Posts Tagged: ‘Google Street View’
You have probably seen Google’s street view. For example, in this post… Now you can visit Pompeii without flying to Italy …You can visit Pompeii without traveling there. But now there is a new way to think about Street View that takes it to a whole new level. This is Video Street View: VideoStreetView.com Pick [...]
We have covered Pompeii before because it is a fascinating place: How Pompeii Works Because the preservation was so perfect, Pompeii is like a 2,000 year old time capsule, as described in this documentary: Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 Google has now gone in and photographed Pompeii like never [...]
TechStuff Podcast Roundup: All Google, All the Time
by Jonathan Strickland | July 24, 2009
Clearly, Chris and I are agog for Google. Granted, Chris seems to feel a sense of trepidation when it comes to entrusting the behemoth company with all his personal data. I’ve tried to explain to Chris that he shouldn’t vocalize these fears — Google’s watching us. But seriously, we both realize the company has incredible influence within the tech industry and beyond. It should come as no surprise that we have a lot to say about Google’s products.
And we’re not the only ones! Monday’s episode about Google Street View was in response to requests from two listeners. Google Street View is a Web-based service that works with Google Maps. It lets you view a location within a city as if you were standing in the middle of the street. While Google Street View can come in handy when you’re trying to navigate through an unfamiliar part of town, not everyone is thrilled with Google sending out cars with digital cameras to document every square inch of space in town. Listen to the podcast to hear about the trials and triumphs of Google Street View. You’ll also get to hear about a couple of funny art projects and jokes people have performed that were captured by Google’s cameras. We even throw in a tidbit about the images you’ll find in Google Earth.
Google Street View, which offers panoramic views of a selection of streets around the world, debuted in 2007. Discover how Google gets those impressive pictures — and what tricycles have to do with it — in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
As it turns out, not everyone wants a picture of their front door on Google Street View. Germans, for instance, are pushing back, according to an article I saw in Der Spiegel. Johannes Caspar is in charge of data privacy issues for the city of Hamburg, and according to the Spiegel article, he’s struck a deal that addresses 12 possible data privacy law violations.
The BBC reports that the office of the UK Information Commissioner has decided that Google Street View doesn’t violate the Data Protection Act, much to the chagrin of organizations like Privacy International and the residents of Broughton.
Google Street View plots pictures onto a map, allowing you to navigate through a city using digital photos. It’s very useful for people who rely more on landmarks than street names or intersections. When someone tells you you need to turn left at the In-n-Out burger, you can use Street View to locate the burger joint and see exactly where you need to turn.
On a side note: some people have found fun ways to incorporate art projects using Street View. Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley created a cool project called Street With a View. They pre-set several tableaux up and down Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh as the Google Street View car drove down the road.
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