All I can say is OMG!! I just downloaded from here http://www.fboweb.com/antest/ge/intro.aspx an watch aircraft flying accross the globe - I am sorry to catch on so late about what GOOGLE have done with this programme but WOW This could control the world!! the options are endless its mind blowing Jamie (jaw on the ground)
That is cool!! Unfortunately I live where the yellow box is (15 miles from the airport). And they recently redirected the landing pattern to go right over my house. It's great in the Summer when the windows are open. I can hear a plane right now. If I walk outside I'd be able to see six planes in line getting ready to land.
I found myself just watching it for ages today - I should be updating my pages with new map links!!!!!
Having this information widely available is a little scary. It just seems to me that a terrorist could do alot with this information (and all the other information Google Earth provides) and the only thing it really does for the rest of us is provide a WOW factor. I'm not sure the risk is worth the reward. It is cool to watch the little planes fly by, that is until someone uses that information to harm others. Sorry for hijacking the thread... Edit: No wonder Crazy Rob is always sleeping in public...he probably doesn't sleep at night with all those planes flying around!
As long as thats the only thing you hijack! It does wake me up some nights when the windows are open. Some of the larger planes engage some kind of braking system right over our house. It sounds like its going to crash right into us. It's enough to make me want to sell my house. And I'm not really even that close to the airport...I can opnly image what it's like for people who live closer.
I hate to tell you this, but it's probably better. I used to be close to the airport (almost right next to the runway) and the closed windows were enough to almost drown out the noise. Now, I am much father and when the planes fly over us, we can't even hear each other or the phones. Plus, it seems to get worse if the weathers not clear (clouds make it worse somehow). So, try and buy a house closer to the airport!
Who was first? When I tried to download Google Earth, somehow I ended in the NASA page where that program is but credited to them, not Google or would I read it wrong?
I have worked on airfields both Military and Civil - the data showing little planes does not really show anything you can't work out your self, as you know big planes fly in pre booked airspace (Corridors) at a given Flight Level (Altitude from a pressure setting) at a given speed so I quick time distance calculation and you should know where they are! the doddgy bit is on landing just before they fly over the Airfield fence, when they are low, slow and easy to hit with anything!! if you see where I am comming from. I think also that the images in GOOGLE will not be from directly above important structures (The White House, Airfields) as generally for data to be of real use in a military application it has to be absolutly vertical and such images are restricted ie classfied, secret, etc. I may be wrong, its been known in the past.LOL
After watching google earth for awhile it seems to me that someone creative could make use of that information in new ways and come up with a whole new type of informational website, I am not exactly sure what that would be but I am sure someone out there is working on it now...
Google are! There are only a few places in the world which they have mapped completely. Ex: go to Miami and you will see s***loads of information. You will be able to see all the buildings in 3D, pharmacies, restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels etc. etc. All they need to do is add such detail to all places. It would be really good to see such detail in other big cities. Once they do, travellers will be able to get into a cyber cafe wherever they are and "view" where everything is, instead of messing around with addresses and trying to find directions all the time. That .... could be cool!