Satellite maps

I'm sure that some of you at least have discovered the new feature available at Google maps (I know that Jay Jardine has). They have now satellite images available that allow you to zoom in whatever locale you choose.

The downside is that I haven't figured out how to save the images to my hard drive yet. This is not a problem over at another site I discovered recently that also has satellite images: Microsoft's Terraserver USA. Not only can I save these images, but I can zoom in even closer with the urban areas shots than I can with the Google images.

The pic to the left is the neighborhood that I live in (my abode is in the pic, but I ain't telling ya where). If you wish to view the enlarged version of it by clicking on it, you'll notice a large building near the bottom that looks like a school building. It used to be a high school, but now provides housing for senior citizens. Thinking of that building reminded me of a Joseph Sobran column I read last month about Bastiat where he recalls an experience he had at a gas station across from his old high school. Unless he went to a private school, that building in the picture would have to be the high school he went to since he grew up in the town I currently live in. There is indeed a gas station across the street, but it is chopped off.

If you click right... here, you will see a pic of where I grew up. It's nice to know that if someone ever wanted to drop bombs on the homes of "undesirables", such satellite image technology isn't always accurate locating the exact address that you type in. I can tell that it's not always accurate since the red push pin image on the picture that is supposed to specify the address I typed in is not on the correct property. In other words, if someone wanted to drop a bomb on my parents' house and used this image database, they'd end up killing some of my parents' neighbors instead!

Anywhoo, this is some fun shit here that can be rather addicting if you have a plethora of addresses to check out.