[alcimedes]

I swear there was a thread about this, but I couldn't find it.

In any case, saw this this morning and got a chuckle.

It's a google earth coordinate doc. Just download it and open it up and google earth will do the rest. Anyone else have cool things they've found?

[scratt]

I have found a few of the houses I lived in as a kid..

It was particularly amazing to look at the little country lane by a house I used to live in on the Isle of Wight and see that in 30 years nothing has changed one bit!

[AWR]

I've seen all of the usual stuff, which is very nice (although I can't say I've seen anything special per se).

scratt, how is the coverage of your place(s) in Thailand. Do they have Koh Phangang?

[chucker]

I wish they'd finally add map data for some more European places.

[Mac+]

I wish China would allow some decent satellite probing.

This place is a great blur in spots.

[Mac+]

Originally Posted by alcimedes I swear there was a thread about this, but I couldn't find it. In any case, saw this this morning and got a chuckle. It's a google earth coordinate doc. Just download it and open it up and google earth will do the rest. Anyone else have cool things they've found?

Also, that's a mess for me - just static ... maybe it is a China censorship thing? Who knows?

[psmith2.0]

I didn't use Google Earth (the 3D, rotating, flying thing), but I did use Google Maps online to do something kinda cool last weekend (this is why I'm a dork, and it'll shed a lot of light on things...mainly the kind of meaningless crap I can find fascinating and enjoyable).

Last weekend, AMC (or it might've been USA or TNT?) showed Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam" movie from a few years ago. It starred John Leguizamo, Adrian Brody and was set in NYC in 1977 (during the Son of Sam killings). A neat movie.

ANYWAY, all the leads are Italian guys "from the neighborhood", and the movie opens with a long tracking shot, floating down a street. A public swimming pool appears on the right and the camera eventually zooms into a dead end street with a retaining wall painted in green, white and red (Italian flag motif?). Beyond that wall is water (the ocean, a bay or lake, etc.?). To the left stood a large brick apartment with red awnings in the front. This is where one (or several) of the characters lived (I know Jennifer Esposito's did...what a fox!).

Much of the movie takes place at this area, with the characters standing around talking, leaning and sitting on that red, white and green wall.

Anyway, after the movie I thought "I wonder if I can find that, just for giggles".

I knew a) Spike probably shot this on location (it was outside, with apartments, trees, streets, etc. all around...definitely not a set), and b) I knew it had to be near water. And c) I knew it was the Bronx (at least in the movie).

I figured I'd start from there.

So I went to Google maps, typed in Bronx, NY and simply zoomed in and followed the coastline northward, until I saw something that looked familiar (I assumed the wall was painted for the movie, so I wasn't even counting on seeing it).

Imagine my surprise (and geeky joy) when - in less than 20-30 seconds - I come across it, clear as a bell.



To confirm it all, I further Googled the movie and specific filming aspects of it (I was only viewing the Google maps in Satellite mode at this point, so I didn't know the street name).

I found two places online (talking about film cameras, shooting, lighting techniques, etc.) and one featured an interview with the guy who works with Spike Lee, at least on this particular picture.

He says, in the interview, they shot most of the exteriors "on Randall Avenue...".

I go back to my Google map, click the "map" mode button (to see street names) and yep...the street above is Randall Avenue.

I know. Silly.

But I felt like a detective for five minutes. I knew ROUGHLY where the area was. I knew it had to have water. I knew some landmarks.

I just looked until I found it...

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by AWR Do they have Koh Phangang?

The island is there if you know where it is, but the res is poor, and there's no map overlay or hybrid detail, so unless you know which one it is, google isn't much help.

[billybobsky]

I have determined that sadly I can see my undergraduate institution on the horizon from the window in my lab. I cannot escape thee Swarthmore...

[curiousuburb]

The Google Earth Community has some interesting topics and links... everything from historical sites, through haunted houses.

[GSpotter]

Originally Posted by chucker I wish they'd finally add map data for some more European places.

At least they improved the satellite resolution in some areas. Not as good as in San Francisco, but at least I could see our house.

Things I found with Google Earth: Some places I've been (some hotels, a beach restaurant in Malibu etc.). The home addresses of some friends in the US...

[NosferaDrew]

I was found Scratt's dropzone after he posted his skydiving video:


Google Earth:

[scratt]

AWR, coverage varies.. I have some land up North which I can't even find as when you zoom in it's about as good as the South of England is in a lot of places! I have managed to find the plot of land by the Black Moon Party where we are going to build our new home though!

I just had a check just now and half of one of the main towns on the island is missing! About 5 km of island has been erased!!! Oh my God! I was only there the other day!

NosferaDrew, he he! I did the same for Empuria Brava, my other fave Drop Zone... I didn't think to do it for Prachuab. Cool!

It's strange as I used to think that areas of strategic importance around the world were blurred out in most cases.. But that does not seem to be the case... I have managed to count the Hercs at Don Muang military base for example, and find lots of stuff in the US...

It seems that places that no one has needed to observe from outer space make up the majority of blurry places.. I guess it costs money to have a satellite to do higher resolution scans of locations and so if there is no need then the high rez. images won't exist..

Julia and I tried to find her home town in Zambia and found that huge blobs of the country are blurred out for no reason, and then some places are very clear. Bearing in mind there is only one major road to her childhood town it was not that hard to find it though..