You need to download and install Silverlight to get the new Maps experience, which isn't too big a deal. It allows you to have smoother animations when zooming in or out as well as a pretty slick looking streetview interface, with trees and buildings looking cut out from their background, if a bit crudely. This is done using Microsoft Photosynth, which analyzes digital photos and creates a 3D model of the area. It's pretty damned impressive.

The real question is this: how did Bing streetview cars cover all this ground without everyone noticing? [Fast Company; Bing Maps]

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]

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]

If you have any ideas, they're looking for suggestions of parks, trails, university campuses, pedestrian malls, theme parks, zoos, landmarks, and sports venues. If you have any ideas about good shooting locales, head over to google.com/trike and submit them before October 28.

Google wants to hear about where the trike should go, but I'd rather hear where you guys think it shouldn't go. [Google]

Created for a class at West Point, Roy D. Ragsdale created his prototype setup using a laptop, $300 of off-the-shelf components and open source software. As he drives it around, it captures eight 1280x1024 jpegs that are then stitched together and uploaded to Google Earth.

It's certainly impressive, and I can see how one could want to make Street-View-like images of private property. But for most of us, I think letting Google do the heavy lifting is working out just fine. [IEEE Spectrum via Make]

Here are ten cameras designed to capture the kinds of images that humans by all means shouldn't be able to see, and that you and I will probably never have the opportunity—or need—to shoot.

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]

Wait. What happened to West Pacheco? Why does it say I'm still on it?! And how did Google Street View know I loved the Colonel's delicious fried chicken?!

And now the Street View driver is helping me park, all while continuing to screw with my directions by saying I'm still cruising peacefully down West Pacheco.

Well, we're parked and ready for some finger lickin' goodness (and still "on" Pachero). Let's just hope no one actually uses Street View for, you know, legitimate directions—it's no wonder that people are "directed" of a cliff every now and again. [Google Street View - Thanks, Eric]

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 has overhauled the navigation system entirely, so that you don't have to use the slow, unintuitive arrows to make your way down the street. Instead, your cursor is mapped on a rough 3D model of the scene, with a convincing sense of depth. Just click where you want to go, and Street View takes you there, making the transition with an unexpectedly convincing pseudo-3D effect

It also works for off-road sights, like storefronts or distant scenery. These items are mapped as well, so if you lead your cursor to, say, the front door of your house, Street View will automatically take you to the best possible viewpoint. The above video explains it all pretty well, but the upgrades are live, so you may as well just try it out. [Google via PC World]

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!]

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]

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!]