Google does satelite imagery

[SamuraiCatJB]

Joel and others have shown the google maps display, but if you check google maps http://maps.google.com/ you will notice a new label in the upper right corner that says "satellite"

click it and the world becomes a colorful and zoomable place. You can go anywhere you will never be able to go in person. :)

[exiii]

I've been waiting for them to do this, and well ... it's a start. The resolution stinks, but that is likely to vary by area. I can barely make out my house, and my area is usually VERY well covered.

For casual quick aerial maps I much prefer terraserver-usa.com. It'll give you different map sizes and image sources, and you can download the images (as a single mosaic) and position them into your mapping app with a downloadable world file. Again, this will vary by area, but in my back yard, I'm looking at a full-color, 6in/px image, dated 9/2003.

Still, I LOVE Google Maps for directional use - they just look cleaner than any of the others available - even if they do leave out the scale and north arrow. (The scale is actually a pretty big omission.)

[lesliefranke]

Take a look at the Google Map for the White House (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1600+Pennsylvania+Avenue+NW+Washington,DC&ll=38.896998,-77.036476&spn=0.005096,0.007918&t=k&hl=en). The rooftops have been blacked out.

[SamuraiCatJB]

but yucca flats is clearly visible... go figure... At least area 51 is properly low res. :)

[winexprt]

Really cool! Thanks for the Heads UP (pun intended :p) JB!! ;)

btw..i found my street no problem. pretty good res as well.

[jjesusfreak01]

I sat going through the maps for like half an hour, aah.

[winexprt]

Take a look at the Google Map for the White House (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1600+Pennsylvania+Avenue+NW+Washington,DC&ll=38.896998,-77.036476&spn=0.005096,0.007918&t=k&hl=en). The rooftops have been blacked out.

Wow..yer right. I notice that. Also, the roof of the Executive Office Building on the left, and the Treasury on the right have been obscured as well.

BTW..here are some REALLY high-res shots of the People's House. ;)

http://cryptome.org/whpan-eyeball.htm

- And -

http://cryptome.org/whrez/whrez-eyeball.htm

[zackepceo]

I can see Apple. :D

I wonder, did they shape the building like a Firewire 400 plug on purpose? I know they were working on Firewire 200 back in '94, but back when the campus was constructed even? Naah. :p

[SamuraiCatJB]

or vice versa??