got geoint?

By documenting satellite images of the earth, as well as images from the street, Google Earth and Google Street View often stumble upon some pretty interesting things. Do you recall our story last year about Google Street View capturing an image of Oasis frontman, Liam Gallagher, enjoying a pint of beer outside of a local pub in north London. Of course, he would be enjoying a pint of beer – he is a rock star. That is what they do! What is amazing is that Google Street View captured him in the act. Well, it seems that many in the UK are “throwing a wobbly” (that’s British slang expression for pitching a fit, in case you did not know) about how Google Earth has captured some critical football matches. Of course, we are not talking about good old fashioned Joe Namath-style American football. We are talking about soccer — yes, very confusing. Check out this Guardian UK story. Of course, it is impossible to tell the score of the game, but you all just wait. One day, we all will be able to watch the Super Bowl in real time from streaming satellite imagery. All in due time… And, check out this blog post from Spatial Law and Policy about the EU potentially being short-sighted when it comes to Google Street View. Perhaps Liam Gallagher complained about having his image on Street View??

Full Article

Once again, Google Earth is breaking boundaries, and it ties in well with our recent FFT post about the history of GEOINT. Google Earth has now made available historical aerial images taken during the Second World War depicting the extent of the devastation in several European Cities caused by bombing raids during World War II. The Google Earth mapping software has been uploaded with the wartime images from 35 European cities and towns such as Berlin, Bordeaux, Hamburg, Cologne and Dresden, showing the effect of the extensive bombing campaigns on the old continent. These images clearly display the destruction of allied bombing raids, then offers current satellite photos for comparison. Check out the Google blog here for more information, and also be sure to check out the actual images here.

Full Article

USGIF member company GeoEye announced yesterday that it has partnered with Google Earth and has made available satellite images of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. The devastating earthquake hit Haiti on Monday has caused untold property damaged and casualties. As we posted yesterday, GEOINT plays a critical role in natural disasters and GeoEye is certainly helping by providing the data and imagery needed to assess the situation. And, as Admiral Murrett said “GEOINT saves lives.” Along those lines, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) announced its efforts on the Haiti front. And, finally, USGIF member company FortiusOne has been busy updating its public site with quake and demographic data. To learn more about FortiusOne’s efforts click here.

Full Article

It seems that the consumer-driven nature of Web 2.0 is permeating everything these days. Twitter is valued at $1.1 billion. Wikipedia has made encyclopedias go the way of the dinosaur. And, now next-generation online mapping applications are open and allow for users to input locations. One example is PublicEarth, which lets users quickly find categories of locations — romantic, kid-friendly, historic, for campers, etc. And, again, all of the data is inputted by regular people, which means that below the-radar-locations like art galleries, music clubs and underrated restaurants will surely be showcased by people who have microscopic knowledge of regions. To us, we find this very cool. Read more about PublicEarth and other crowdsourcing mapping applications here. It is the future.

Full Article

It has been a busy summer for the Google Earth Enterprise (GEE) team — thanks for giving us the chance to tell you a bit about what we’ve been working on. There have been some interesting product updates to speak of and some cool customer uses for GEE this summer — especially in the government sector.

Full Article

We stumbled upon a most interesting TechCrunch article about how, thanks to Google Earth, anyone can see where the CIA missile potentially took out the leader of Pakistan’s Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud. The article points out that a decade ago, only those with security clearances would have had access to such satellite imagery. And, thanks to Google Earth, anyone can download it for free and this is speeding up the rate at which the geo-information gap between governments and citizens is closing.

Full Article

We are very excited to announce that we have secured an exclusive podcast with Mr. Robert Zitz, Deputy Associate Director at United States Secret Service and true GEOINT Visionary. Mr. Zitz shares with us the exciting opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for the GEOINT community. In addition, Mr. Zitz discusses bringing Keyhole Viewer to life — which ultimately became Google Earth. Click below to listen to the podcast.

Full Article

As you all probably saw, we hosted our most lively discussion on got geoint? surrounding the news of the proposed legislation aimed at blurring images of schools, churches, houses, etc in digital maps. First up, we want to thank everyone who commented on that post (27 and counting!). And, we also want to point out that most of you were against the legislation. Well, we all collectively made our voices clear. Now, it is time to hear from the Assemblyman who proposed this legislation. And wait until you hear what he has to say…

Full Article

PC Magazine just came out with this article about proposed legislation in California that would require all virtual mapping programs to blur out schools, churches and government/medical buildings. Those mapping providers would face hefty fines and/or jail time if they do not comply. The purpose of the bill is to protect critical infrastructure and lives, and was sparked on by the use of online mapping programs by terrorists in the recent Mumbai attacks.

Full Article

Happy Friday! With the winter chill taking over DC and all the coverage of the economic stimulus package, there are many funny, weird and interesting stories that may have not made it to the front page of the paper. In this installment of “Friday’s Food for Thought,” we tell you how we really feel about Google Latitude (sometimes it is good to be able to disappear), showcase an egg with the map of earth on it, as well as highlight a map of Madoff’s path of economic destruction. Hope you all enjoy…and please share your thoughts!

Full Article