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Google Takes Street View To the Galapagos Islands
Nerval's Lobster writes "In the early days, Street View must have been a relatively easy project for Google to execute, considering the financial resources and employees at its disposal: strap a set of high-tech cameras to a fleet of vehicles and drive the latter around urban areas all over the world, recording every inch for viewers' clicking-and-dragging pleasure. But there's only so much of the world accessible via well-paved roads (or close to gas stations, for that matter), which meant Google had to regress a bit: instead of cars, it began strapping all that fancy camera equipment to human beings, who are a little bit maneuverable over rough terrain and narrow dirt paths than a four-door sedan. Google sent its Street View cyborgs into the Grand Canyon, where they recorded the craggy pathways and steep cliffs. Then it sent them to some of the world's highest peaks. Now comes the next exotic locale: the Galapagos Islands, land of giant tortoises and other unique species, where Charles Darwin researched his famous theory of evolution. 'It's critical that we share images with the world of this place in order to continue to study and preserve the islands' unique biodiversity,' read a May 23 note on the Google Lat Long blog. 'Today we're honored to announce, in partnership with Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), that we've collected panoramic imagery of the islands with the Street View Trekker.' That imagery will appear on Google Maps later in 2013. Nobody's asked the tortoises how they feel about it."
Will they blur the tortises' faces?
Nobody's asked the tortoises how they feel about it."
I imagine they're feeling rather flat. How does Google take these 'street view' pics again?
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
will it now display a finch and you'll have to identify its niche?
spent all those months on a ship travelling to the Galapagos, when he could have just googled it.
In my day people weren't scared to voice their opinions face to face instead of hiding behind their computers.
People hide in FRONT of their computers
rewriting history since 2109
OMG! Apple has been redeemed!
Everyone!!!! To the Apple Store!!!!
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
>> Fuck me. Yes. Fuck you. Was nothing more than a joke crossing carapace (look it up) with grill (in street speak). Which you apparently are not "hep" enough to comprehend. What happened to a sense of humor? I ask this honestly - would "The Far Side" still be appreciated these days?
Seems to me that all depends on each persons relative lat/long.
For the record - I am NOT comparing my stupid post to the brilliance of "The Far Side".
One of the things I like about Google is that they sometimes do stuff for the heck of it or sometimes to scratch a research itch. At most other companies the bean counters would have stepped in. Or a small project would be done to obtain a short term hype to make money. Not at Google, I don't expect the Galapagos will make them anything else than admiration. And as Google employs many, many people I highly respect, I suspect the stuff they make has a certain longevity about it.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
GeoGuessr DLC announced?
You mean gated neighborhoods?
That said, street view still doesn't have the streets that 3 of my last 4 apartments have been on here in California a couple of hours from google headquarters. It's really only good for big cities or the major streets of smaller towns.
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I don't have to think too far back... I think one of the first things they'll see on the Galapagos with their human camera people is cars..... They'll wonder why they didn't just pop it on one of those... Distances aren't particularly walkable short in the galapagos.
Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
...Google has apparently decided to abandon parts of the world they they find boring in favor of exotic locales.
For example, Google covered most of the primary and a few of the secondary roads in South-Eastern New England. Then they stopped. YEARS ago. I can see every back alley and dirt road in some parts of the world, but nothing except satellite views of places where I grew up (SE New England.) I know New England can be boring, but it is at least as much a part of Google's home country as San Francisco, so why is it so neglected in Google Street View?
I love the exotic locales in Street View, too, but sometimes I just want to show people what the places I grew up looked like.
Folks should take a look at the streetview shots of the Midway Atoll. Ducks everywhere, and you get to see the old military installation that the US abandoned years ago.