Gizmodo: google streetview

What Is This?

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:44:26 EST

It was bound to happen sooner or later: Here's an inter-dimensional spaceship, breaking through the planet Xkyrzee 3, finally caught in Google's Street View. At least, that's what I believe it is.

Seriously, what the hell is this thing? Can anybody see what it may be, because I sure can't. [Google Street View via Geekologie]

Heroic Bird Avenges Google Street View Victims

Brian Barrett — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST

For anyone who's ever been caught truck partying or pantsless on Street View, a brave pigeon in Los Angeles has taken the fight to the Google Van.

Of course, we'll never know who the true identity of our avian avenger, but it's good to know that he's out there, watching over us, ready to unleash ~~hell~~ guano in our darkest hours. [Google; Thanks, Scott!]

Google Street View Spots One Chunky Man's Funky Truck Party

Brian Barrett — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

If I lived in Winnipeg, I'd be doing this, too.

This fine gentleman was captured by a roving Google Van with a couple of friends, a cold one, and a t-shirt that's just a wee bit too small. Carry on, brave citizen of Canada! You're an example to all of us. [Google Maps via Geekologie, Jalopnik]

Google Street View Captures Guy Getting Ready To Do Something Disgusting on a DC Street

Sean Fallon — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST

It's hard to tell exactly what this guy is about to do, but he appears to be squatting (more or less) with his pants around his ankles on a DC street.

View 519 H St NE in a larger map

Maybe he is about to take a dump, maybe his lady's husband arrived home early and he escaped out a window. Who knows—but the whole thing strikes me as kind of sad. Either way, the other pedestrians don't seem to notice what's going on. Not Google though—you can bet they are all over it. [Jalopnik Thanks Avi!]

Musician Finds Minor Fame by Stalking Google Street View Car

Rosa Golijan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

When Nate Heagy heard that the Google Street View team was coming to his town, he quickly hatched a plan to promote his band: He would stalk out the Street View van until he managed to get his picture taken.

Like any good stalker, Heagy was pretty organized about the entire affair. He made a sign to keep in his car so that he was ready to go the instant any of the individuals he'd recruited to watch out for the Street View van called him. In the end though, it was Heagy himself who spotted the Fame-mobile as he was nibbling on his lunch and he quickly hopped into his car, sped after the van, and figured out where it should turn next so that he could set up his sign at the right corner.

Nutty or not, I guess Heagy's plan worked since I couldn't resist extending his 15 minutes of Internet fame after seeing that Google Street View snapshot of his. Hell, the whole ploy worked so well that I'm even throwing up his band's music video:

[Fear Salesman via Neowin]

Nothing Says Art Like Naked People On Beaches Captured With Google Street View

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Oh, Google Street View, you endless source of stupidness you. Who knew you could also be a source of art. The art of the quotidian ramblings of humans and other beasts. Or as the artist Jon Rafman puts it:

The world captured by Google appears to be more truthful and more transparent because of the weight accorded to external reality, the perception of a neutral, unbiased recording, and even the vastness of the project.

Jon, you are either a conceptual genius or one lazy ass. Either way, I like it. [Google Street Views]

See the World From Your Couch: Pompeii Ruins Now on Google Street View

Dan Nosowitz — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST

The Pompeii ruins are one of the most tourist-visited sites in the world, which is one reason to stay home, sit on your couch with no pants on and enjoy the ruins on Street View. It's pretty gorgeous. [Google]

Google Street View Captures Fire Truck Hit and Run With an Old Lady On a Bike

Sean Fallon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:40:00 EST

The latest adventure for the Google Street View car comes to us from the Netherlands, where it witnessed a fire truck mow down an innocent old lady on a bike.

Grotere kaart weergeven

Yeah, it looks like the fire truck just continued down the street like nothing happened. Look at her, in the classic "I've fallen and I can't get up" pose. Poor thing. Fortunately for the bike lady, Google did what fire fighters are supposed to do—come to the rescue. [Jalopnik]

Stray Google Street View Driver Doomed to Map Hell For All of Eternity

John Herrman — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:20:00 EDT

After careening into a wall outside of Rankin, PA, one Street View photographer has been trapped, and condemned to send dispatches from a horrifying hellscape, forever. This is the highly empirical theory that the internet, and I, am sticking with.

As per the instructions by the gentleman on Reddit who found this anomaly, "click forward." And as per my instructions, click forward again. And again, and again, and again. Again!

Then sputter a little prayer in Latin, exorcise your laptop, slaughter a baby goat, whatever you have to do to help this man escape this fiery, oddly typographical abyss, which never ends. (Except for when it does, somewhere around East Pittsburgh.)

Update: Reader Chris Walker desperately clawed at the walls of the fiery nothingness for quite a while, and eventually found his way out. This is the first thing he saw when he came out?

Glorious. [Reddit]

Those Google Street View Drivers Had No Idea What They Were In For

Adam Frucci — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:09:09 EDT

Getting paid to go on a road trip? Sweet! But wait, just how far do you want us to drive again? [Collegehumor]

If You Lived Here... Your Van Would Be On Fire

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:40:00 EDT

Something tells me the Google Street View team should be equipped with emergency response gear and training. What tells me this? This van that's totally on fire, for one thing. UPDATED

Yesterday, the Toronto Star saw the same Google SV item we did, and investigated. According to the workman who owns the truck that isn't on fire, he was able to move his truck out of the way before the van "blew up." It was apparently a relatively safe explosion—nobody was hurt and nothing else burned down—but an explosion nonetheless. Damn. [Google via Will Smith on Twitter; Toronto Star - Thanks Daniel!]

Google Street View Car Speeding Through Laguna Seca Racetrack

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:30:00 EDT

Holy Mother of Steve McQueen! A crazy, perhaps strayed Google Street View got into the Laguna Seca Racetrack, chasing some badass sport cars. You can travel through the course like with any city street or road. Can you identify them?

View Larger Map

I can see a Porsche, a Corvette, a Mazda, and—I think—an spiffy Audi, but I'm not sure. Faster faster, kill kill pussycat. [Thanks Alteredspeed08]

Google Street View Car Can't Resist In-N-Out Urges

Jason Chen — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:30:00 EDT

Of all the funny things Google Street View cars have captured, stopping by In-N-Out for lunch is probably the most delicious. Oh and that man/woman peeing on the street. That was pretty delicious too. [Google via Digg]

Muggers Caught When Their Crime Was Captured by Google Street View

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:45:00 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Last September, a 14-year-old Dutch boy was assaulted and robbed after being shoved off his bike. But with no evidence and no real idea who his assailants were, police were powerless—until the crime showed up on Street View.

The photo shows the boy being tailed closely by two men who matched the boy's original description, but Dutch police actually had to send a formal request to Google to have the faces unblurred. When Google complied, a policeman recognized one of the men (actually twins) as a suspect wanted for similar robberies, and was able to finally make the arrest, six months after the crime.

So beware, felons: The Google cars are watching. [AP]

Google Street View Car Sees the Light

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:30:00 EDT

God has been found, and in the most unlikely of places: Southern California. Well, either it's God, or the Street View cameras take a second to adjust to bright light, coming out of a tunnel. Probably God, though. [Thanks, Jordan!]

Make Your Photos Look Like Google Streetview or YouTube In Real Life

Jesus Diaz — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:30:00 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Here is a simple and funny way to make your still photos look like they are part of Google Streetview or an internet video, ready to be played. It only takes some tape, cardboard, and acrylic, plus a bit of genius when you frame the photo.

As you can see in the gallery, the effect they achieved looks almost exactly like the real thing on your computer. screen. I have to admit that I'm going to try doing a few of these, with really weird settings. [Dialy Nifty—Thanks Kumiko!]

Google Must Reshoot Every Single Street View Image in Japan

matt buchanan — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:40:33 EDT

Google's gotta reshoot every Street View image it's taken in Japan from a height 16 inches lower than Godzilla's ankle after people complained the photos peeked over their fences.

The current photos—which cover 12 cities—were taken by cameras mounted on sticks stuck on the roof of a car, placing them over the height of most people's fences (seriously), so Google Japan has agreed to lower them by exactly 16 inches, as well as to blur any license plate it comes across.

Given that addresses are essentially useless in Tokyo, you'd think they'd complain less and just be happy Google is making their lives easier. I mean, privacy's, like, dead or something anyway, and I'll gladly trade corpses for convenience. [Japan Today via Daily Tech]

Paddington Bear Waves to Google Street View Cameras

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:45:00 EDT

Reader Christopher Cooper spotted a suspicious furry, blue-trenchcoated, yet friendly fellow lurking around the British Museum in London, confirming my suspicion that "England" really is an imaginary place found only in children's books. [Thanks, Chris!]

Google Street View Protects the Privacy, Secret Recipe of Colonel Sanders

Adam Frucci — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:20:00 EDT

Now if only Street View could blur the food inside enough to make it look appetizing, it'll really be useful. [The Register]

Google Street View Employs High-Tech Tricycles for Hard-to-Reach Places

Dan Nosowitz — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:35:00 EDT

Reader Jason Whitney spotted a Google-branded, camera-equipped tricycle in his local San Diego, CA bike shop. But it's packing a generator and about eight cameras—what kind of muscle-bound man-monster can pedal this thing?

The trike features a number-pad in the center of the handlebars, presumably to control the cameras (dangerous while riding!). We're not really sure what advantages the pedal-powered vehicle would have over a car, besides possibly a smaller footprint, allowing it to reach alleys or park paths. Mostly, we're just impressed that anybody short of a Tour de France competitor has the strength to pedal it; it must weigh a ton! [Thanks, Jason!]