Google Earthery
 

Is anyone else addicted to Google Earth?

Have you found anything interesting?

Here are a few of my recent discoveries:

12 10 41 n 68 56 28w - Possibly the worlds largest brothel. Try and guess where it is before you look.

12 09 47 n 68 17 06 w - Who knew? Scientology has their own cruise ship

34 22 29 s 115 08 12 e - Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. As far as you can get from my house and still be on land.

To use view these locations in Google Earth just paste them into the "Fly to" box, click on the spyglass and then zoom in on the cross hairs if need be.

I have so many locations to share, but I'll have to wait till I get home tonight. Great Thread Idea !!! :snap:

How is this:

21 50 34.53s 35 27 00.28e

For a Hi-res spot? (Zoom in till you see it)

I wonder how long if ever it will be before the entire planet is available at this res.

That one is really odd. A Hi-Res section out in the middle of a bunch of really low res coastline. How'd that happen?

It is part of a National Geographic project: The Africa Megaflyover If you zoom out some you can see other red airplane icons that mark these spots.

Damn, just based on the coordinates I guessed Venezuela. So very close.

So what's up in Sydney? I went tooling around White Bay today. Looking at the possible Disney site (it looks a bit small for a park)

As I looked around a bit at the various housing areas I noticed something odd. There are VERY few swimming pools in Sydney. Why is that?

Probably because they've got awesome beaches all around?

Miami, SoCal, Hawaii for gods sake.... They all seem to have a much higher occurence of pools in my very unofficial survey.

I'm wondering if the price of municipal water is significantly higher in Sydney than other areas and how that might impact things. Cobbling together some numbers from disparate sources I am finding a rate of about $1.32/kL for water in Sydney and $0.92/kL in LA (but I'm not confident with the numbers).

Damn. I never knew how large Gitmo is. If you overlay it on top of the DLR it stretches all the way to the 605.

19 56 05.67 n 75 09 21.16w

How about a new game....

Can anyone tell me:

Where in the world this is?

Holy lord, that's evil :P hehe I don't understand the brothel thing though.

That looks like the top view of a spaceship/plane from the thunderbirds.

Yeah, its pretty much a you know it or you don't type of thing.


What's not to get about the brothel? It's a very large whore house on the island of Curacao. No. I've not been there, It's just one of the odd places I've run across while Google-trekking.

I think it looks like one of the alien fighters from Independence Day.

Ohhhhh it really IS a large brothel... I thought I had missed some kinda of current event happening in Curacao :P

Boy likes to play on Google Earth. He spent 3 hours one day, just looking around the DLR area.

I think it's the Sydney Opera House.

Is it a well known building?

Nope, It's about 4,600 miles from the Opra house.

I know what it is.
It's that super expensive hotel in Dubai...

No. At least I had not heard of it. I just ran across it randomly and it looked distinctive enough that if you had been to the city, like James Bond was recently, you might know it.

Somewhere is Dubai would be my answer.

Oh, and Gearthery is my name for this thread.

No but you are getting closer. It's only ~ 3,700 Miles from the Burj Al Arab - Dubai.

Bahamas
Madagascar
Miami
Montenegro
Venice

Right before he went to Cuba.

Greg:Gregory :: Girthy:Gearthery

Reykjavik?

That was after Cuba.

This is the city where he jumped ship checked into a luxury hotel in his PJ's.

Found it.

Does your finger stink now?

La la la. I'm taking a tour of an island.

I got sea sick finding it, but I found it.

Very good.

It's the Hong Kong Convention Center.

22 16 58.92 N 114 10 23.55 E

Your turn GD

This one's probably going to be pretty tough, but it's one of my favorite locations on earth. I'll give you a hint...it's not the Spectrum.

Have you been there?

is it near Florence?

Yes to Lisa, no to €*


*With the caveat that it depends on your definition of "near". Closer to Florence than, say, Hong Kong.

Is it on top of a hill?

Is it bigger than a bread box?

It is on a hill.

Baroque, late Baroque or Rococo?

Significantly earlier than any of those.

Is it in Europe?

Is the hill one of 7?

yes it's in Europe. Gonna have to get bacl to you re: 7 hills

Oh, THOSE seven hills. Nope.

Is it EuroDollywood?

Alhambra de Granada?

It's not, but I have to ask something because I have to gooooooo.

Spain or Italy?

it is la alhambra! nice.

Now it's NA's turn.
I'll make a guess even before she posts.
It's Fingerprints on 2nd street in Long Beach.

:D

Is it a Tikibar?

Wow.

At first I thought I was nuts but a close examination of the evidence shows the facts.

Google earth has lost significant resolution on Disneyland.

Exhibit-A: Pull up the park in Google earth: 33 48 34.32n 117 55 07.42W

Compare that to Exhibit-B: A post from last year.

A clear difference.

Since NA isn't ponying-up.... Here's one:

(Hint: Despite the name, it isn't in Wales.)

I had to go out for dinner. I'm looking for one.

By the way, if anyone's scratching their head over my first hint ("it's not the Spectrum"),

Spectrum open air shoppertainment center:



La Alhambra in Granada Spain

It's rather interesting that of all the important sensitive government facilities in Washington DC, the only one that is pixilated is the National Observatory - where the official residence of the Vice President is located.....

Hmmmm....

White House: 38°53'51.34"N 77° 2'11.77"W
Capitol: 38°53'23.66"N 77° 0'32.40"W
Pentagon: 38°52'15.20"N 77° 3'20.85"W
CIA Headquarters: 38°57'6.90"N 77° 8'43.97"W

VPOTUS Residence: 38°55'22.30"N 77° 3'58.44"W

It's either easy or difficult.

One more for the "road". (By road, I mean bed.)

Machu Picchu was my first guess, but I can't find it on Google Maps.

I found it! it is Machu Picchu!

YAY! I thought it would be too easy.

Can you guess mine? You of all people should know what it is... :evil:

I have to go to work! AHHHHH

My thoughts......it's a hotel in a national park or something similar. I don't the the Awahnee has a pool, and it looks a little sparse to be the other Yosemite hotel which is in Fish Camp. Furnace Creek came to mind. But, that's a far as I got (and I don't have time to search).

Based on that, I would guess the national HQ for a cell phone company.

Not even close! :evil:

ETA: Goes for both NA and Kevy.

Ok... another hint:

I'll be Frank with you... Because of the climate out west, you might sweat and get a shining brow.

Is that where Brittney went for rehab?

Hardly... You need brain cells to be there.

Ah, got it (nice hint).

I keep reading the thread title as Google Eatery.

Why did you spoiler tag it? You are correct, BTW... It is Taliesin West - Frank Lloyd Wright's home, studio, and school in Arizona.

Taliesin also means "shining brow" in Welsh, as well as being the name of a legendary Welsh poet.

Shoot, this means I have to come up with another one.

Okay, this should be a fairly easy one.

Whatever it is, that tower looks really weird with the angle of the photo

Been there. Done That. Have the T-Shirt.

Rogers Stadium, Toranto Cananda eh!

The Skydome and CN tower in Toronto.

The Skydome

[Doh. Slowed down by actually going to confirm it.]

And it's not the "skydome" anymore. It's now Rogers.

Next...



You don't want to go here but if you need to then this is one place you really want to be.

Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Damn. Correct on the first guess. Next time I'm picking a random house in Indochina. That'll fix ya.

No guess. Based on the hint, I did a Google search for "best US hospital".

Here ya' go Moony, this one should be pretty easy for you I imagine. Hint: From this angel you can see both fronts.

One more from me... A special one just for CoasterMatt.

If you can name this amusement park/coaster I'll write a sonnet in your honor.




If you've ridden it, I'll perform that sonnet in my skivvies at the location of your choice.

100% got that one. I'll give others some time.

I am looking at a place, but it is so covered with little cameras I can't see the image underneath. How do I get rid of the stupid pictures?

On the left towards the bottom there should be a list of things under "Layers". Uncheck the box next to "Geographic Web".

AhHa! thank you. I think I had tried every button thingy but that one.

Mount Vernon

Hmmm - no one's gotten NA's second pic and it's even in a LoTer's neighborhood

What was built here, tragically, did not last long.

I sunk this one!

54 36 35.7N 5 54 30.20 W Queens Island - Belfast Ireland.

Where the Titanic was built.

No clues for this one... It's a secret.

I thought I recognized it at first, but I was incorrect.

Moonliner - it does look familiar.

Okay. I was cruising around my neighborhood and stumbled across what appears to be a hole in the earth less than a mile from where I live.


33 56 12.15n 117 53 02.97w

Zoom in and then move around. Really weird.

Can I get a clue- just a tiny one- what continent? :)

Reservoir.

The house I grew up in. Of course, it wasn't as out of focus back then.

I read about this in Granta - Diego Garcia

Not the mouse.

We were just there recently - The Getty

For Moonliner:

Hey, no one's got his one yet. You can search on a self-explanitory name.

Great Salt Lake, Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson.

This is always my favorite Not Mickey:

Versailles. (Looks sort of like one of our Japanese Techno Mickys.)

I'd hazard a guess that's the Nevada Nuclear Test Site.





Ps. Next time be sure not to include the lat/long numbers ont he post ;)

Since we seem to have gone into a more freeform flow, I'm going to toss one in. This isn't a "where is this" but a "what are these." Each of the 8 buildings shown below are of a common function. What is it?



Hint:

Hotels?

No, no.

Prisons?

No.

Presidential Libraries?

2nd Hint:

Whoops, MBC got it.

Those are all presidential libraries, starting with JFK and ending with Clinton.

Ooops I suck at keeping state secrets

Much evil took place here:

Isn't that where they tore down DCA back in 2009? Harbor at the top, Katella on the right?

There are an awful lot of mass grave sites to look at in the world.

It's not a mass grave.

Another hint:

It's no secret that there are linden trees nearby.

OK. I'm on a different track. Linden = connected to magic in folklore and legend. But, finding some Arthurian site is does not seem like I'm on the right track.

OK, we found it.

Ok. Where is it?

Gestapo HQ in Berlin :D

The Topography of Terror

Well, I guess Swanie beat me to the actual naming post so SHE has to find a new location. :evil:

Damn ;)

Next...

Dry Tortugas was my guess but I guess not.

Nope

Any hints?

Ellis Island. (that's with no research)

Duh! I feel like an idiot now.

Dukes and Baronets, Princesses and Mandarins... All were seen here first.

We were there only 5 months ago, unfair advantage.

What are these people waiting for, and where?

Yum !!! Gyoza Rolls !!!!!!!!!!! I love Disneyseas !!!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

OK, so..

What proud establishment once sat on this site?

Sydney's Wonderland - I can see the outline of the Bush Beast

Lion Country Safari

So, have I officially stumped you?

Is it a park that isn't open anymore, or hasn't opened yet?

Damnit, I was going to guess TDS for €'s, never got around to double checking the map.

This is all I could find about the park:

Remember, this is supposed to be an impossible task. I have no real desire to prance around in my skivvies (at least not in front of you...)

I've never been to North Korea

The Taesongsan Fun Fair , Pyongyang

Damn, I wanted to see Moonie dance in his underwear.

The park is currently SBNO - Standing But No Operating

They've got two Meisho built coasters, but I don't think I want the ride credit THAT bad.

Well done, but since you found it by googling my clue.... :p

No one wants to take a stab at my last one? :(

I'm willing but haven't a clue.

Somewhere in London?

Not 10 Downing Street or anything in that neighborhood.

It's been fun looking at the Theater District from the sky, but I'm clueless.

Here's another clue:

You could say that everything in this establishment was à la Carte.

Still no clue. Magna Carta and Rene Descartes came to mind but still nothing.

This game sux with time lag (sorry) CM was right !!! :D Australia's Wonderland used to be there.

Are wwe talking famous London restaurants?

No. :evil:

I got one!

You did indeed. The Savoy, it is.

BTW, Chris and Lisa... How did you know it was London?

The cars drive on the left side of the street so England would have been my guess.

But I was screwed. I couldn't name a theater either in London's West End or New York's Broadway. I can barely name any of the theaters in San Francisco's theater district and I used to work there.

Just looking at it from this height makes me dizzy:

It looks like it's on an athletic field somewhere.

Bus Lane. It was familiar from our recent trip. I also suspected it was the theater district, but i couldn't find anything that matched.

Japan Links to get excited over...
 

Here's some Japanese links for you - I'll cross post them into the Japan 09 thread as well:


Taito Ryokan - 35°42'42.80"N, 139°47'28.56"E

Kappabashi (KitchenTown) - 35°42'46.44"N, 139°47'19.12"E

Entrance gate to Sansoki temple and asakusa shopping street 35°42'40.03"N, 139°47'47.00"E

Hanayashiki amusement park - 35°42'55.82"N, 139°47'40.99"E

La Qua amusement park - 35°42'24.26"N, 139°45'11.09"E

Fujikyu Highland - (not very hi res) 35°29'10.67"N, 138°46'37.10"E

The remains of Nara Dreamland - 34°41'59.30"N, 135°49'21.56"E

The park to watch Cherry Blossom in shinjuku - 35°41'8.62"N, 139°42'38.25"E

YoyogiPark (Harajuku) - 35°40'30.45"N, 139°42'8.86"E

Hakone - home to hot springs and the romance car (train) - 35°11'0.00"N, 139° 2'0.02"E

and of course....

TokyoDisneyland - 35°38'9.49"N, 139°52'42.95"E

Tokyo Disneysea - 35°37'35.55"N, 139°53'22.47"E

The elementary school I used to work at had the US map painted on the playground. Is "an elementary school somewhere" a guess?

Yeah, I think half of the elementary school playgrounds I've ever been on has had that stencil painted on it. So I'm hoping it is a famous specific one and the dizzy comment is a hint that I don't get.

Or an athletic field of some sort.

It is certainly a guess.

Probably a good one.

Oh, the hint about "à la carte" is what made me do a google search for the D'oyly Carte Opera Company. What with the Dukes, baronets, princesses and Mandarins all running about.

Yes. Yes it is a hint. Dizzy like a blonde. Of course, if you're not a blonde, you could always try a wig. But what's famous and specific is just out of the picture. If you could pull back the focus, you'd see it.

I'm guessing it was in Vertigo.

Aha, Mission Dolores in San Francisco. Thanks IMDB.

Ok, never would have gone there. Dizzy is not a word I associate with blonde.

No, but Dizzy is a word associated with Vertigo. And Vertigo is associated with a blonde.

This one's to see if MBC is following this thread:

It's amazing how many cool places I think of are absolutely uninteresting/unrecognizable from the sky.

This is a bit of a cheat as it's an uninteresting part of something that would be very recognizable if I had zoomed out just a bit.

That wasn't meant as a commentary on your picture. Just that I've been thinking of places, going there, and being annoyed at how boring the view is from straight above.

I was going to have one of the major pit mines, which are horrible blights on the landscape but from above they all look like normal construction sites.

Would those be the movie cars you see on the Universal studios tour?

Nope. But the location is on a hill.

La belle dame est morte.

I thought I knew. But I didn't.

I have two guesses. Abbey Road is wrong. Crosswalk from Psycho?

No and no.

The entrance to the tunnel where Princess Diana died?

Is "La belle dame est morte." a movie quote? When I read it, it immediately felt familiar so that what I was thinking.

Close enough. It's the street above the spot where the accident happened.

Wow, that was just a total guess based on trying to think of dead women in France.

Place de l'Alma, Paris, France

48 51 51.33N 2 18 06.70 E

Is it cheating to do a little Babelfish and Google hunting from the hint?


ETA: Damn, too slow

I'm tired so I'll make this one (I think) easy:

Dubai - and soon there will be a big giant killer whale (housing four theme parks) at the end of the Palms.

No more guesses on mine? Another hint: it's a gas station.

:snap: .