I Am The Eye In The Sky

March 13, 2008 8:17 PM

Discoveries made using satellite imagery, particularly via Google Earth, have made headlines in the blue and green before. Increasingly high-resolution photos, combined with obsessive interest, have lead inevitably to the next step: interpretation and analysis of spots on the Earth's surface for which information is restricted, censored, or classified, such as the preparedness of military defenses in North Korea and Iran, or the viability of Saudi Arabia's next big oil play. Of course, not all mapping is benevolent.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul (9 comments total)

Of course, not all mapping is benevolent.

That's quite an understatement. SANE is the best possible acronym this group could have chosen for itself. Maximal irony.
posted by Tehanu at 8:39 PM on March 13, 2008

It looks like you got your "North Korea" and "Iran" links messed up. Otherwise, good post.

I'd also just like to say that "Society of Americans for National Existence" sounds like Charles Lindberg's political party from a parallel universe where the Nazis won WWII.
posted by Avenger at 8:50 PM on March 13, 2008

SANE is partly funded by the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Fund, whose mission is to "combat the negativity in our culture with uplifting, inspiring stories. "

Here's Foster Friess, the founder of Brandywine Funds, talking about investment strategies:

Q. Your second largest holding is Boeing--what's the potential in a defense stock these days?

A. Boeing is an exciting company to hold with George W. Bush in the White House. Any increase in military spending is good news for Boeing.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:33 PM on March 13, 2008

Nice post. Funny how the information was (presumably) always available to Joe Sixpack. It's just the aggregation of information and user interface that has got people all uppity.

On Google maps, Sydney's CBD suddenly got low res just before the APEC conference being attended by many of the world's "leaders."

Google said this was a complete facking coincidence.

Here is one of a ferry crash in the Sydney CBD. Blamed on a stitching error. Hmmm.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:38 PM on March 13, 2008

Mod note: swapped north korea and iran links
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:56 PM on March 13, 2008

Bora Horza Gobuchul: "Increasingly high-resolution photos, combined with obsessive
interest, have lead inevitably to the next step: interpretation
and analysis of spots on the Earth's surface for which information is
restricted, censored, or classified, such as the preparedness of military defenses in
North Korea and Iran, or the viability of Saudi Arabia's next big oil play."

Or whatever dark secrets lie on the grounds of a certain Vice Presidential abode...

StickyCarpet: "SANE is partly funded by the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Fund, whose mission is to "combat the negativity in our culture with uplifting, inspiring stories. "

Here's Foster Friess, the founder of Brandywine Funds, talking about investment strategies:

Q. Your second largest holding is Boeing--what's the potential in a defense stock these days?

A. Boeing is an exciting company to hold with George W. Bush in the White House. Any increase in military spending is good news for Boeing."

Just lovely, a true patriot with the right priorities. Why, he should change his name to Freedom Friess!
posted by Rhaomi at 10:34 PM on March 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I say we keep sending out harvesters and then hit them with a tank rush.
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:21 AM on March 14, 2008

Funny how the information was (presumably) always available to Joe Sixpack.

Well the images Google Maps / Google Earth is based on, usually Quiuckbird or Ikonos, go for around $16 per square kilometer. For the entire land surface of the earth, that comes to about $2.4 billion. And that's just for an individual licence, things get seriously expensive if you want an organizational licence. So this stuff wasn't really available to Joe Sixpack, but the deal Google has done with Digital Globe etc. to offer so much of this imagery to the public for free (with a pretty minor watermark on it) is the real innovation.
posted by Jimbob at 5:35 AM on March 14, 2008

thx Jimbob only just saw ur post
posted by uncanny hengeman at 7:27 PM on March 16, 2008