"They" really are watching

[Trickeration]

My husband came home tonight and sat down at the computer to download something for me to see. He went to earth.google.com and downloaded the free version of google earth. It's a mapping site done with satellite photos. I love this site, but it's also a little un-nerving, as it seems like it would be handy to a terrorist. My son calls it a stalkers dream. My husband says it's great for pulling up areial photo type maps for resuce work.

Whatever the case, I spent about an hour looking at stuff all over the world. I could see, and tell which car was which, in my driveway. In Europe, some smaller towns were a little blurry. I could see the island we lived on off the coast of Italy, but the street was grainy. Rome, though was very clear.


Anyway, it's an interesting site, so I thought I'd share. Enjoy. Trix

 

[Renderking Fisk]

I'm working right now to landscape my property with shrubs and flowers that will show "FEDORA CHRONICLES.COM" from space as wee speak.

 

[BellyTank]

...what's 'wee speak'? Is it a space alien language of the species you're trying to attract? Good luck!

B
T

 

[Trickeration]

Hmm. Sounds like "they" are really "we."

I think so.
It is interesting, though. My son is hooked on the site. It's turning into a great educational tool for him. He's 11. This morning he found his way to the camp he went to up in the mountains this summer. I was impressed with his memory of things they passed on the way, and how he could recognize them in aerial photos.

Hey. Maybe you can use this site to hunt for that pot of gold!

Renderking Fisk-I think the lounge logo would show up better.

 

[photobyalan]

I don't mean to alarm anyone, but we're only talking about the technology and imaging that is available to the general public. I expect the satellite photo technology the military and CIA keeps to themselves would really make your hair stand on end.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Something ELSE to ponder...

It turns out that for at LEAST the last 10 years, most of the color ink jet printers in the world have spit out a code that identifies the SPECIFIC printer and the date/time each page was printed. Turns out this WAS a U.S. government initiative. SEE:

Washington Post Article

 

[The Wingnut]

You have to live in a town like mine...so remote and off the beaten path in an area with little public interest that it's much lower resolution...Keyhole satellites have been imaging most of the earth's surface for almost 20 years. There is likely very high-res data on most of the world's populated areas on file, just not public, for obvious reasons. Try finding detailed or even available maps for more remote areas of Utah and Nevada...you'll find spots blanked out, very blurry, or possibly edited in an image editor to show nothing at all...HRM.

 

[Quigley Brown]

It's very fun to play with. Have you set it at a lower angle and let it start moving? It's like you're in the cockpit of a plane.

Check this website out. Apparently serious Google Earthlings show some the odd sites they've found while 'traveling' around the world.
Google Earth Hacks

 

[Renderking Fisk]

No, "wee speak" is what the little people speak. Now, if I could only find that pot of gold!

"And I'll get your little dog, too!"

That's the price I pay for having a toddler bouncing on my lap while I type.

 

[Deleted member 259]

Yeah, but these pictures are Dated - they built a wall between my house and the beltway about 4 or 5 years back, and that wall doesn't show in the image, neither does a lot of the roadwork thats been done.

Still, it's neat and frightening at the same time.

 

[Flitcraft]

Come on guys, quit kidding around. Everybody knows "wee speak" is the language of Lawn Gnomes.

 

[Uberneot]

The pictures are a bit dated. The view of my parent's house shows my Mother's old car in the driveway, and my sisters playhouse in the backyard; neither of which exist anymore. As to censoring, in eastern Russia (Siberia?) There is a large section blacked out with a perfectly rectangular square box. What's more interesting is that there appears to be smoke emanating from this box. Check it out of you can.

 

[Skywlkrinc]

Google Earth dooesn't bother me at all......especially since the aerial photos of my city were taken last in 1996 and my street did not exist at that time. So when I look for my house on Google Earth I look for the big field several block away from the high school.