Google Earth
 

From the makers of Google Maps comes their latest toy... Google Earth!

I've been playing with this software for about an hour now and it is amazing. I can zoom close enough into Disneyland that I can see people. You do have to download free software to use the program but it is pretty damn cool.

Do you see me? ;)

It is really cool, but the maps are pretty old. I zoomed in on my house, and while my room addition is there (4.5 years old), my driveway has my old white F150 in the driveway, which I haven't had for 2.5 years.

That's part of what always makes these sattelite image maps fun for me...trying to see how closely I can pinpoint when the images were taken.

Thinking about that further, I was actually wrong. I haven't had my F150 for 3.5 years. So it's narrowed to between June 2001 and July 2002.

We know the shot of our neighborhood (on the web-based Google satelite map, don't know about Google Earth) is from between Feb.-April of 2003 based on the progress of construction of the shopping center around the corner from us.

I can't tell which car is in the driveway of my house. But, I think this was taken after we had the new roof put on.

A funny thing - I was cruising around Napa - where I grew up, and I looked at my old high school. Happens to be where two maps come together and they are offset so all the building look split in half and shifted a couple hundred feet. I wonder how many maps comprise this whole thing?

I don't think the image of Disneyland is quite that old. Space Mtn is almost completely white, with one section yet to be completed. That wouldn't be more than a year or two.

I recall reading somewhere that the purpose of using older images is for security reasons. If they were up to date, it could be a pretty handy tool for someone with alterior motives.

LOL, no. Maybe you were at the AP lounge at the time. ;)