April 08, 2005

So yeah, Google maps' new satellite images feature has really been turning heads since its inception. myGmaps (alpha) "enables you to create, save and host custom data files and display them with Google Maps." A booming new Flickr pool, MemoryMaps, lets users share their old neighborhoods with others using Google Maps satellite captures and Flickr's note-labeling feature (blame mathowie - he started it.) Also of interest is the cool new blog Google Sightseeing, which links satellite Google Maps of famous US locales such as Area 51, the Hollywood sign, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Why all the big deal about technology we've already had for years? Kottke sez it's all about the "user experience" - but at this point I'm reading that as "Midas touch." Aformentioned maps of Area 51, the Hollywood sign, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Try the Flickr googlemaps tag if you're still thirsty. Coolness. Yeah, I know, Google Maps is so last week. I just thought these new toys might be fun.

posted by Mfpb 2 21 19 years ago
  • For more fun, check out the free 7 day trial of 19 years ago by Mfpb 2 21
  • make that a Keyhole, thanks.
  • Why do I not get how cool this is? I look at my neighborhood, and yeah, there's my house, okay. Now what? It isn't doing it for me. Maybe if I could zoom in close enough to see myself scurrying around - that would be cool - but as it is I just can't summon up a lot of enthusiasm for this.
  • I just think it's fun. I looked up my old neighbourhood in Halifax, and there was my old apartment building, and the other one I'd lived in, and where my friends lived, and the park, and the port, etc. Nostalgic. And then I looked up Disney World, and I saw Space Mountain, and the Jungle Cruise, and yeah, so I'm easy, but it made my day. In my defense, I was very sick that day. I just love Google maps in general, the useability kills any other map service, especially since I usually don't know where I want to go and so then I can scroll around and figure it out. ;)
  • Totally fun. Great post.
  • Very cool. I downloaded the Keyhole trial thingy which seems to have an even greater level of resolution, at least for my neck of the (non-US) woods. I can see my old high school. Thanks, Muffpub
  • I haven't been home in about five years, and that was just a two week visit. My parents moved in to a new house about four years ago. It's in a subdivision that wasn't even built when I lived there. I've seen a couple pictures of their place, but I haven't been able get a perspective of where exactly they lived, until now. I grew up in about four or five different states, most of them I don't have a reason to ever return to. I've been using this tool to reminisce. I found the woods I used to play in (now it's a subdivision). I found the park where I discovered my dog dead (from drinking antifreeze). I found the exact part of the creek where my sister fell in the ice and almost drowned, and the lake where the same happened to my cousin (both of them I pulled out of the water). I found the backyard of the girl I first kissed (which is where we did it). I found the cliff I used to ghost ride my bicycle off of. I found the abandoned mining shed where we used to throw bonfire parties. I found where we made a rope swing to get across the canal. But I couldn't find my house, because they only have a teeny part of Hawai'i, and I'm just outside of it. Those dicks. Still, I liked seeing all those places again. It brought back all kinds of things that'll be fun to sort through.
  • I'm very happy with the new service--it means that I don't have to download and properly align orthophotos every time I want to check out an area's development pattern, the location of a street, etc. In planning, it's an invaluable tool. It's also funny to see that we'd only mowed half the yard on the day they took the pictures.
  • Though Area 51 turns heads, I used to work at the Tonopah Test Range on the Nevada Test Site and this is the first time I've seen the base published in such clear resolution. F-117 fans will enjoy it I'm sure.
  • I had looked up my old neighborhood from about 15 years back, and I think it's pretty cool. It's been my desktop picture for forever. Mind you, Google's resolution was terrible, so I eventually went to another service (whatever one Microsoft works with) and got an arial shot from 1995. Then I sat in nostalgia remembering the little corner store (that is visible from the map), and the pond in the vast fields by the neighborhood, and the house where the Evil Twins lived, and so on. Yeah, my girlfriend wasn't that excited, either, but I enjoy my nostalgia, so there.
  • When I say it's been my desktop picture for forever, I meant "it's been my desktop picture for a few days." Apparently it's been a slow week.
  • Slightly related to the subject, here's a new twist - an unholy marriage between Craigslist and Googlemaps. Really durned useful, actually.
  • It's probably the font's fault, Sandspider, but for 5-10 seconds I was extremely confused about the anal shot you got in 1995.
  • as I've been saying:
    In the future I see a My Google with the ability to add tags to the whole world. I could tag places I’ve been and maybe even plan out entire trips marking down where I want to stop with a note system similar to Flickrs’. Along with a system to date the notes you might be able to follow me as I travel around and take notes on the world by scrubbing through a time line, or a rang of times. Of course this would all be shareable with the ability to tag and organize notes and groups of notes.
  • It's probably the font's fault, Sandspider, but for 5-10 seconds I was extremely confused about the anal shot you got in 1995. It was a rough year. I was working in the video game business at the time.