
--
make install -not war
Like Google, most Disney property is strangely and suddenly indistinct in the satellite views. Most of Epcot is pretty good but as soon as you try to go over the Magic Kingdom the quality goes to hell. But you can see Sea World and Universal just fine, thankyouverymuch. Also, the tents over Cirque Du Soleil are visible, though they were torn off in the 2004 storms. No surprise there, though; average age of the pics seems to be about 2 years.
MS also shows the World Trade towers as well. OTOH, their zooming effect is really neat and less disorienting than Google's "bang! here's a new view!" method. Double-click on MS zooms; re-centers on Google. Also just noticed that Google has 'hybrid' mode--map info overlaying sat photos. Neat. Oh, and MS's unrequested business info popups are annoying. Sorry for the meandering post, but this was my first time looking @ MS's offering--I couldn't get to it the other day when first announced here.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Man, Microsoft can't come up with an original idea to save their lives.
Look just southeast of Apple HQ. "Vista Drive." I mean, damn, they can't even get their OS name from something more than a block from Apple HQ?!?!11/1!!/1!?
MS, you damn Apple fanboys. Geeeeeez.
Of course, Australia is missing from the Microsoft maps as well but somehow that seems less notable than... a couple of acres on the west coast of the US?
Believe with me, my saplings.
...that in comparison to Google Maps, Microsoft VIrtual Earth ...er... sucks? The size is overblown, the search is hit and miss, the maps old, panning breaks at high zoom and takes longer then Google Maps to do anything.
Just wonder....
-- I care not for your foolish signatures.
In Microsofts virtual earth, Apple, Google and other annoying entities like Linus and RMS don't exist.
Hey guys... the world is really small... VISTA DR (Windows Vista??) is a street near from Apple HQ... very good!!
Please stop being Apple whores. You do not need to post every bit of Apple-related drivel that gets thrown your way. Please go back to posting "Stuff that matters".
Sincerly,
Your non-Apple Kool Aid drinkers
I believe I've figured out why the M$ map is so old.
& cp=37.331011%7C-122.029705&style=h&lvl=17&v=1
7 73&spn=0.004620,0.007532&t=h&hl=en
l .gates.vs.cnn.jpg
On the msn map, just southwest of Apple's HQ you'll see a large fun mural of a spider. The surrounding buildings are obviously part of a children's school. That's nice and sweet.
http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?ss=apple
NOW, look at the more up to date photo from Google M$ DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE THIS!!
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.331078,-122.028
Try to find the same mural..look at it REALLY WELL...I almost choked! Yes it is evil and YES it IS HIM!!
http://www.cnn.com/video/health/2002/05/09/sg.bil
The school is no longer the fun school we knew with the sweet spider mural but has been turned into some kind of sicko spy factory for mr dementio himself!
If i'm looking at these maps right, google is showing pictures of the base at Area 51, while Microsoft isn't. I wonder if they're allowed to show it?
Google
Microsoft
Apparently there are several other things missing like Canada, England, and the entire Western Hemisphere. Heck, it won't even zoom in past about 40,000 feet for most places. MSN Earth? Bah! My $12.99 WalMart globe does a better job than this (and then there's that Google thing too I suppose).
They could be showing a giant crater...
Don't trust any concentration of power.
YMMV when comparing the photographs of the two sites, with some instances have better/newer photos on Google vs. Microsoft, while in other instances the opposite is true. However, I think the interesting thing here IS that age difference. The submitted article pointed out that the Twin Towers were still standing in NYC on the Microsoft site's photos, while Google's pics were of the bare site. I found this unintentional effect to be really interesting - comparing the same location at two different times.
Perhaps that could be the next level of development for Google (or Microsoft) could be just that - time shifting. Along with the satellite vs. map vs. hybrid options, you could also select a year that the pics were taken. Voila, you'd have a virtual wayback machine. You'd be able to see the Twin Towers, or in my case, your subdivision back when it was a dairy farm in 2003 (Gilbert, Arizona).
Obviously, the MSN earth server didn't like the concept of drawing an infinite loop.
If you go 20 miles north of Cupertino to Foster City, Microsoft's maps are more current than Google's. Google still shows an empty dirt lot at 800 Foster City Blvd. Microsoft shows the PJCC buildings under construction. They opened in 2004, so Microsoft's Foster City maps are about two years old, and about a year or two newer than Google's.
MSN picture
Google picture
PJCC's website
I noticed that Google World is at least that far behind by looking at my house and my business. I was sorely disappointed at how old the maps are. They're essentially useless, in my opinion.
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.5) Gecko/20031107 Debian/1.5-3
Crashes hard every time I've tried to access the site...
That's because the left side is a USGS satellite image, and the right side is a color aeriel photo, instead of a satellite.
-- Terry
MS Virtual Earth WTC Towers
Yeah, they're using old maps. This one clearly shows the twin towers still standing. The pic of the apple campus (or lack therof) is a very old photo.
... after using different age images to impart spin is to have maps of wholely fictional places out of fantasy.
Not that Silicon Valley isn't a fictional place out of fantasy.
When I zoomed in on Redmond WA all I saw was this:
http://xballonline.com/newsnewxballpreview.jpg
..and who IS that guy?
As in another post,
.25m per pix rez USGS or satelite 'WHERE AVAILABLE' as they exist only in selected areas, otherwise Google uses (I believe) 8m per pix landsat images, which are color not black and white.
Terraserver, which msn owns, uses 1m per pix resolution USGS areal photos where were done before the apple building was constructed. These are black and white images, but they cover the whole US.
Google uses
If you look in areas where google uses landsat vrs the B&W images, the B&W images are FAR sharper.
If you use the FREE software from NASA, World Wind, you can select between the various sources of images. HEre is the link http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/
I'm not sure what it is, but whatever it is about 3km NW of the White House, just south of Massachusetts Ave NW and at the ass-end of 34th Ave NW.
I'm pretty sure trees don't look that pixellated..
<span style="hat: aluminum;">
Matthew G P Coe
http://mgpcoe.blogspot.com/
Not only was the picture taken in MSN before the Apple Campus was built there... but Google's picture doesn't even show the Google campus:)
Google Inc,
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Looks like a dirt hill on Google Maps.
OMG, It appears to be a dirt field on Both! Shock! Awe! Conspiracy!
The Google campus (former Silicon Graphics Inc campus) is there, the map data is just pointing to the wrong street.
Google Campus via Google Maps
This is fairly new satellite data as it shows the new (2002 or so) SGI campus too.
Current SGI Campus via Google Maps
Okay, so for kicks, I looked up my childhood home on both maps. I grew up in Albuquerque, NM. Immediately, I see that the MSN map has better resolution (I can tell which car was parked in the driveway at the time with the MSN image).
But the next thing I notice is the cars on the road next to my house. In both images, despite the lack of resolution on the google map, you can destictly see the same color cars are in the exact same location, driving down the road. The gotta be the same images. The odds of that happening otherwise are infinitessimal.
Heck the two images even show the same progress in the road construction... oh nevermind. That proves nothing.
seems to do a shitty job of making a map that is still trounced by Google Earth which came out BEFORE it. M$ is freggin pathetic.
If I type in my home address in Google map, it simply states that that address is incorrect... and suggest an address that is across the street, and to top it off, it isn't even a real address! Yet, if I select it, Google map happily me a picture of MY HOUSE! In the correct location.
:-o Mallards.
Now, I just checked MSN and it's exactly right. I know which one I'll be using from now on. Now, who said this world wouldn't be a better place without Apple in it, anyway?
Bill
It's my Sig and you can't have it. Mine! All Mine!
Both the current Google campus (former Silicon Graphics Inc campus) and the current SGI campus (built in 2002 or so) can be seen on Google:
Google has the campus with the 4 to 6 (depending on how you count) buildings with the colorful table umbrellas in the middle).
Current Google (formerly SGI)
Current SGI (new, built ~2002)
Original SGI campus from 1980s -- HUGE
So I guess if you're interested in geography, Google Maps has the answer, whereas if the subject is history, Microsoft is the way to go... :-)
The Terraserver stuff was around LONG before Google started offering satellit imagery. Microsoft most certainly did not copy that particular aspect from Google.
t erraserver.microsoft.com/
Specifically, Terraserver came online all the way back in 1998. At that time, it was the world's largest online database (accessible to the public at least) and it offered over a terabyte worth of data-- which was a pretty big database in 1998.
This is the earliest entry in the wayback machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/19981111185028/http://
The site doesn't work of course, but you can see that it existed.
However, Terraserver (and MSN Virtual Earth) appears to be using the same satellite imagery as it did in 1998, for the most part. For some locations, terraserver lets you choose which satellite database to use, and I can compare my area between the early 80's and late 90's and see the effects of urban sprawl.
-CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
Of course MSN gets you a much better view than Google. I mean come on, where do you think your boss would look first?
Still I'll admit that I Googled for the address and got a hit without even having to drill down!
One thing to notice about the MSN map is that the street map is badly overlaid on top of the satellite map.
Here's an example:
2801 N St. NW, Washington DC
well, the square [1] box is on the wrong corner: 2801 is the northwest corner, not the southwest. Also, check out how far off the grid is from the street.
Here is a comparison:
2801 N. St. NW, Washington DC
so MSN is offering higher resolution at the price of being wrong... hmm... I'd rather not have data than have wrong data.
-David
Need Geek Rock? Try The Franchise!
Looks like MS finally bought their own planet. With luck, they'll move there permanantly and leave the rest of us alone!
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
MS does not. I found out there are a lot of Halifax es and even some Canadas in the US. I zoomed out and went east until I found my home but MS had no detail underneath a big green blob for Nova Scotia
Bill has his head up his ass?
No SCO
Fallout 3 will suck.
At least it only took a few replies to determine it was an 11-year old photo. Otherwise it would be the same in-depth analysis the military used for targeting Belgrade in 1999.
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/
BT
Try this: http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=35.787 293|-79.070408&style=h&lvl=15&sp=adr.7825%20Thornd ike%20Rd%2C%20Greensboro%2C%20NC%2027409&v=1
The missing panel used to be occupied by a supposedly nuclear hardened communications hub. I don't buy it. As my brother used to say: nuclear fallout shelters are simply shelters that would become nuclear fallout.
Furthermore, MSN's virtual earth doesn't work in KDE's Konqueror
http://maps.google.com/maps?li=rwp&q=1341+NAGLEE+A VE,+SAN+JOSE,+CA+95126
I'm surprised that I haven't read more about how much MS Virtual Earth seems to suck, compared to Google Earth. Am I the only one who notices this? Am I missing something on MS Virtual Earth?
The first 10 times I looked at Google Earth, I was completely blown away.... I could sit in front of that thing for hours. But Virtual Earth... come on. Scrolling map... wow. Am I missing something? Is there a hidden, rotating globe in there somewhere that I haven't come across? Is there some way of finding better maps than the 10 year old black and white crap they use all over the place?
No sign of google headquarters! http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.332307,-122.0301 03&spn=0.005924,0.010131&t=k&hl=en/
Of course, MS Virtual Earth really isn't; it's really virtual United States. There's hardly any images for anything outside the US. Omitting most of the world seems more like a more significant issue than having an old picture of where the Apple campus is currently.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Eastman Kodak Company is 'deleted' from Google Maps. If you look you'll see that the entire park region and all buildings associated with it are 'gone'. All the imagery shows is the 30 meter resolution which is enough to tell you 'something brown' is present.
Why? Your guess is as good as mine, but we do have loads of chemicals in the plant. And seeing as they used to partner with the company that did the imagery, I can see some reasons why.
You'll also notice that the syracuse airport and the Rochester airport are both missing as well. The buffalo airport is present, as well as JFK.
Conspiracy to protect our softer targets? You decide.
...with Windows, the gun blows up in your hand :)
original FOOTOS joke
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
Check out this image in Ohio. Maybe Google is predicting the earthquake! http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.332307,-122.0301 03&spn=0.008380,0.014636&t=h&hl=en
Interestingly enough, if you move over to the Lawrence Expressway/Homestead Road intersection in Sunnyvale, the southwest corner has an office complex. When I lived in that area in 2000, that lot was empty and overgrown with brush.
for instance... Australia!
Take a look and see.
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
October 31, 1991
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=google&ll=37.423406, -122.082659&sll=37.160317,-122.623901&spn=0.003553 ,0.007919&sspn=3.842929,8.536377&t=k&num=10&start= 0&hl=en
Look at the balloons "A" and "J" and you will find that both Google Inc. become one big construction dump!
And his fine weaponsatellite hacking skills... right?
:)
And legions of slavering sales loving, lawsuit waving agents of evil will be crushed in one, orbital laser filled second... ahh... the wishful thinking... (too bad about the innocent 3 or 4 coders left that Google hasn't hired yet
Maybe Pitr should wait another day or 4?
" What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler