got geoint?

Just when we thought that Google Street View had conquered every corner, side street and the alley way (wait is that from a song?) it does something even more astounding: they go off-roading with tricycles. Google last week unveiled the latest photos of places that we typically could not see from the road, which includes hiking trails, university campuses, historical landmarks and national parks. By using a 250-pound, 9-foot-long tricycle has a camera mounted on the back that takes pictures from 7 feet in the air, now Google can give us a unique perspective of our world that is not often seen — at least from our cars. According to PC World, the tricycle was the brainchild of Google engineer Daniel Ratner, who visited the car-unfriendly cobblestone streets of Barcelona, Spain. That made him realize that Street View cars weren’t adequate for Google’s apparent intent to scan and record everything in human history, including every book ever written, the topography of museums, and our Wi-Fi passwords. Be sure to check out this post for a short video from Google showing the tricycle in action.

Full Article

While it seems that Google Street View has cataloged pretty much every alley and side street throughout the globe, there is one nation that it has yet to tackle (for now): Israel. In addition, while Google Street View has often sparked privacy concerns — and well, generally captures the strange and bizarre — a new concern about terrorism has been raised with its foray into Israel. According to InformationWeek, this week, experts gave testimony on the implications of “privacy concerns and public security, tourism, and country image.” Despite these issues being raised, Israel’s government is continuing to work with Google to bring Street View to life in this nation. Although the aim is that Street View will help promote tourism in Israel, there will still be ongoing concerns that photographing sensitive locations, such as areas near the homes of the president and the prime minister, according to InformationWeek. Read more here.

Full Article

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? Yes, it is Monday once again, and it’s time to get back into the work game. Sunday NFL games are over — well not for the Vikings and the Giants. And, if its any consolation, we are entering the holiday party season and the work-flow tends to slow down a bit. Though if it’s any indication of productivity levels, today’s MMNKO post shows that the GEOINT sector is still cruising along at a fast clip. So, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

Full Article

Today, Google is announcing version 6 of Google Earth, the highly popular geographical-exploration software for Windows, OS X, and Linux. According to PC World, one of the niftier upgrades is that Google Street View’s street-level photographic imagery is now integrated with Earth’s maps, satellite photos, and computer-generated renderings in a much more seamless fashion-if you just keep zooming or drag the Pegman icon to a spot. Very cool. Though have you noticed lately that there’s never a shortage of the strange and bizarre captured on Google Street View — especially in Germay? Perhaps it is a response to the the potential privacy breaches by Google Street View that happened in Germany? Whatever it is…the Germans are doing some very strange spoofs when it comes to Street View.

Full Article

The Google Street View is quite a phenomena. Beyond capturing images of well…our streets, it has also picked up some very interesting things. Perhaps our readers recall our story of Google Street View capturing an image of Oasis’ lead singer Liam Gallagher enjoying a pint at an outdoor bar in London? Yes, rock stars like drinking beer in the afternoon. One of the more interesting Google Street View strange stories was this one where it “apparently” captured an image of God. Well, perhaps God is on Google Street View’s side these days because it played a major role in nabbing a notorious heroin drug dealer ring. The surveillance cameras actually caught members stuffing heroin packages into a lock-box hidden behind a store’s sign. Good job Google Street View. Making our streets safer. Read more here.

Full Article

It’s all about 3D these days. James Cameron gave us Avatar and pretty soon we will be watching all of our television programs in 3D. Heck, even Tiger Woods and the Masters went 3D. So, what took Google so long? Just kidding, Google. The company is now offering up a highly detailed 3D tour of New York, created from a mashup of it earth and Street View services. To be fair to Google, in late December, they offered up 3D tours of Portland, Austin, Chicago and Philadelphia. Now, they have hit the big apple. On a separate note, did you all hear that Google Street View was blamed for a burglary? Lesson learned: make sure your garage door is closed when the Street View cameras come rolling by.

Full Article

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

Welcome once again to our Monday Morning News Kick Off post on got geoint? Last week, the news cycle was dominated by all of the news in Haiti. While the issues in Haiti will continue to be in the news for the weeks (and perhaps months) to come, we wanted to pull together defense-, intelligence- and GEOINT-related stories that are not about Haiti. As such, this week, we cover a number of stories including protests this past weekend at the CIA regarding drone strikes, the U.S. Intelligence system being overloaded and how Google is adding ads to the billboards on Street View. So, grab that second cup of coffee and read on!

Full Article

Let’s face it. We rarely see rock stars out in public. As much as we would love to run into Keith Richards at the grocery store, or local pub, it just does not happen. They seems to live on a different plane than us regular folks. So, we were surprised to find this news story 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.

Full Article

While we typically cover mapping and imagery news that relates to intelligence and defense, we cannot deny — or avoid covering — the power of consumer mapping applications. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the latest and greatest consumer mapping applications. Also, did you all see our previous post about 2008 being the year that mapping exploded? Well it seems that 2009 will be a continuation of this, which we applaud.

Full Article