Google Satellite photos... wow!

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,502
2,765
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Has anyone else looked at google's new map service?

http://maps.google.com/

Wow, this just blows me away. How do they update and scroll so fast? This is more responsive than most map software you load directly on your computer (assuming a fast internet connection of course).

I don't see any obvious way to link to specific locations, but click on the url above, pan and zoom the map to your desired location, then switch to "satellite" using the link at the top right of the window.

These maps look far better than terraserver, they appear to be satellite photos instead of ariel, they're in color, but the speed is what really impresses me. You may find that you have to upgrade to a newer web browser however. It wouldn't work under Safari 1.0x or IE on my laptop, and you need MacOS X 10.3 to support the new version of Safari which google wants. So I downloaded firefox and it works fine on that.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
Definitely a cool alternative. Plus, its updated. The big fire result of 95 obscures the photos of Bamber in Terraserver. This provides all the new clearings since then too, one I did not know about.
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,502
2,765
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Look in the lower right corner of the image, may be hard to read on the satellite photos. They say "copyright 2005, DigitalGlobe, EarthSat" The maps are copyrighted 2005 by Navteq. If you read the FAQ it says " • Satellite images are current, but not real-time."

Who knows what that really means, but looking around at things they sure look pretty recent. Check out a location where you know that something has recently changed. For example, in Medford lakes you can clearly see that the Settler's Inn is no longer there, but Lower Aetna Lake is also intact. So that would date this map somewhere between 1999 and 2004...
 

Rubibee

Scout
Dec 10, 2002
50
0
Moorestown, NJ
Boyd said:
So that would date this map somewhere between 1999 and 2004...


My guess would be later and say 2001-2003 because the race track is still there and the stores (Staples / Shop Rite) near it are there. They started demolishing the Race track back in late 2003, didn't they.
 

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,338
326
Near Mt. Misery
Amazing!! It must be very recent. I can see the swimming pool in my neihbors' back yard and I think he put that in only last summer. I'm pretty sure that is when it was, I helped him do it. That really is great stuff! All the stuff that didn't show up in black and white terraserver is now so clear.
 

wis bang

Explorer
Jun 24, 2004
235
2
East Windsor
I looked at my old employer. They were by the Parkway & route 9 bridges over the Raritan river. The New Rt 9 bridge is in the picture. The begining of the new addition to the parkway bridge is not visible and the Rt 35 bridge shows no sign of the new span 1/2 of which was open in 2004. I'd say late 2002 or by mid 2003 for those images...
 

PBJ1971

Scout
Oct 19, 2004
44
0
52
Belleplain, NJ
I think these pics are great! On Netscape's opening page (or somewhere else, I don't remember), someone was compalining about the violation of privacy...uh, dumbass--there are plenty of other sites out there that show satellite photos.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,177
I just had a chance to look the map over. Very nice Boyd!

For those of you who do not know it you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard for more accurate scrolling.

The scrolling and zooming seems to be the only major flaw with it.

Guy
 

Tom

Explorer
Feb 10, 2004
231
9
It definetly is amazing. If you can look at your house on google, you know the military can look in your windows.
 
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