"The Great Wall of China/Pyramids/Northeastern Urban Metroplex/Big Pile of Tires In South Cackalacky is visible from space!"Brian J. Noggle retorts that these days, thanks to Google, so's his pickup truck.
A certain amount of wonder has gone from life when your neighbors can access satellite footage to check on the edging job you did behind the backyard privacy fence with less effort than it would take to go fetch a stepladder from the garage...
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15 comments:
I always thought "visible from space" implied "with the naked eye". I mean, if we are talking visible with keyhole satellite, the threshold would be BJN's truck.
JMHO
But that's not very funny.
Excellent point ;)
And to think... all the imagery on Google is last generation data that's all free. Look up some of the stuff from Ikonos and Quickbird, then stop and think about the .mil stuff that's a whole magnitude better for resolution...
genedunn,
To make it even funnier, the article in question said that the tires were visible from space...
...and then showed a Google maps photo to prove it! The pile didn't look terribly much bigger than Mr. Noggle's house. :D
My Dad told a story of a coworker who discovered that his (not-done-with-City-permit) pool was visible from MapQuest Maps.
That must have been 2002 or so.
I mean, Google Street View show's the previous homeowner's car out in front of my current place.
They should catch up with the times...
So are you saying it's time to paint the Roof with the letters F.O. ?
Karrde, that brings up an interesting point.
What's to keep some enterprising revenue genera...I mean law enforcer from going through Google Maps looking for building code violations; real or imagined?
Let's say that pool was put in 50 years ago and the house has been family owned that whole time and at the time there was no reg for it but now there is. Would you end up with the choice of proving how old your pool is or just paying a fine?
Or that in the middle of your 100 acre plot you have a nude beach, or some other harmless but technically unlawful edifice. Would a satellite image be probable cause? Does it matter why they saw the image?
Hell, my phone will show me google map views while I drive. Better camo that still up better, Johnny Law has a smart phone!
There is enough detail in the google image's to locate illegal dump site's. It's a handy tool when you have a missing person or lost child because you see possible place's to take a closer look at. Aerial mapping picture's from contracted survey's are sometime's on file in other locations as well.
If you want to ponder what the .mil stuff is capable of, think about this:
Point Hubble at the earth.
And there ya go.
What's to keep some enterprising revenue genera...I mean law enforcer from going through Google Maps looking for building code violations
Nothing, as it turns out.
http://www.digitalcommunities.com/articles/102484274.html
Guard, they've been doing this in Britain for quite some time, just with helicopters.
Are we all going to have to rig camouflage nets over our yards?
From the current Google Map view of my house, you can conclude that I was out fishing the day the picture was taken. My buddy's truck is parked at the curb and my truck and the boat are not visible. That only leaves one possibility- gone fishin'.
Once google showed my car in the driveway of the new place, I knew I had really gotten the house. :-)
My sister-in-law has the unenviable distinction of having her keister visible from space while bent over retrieving groceries from the minivan......
And no I am not giving you the coordinates.......
I do wish to live to see another birthday.......
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