-------------------- Come on, come on - spin a little tighter Come on, come on - and the world's a little brighter Posts: 5595 | From: Columbus, OH : The Soccer Capital of America | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Damnit, I was just going to post this. I've been playing with it for the past few days, it's brilliant - the data for major cities even allows you to see single houses and even cars !
Too bad less populated areas are only available in lower resolution - my home town is a brownish blob with bits of green
-------------------- All along the untrodden paths of the future, I can see the footprints of an unseen hand. Posts: 6912 | From: Flanders | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
That is so cool! I found my apartment building, Ex-H's house, my parents' house (with mom's car in the driveway!) and my 4-year old is fascinated seeing the entire planet. Thank you, chillas!
-------------------- Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tzu Posts: 1544 | From: Northern California | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
It is really cool. We were playing with it a little bit at work last week.
Some of the labels do seem to be slightly off when you zoom in; the label for Intel, for example, is actually on the Safeway accross the street.
-------------------- "Unseasonable is an odd word to begin with. It sounds like it's describing something that it's impossible to sprinkle pepper on." -- Nonny Posts: 5483 | From: Just south of Folsom Prison, CA | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Yeah, I noticed that a few labels are off like that, WildaBeast. It'll usually get you pretty close, though.
Also, did anyone else notice the 3D building option in some of the major metropolitan areas?
-------------------- Come on, come on - spin a little tighter Come on, come on - and the world's a little brighter Posts: 5595 | From: Columbus, OH : The Soccer Capital of America | Registered: Sep 2002
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Joe Bentley
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
-------------------- "Existence has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long." - Rorschach, The Watchmen Posts: 8929 | From: Norfolk, Virginia | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Some of the labels do seem to be slightly off when you zoom in; the label for Intel, for example, is actually on the Safeway accross the street.
You are complaining about a label being off...by about ten feet...on a planetary scale !?
Not to say that it isn't a problem worth fixing, but damn...
-------------------- All along the untrodden paths of the future, I can see the footprints of an unseen hand. Posts: 6912 | From: Flanders | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Some of the labels do seem to be slightly off when you zoom in; the label for Intel, for example, is actually on the Safeway accross the street.
You are complaining about a label being off...by about ten feet...on a planetary scale !?
Not to say that it isn't a problem worth fixing, but damn...
Actually it's off by more like a couple hundred yards. I was gonna say it could create confusion if you used the program to get driving directions, but that feature actually takes you to the right place in this case. I suppose if you planned your trip just by eyeballing it you might get confused, or you might get confused if you didn't know which was right, the driving directions or the label.
But it wasn't really a complaint anyway, just a comment.
I wonder how recent these images are? I see there are a few newer shopping centers in my town that aren't there, but it still seems fairly recent.
-------------------- "Unseasonable is an odd word to begin with. It sounds like it's describing something that it's impossible to sprinkle pepper on." -- Nonny Posts: 5483 | From: Just south of Folsom Prison, CA | Registered: Jul 2002
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-------------------- Windows cannot open this file. To open this file correctly, defenestrate, then try running the file again... Posts: 5383 | From: New Zealand | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
It is an amazing bit of softare -- useful and designed for maximum coolness.
Posts: 675 | From: Schenectady, NY | Registered: Nov 2003
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Hmmm. My hometown, which is known as a city, is a green blob with bits of brown. The small town next door (where at least one other snopester ('s relatives) is from, you can zoom in and see buildings and cars. Indeed.
-------------------- Stand up, slip on the bathtub floor, fling a hand up to balance yourself, and happen to have your mouth open on the downswing. Voila, a new hole in your face.
-Tabby, on how she cut her lip while shaving her legs. Posts: 5097 | From: Nova Scotia, Canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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I work with remote sensing and imagery all the time, and for the cost of this the price is right.
I do, however, wonder what their priority is. My grandmother lives in Toronto, and the resolution there is pretty good. I can see the house, and garage, but the street with cars is blurry. Impressive.
My house is part of a long brown blur, but I live in a somewhat rural town. You can see town features from about 30 000 feet quite clearly. Not bad.
My Mom and Dad live in a really rural town, and you can see the town, but no features, or streets. That's OK.
I found my camp in Afghanistan. You can see people standing around the camp. The other camps are the same level of detail. Eerily excellent resolution.
I can even see the mat that my tentmate had set outside for a few days to lay on. Scary.
Posts: 2064 | From: New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
This reminds me of one of my favorite jokes: "Peter, peter, I can see your house from here!"
-------------------- There are people who drive really nice cars who feel that [those] cars won't be as special if other people drive them too. Where I come from, we call those people "selfish self-satisfied gits." -Chloe Posts: 6995 | From: New Mexico | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Ghostbusters Halloween Special?? That's where I heard that line. I think.
-------------------- Stand up, slip on the bathtub floor, fling a hand up to balance yourself, and happen to have your mouth open on the downswing. Voila, a new hole in your face.
-Tabby, on how she cut her lip while shaving her legs. Posts: 5097 | From: Nova Scotia, Canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
One of those days where something you never heard of pops up in multiple, unrelated instances.
First, a coworker shows Google Earth to me, and blames me with getting him hooked. Not so, I say; I'd never seen Google Earth, but I may have shown him Google Maps with the "satellite" images.
A couple hours later, someone mentions that Michael Savage is accusing Google Earth of helping terrorists target bombs.
Then I come here and see the thread bumped up. That's makes three. I guess I'll have to download it.
Posts: 389 | From: Anchorage, AK | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:A couple hours later, someone mentions that Michael Savage is accusing Google Earth of helping terrorists target bombs.
Along that line, then, here's a curious belief (below, bolding mine) regarding Google Earth recently posted to google.public.support.general,
quote:Mail supposedly from a marine in Iraq. Weapons descriptions are spot-on, and I think this is from somebody who's been there. Here's an interesting comment:
quote:5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Google earth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.
-- Bonnie
-------------------- Se non è vero, è ben trovato. Posts: -99014 | From: Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Well, I suppose if they hold the same position for several years...
-------------------- Come on, come on - spin a little tighter Come on, come on - and the world's a little brighter Posts: 5595 | From: Columbus, OH : The Soccer Capital of America | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Ok, what am I doing wrong with Google Earth?
I downloaded the free version here at work; we use Mozilla Firefox. Everyone's talking about how you can see cars, etc. but I have difficulty seeing much, as there's some stupid box in the middle, always covering what I want to see!
I can see stuff around the box (I was trying Manhattan, for instance) but this "box" is still in the way.
Is this because I'm using the free version??
Posts: 1093 | From: Pittsburgh | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I'm not quite gettign what you're describing, LibrarianJen. Your web browser has nothing to do with it. Google Earth is an enitrely independent application.
When you first start it up, you should see a series of menus on the left hand side and a distant view of the earth in the main screen. Is that what you're seeing? Can you post a screenshot?
-------------------- Come on, come on - spin a little tighter Come on, come on - and the world's a little brighter Posts: 5595 | From: Columbus, OH : The Soccer Capital of America | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Ok, at the risk of *really* sounding stupid now, how do I post a screenshot? Don't I hit F12? But then how do I post it?
Yes, I do see all of the menus on the left. I'm probably doing something insanely dumb to get it not to work right!
Posts: 1093 | From: Pittsburgh | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I think I know what box you're talking about - do you mean when you've searched for a place and it takes you there, and the box is right next to the name of the place you searched for? If that's what you're talking about, you can turn it off by going to the upper left corner menu (right under the 'Search' button) and unticking the box to the left of the place's name. However, the way you describe the box, I'm not really sure whether that's what you're talking about.
Re: screenshots. You can press the 'Print screen' button (although I don't know which one that is on American keyboards) and paste (ctrl-v) it into a picture editing program (eg. Paint or Photoshop) and save it there, or just do it in GoogleEarth (File->Save Image, or Ctrl+S). Then you'll need to upload it to a site - I can't recommend any free hosting sites atm (too long since I've used them), but I think Photobucket works fine.
Ok, of course now that I'm doing google earth again, it's not doing it quite as badly. But, here's what I'm talking about! Do you see the black box? Now most of the time, when I zoom in, it just gets bigger (and more annoying). But sometimes I can zoom in just fine. ???
And like Dieter said, I unticked the box at the upper left, but that didn't seem to make a difference.
ETA: Ok, to make this even goofier, I now tried an address in Texas, and the area outside this $%#! box looks like a blurry topographical map, and *inside* the box (where I can't usually see anything) I can see rows and rows of little cars!
I KNOW this sounds like I'm wearing a tin hat today, but I'm really not, I promise!
Posts: 1093 | From: Pittsburgh | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Ah, I see. And the box is always in the center? Not just in one location? Sorry, but I have no idea what that is. Maybe there's something about it in the Help file?
ETA: Perhaps updating it would work? I just got the latest version (3.0.0762), which one do you have?
posted
Oh, my. How bizarre. I have no idea what would cause that. If it makes you feel any better, it doesn't appear to be anything that you're doing.
My usual first suggestion for any video oddities is to make sure you have the latest version of DirectX and all your video drivers up to date.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
-------------------- Come on, come on - spin a little tighter Come on, come on - and the world's a little brighter Posts: 5595 | From: Columbus, OH : The Soccer Capital of America | Registered: Sep 2002
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