The New Google Earth - Absolutely Staggering

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

Just tried, but you can't really see anything on the shots. Sorry.

Nothing that identifies it as NEP or Cowboy.

 

Resolution for Pattaya is crap, can't see anything there.

 

Sanuk!

[limbo]

Could only identify Nana by the Skytrain station, SC is easily located but there's indeed nothing to see.

[Guest]

thanks for giving the url for this .. it is amazing..

 

as I live part of the year right across the street from the Sirikit Center, I looked it up .. can zoom right down to the rooftop ..

 

can damn near see the plants on my balcony

[pattaya127]

The sharper defined areas are delineated in brown, the rest stays as if looking from much higher, to keep sharp.

 

I was hoping for a great topo of the Himalayas, this did not come too nicely. Major capitals (no, not Yangoon ) get the brown treatment.

 

 

How is Shangai, any pretty mini-skirts down there, on the Bund?

 

EDIT: KS, you must have looked wrong (not easy to zero in, few landmaks info), it is actually easy to see the 3rd floor of NP, and the cloth awnings.

 

get at : 13 d, 44, 29, 30 NORTH

and: 100d, 33, 12, 46 EAST.

 

Can someone post it here? I am off to work.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"KS, you must have looked wrong (not easy to zero in, few landmaks info), it is actually easy to see the 3rd floor of NP, and the cloth awnings. "

 

Yes, it is not difficult to find NEP, there just isn't much to see.

 

Sanuk!

[MaiLuk]

So some miltary generals are gonna pay a visit to the boys at google and make an offer they can't refuse... and the aussie's are takin' measures to "manage" the worldwide threat.

 

 

 

 

 

Internet satellite imagery under fire over security By Panarat Thepgumpanat

Wed Sep 7, 9:36 AM ET

 

 

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger sensitive sites.

 

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Thailand and South Korea were the most vocal critics of the search tool on Wednesday, rounding on providers like U.S.-based Google Inc, which runs the Web site www.earth.google.com, and demanding action from Washington.

 

"We are looking for possible restrictions on these detailed pictures, especially state buildings," the Thai Armed Forces spokesman, Major-General Weerasak Manee-in, told Reuters. "I think pictures of tourist attractions should do."

 

Satellite images provided by Google have been widely used by broadcasters to show the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Such technology has also been used by authorities coordinating rescue and relief operations in the devastated area.

 

Google calls the tool "a 3D interface to the planet." Any Internet user can zoom in and out of scores of cities around the world, zeroing in on locations right down to street level.

 

The Thai military will discuss the technology with telecommunications and security agencies before approaching Google and other companies that provide similar services, Weerasak said.

 

A spokeswoman for Google in Japan declined comment.

 

South Korean government officials have said they will contact officials in Washington to express their security concerns about the Google Earth product.

 

Among the buildings that can be seen on Google Earth, with a high-resolution package, are the South Korean president's residence, military bases and the defense security command. The government restricts information about the location of these facilities and their construction.

 

South Korea is technically still at war with its northern neighbor and armed North Korean agents have tried to infiltrate the area around the presidential Blue House.

 

TECHNOLOGY UNSTOPPABLE

 

Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brigadier Daya Ratnayake, said it was a serious concern if anyone could get detailed images of sensitive installations and buildings. "But this is a new trend, we will first have to see whether, in this day and age, if this a considerable threat to national security."

 

"In this era of technology -- you have to live with the fact that almost everything is on the Internet -- from bomb-making instructions to assembling aircraft. So it's something the military has to learn to live with and adapt," Ratnayake said.

 

A security official in India said the issue of satellite imagery had been discussed at the highest level but the government had concluded that "technology cannot be stopped."

 

"We are aware that there are Web sites which give detailed pictures of buildings like the president's house including every tree in the compound. Our security agencies are aware of this but how can we stop technology?" said the official, who asked not to be named.

 

The Australian Department of Defense said it was taking "appropriate measures to manage the threat" posed by such technology. It did not elaborate.

 

But the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), which operates the nation's only nuclear reactor -- a research facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney -- said the current images on Google posed no security risk.

 

"Although buildings are clearly visible, critical infrastructure is not. The photographs are over two years old," ANSTO has said in a statement.

 

In Tokyo, an official in charge of crisis management at Japan's Cabinet Secretariat was unaware of the service and declined further comment.

 

(Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul, Masayuki Kitano in Tokyo, Michelle Nichols in Canberra, Palash Kumar in New Delhi, Arjuna Wickramasinghe in Colombo)

[gummigut]

Someone has got to sync cars with massage parlor buildings!!!

 

<<burp>>

[kamui]

Post Katrina images for Google Earth are availabe here !

[Guest]

When are the images taken? I'm seeing the same cars on the road in the same pictures that were there a couple of days ago. Are they refreshed with new satellite passovers?

[Guest]

I'm finding, too, that different towns or cities are consistently different quality. Bangkok seems very clear, but other major cities are not. Is there a reason for that? Cloud coverage causing haze or something like that?