Random Stuff Jonathan | 22 Mar 2009
Google StreetView
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time this week playing with the ‘StreetView’ feature on Google Maps. Coverage of some of the UK major cities including all of Greater London was launched last Thursday amid much publicity and after many hours of armchair exploration, I’m quite excited about it. There’s nothing worse than driving hundreds of miles only to find roads, scenery and traffic that don’t live up to expectations. You can usually get a vague idea from a glance at a map, but beyond that it’s all a bit of a mystery.
The one thing I don’t understand is the uproar over privacy that’s constantly blighted the project. All the images are taken in public places and I could, if I wanted to, quite legitimately walk around the mean streets of Surrey with my camera and put the pictures onto this website. Such was the outcry, I did wonder briefly if we might be nearing a time where simply carrying a camera might require a license!
A38, Longbridge, Birmingham. Hang on, something's missing...
The view that says I'm nearly at work. Yippee.
Why I'm always going on holidays in Scotland.
The old American West you see in the movies really does still exist. Is that a '70s Buick on the left or am I showing my ignorance? Either way, I want one!