Google has this cool/frightening new feature where you can look at close-up sattelite photos of a large part of North America. It's at their regular http://maps.google.com, but you have to turn on the Satellite option.

This is a shot of downtown Ottawa:

<img src="http://www.boxingscene.com/media/uploads/11692/ott_2.jpg">

It's a pretty lousy city, but I suppose there are worse places to live. The setting is kind of nice, and there are a few good areas.

This is the place I will be moving to in a few weeks:

<img src="http://www.boxingscene.com/media/uploads/11692/ott_1.jpg">">

It's in a nice part of town, right in the centre of the city, with lots of stuff going on...at least by Ottawa standards.

Try and see if you can find your own hometown!

Whens the party? I like to get there early so that I am certain there is enough beer, Ah?.........Rockin' :)

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=parkersburg&hl=en


Not very exciting, it is West Virginia though.....

Good idea.

Here is my crib on Ocean Beach, San Diego

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=92107&ll=32.742991,-117.248948&spn=0.019827,0.027509&t=k&hl=en

Here's the place where I work. It looks even more like a hellhole from way up high:

<img src="http://www.boxingscene.com/media/uploads/11692/work.jpg">

That's where I am right now, typing this sentence.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=parkersburg&hl=en


Not very exciting, it is West Virginia though.....

Lots of green around you Spinks. This may sound stupid, but what river is that?

I was in West Virginia this winter. It was very nice. We visited Harpers Ferry among other places. Very Historic village. Gotta love John Brown.

Good idea.

Here is my crib on Ocean Beach, San Diego

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4861+del+monte+ave+92107&ll=32.744446,-117.250837&spn=0.009913,0.013754&t=k&hl=en

Nice place, so close to the beach. I've heard a lot of good things about San Diego.

FYI-These photos are 4 years old. I'd say they were taken the summer of 2001 (at least in my area). I know because my house is just finished in the photo but only the foundation of my neighbors house is finished.

FYI-These photos are 4 years old. I'd say they were taken the summer of 2001 (at least in my area). I know because my house is just finished in the photo but only the foundation of my neighbors house is finished.

Some of them have to be newer than that, though. They just built the houses around the place where I'm living now and they're in there. I think I read that the photos were 6-12 months old, though obviously from what you're saying some of them are older than that.

Ya, There was a new developement built next to me back in Early 02. In the photo (of my area)its only partially completed.

It's interesting what areas they have photographed in detail. For example, there's a tiny town well west of Ottawa that you can see close-up. Why did they photograph it? Because there's a military base there.

Also, they don't have much of Montreal photographed, but there's an area west of the island that's been photographed extensively. That's where there was a military standoff involving Natives about fifteen years ago that got pretty ugly.

The company that Google bought this technology off of was funded by the CIA, incidentally.

The detail is amazing, thanks for the link

http://home.centurytel.net/globalmma/stlouthumb.jpg (http://home.centurytel.net/globalmma/stlou.jpg)

thanks guys
that helped my hit list
alot.
now i have the adressed and maps
and also detailed views of the surroundings :rolleyes:

Lots of green around you Spinks. This may sound stupid, but what river is that?


The Ohio but the little one branching off, I think may be the little kanawha river...Both rivers are muddy as hell and polluted from top and bottom.

Lots of green around you Spinks. This may sound stupid, but what river is that?

I'm such a hick, this is the best they can do:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Crawfordsville,IN+47933&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Abilene,TX+79606++Sherbrooke&t=k&hl=en

woohoo Abilene, is exciting.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Abilene,TX+79606++Sherbrooke&t=k&hl=en

woohoo Abilene, is exciting.

You live next to a whole lot of dirt. are you one of lucky people with a swimming pool?

http://infowars.com/articles/science/satellite_maps_google_shows_off.htm

Google Big Brother Satellite Mapping

ABC 7 Denver | April 6, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- Online search engine leader Google Inc. has unveiled a new feature that will enable its users to zoom in on homes and businesses using satellite images, an advance that may raise privacy concerns as well as intensify the competitive pressures on its rivals.

Google Maps provides for free a satellite view of any address in North America. This is our 7NEWS studio at 123 Speer in Denver.

The satellite technology, which Google began offering late Monday at http://Maps.Google.com , is part of the package that the Mountain View-based company acquired when it bought digital map maker Keyhole Corp. for an undisclosed amount nearly six months ago.

This marks the first time since the deal closed that Google has offered free access to Keyhole's high-tech maps through its search engine. Users previously had to pay $29.95 to download a version of Keyhole's basic software package.

A more traditional map will continue to be the first choice served up by Google's search engine. Users will have the option of retrieving a satellite picture by clicking on a button.

The satellite maps could unnerve some people, even as the technology impresses others. That's because the Keyhole technology is designed to provide close-up perspective of specific addresses.

Keyhole's previous government ties also have raised anxieties.

Founded in 2001, Keyhole raised some money in 2003 from In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm backed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Leading up to the Google sale, Keyhole's roughly 10,000 customers included a cross-section of government agencies.

There is little reason for people to be paranoid about the satellite maps because the images generally are six to 12 months old, said John Hanke, Keyhole's general manager. "And it's not like you are going to be able to read a license plate on a car or see what an individual was doing when a particular image was taken," he said.

Google believes most people will like the convenience of generating a satellite image with a few clicks of a computer mouse. The company envisions people using the service as a way to scout a hotel's proximity to the beach for a possible vacation or size up the neighborhood where an apartment is for rent.

Google's free satellite maps initially will be limited to North America, with images covering roughly half the United States, Hanke said.

Although Google is offering the satellite maps on a test basis, the feature will probably force its other online rivals to upgrade their technology, predicted search industry analyst Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group. "To play in this space, you are going to need some robust mapping capabilities."

Sterling said Google's satellite maps pose the biggest threat to Mapquest, a service owned by Time Warner Corp. that has long operated the most popular Web site for finding directions.

The satellite maps also up the ante for the many challengers chipping away at Google's share of the lucrative Internet search engine market by adding more bells and whistles. For instance, Amazon.com Inc.'s A9 search engine earlier this year introduced a feature that includes an index containing 20 million street-level photographs of building exteriors in 10 major U.S. cities