2006 Google Earth Census

February 17, 2006 6:09 AM

Seen anyone on Google Earth lately?
posted by divabat (33 comments total)

Please provide links to the pictures he's talking about - I can't seem to find them on his personal blog that you linked to on the front page of metafilter.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 6:29 AM on February 17, 2006

Yeah, it's a good idea, but very slight on content. I want some google earth links, at the very least.
posted by empath at 6:36 AM on February 17, 2006

seahawks stadium
posted by Saucy Intruder at 6:37 AM on February 17, 2006

Um. All I saw there was one (very small) weblog post, with valuable information like "...Rosi left a comment saying that she saw a guy playing tennis, but she didn't remember where."

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to get from this link, but what I found was not of great quality.
posted by majick at 6:39 AM on February 17, 2006

There are a bunch of people on the field at Giants Stadium, but it's obviously not a game.
posted by clevershark at 6:44 AM on February 17, 2006

It's a good idea, but the execution is a little lacking. How about coordinates or links or screenshots or... something.
posted by raedyn at 6:51 AM on February 17, 2006

Yeah, what the hell is with the lack of links? I mean, how hard is it to link to a google maps page? The "link" button is right there in the corner.

Bleh.
posted by delmoi at 7:00 AM on February 17, 2006

The timing of the Seahawks Stadium shot is pretty impressive...
posted by daveleck at 7:01 AM on February 17, 2006

They seem to be talking about Google Earth, not Google Maps. I haven't installed it myself, but doesn't Google Earth let you zoom in a lot closer than regular Google Maps?
posted by Gator at 7:04 AM on February 17, 2006

Not any more, I don't think.
posted by salmacis at 7:15 AM on February 17, 2006

I randomly zoomed in to a street in Manhattan and is swarming with people, and Liberty Island.

Has this guy even looked?
posted by lemonfridge at 7:16 AM on February 17, 2006

The Google Earth People and Cultures forum has some listings for person-spotting, and contains actual clickable placemarks as opposed to vague mentions of things people may or may not have seen.
posted by majick at 7:22 AM on February 17, 2006

There has been a high res map of Cambridge, MA on google earth for quite a while now. Plenty of people are visible walking around Harvard square.
posted by MillMan at 8:03 AM on February 17, 2006

The timing of the Seahawks Stadium shot is pretty impressive...

That's impressive? 3 and out and punting from their own end zone? They even suck from space!
posted by hal9k at 8:14 AM on February 17, 2006

They seem to be talking about Google Earth, not Google Maps. I haven't installed it myself, but doesn't Google Earth let you zoom in a lot closer than regular Google Maps?

The level of detail is the same. You can zoom in closer on Google Earth, but after a certain point it's just pixels.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 8:29 AM on February 17, 2006

always lots of people at pike place market in seattle.
posted by freudianslipper at 8:33 AM on February 17, 2006

I found a touring ferry about to dock at Alcatraz in the bay.
posted by charmston at 8:54 AM on February 17, 2006

Has this guy even looked?

Apparently not. I just randomly picked "Beijing" and zoomed in on the entrance to the Forbidden City to see all the tourists heading in. Then I typed "London" and zoomed all the way in without moving and found a flock of Westminster tourists. Lazy.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:57 AM on February 17, 2006

Statue of Liberty and Watts Towers on Microsoft local.live.

Pepsi Blue!
posted by eddydamascene at 9:13 AM on February 17, 2006

Has this guy even looked? - lemonfridge

With the name "Antonella" and the byline "women, life, technology, and the pursuit of happiness", I'm assuming it's not a guy.
posted by raedyn at 9:14 AM on February 17, 2006

There's plenty of people milling about the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, too. Lazy, lazy bloggers.

(And I might have to start telling people that they suck from space. That's awesome.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:23 AM on February 17, 2006

Anthill, Colorado
posted by cenoxo at 10:26 AM on February 17, 2006

This just in: People seen on Earth.
posted by squarehead at 10:47 AM on February 17, 2006

Aliens shocked and dismayed.


Interview with Zygork Xxliplit:

Interviewer: So what are you feelings on the evidence of people being seen on Earth?

Zygork: Disgusted! Just a hundred million years ago, the place was a wonderful vacation spot for my wife and three splatgoks. Now? Its ruined!

Interviewer: Do you think you will ever make plans to return?

Zygork: Return? With those people? Please, all I need is another trip to the doctor's office for shots.
posted by Atreides at 10:54 AM on February 17, 2006

Maybe this guy doesn't understand that objects appear smaller when viewed from a great distance?

Yankee Stadium, the Bronx is rather occupied.

Last April, when Google's satellite views were novel, frecklefaerie posted "See the Sights from Satellites". I posted a comment with a link to 3Com park, aka Candlestick Park, where a 49ers game was in progress. I guess they've taken a new photo of 3Com in the last nine months...
posted by Lord Kinbote at 10:56 AM on February 17, 2006

Aerial views have been removed on those two links I posted. That sucks.
posted by eddydamascene at 11:17 AM on February 17, 2006

Jackson Square, New Orleans.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:18 AM on February 17, 2006

Tourists looking at the White House.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:36 AM on February 17, 2006

I can clearly make out a beignet in the upper right of your photo DA. The question remains however, how many people in that picture are drunk?
posted by Pollomacho at 11:38 AM on February 17, 2006

That's impressive? 3 and out and punting from their own end zone? They even suck from space!

Ha! The Seahawks actually wear blue at home, but with that Washington State logo at midfield I'm going to have to guess that it's actually the Cougars sucking from space.

And yeah, it's incredibly easy to find people in parks, stadiums, and other public places.
posted by Buzz at 12:00 PM on February 17, 2006

Not to labour the point but...

Sightings:
Erik found people at the Seahawks Stadium, in Seattle,WA (1000 Occidental Ave S). "Looks like the 'hawks have the other team backed up at the 3 yard line."

While looking for the Seahawks Stadium, I found another football field in Seattle with a lot of people. It's south of Mercier and 4th avenue.

Filed under Antonella, Web & Technology by Antonella Pavese.

Might want to be trying that cool new web technology called a link.

Birds, eh?

/Andy Capp
posted by i_cola at 1:18 PM on February 17, 2006

Fishermans Wharf Not people, but VISIBLE SEA LIONS!!!!
posted by wuakeen at 8:04 PM on February 17, 2006

Just as a tidbit related to this: it depends largely on the scale and quality of the shot, as well as the angle.

When MSN was quietly launching their Virtual Earth* site, there was an interview at the MSDN Channel 9 site with some of the Maps people. They addressed the question about these types of sites, regarding "Won't this stuff violate personal privacy if you can see people via satellite?". His response was that with most photos at current resolutions (at the time), a large number of people tend to "disappear" between the pixels, since with the resolution available they tend to be effectively averaged between the colors of two pixels, and get "averaged" out of the shot altogether. This is why sometimes busy streets could look empty of most people, as they get pixellated right into the sidewalk unless they're at just the right angle/location.

However, that was way back in the stone ages of last spring/summer. Now, with higher resolution photos, or much larger crowds of people- not to mention the "bird's eye" angled shots- the people will start to be more and more visible. Certainly these shots we're seeing at Google and MSN are showing more detail than they did previously.

* Maybe I'm biased but I think virtualearth.msn.com is considerably superior to Google Maps, and the whole mapping/satellite thing was done much earlier by Mappoint and Terraserver anyway. There, I said it! Microsoft made the better product and was earlier to market to boot! I'm a heretic!!!
posted by hincandenza at 1:22 AM on February 18, 2006