Google Earth

[Yog]

Im having a blast messing around with Google Earth. The best satelite image browser I have seen so far (image quality is very impressive). Be a James Bond and pinpoint secret military bases in the Nevada desert and discover UFO landing sites (OMG conspiracy!). Find out what the communists are up to. Locate your friends house or the White House. Fly through Grand Canyon 3D as it was a flight simulator. Its great fun. :)

B1-bomber ready for take off at Hill Air Force Base in Utah:
<img src=http://cache.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00329/_B1-B_ready_for_tak_329541h.jpg>

Chemical weapon storage, Newport, Indiana:
<img src=http://cache.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00329/_Newport_chemical_w_329545h.jpg>

AWAC surveillance plane at Korat air force base in Thailand:
<img src=http://cache.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00329/_korat__taiwan_awac_329549h.jpg>

On a related note, to get an idea of the detail level of these images, The Register run a <a href=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/14/google_earth_competition_results/> "Spot the Black Helicopter"</a>. Take a look at the photos there, its quite impressive. In fact, they were so detailed, it caused several countries to file complaints at Google (Thailand, India, South Korea etc). Unlike Microsofts Virtual Earth, Google dont censor stuff.

Download software here (<a href=http://earth.google.com/index.html>homepage</a>)
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html


.. and finally. Open the placemark on this page in Google earth for a guided tour of Area 51 :eek

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=EarthMilitary&Number=41433

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Is there a 'Drop Bomb' add-on? I think I'd wet my pants if there was one.

[Yog]

Is there a 'Drop Bomb' add-on? I think I'd wet my pants if there was one

I am not sure, but there might be! I have not explored all the options yet..

Btw, I recommend enabling this feature, which is a user submitted info system explaining what all those strange things on the map is. Useful when spying on all the suspicious activities in Area 51..

<img src=http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4633/double0rw.jpg>

Also another cool thing when you explore cities like New York, enable "buildings" for a vector based 3D representation of the skyline. You can tilt the view from vertical to horizontal :)

.. also you gotta try "Colorado River View"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I can't wait to get home and find my house. :)

Er, find it on Google Earth, I mean.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Originally posted by s'Ilancy
Is there a 'Drop Bomb' add-on? I think I'd wet my pants if there was one.

I keep reading this as 'Drop Acid' :uhoh

Just downloaded it, to see if they've mapped my local area...

EDIT - no, no they don't. just a blurry patch of green and burgundy! can't zoom in and see my house, what a pity :p

[Yog]

Here is where I live. Image quality from Oslo was surprisingly clear :)

http://img202.imageshack.us/my.php?image=myhome9we.jpg

The crosshair on the screen show the excact position of where I am sitting at my computer now. Its in a flat of that big brown building. In the same building, there is a grocery and post office, and there is even a small medical/hostital service right in that grey structure connected. Across the street to the south, there is a tobacco store with newspapers ice cream and the like, and right at that spot, there is a subway line going west/east. It goes every 15 minutes. Its only a 10 minute trip to Oslo downtown.

[Darth McBain]

I've been enjoying Google Earth as well lately. Quite impressive. It's unfortunate that some areas are not as detailed as others. My house shows up great, but my brother's you can't even make out it's so fuzzy.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

http://swf-agglomeration.net/sigs/myhouse.jpg <--self explainatory.
>_>
<_<

^_^; no stalkers please. And the thumbtack is in our backyard.

[Sejah Haversh]

Hey! The dumpster's gone!

[Yog]

And the thumbtack is in our backyard

That white vehicle parked on the road in front of the house, is that your car? :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

yeah it's my truck. I think. :) It's really silver.

How often do they update the pictures? I think it's funny they caught our neighbors pulling into their driveway.

Originally posted by Sejah Haversh
Hey! The dumpster's gone!
:p yeah and they charged us MORE for it because it was so heavy! But hey - the back yard doesn't have a ton of crap in it anymore. Just an old boat and our Jeep Grand Cherokee. :p